No Card Needed: PayPal Here Is Powered By Mobile Payment Startup Card.io | TechCrunch

PayPal today unveiled its new global payment platform for small and medium-sized businesses, PayPal Here. It brings the veteran payments solution into local stores with a new mobile app-card reader solution to rival Square. Rolling out to merchants today, it features a triangular card-reader, or dongle, that merchants can use to swipe cards of all varieties to start accepting mobile payments on-the-go — but all users need is their phones, via a startup named Card.io.The startup, which unveiled its own consumer-facing app back in January, allows merchants to make the payment process as frictionless as possible. Available for both iPhone and Android, it provides mobile app developers a way to let consumers make purchases simply by holding the credit card up to the phone’s camera. As the company announced today on its blog, its new partnership with PayPal allows merchants to accept credit cards without readers or extra hardware: “Merchants can immediately begin accepting credit cards with nothing but a phone … We’re excited to be working with PayPal and we hope that this partnership will improve mobile commerce for both consumers and merchants.”

via No Card Needed: PayPal Here Is Powered By Mobile Payment Startup Card.io | TechCrunch.

Facebook governance a concern for California pension fund | Reuters

Under the governance provisions, Zuckerberg would remain in complete control of the company for the foreseeable future, so much so that the 27-year-old Harvard University drop-out would even have the right to appoint his own successor before he dies.”With a person that owns as much of the stock and the way he has set up the governance … it will be very hard to influence him except if hes got some kind of a conscience,” Hester-Amey said.Facebooks corporate governance measures go against a decade-long trend of a move toward more shareholder-friendly corporate governance in the United States, prompted by institutional shareholders such as CalSTRS.S&P 500 companies have been taking down classified boards, poison pills and other defenses over the years under pressure from institutional investors to have more shareholder-friendly governance rules.For example, only about 24 percent of S&P 500 companies now have classified boards — where only some of the directors come up for election every year — down from 61 percent in 2002, according to FactSet SharkRepellent.Facebook has two different classes of common stock, with Class B shares entitled to 10 votes per share against one vote per share for Class A. Class A stock is being sold to the public.Zuckerberg has also struck voting agreements with investors including DST Global Ltd and Accel Partners. Overall he will have majority control after the IPO, giving him the power to determine the outcome of matters submitted to shareholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger.Given Zuckerbergs holdings, Facebook is also deemed a “controlled company,” which gives the company the right to not have an independent nominating committee of the board to choose directors.Moreover, Facebooks governance rules say that when Class B shareholders have less than the majority of the combined voting power, the board will become staggered, only the board will be able to fill director vacancies and it will take a supermajority to change the companys by-laws.Corporate governance expert Charles Elson said provisions such as the dual-class stock structure, different voting powers and Zuckerbergs ability to designate his successor were all reasons for concern.”I find it very troubling,” said Elson, who is the director of John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. “The whole tone to me was contrary to where governance has been moving, and the lessons that we have learned.”

via Facebook governance a concern for California pension fund | Reuters.

Crowdfunding exemption – WeFunder and other Senate nudging – Boing Boing

Should non-millionaires be able to invest small amounts, like up to $100 or $1000, in small, local businesses or other ventures that they believe in, without the ventures having to spend tens of thousands or more on state or federal securities compliance?  I believe so, provided that the offerings can be seen and discussed openly, and have other requirements and limitations to prevent abuse.I think this legalization of crowdfunded securities would create meaningful jobs and enable grassroots innovation on an enormous scale.  Maybe Im overestimating, but I see it as a regulatory change comparable in importance to the revision of NSFs Acceptable Use Policy, which first allowed commercial traffic on the Internet.  That early 1990s policy democratized the flow of information the way a well-implemented crowdfunding exemption would democratize the allocation of human effort.Largely under the radar, crowdfunding exemption proposals have progressed to a point now where the first bill, H.R.2930, overwhelmingly passed the House, with White House support, and is now under review by the Senate Banking Committee, along with two competing bills, S.1719 and S.1970.  Other countries are looking to the U.S. as an example on this issue.

via Crowdfunding exemption – WeFunder and other Senate nudging – Boing Boing.

Facebook IPO: How much is your Facebook page worth? – BlogPost – The Washington Post

While the Wall Street Journal reports Mark Zuckerberg and crew could see an IPO valued at around $100 billion, I wanted to see just how much of that $100 billion is thanks to my sweat-stained status updates (Yes, sweat-stained! I ponder for at least several minutes over getting the just the right phrasing to let my family and friends know about my latest haircut!).

Figuring out your Facebook worth is not as easy as creating a hypothetical price per tweet, though I am going to borrow liberally from Esquire’s price-per-tweet equation. Compared with Twitter and it’s one platform offering, Facebook users compete with 900 million apps, games and business pages.

Since there are 800 million Facebook users, adding that to the 900 million other entities, and dividing it by the valuation, we can estimate the value of each page is on average: $58.82.

Of course, the valuation is what Facebook expects to earn in the future from advertising dollars, but one can argue that the valuation wouldn’t exist if not for all the status updates, photos and links we’ve shared. Sp. I’m going back to see how much cash Facebook has made off of me over time. Here’s what I did to get my rough guesstimate:

1. Check my profile page and eyeball how many status updates, photos and comments I’ve made on the site this past week and multiple that by 4 (to find out how many updates per month). (For me, I’ve updated or commented 6 times this week. Most about my hair. So I’ll guess an average of 24 times this month.)

