Financial Services
Venmo: Fighting the good fight against the online payment giants
April 25, 2011: 11:15 AM ETIn each corner of the startup world there's a Venmo for every Paypal -- a little engine that could, and wants to, badly.
FORTUNE -- Hours before I met Andrew Kortina, I had already given him my credit card number. I don't do this with just any stranger. But Kortina and his cofounder Iqram Magdon-Ismail have built a service called Venmo, which promises to make mobile payments so easy, people will actually start to make mobile payments. And after a lunch bill that my friend refused to let me pay for in downtown Philadelphia, I was determined to make my friend take my money. So I downloaded the Venmo app, registered my account, specified the amount I wanted to pay and to whom, and typed in those 19 numbers (including the three on the back of the card) that control my finances.
All of this will not sound terribly novel. That's because I -- and, no doubt, many of you -- did something similar years ago with Paypal. And PayPal, as is expected of a huge company with thousands of employees, also has a mobile app. One that I could have used just as well as Venmo's to pay my friend back. This is Venmo's -- and hundreds of other startups' -- problem: Why use the new guy when I already trust the old? How can a startup oust an established company when all it has are a million dollars in venture capital and a propensity for all-nighters? More
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Today in Tech: More WikiLeaks, Google, Amazon and LivingSocial
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"I never thought I was a very good manager. I mean I am decent, but I want to go back to what I am good at, which is looking for opportunities to grow the business. Greg [Blatt] MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Dec 3, 2010 6:00 AM ET -
The rebirth of VC (really!)
Venture capital isn't mired in a new normal. Instead, it's on the verge of a cyclical upswing.
By Roger Ehrenberg, contributor
To most, the world of venture capital appears to be in the midst of chaos. Poor 10-year returns. Many bloated GPs. The super angel/micro VC "phenomenon" (if it can be called that). Rumors of collusion. A largely closed IPO market. Stock market uncertainty. An uncertain regulatory climate. And on and on. A crazy MORE
Oct 7, 2010 2:23 PM ET -
Tech tools for the financially challenged
By Lindsay Blakely
Americans' credit card debt is expected to reach a staggering $780 billion this year, according to Equifax and Moody's economy.com. And that doesn't even include the unpaid bills accumulating on department store charge cards. What's bad for our bank accounts is turning out to be a wealth of opportunity for a slew of startup companies looking to help you manage your finances.
With names like Wesabe and MORE
lblakely - Nov 8, 2007 9:44 AM ET
