Business

Stypi is a YCombinator backed startup that was recently acquired by Salesforce.com. Their story details the mechanics for how a small company can manage an acquisition. It provides lessons for startups going through the process for the first time. Stypi is a real-time editor that multiple people can edit at the same time. It also supports several programming languages which makes it an especially cool collaborative tool. Jasen Chen is one of the founders who now works at Salesforce.com on the Stypi project. His story mostly relates to acquisitions of $25 million or less. Here are his five insights into the courtship and the eventual exit: First Contact . That first contact is like meeting someone from the opposite sex. Intentions are confusing but the prospects are enticing. First forays are usually from a founder or the corporate development department of a larger company. These people usually act on behalf of an interested internal team. Get comfortable with this person as this is ...

Biggs is the East Coast Editor of TechCrunch. Biggs has written for the New York Times, InSync, USA Weekend, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Money and a number of other outlets on technology and wristwatches. He is the former editor-in-chief of Gizmodo.com and lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. You can Tweet him here and G+ him here. Email him directly at... ? Learn More Burf aka Simon Burfield is an iOS programmer and Lego experimenter who tries to take building blocks to the next level. Interestingly, if this wild rideable Lego wheelchair is any indication, he’s left the next level and is now firmly in the distant future. Made with 12 Lego NXT motors and 12 multi-directional wheels, this carefully designed prototype can carry around a 198 pound person and is controlled via a small joystick. It can move in multiple directions and even roll side to side to “strafe” through a room. Obviously this is a one-off DIY project, but it’s amazing how far a little ingenuity, a whole lot of Lego...