2. Multiply that by the number of months I’ve been a member on the site. (To find out how long you’ve been a member, find your first profile picture and use the upload date as a gauge. I joined in March 2008, so 45 months x 24 updates = 1,080 Updates Over Time (UOT).)

3. Divide that by the value of each page. ($58.82)

via Facebook IPO: How much is your Facebook page worth? – BlogPost – The Washington Post.

House Passes Crowdfunding Bill: FAQ’s for Entrepreneurs | WALKER CORPORATE LAW GROUP, PLLC

What Does the New Crowdfunding Bill Do?

If the crowdfunding bill becomes law, all of the foregoing prohibitions and requirements will be lifted, and a startup will be permitted to sell securities via crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and/or social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook so long as the company (and its intermediary, if applicable) complies with the bill, including these key provisions:

The company may only raise a maximum of $1 million (or $2 million if the company provides potential investors with audited financial statements);

Each investor is limited to investing an amount equal to the lesser of (i) $10,000 or (ii) 10% of his or her annual income; and

The issuer or the intermediary, if applicable, must take a number of steps to limit the risk to investors, including (i) warning them of the speculative nature of the investment and the limitations on resale, (ii) requiring them to answer questions demonstrating their understanding of the risks, and (iii) providing notice to the SEC of the offering, including certain prescribed information.

 

Are There Any Downsides to Crowdfunding for Startups?

Yes, there are several significant downsides that startups should be aware of:

First, startups must understand that minority stockholders have certain key rights under State law, including voting rights, the right to inspect the company’s books and records, the right to bring a derivative claim on behalf of the company and certain protections against oppression by the controlling stockholders.  Indeed, the more stockholders a startup has, the greater the likelihood that a disgruntled stockholder will cause problems, including filing lawsuits.

Second, having hundreds of stockholders is an administrative nightmare and will be time-consuming and costly.  Presumably, each stockholder will be required to execute a subscription agreement and/or stockholders’ agreement to address key issues such as transfer restrictions, rights of first refusal, drag-along rights, etc.  There will also be administrative issues relating to voting and stock transfer issues.

Third, startups will likely have difficulty raising funds from VC’s and other sophisticated investors if they have hundreds of unsophisticated stockholders.  Needless to say, few sophisticated investors will want to sit on the Board of Directors of such a company due to the risks of lawsuits relating to director liability, and D&O insurance rates will presumably sky-rocket for these companies.

 

What’s Next?

The bill now moves to the U.S. Senate, which hopefully will quickly pass a similar bill.  The White House supports the bill, so upon reconciliation, it will be signed into law, whereupon the SEC will be required to promulgate applicable rules within 90 days.

via House Passes Crowdfunding Bill: FAQ’s for Entrepreneurs | WALKER CORPORATE LAW GROUP, PLLC.

eBay and PayPal discover huge rise in mobile payments over holiday period | TabTimes

eBay and PayPal discover that mobile payments rose six-fold across select websites on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

PayPal shopping specialist Claudia Lombana revealed PayPal’s news in a company blog, in which she stated that there were six-fold mobile payment increases for smartphones and tablets for both Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Lombana said that between 1pm and 2pm PST was the busiest mobile shopping hour on Black Friday, and added that the global mobile payment volume on the day itself was up by 148% compared to an average Friday.

PayPal, a division of e-commerce giant eBay, saw a four-fold (371%) increase in the number of customers shopping through mobile on Black Friday, when compared to last year and shoppers in New York, Houston, Miami, Los Angeles and Chicago made the most mobile purchases.

It was a similar story with Cyber Monday, with mobile sales having increased by 514% year-on-year by just 11am PST. As of this time, PayPal had seen a 6% increase in global mobile payment volume, compared to the same time period on Black Friday.

eBay’s PayPal payment service also enjoyed a strong surge in mobile payments, with the service’s global mobile payment volume rising by 511% YoY on Thanksgiving.

eBay reported a 350% increase in the number of customers shopping through PayPal mobile and, like PayPal, found New York to be in first position for number of purchased items and dollar volume. The other top cities included Los Angeles, Chicago, Casa Grande (Arizona), Houston and Miami.

The e-commerce company said shoppers in the US purchased nearly two and a half times as many items via eBay Mobile this Black Friday compared to 2010, and revealed that its iPad 2 sale ($50 off a white 16GB model) resulted in around four sales every minute. The most searched items on eBay.com were iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone 4S.

via eBay and PayPal discover huge rise in mobile payments over holiday period | TabTimes.

SF City Officials, Community Voices Discuss Municipal Banking Alternatives

Supervisor Avalos opened the proceedings by discussing his ambitions to create a public city bank in San Francisco, citing the recent efforts of 14 states around the U.S. To introduce legislation on creating such institutions, as well as the success of the only public bank in the nation, the Bank of North Dakota. Public banking advocates point to BND has having helped the state achieve a nationwide low in unemployment (3.2%) and the only budget surplus in the country, all during a significant recession. BND reported a seventh consecutive year of record-breaking growth in April of this year, tallying profits over $60 billion, about half of which goes into the state’s general fund each year. Avalos referenced the worldwide Occupy movement as evidence of growing dissatisfaction with large financial institutions, and indicated that it was time for San Francisco to let its banking choices accurately reflect its values.

via BeyondChron: San Francisco’s Alternative Online Daily News » Avalos, City Officials, Community Voices Discuss Municipal Banking Alternatives.