The Flash knows that certain companies already know the daily revenue intake of a huge swath of small businesses. So….why not get into the lending business? That’s just what Intuit, among others, is moving to do. Last week, the maker of TurboTax announced a partnership with online lender OnDeck Capital to create a $100 million fund to provide loans to small businesses (particularly to those small businesses that are using its accounting software). With small business lending still well below pre-recession levels, this could help startup and other early-stage financing efforts.
The Flash also checks in on how tech startups are prioritizing cybersecurity from the earliest stages of the new-company development process. This comes from a direct request by federal consumer protection authorities to take such steps. Hackers: be gone!
Look for these stories and more in this week’s Founders Flash!
- Tech firms venture into new territory: lending (Wall Street Journal)
- Why startup leaders need to set the tone for cyber security (CIO.com)
- Facebook ‘Likes’ now track browsing for ad targeting purposes (MIT Tech Review)
- Meet Europe’s newest unicorn ($1.6B valuation) -- BlaBlaCar (Forbes)
- Uber rivals form international alliance – starting with China (Wall Street Journal)
- Building a startup that will last…and last…(Inc)