Layoffs, Reshuffle at OneRiot

Social search site OneRiot just announced layoffs and staff restructuring on its company blog, in a post entitled "Welcome to the future, it's coming fast."

Now, being agile also necessitates making some tough decisions too, if they are the right thing for the company right now. Unfortunately, today, we have had to let a handful of well respected colleagues go. This is a pragmatic decision based on a strategically focused go-forward plan for the company. It’s in no way a reflection of the talent of the people concerned.

Innovative New Search Engine...

Today at our Social Currency CrunchUp (which is currently being livestreamed here), Blekko founder and CEO Rich Skrenta gave the first live demo of the startup's innovative search engine (be sure to check out our initial review). To mark the occasion, Blekko is giving out an invite to 500 lucky TechCrunch readers — just be one of the first people to email a message requesting an invite to techcrunch@blekko.com.

Chevy Volt’s 2012...

GM is banking large on the Chevy Volt and apparently feels confident about its success. The auto maker just issued a statement, which conveniently coincides while President Obama is touring the assembly plant, detailing the increased production estimate for 2012. The Detroit-Hamtramck facility will now pump out 50% more than previously detailed, an increase to 45,000 from 30,000. Chances are this production bump is dependent on a successful roll-out of the first 10,000 vehicles slated to hit dealers later this year. If the $41,000 Volt quickly flops, then GM will probably scale the production numbers back to the initial estimate or less.

Groupon Was Almost A Slippers...

According to GroupOn CEO Andrew Mason who is on stage right now at Social Currency CrunchUp, GroupOn was originally a side project Mason started in order to make money, "We tried a zillion things" Mason said. Including selling slippers with flashlights, which Mason describes as "act of desperation, pretty impressive considering that the company is currently making $365 million in revenues, a million a day according to our sources. Mason gave no thought whatsoever as to whether or not it would work.

Conway: During The Bubble,...

Today, during our Social Currency CrunchUp, angel investor Ron Conway had some interesting data to share for the first time. Conway says that his company, SV Angel, has recently done an audit on the over 500 companies they've invested in over the past 12 years. And he was surprised with the results. Conway expected it would show that about one-third of companies fail, one-third get investors their money back, and one-third bring a 2x to Google-x return (Conway invested in Google early on). But that's not the case. Conway noticed that during the Internet Bubble in 1997 to 2001 -- the failure rate (startups that go out of business and the investors get nothing) was a staggering 77 percent. "It was catastrophic," he said.

Ron Conway And Paul Graham...

Today at our Social Currency CrunchUp in Palo Alto, CA, Michael Arrington sat down with investors Ron Conway and Paul Graham. Obviously, these are two of the biggest names in early-stage investing (with SV Angel and Y Combinator, respectively). Both Conway and Graham had some interesting data to share. Conway, in particular, was able to give some great numbers because he's recently done an audit on the over 500 companies he's invested in over the past 12 years.

Social Currency CrunchUp Live

Good morning from the TechCrunch Social Currency CrunchUp at the Stanford Campus, where many of Silicon Valley's most seasoned entrepreneurs and investors are joining us to discuss the future of coupons, social commerce, virtual goods, gaming mechanics, and a range of other timely topics. We're streaming the event in its entirety live on Ustream.

UK Body Clears Google Of...

Google has been cleared of any wrongdoing relating to Wi-Fi snooping in the UK. Well, partially cleared. The country’s Information Commissioner's Office, whose job is to “uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals,” has said that “it is unlikely that Google will have captured significant amounts of personal data” during its Street View mappings.

Stand Back There’s A...

Google has added weather data to its Google Earth application. As of now, the new feature only supports locations in North America and parts of Europe.

Dave McClure Files For $30...

In January, we broke the news that prolific Silicon Valley angel investor Dave McClure was to set up its own venture capital fund. Yesterday, the man filed for the fund with the SEC, providing us with more details (hat tip to FormDs.com). The name will be 500 Startups - McClure has long called himself the master of 500 hats - and the initial fund will amount to max. $30 million according to the filing.