Foursquare Co-founder Naveen Selvadurai Checks Out

Three years after launching Foursquare in New York City, co-founder Naveen Selvadurai announced that he is leaving the company.
During his tenure, the Foursquare community grew from roughly one hundred Beta testers to 15 million people using the check-in service and 750,000 businesses on the merchant platform.  The site has logged more than 1.5 billion check-ins to date.
With over 100 employees, the growing company has moved its headquarters to a bigger office in SoHo and added a satellite office in San Francisco.
GigaOm writer Om Malik was suspicious when when Spark Capital, one of Foursquare’s investors, bought $50 million worth of employee stock last month. Today, Selvadurai confirmed in a blog post that he would be leaving the company at the end of the month.
“After three years, I feel I’ve done all I can do and I’m moving on,” wrote Selvadurai. “[Co-founder Dennis Crowley] and I have been discussing timing for a while, and we decided that now, on this anniversary, it feels right to begin the transition.”
Selvadurai will oversee the release of a few “final projects” before he leaves, and will remain on the board of advisers as the rest of the company moves forward.
“But spring is time for things that are new,” Selvadurai continued, “and I realize that I have a desire to do something new as well. I’m not sure about my exact next steps, but I’ll probably get back to what I love most – being an entrepreneur, learning and building new things.”

Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin Talks To CNBC

Last we’d heard, Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin had to refrain from discussing the social network with members of media as part of the terms of his settlement. He sspoke to CNBC anchor Brian Sullivan about Facebook’s potential for growth, along with plugging some of the consumer applications he is currently backing.
In an interview that aired this morning on CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange,” Sullivan asked Saverin how big Facebook can be, and he replied:

I think it can really be as big as we can imagine. If you look at the company itself and the space, it’s in the very early beginnings, and there are just a lot of things to get done. What Facebook has really done today is allowed us to have identity on the Web. Now there’s our passport, and that includes a bunch of different things that we do, such as our social graph, our people around us, the things that we like, and there’s a lot more to do.

In terms of user growth, you have the limit of the world’s population. So I think both will take place. I think it’s going to expand in terms of user growth, but I think really one of the things that’s fairly unique is that we’ve just touched the surface in terms of what type of applications and uses the social graph and what Facebook has done can help with.

And speaking about two applications he is currently backing, credit-card-processing app Jumio and shopping decision aide ShopSavvy, Saverin added:

Even though Facebook has grown this big in terms of the use that you can go and take your friends with you, or you can take your interests with you and make that efficient, it’s just in the very early beginnings, so there’s a lot that has to be done. In terms of Jumio, you need to perfect the payment infrastructure both in terms of fraud and in terms of the facility for you to actually pay. In terms of ShopSavvy, you really need to bridge, as an example, ecommerce between the brick-and-mortar sites and what’s happening on the Web and with your friends.

(Founder Stories) Warby Parker: “Why Should A Pair Of Glasses Cost More Than An iPhone?”

If you’ve ever shopped for a pair of prescription glasses, you’ve probably seen first hand how expensive a set can be. Warby Parker’s co-founders are right there with you.
Both fed-up and puzzled over paying hundreds of dollars for a product that’s been around for hundreds of years, the Warby Parker team is shaking up the eyewear industry by selling prescription glasses online, at a price tag of just $95 a pair.
Having crafted their plan during business school, the foursome launched the company two years ago this month. Three weeks after the initial pair went on sale, co-founder, Neil Blumenthal says Warby Parker hit its sales targets for the entire year and adds “we sold out of our top 15 styles in four weeks”. The company has since ramped up to 60-employees.
Two of Warby Parker’s co-founders, David Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal recently stopped by TCTV to give Founder Stories host, Chris Dixon the backstory on how the company got started.
As lifelong eyeglass wearers, Gilboa tells Dixon the group couldn’t understand why “glasses cost more than an iPhone.” After doing some research they realized “there’s a handful of companies that control the entire supply chain.” Not content to roll with the status quo, Gilboa says the team set out to change the landscape by creating “our own brand of glasses …. so we could sell the same product that normally costs $500 for $95.”
However, because their product was only available online, the team had to figure out a way for customers to try on the frames. Blumenthal says their solution was to create a “first of its kind” program “in the US where you select 5 frames, we ship it to you free of cost and you have 5 days to try them on at home, with no obligation to buy.”
Gilboa adds that this process enables customers to receive feedback from people “they trust” (versus paid sales staffers) and as an added benefit, Warby Parker receives “millions of free impressions” from users who post tryout pictures to their social networking sites.
As the interview unfolds, Gilboa and Blumenthal share plenty more insights, so sure to watch the entire video to hear more.
Past episodes for Founder Stories featuring Jeff Clavier, Cyrus Massoumi, Stephen Kaufer, Mayor Bloomberg and many other leaders are here.
Episode II of this interview is coming up.

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