Business

Anthony Ha is a writer at TechCrunch, where he covers media, advertising, and startups. Previously, he was a staff technology writer at Adweek, worked as a senior editor at the tech blog VentureBeat, and was also a reporter at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing.... ? Learn More Canopy Labs, a company in the current class of startups incubated by Y Combinator, aims to help mid-sized businesses prioritize their sales leads and identify high-value customers. Co-founder and CEO Wojciech Gryc says that large enterprises usually hire outside consultants to build these kinds of lead optimization tools and customer models. Slightly smaller companies (namely, those that still have more than 10,000 customers) could still benefit, but they probably aren’t going to spend the money. Naturally, that’s where Canopy Labs comes in. Instead of paying to develop their own tools, mid-sized businesses c...

Here's a strange story from a Best Buy customer in Virginia that's a reminder to keep your personal stuff safe when using services. The customer, Sophia Ellison, went to the Geek Squad at the Fair Oaks Best Buy store in Fairfax to transfer data to her brand new iPhone, reports Neal Augenstein at WTOP The employee serving her offered to buy her old iPhone which had a cracked screen. So, he paid her $60 and promised to wipe it.  The next day, Ellison realized that her new iPhone 4S didn't have any of her photos, which included "suggestive" personal photos. When she called to complain, the Geek Squad worker called her back, and told her that he had put all her photos on a CD, and to go to his house to pick them up. Creepy. Here's what a Best Buy spokesperson had to say to WTOP. It looks like the employee has been fired: "First and foremost, we apologize to this customer for an unfortunate experience caused by what appears to be rogue action against our code...