Harold Cabezas

No doubt! They did a great job! - Harold Cabezas from Android

As a NYC based investor, it’s been pretty incredible to watch New York’s startup scene grow into a dynamic tech playground over the past few years. Even though Silicon Valley will continue to be the start up mecca for years to come, VCs, large tech companies and the technology press have recognized New York’s blossoming tech scene and quickly scrambled to get feet on the street. In fact, there has been so much action lately that the New York City Mayor’s Office created the Made in NY Map to showcase the growing tech community. Based on investments alone, New York has seen a growth of 32 percent in VC deals from 2007 to 2011. New York’s tech scene has skyrocketed in the past 5 years, with tech related jobs increasing 28.7 percent since 2007. Tech publications have followed startups and investors in suit; VentureBeat opened its New York office in October and TechCrunch opened up NYC office hours last May as the startup scene continued to flourish. - Harold Cabezas

A new survey of ad agencies indicates that digital media may eclipse traditional advertising in the near future, with nearly one-third of respondents expecting to spend more on digital than on traditional media within the next three years. That’s according to a survey conducted by ad transaction processor Strata, which polled nearly 100 ad shops in the fourth quarter. The survey found that enthusiasm for spot TV and spot radio continues to decline. On a year-to-year basis, the survey found that 40% fewer respondents indicated their clients were interested in spot TV advertising, while 32% were less interested in spot radio. According to the survey, print continues its free fall, with agencies indicating that 60% percent of advertisers are less interested in print than they were a year ago. - Harold Cabezas

Comcast Ventures, the investing unit of Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp., bought a chunk of up-and-coming fantasy sports site FanDuel last week for $11 million. Manhattan-based FanDuel is a rarity: a midsize company in a market dominated by giants such as Yahoo Sports, ESPN, CBSSports.com, the NFL and Fox Sports. Manhattan-based FanDuel will use the investment to double the size of its New York office to roughly 40 employees, mostly marketing, sales and customer service positions, to expand its retail user base. It will also seek to build on media partnerships that currently include The Sporting News, a unit of American City Business Journals, and Sports Illustrated, a unit of Time Warner Inc. - Harold Cabezas

"Completely saddened...completely shocked. A wonderful person, loving father. QEPD." - Harold Cabezas

U.S. consumers spend 20% of their online time and 30% of their smartphone time on social media—accounting for a whopping 121 billion minutes each month. And marketers are starting to adjust their ad campaigns and budgets to keep pace, according to a recent survey commissioned by Vizu, a Nielsen company. While 89% of the advertisers surveyed said they use free tools—such as pages, posts, likes and pins—75% say they currently invest in paid social media advertising, which includes tactics such as sponsored content, brand graphs and driving likes. In fact, 64% plan to spend more on social in the future, according to a NielsenWire blog post. Social Media Advertising Budgets are Small—but Growing Paid social media advertising is still relatively new. The majority of advertisers and agencies surveyed said they’d been using paid social media advertising for less than three years. One-fifth (20%) said they’d only started in the past year. - Harold Cabezas

Quaker Oats, a division of Pepsi Co. is preparing to court younger, more diverse mothers, The New York Times reports. The big news for the Hispanic market is that Quaker is also starting a new campaign geared toward acculturated Hispanics who are bilingual but use Spanish as a dominant language. Spanish-language television ads made their debut on Dec. 31 on networks including Univision, Telemundo, TeleFutura and Azteca America. Newspaper coupon inserts will be delivered in ZIP codes that have large Spanish-speaking communities, Mr. Lambeth said. It is the first time Quaker has done an integrated campaign for a Hispanic audience, Justin Lambeth, chief marketing officer for Quaker Foods North America, said. “We’re not just doing one Hispanic TV ad,” he added. The general market campaign, and its related elements like new packaging, bolder colors, in-store displays, coupons and a slightly modified look for “Larry” the Quaker man, are geared toward mothers under 35... - Harold Cabezas

