startup

They are smart people who let millions of dollars slip through their fingers. Their mistake: Leaving a job at an early start-up that went on to become super-hot, or, just as bad, turning those jobs down.

Popular daily-deal sites, such as Groupon and LivingSocial, work with businesses to offer group discounts for shoppers. But a new site called oBaz, which launches Tuesday, wants to reverse the model by enabling shoppers to ask for what they want.

Today's challenging job market has many recent college grads contemplating life as an entrepreneur. Some have dabbled in self-employment, but most will going into it essentially relying on instinct. So we asked some experienced entrepreneurs what every would-be small businessperson needs to know.

A new crop of tech IPOs are en route to the market, among them vacation rental website HomeAway, online radio site Pandora and business networking site LinkedIn. But how can you tell if these startups are worthy of your cash? Here are the four questions to ask before buying into an IPO.

With 20,000 attendees and corporate outposts by the score, this year's South by Southwest Interactive has a carnival-like atmosphere. From its origin as a sort of spring break for nerds, the event has grown into something more like Disneyland for adults.

Travel startup Hipmunk has reportedly received $6 million in venture funding. The round could go a long way towards helping Hipmunk scale into a big player in the market.

They say necessity is the mother of invention. But for the young entrepreneurs behind WePay.com, necessity looked less maternal--and more like a confusing mishmash of cash and checks as they tried to collect money from friends to cover a bachelor-party tab. Their solution--a group payment epiphany...

Facebook and many other tech startups have realized that the hassles and headaches of an IPO in the U.S. aren't always worthwhile. Thanks to willing venture capitalists and private investors, it's easier than ever for tech companies to avoid the lure of going public.

Square makes it much easier for even the smallest retailers to accept credit cards: The mobile payment firm offers easy to use hardware that plugs right into iPhones or Android devices. But at least part of its new high price tag probably derives from the fact that its founder, Jack Dorsey, also co-founded Twitter.

Cloud computing is the new hot trend, but anyone business that has tried to move itself into the cloud has generally been in for a shock. Yes, the cloud may be cheaper than owning servers, but it has its own painful issues. Enter startup Standing Cloud, which wants to make the jump to the cloud into a cake walk.