Video: Stories on failure from New York’s top startups and investors

Hear about stories and thoughts on failure from some of top startups and investors from the New York Tech Meetup. Featured in this video are: Peter Stern of bitly, Sam Yagan of OkCupid, Andy Weissman of Union Square Ventures, David Tisch of TechStars, as well as Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp of Birchbox.

Ten QR code sins to avoid

Depending on who you speak to, QR codes are either a passing fad or the next big thing. I believe it’s somewhere in the middle.

QR codes are beginning to enter the mainstream in Singapore, driven by the mass adoption and usage of smartphones, and I expect this trend to continue in 2012.

But while critics might argue that NFC technology will supplant QR codes, I wholeheartedly disagree. Although NFC trials are slated to start in Singapore this year, I’d wager that mainstream adoption is at least one year away (depending on whether the iPhone 5 adopts NFC). It’s likely that QR codes will remain the de facto bridge between outdoor and digital marketing for some time. Read more

Soon, Twitter will allow you to track your tweets and links

For marketers and firms who want to test the effectiveness of their social media marketing campaigns, tools like Bitly and Google Analytics have been crucial in gauging success.

Now, Twitter wants to get into the analytics space too, and it will be rolling a Twitter Web Analytics feature over the next few weeks, reported GigaOM. Read more

6 Essential Social Media Tools for Start-Ups

If you are starting up a new company that primarily goes from business to consumer, without a big budget in marketing or PR, your best chance for getting your message across will be via social media. Most start-ups or major corporations which adopt social media tools to market and engage their customers in Southeast Asia, are essentially in the IT, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG – for example, mobile phones, computers and gadgets) or online media space. Specifically in this article, we want to focus essentially on the start-ups space and offer 6 essential social media tools that a start-up will need. Read more