Kraft Foods’ Capri Sun is today launching its biggest social media activation to date. The “Seize the Day” campaign, which is kicking off with a sweepstakes, aims to engage moms by helping them help their kids stay busy and make the most of each day. A dedicated area/tab on Capri Sun’s Facebook page – “powered by” its new Super V beverages line -- offers entertaining, educational videos featuring an adventurous, idealized kid, “Jack.” The boy portraying the character speaks directly to viewers (moms) as he takes them through a variety of ambitious activities, including arts and crafts, outdoor explorations, “thrilling challenges,” sports, volunteering and more. The videos were directed by Jared Eberhardt, of Burton Snowboards and Puma fame. The brand also had popular “mommy bloggers” Heather Armstrong and Ashley James produce accompanying informational content about fun activities, including their own experiences with their kids. - Harold Cabezas

Energy drink dollar sales grew 14.6% to $1.9 billion in U.S. food, drug and mass channels for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 2, compared to the prior year, according to SymphonyIRI Group, the Chicago-based market research firm. Energy drinks were about 5% of total DSD beverage sales and 8% of DSD beverage profits for the last six months of 2012 for Niemann Foods’ 40 County Market-banner stores, based in Quincy, Ill. “The energy category is a positive category, and I do anticipate we’ll continue to grow the sales forward,” said Martin Miller, category manager at Niemann. “I think they’re going to continue to be a bright spot for the DSD beverage category.” The category ranked as the second fastest-growing Center Store category (after coffee), with 17.7% dollar sales growth in food, drug, mass and convenience channels for the 52 weeks ending Sept. 9 compared to a year ago. In unit sales, which increased 18.7% for the same period, it’s the fastest-growing Center Store category... - Harold Cabezas

“I love how the sun paints the city,” says Julio Rivas Garcia as he gazes over Quito’s historic heart from the roof of the Church of La Merced. Where we’re standing, at 9,200 feet and only 15 miles from the equator, the late-afternoon sun still has the power to make 400-year-old stonework glow as though it’s lit from within. Cloud shadows swoop across tiled roofs, church steeples and narrow cobblestone streets filled with cars, buses and crowds walking home from work. In his purple silk cravat and Panama hat, Garcia cuts a dapper figure against the church’s green domes and white bell tower. He specializes in guided walking tours of Quito’s Old Town, as the historic district is called, and his work as a historian and volunteer restorer opens doors — such as the hip-high one we’d squeezed through a minute before, at the top of a steep wooden staircase in a dusty side room on the second floor of the church. Garcia had insisted that I go through first. “It’s different if you open... - Harold Cabezas

Humans have debated the issue of free will for millennia. But over the past several years, while the philosophers continue to argue about the metaphysical underpinnings of human choice, an increasing number of neuroscientists have started to tackle the issue head on — quite literally. And some of them believe that their experiments reveal that our subjective experience of freedom may be nothing more than an illusion. Here's why you probably don't have free will. Indeed, historically speaking, philosophers have had plenty to say on the matter. Their ruminations have given rise to such considerations as cosmological determinism (the notion that everything proceeds over the course of time in a predictable way, making free will impossible), indeterminism (the idea that the universe and our actions within it are random, also making free will impossible), and cosmological libertarianism/compatibilism (the suggestion that free will is logically compatible with deterministic views of the... - Harold Cabezas

The act of writing helps you clarify your thoughts, remember things better, and reach your goals more surely. Here's a look at the science and psychology behind writing, and why the pen may be mightier than the keyboard. Many productivity experts and writers have long espoused the power of writing things down (in fact, paper is our many of our favorite to-do list manager and we're a little fanatical about our favorite pens). A couple of studies, though, substantiate why the physical act of writing really does boost learning and goal achievement. Hoping to provide actual scientific proof on the efficacy of writing down and sharing goals (to make up for an often-quoted mythical Harvard/Yale study of goals), a psych professor at Dominican University of California found that people who wrote down their goals, shared them with others, and maintained accountability for their goals were 33% more likely to achieve them, versus those who just formulated goals. (One can argue that in this... - Harold Cabezas

