Business

$318 million for Massachusetts victims of unlawful foreclosures; state to seek additional money

adamg — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:10:32 +0000

Settlement with large national banks; Attorney General Martha Coakley said she will continue to purse a separate lawsuit against lenders.

We lose another online entrepreneur - but not to Silicon Valley this time

adamg — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:38:46 +0000

Xconomy reports Adam House, 33, is leaving Boston to become a player on the Rochester Razorsharks, a team in the Premier Basketball League.

Why monkey with a good thing? Curious George bookstore to re-open in Harvard Square

adamg — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:50:23 +0000

Wicked Local Cambridge reports a Roslindale couple is working to re-open the shuttered kids' bookstore in the heart of the square. Reopening is sometime this spring.

Urban Outfitters too sexy for Dedham?

adamg — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:38:47 +0000

Dedham Patch reports on one Dedham mother's efforts to get the clothing store to put the sexy books (yes, of course Urban Outfitters carries books about sex) in an "adult" section where the teenlets who flock there from as far away as West Roxbury can't have their impressionable minds sullied by titles such as Sex Tips for Girls by Guys and Get Laid.

She has, of course, set up a Facebook page.

Court: Fidelity investment advisers not covered by federal whistleblower law

adamg — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:56:32 +0000

A federal appeals court today tossed a lawsuit by two people working for a Fidelity subscontractor who alleged they were fired for bringing up possible accounting irregularities, because a federal law intended to protect the public from securities fraud is limited to employees of companies that are publicly traded.

Sandwich chain doing its part to destroy the wallet industry

adamg — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:38:16 +0000

Street Fight interviews Mike Conley, director of marketing at Sebastians Cafe, which now has 2,200 people signed up for its phone-based payment and loyalty programs - customers use their phones rather than old-fashioned cash or credit cards to pay for lunch. Naturally, the chain started with its Kendall Square location first.

It's just an easier, great way to pay. I forgot my wallet one day, going into a meeting, and I was like: "Oh, crap. I can't pay for food. Oh, wait a minute. I have my phone. I have LevelUp." It's interesting that everyone is starting to realize how this is a very usable tool for payments.

Editors are so passe

adamg — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:00:20 +0000

Some educational publishing startup in the South Station area is looking for people who can hire and supervise writers and take charge of the company's content in their subject areas. You know, content leaders. Also, among the job requirements:

Incredible work output, like a force of nature, or like The Beast from X-Men.

Local technopreneurs ponder: Do you have to be an asshole to be a successful CEO?

adamg — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:04:08 +0000

Xconomy provides the roundup.

Venture capitalist: Cambridge is not Boston, dammit

adamg — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:37:16 +0000

Brad Feld, managing director at the venture-capital firm Foundry Group, says it's past time for Cambridge tech types to embrace their inner Cambridgeness (or maybe even their inner Kendallness) and stop using "Boston" to refer to themselves:

In my world view, the entrepreneurs drive the startup community. Focus on entrepreneurial population density and entrepreneurial density – and make sure your geographic region is small. Over time, linking the critical mass together in a larger region (e.g. Silicon Valley or Boston) is fine, but the real power comes from the startup communities with the largest [entrepreneurial density] in small physical regions which are big enough to have critical mass.

Ed. note: He lost me a bit when, after making his Cambridge argument, he wrote that the 128 and 495 tech belts are part of Boston. Um, what?

Mass. General, Brigham and Women's not doing us any favors with newly announced rates

adamg — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:56:40 +0000

Paul Levy, who complained loudly about Partners Healthcare when he was CEO of Beth Israel, marvels at what he says is the spin on its recently announced contracts with Tufts and Blue Cross, that what the hospital holding company says is a willingness to rein in costs only perpetuates a system in which consumers and employers pay more than they should.

Looking back over the past decade, it is not unreasonable to posit that this system has added in the range of two billion dollars to the health care costs paid by the state's businesses and individuals. The newly announced deals change little in that regard, extending that hidden tax for years to come.

Harvard Book Store: We're doing just fine, thank you very much

adamg — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:47:34 +0000

Jeff Mayersohn, owner of the iconic Harvard Square shop, sent e-mail to fans:

As Rachel noted in a recent newsletter, we just completed our best holiday season in quite some time. The volume of business happily surprised us after years of challenge. Despite this unanticipated demand, our amazing staff rose to the occasion, the publishers supplied us with the books we needed, and our customers showered us with much appreciated holiday cheer. We are very thankful as we head into 2012. ... It is clear that the rumors of the demise of independent bookstores have been greatly exaggerated. Entrepreneurs continue to enter the industry, reimagining how the printed word is distributed to passionate readers. It has been an exciting year, but we promise you that the coming year will be even more exciting.

Via Danielle Dreilinger.

Mega-landlord to smaller landlords: Don't be greedy pigs

adamg — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:30:29 +0000

The Boston Business Journal catches up with Harold Brown, who worries that if landlords take advantage of a tight rental market in Boston and jack rents up too much, they could see a serious effort to bring back rent control.

Oh, no, her neighborhood store got sold

adamg — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:41:06 +0000

Candelaria Silva worries what will happen to the Ashmont Market and Liquor Store now that the Georgeoulopoulos brothers have sold it:

Realization: I am assuming that the change in ownership would be a change for the worse; it could be a change for the better.

Decision: I'll be optimistic. I mean it would only be in the new owner's best interest to keep/maintain what has made the store work for the neighborhood.

Yo, Beyonce, I'ma let you finish, but a Boston company had the best use of Blue Ivy of all time

adamg — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:44:11 +0000

Seems the Beyoncelet shares a name with a Boston event-planning firm, which is now getting flooded with calls from the sort of people who Google phrases and then instantly call whatever numbers they see associated with them in the hopes of, what, an autographed photo? Money? A chance to shriek "Beyonce, is that really YOU?!?!?"

Beacon Hill residents gird to fight off Capital One barbarians

adamg — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 02:18:21 +0000

Ross Levanto explains the growing outrage on Beacon Hill over Capital One's plans to turn the Charles Street Market into Yet Another Bank:

One neighbor noted how the market is the only place on the street she can visit late at night when she feels threatened. Another talked about the over saturation of banks on Charles Street.

Capital One goes before the Zoning Board of Appeals on Feb. 28 for permission to financialize the corner market.