You’ve mastered the art of modern travel savings: your airfare alerts are set up on Kayak; you flit around Europe on cheap carriers like EasyJet and Ryanair (with vacuum-packed clothing in a carry-on to avoid baggage fees). You stay in apartments rented through Airbnb when you’re not bunking with locals through CouchSurfing, bidding on Priceline or snapping up last minute rooms on HotelTonight. From the remotest corners of the earth, you stay in touch with your significant other over Gchat and your folks over Skype — when Grandma will let you off FaceTime, that is. You could probably shave a few more cents off travel costs by downloading five new apps and bookmarking 10 new sites. But in 2013, the real savings will come to those who go retro — not by sending postcards with actual stamps (that’s what the Postagram app is for), but by stepping away from the screen, or using it differently, to find old-fashioned tactics that can save you big. - Harold Cabezas

You’ve mastered the art of modern travel savings: your airfare alerts are set up on Kayak; you flit around Europe on cheap carriers like EasyJet and Ryanair (with vacuum-packed clothing in a carry-on to avoid baggage fees). You stay in apartments rented through Airbnb when you’re not bunking with locals through CouchSurfing, bidding on Priceline or snapping up last minute rooms on HotelTonight. From the remotest corners of the earth, you stay in touch with your significant other over Gchat and your folks over Skype — when Grandma will let you off FaceTime, that is. You could probably shave a few more cents off travel costs by downloading five new apps and bookmarking 10 new sites. But in 2013, the real savings will come to those who go retro — not by sending postcards with actual stamps (that’s what the Postagram app is for), but by stepping away from the screen, or using it differently, to find old-fashioned tactics that can save you big. - Harold Cabezas

Among some 70 spirits brands, Absolut, Bacardi and Jim Beam took top honors in a new review of their digital marketing competence. The three were given “genius” marks by digital think tank L2, which based its research on more than 675 data points across four dimensions, including a brand’s Web site, digital marketing, social media and mobile efforts. In particular, Absolut stood out for its smart microsite and mobile app, which allows users to search for cocktails, and includes a robust how-to section. The brand is also credited for having an active and engaging presence on all three emerging social media platforms, while an Absoluthost.com microsite helps users plan parties. Bacardi earned its high rank for successfully experimenting with QR codes and a Spotify partnership. L2 also commended the brand’s mobile-optimized site, Mix Master mobile app, and “It Started With A Party” campaign, which was well integrated across platforms. - Harold Cabezas

Among some 70 spirits brands, Absolut, Bacardi and Jim Beam took top honors in a new review of their digital marketing competence. The three were given “genius” marks by digital think tank L2, which based its research on more than 675 data points across four dimensions, including a brand’s Web site, digital marketing, social media and mobile efforts. In particular, Absolut stood out for its smart microsite and mobile app, which allows users to search for cocktails, and includes a robust how-to section. The brand is also credited for having an active and engaging presence on all three emerging social media platforms, while an Absoluthost.com microsite helps users plan parties. Bacardi earned its high rank for successfully experimenting with QR codes and a Spotify partnership. L2 also commended the brand’s mobile-optimized site, Mix Master mobile app, and “It Started With A Party” campaign, which was well integrated across platforms. - Harold Cabezas

Right now you can only watch Aereo, the Web TV service the TV networks hate, if you live in New York City. That will change soon, Aereo says: The startup plans to roll out 22 more U.S. cities this year, starting in “late spring.” That expansion will be funded by a $38 million B round that the company is also announcing. It’s an inside round, led again by Barry Diller’s IAC, along with previous investor Highland Capital Partners. Other early backers, including FirstMark Capital and First Round Capital, are also back. The company has raised $63 million to date. Aereo grabs over-the-air TV signals and routes them to users over the Internet, so they can watch broadcast TV whenever and wherever they want, via devices like PCs, iPads and Roku boxes. It doesn’t pay for access to the broadcasters’ programming, but it is spending plenty of money on a court fight over that issue. It will also have to spend a chunk of change for each new city it opens in, both for marketing and antenna build-out. - Harold Cabezas

Right now you can only watch Aereo, the Web TV service the TV networks hate, if you live in New York City. That will change soon, Aereo says: The startup plans to roll out 22 more U.S. cities this year, starting in “late spring.” That expansion will be funded by a $38 million B round that the company is also announcing. It’s an inside round, led again by Barry Diller’s IAC, along with previous investor Highland Capital Partners. Other early backers, including FirstMark Capital and First Round Capital, are also back. The company has raised $63 million to date. Aereo grabs over-the-air TV signals and routes them to users over the Internet, so they can watch broadcast TV whenever and wherever they want, via devices like PCs, iPads and Roku boxes. It doesn’t pay for access to the broadcasters’ programming, but it is spending plenty of money on a court fight over that issue. It will also have to spend a chunk of change for each new city it opens in, both for marketing and antenna build-out. - Harold Cabezas

Internet penetration is on the rise in Brazil, in tune with steady growth in household income. In response, marketers have begun directing more substantial portions of their budgets to digital advertising, doubling Brazil’s digital ad spending between 2010 and 2012, according to a new eMarketer report, “Brazil Digital Ad Spending: A Growing Consumer Base Lures Marketers Online.” That brisk growth is partly explained by the relative youth of the country’s online population and its small base of digital advertisers. In addition, a growing middle class is helping lure marketers to the digital space. Despite Brazil’s economic growth and expanded access to the internet, however, when viewed internationally, Brazil’s digital ad spending stands at only about half the worldwide average for share of total ad spending. IAB Brasil estimates that online ad spending will make up 13.7% of total media ad spending in 2012, giving the internet the second-largest media market share in Brazil. - Harold Cabezas

Goodbye Eee PC and all other netbooks from Asus; the company is no longer producing the small laptops. Acer followed Asus into the netbook market and is following it out as well. What happened to this once quickly growing market? Tablets disrupted the space. After beginning in late 2007, the age of netbooks is coming to close. Acer and Asus, the two remaining top-tier manufacturers of the small laptops, are ceasing netbook production today, reports The Guardian’s Charles Arthur. For a computing market that appeared to have unstoppable growth early on, the rise and fall of netbooks happened quickly. It should remind us that disruptive new technologies can quickly erode a product’s market share, and even, the viability of a product class itself. - Harold Cabezas

Goodbye Eee PC and all other netbooks from Asus; the company is no longer producing the small laptops. Acer followed Asus into the netbook market and is following it out as well. What happened to this once quickly growing market? Tablets disrupted the space. After beginning in late 2007, the age of netbooks is coming to close. Acer and Asus, the two remaining top-tier manufacturers of the small laptops, are ceasing netbook production today, reports The Guardian’s Charles Arthur. For a computing market that appeared to have unstoppable growth early on, the rise and fall of netbooks happened quickly. It should remind us that disruptive new technologies can quickly erode a product’s market share, and even, the viability of a product class itself. - Harold Cabezas

Earlier this year, I wrote about the emerging trends in social and the “Rise of Interest Based Networks.” In my blog post, I argued that social media, like traditional media before it, was a big and broad market and would support a range of offerings beyond the “big three” social networks of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. I forecast that we would see a rise in more verticalized, topic specific services. Where Facebook organizes around one’s friends, or “social graph,” these new social media sites would organize around users’ interests, the “interest graph.” Interest based networks such as Pinterest, Quora, Mightybell, PandaWhale, Thumb and Fitocracy are just a few examples of companies we saw gain traction among consumers and investors in 2012. With the end of 2012 approaching, I started to assess what’s happened in the space this year and identified a few areas with the potential to reshape the social landscape. - Harold Cabezas

Earlier this year, I wrote about the emerging trends in social and the “Rise of Interest Based Networks.” In my blog post, I argued that social media, like traditional media before it, was a big and broad market and would support a range of offerings beyond the “big three” social networks of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. I forecast that we would see a rise in more verticalized, topic specific services. Where Facebook organizes around one’s friends, or “social graph,” these new social media sites would organize around users’ interests, the “interest graph.” Interest based networks such as Pinterest, Quora, Mightybell, PandaWhale, Thumb and Fitocracy are just a few examples of companies we saw gain traction among consumers and investors in 2012. With the end of 2012 approaching, I started to assess what’s happened in the space this year and identified a few areas with the potential to reshape the social landscape. - Harold Cabezas