What is the fuel that propels a startup from idea to launch to a sustainable success? Is it a killer idea? Funding? Revenue? Attracting the best talent? A visionary leader?

The correct answer is customer feedback — lots and lots of customer feedback that you, as the founder of your startup, can leverage in order to develop a great product for which users will go crazy.

In this article, you'll find the ways in which you should be soliciting the kind of feedback from customers that can make or break your startup. Read more...

Feedback for Every Stage of Your Startup

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Everything is sweeter with cake — even brutal honesty

Planning on giving a friend a healthy dose of reality for her birthday? Say it with pastry. Looking for the perfect way to apologize for your misdeeds? Pipe it on a cake. Do you really need to get something off your chest? You know what to do.

Stuff your face with 13 cakes that don't hold back the sugar or the punches.

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Image courtesy of Reddit, Blumpco

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Image courtesy of Imgur, Steffi747

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Image courtesy of Imgur, unicornblood

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Image courtesy of Imgur, Jallen009

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Image courtesy of Imgur, wholee Read more...

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If you're tired of the same old clichéd indie wedding photos on Pinterest and want something tailored to specific interests, it's time to branch out. Many Pinterest alternatives also feature the now-iconic grid layout, social interaction and aggregation that makes Pinterest so appealing.

These 14 Pinterest-style inspiration sites tend to focus on more specific niches, such as food, typography and travel. After all, you'll only encounter so many cheesy quotes on Pinterest before getting anxious.

Homepage image courtesy of Flickr, Stars for Streetlights Read more...

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Google Earth for iOS has been updated to include Street View, thus catching up with its Android counterpart which received that functionality in May 2013

The new version of the app — 7.1, for both Android and iOS — brings several other improvements as well, namely better walking, biking and step-by-step transit directions in full 3D, as well as a number of additional information layers such as Panoramio Photos and Wikipedia

Finally, the app is now available in more than 100 countries, Google says

Get the latest iOS version of the app here. The Android version can be found here

Image courtesy of Google Read more...

More about Street View, Google Earth, Ios, Tech, and Mobile

HTC has announced a red version of its flagship Android smartphone, the HTC One, exclusive to UK's Phones 4u customers.

There is no difference in specifications between the red HTC One and the "regular" black and silver versions, except for the color. If you trust HTC's EMEA President Philip Blair, though, the Glamour Red color (as it's called) showcases the device in a color "that demands attention"

The Glamour Red HTC One will be available in the UK from "mid-July."

How do you like the red version of HTC One? Do you prefer that color to the silver and black versions of the device? Share your thoughts in the comments Read more...

More about Htc, Tech, Mobile, Htc One, and Red Htc One

LinkedIn unveiled two new updates on Wednesday that give its users a more personalized homepage.

Called "Who's Viewed Your Updates" and "You Recently Visited," the features "are intended to provide you with more personalized insights on your activities and engagement across LinkedIn," company product lead Caroline Gaffney says in a blog post. She adds that both are displayed on the right-hand side of a user's homepage

"Who's Viewed Your Updates" is a snapshot of what a user has shared over the past two weeks. It also indicates who has seen the content, and how many likes and reshares it received. The overview includes first-degree connections, as well as those in second- and third- degree networks. Read more...

More about Linkedin, Personalized Homepage, Personalization, Homepage, and Social Media

Gymnastics is a particularly GIF-able sport because you can't help but watch each clip over and over

By your third watch, you might just be able to determine the precise number of flips and twists involved in each skill. By viewing number five, you start to contemplate the sheer muscle power and flexibility each move requires. By the eighth time, it sinks in: you will never, ever be able to move that way without ending up in a neck brace.

Below are 20 of the most flipping awesome gymnastics GIFs. Warning: Don't try these moves off your living room sofa. Read more...

More about Olympics, Gifs, Watercooler, Sports, and Gymnastics

Facebook rolled out a new rainbow emoji Wednesday to mark the historic Supreme Court decision to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act.

When users click on the smiley-face image below their status-update box, they now have the option to select a rainbow icon — indicating "pride" — under the "feeling" drop-down menu. A Facebook representative confirmed to Mashable that the new icon launched in light of the DOMA decision.

The rainbow and the words "feeling pride" appear next to a user's name, and in some cases, next to his or her status-update message.

However, it's unclear whether all Facebook users have the new DOMA-inspired icon. As Mashable's Canada-based reporter, I'm not presented with the option Read more...

More about Facebook, Gay Pride, Social Media, Us, and Emoji

The history books are quickly filling up with Google Glass firsts — everything from skydives, showers and, now, surgeries.

You read that right — Dr. Rafael Grossman, also a TEDx speaker and Google Glass Explorer, has used the wearable device to live-stream a surgery. The operation involved endoscopically inserting a feeding tube for a patient and, though he captured footage of the procedure, Grossman said he kept the patient's confidentiality intact.

In a post on his website entitled "OK Glass: Hand Me the Scalpel, Please," Grossman wrote: Read more...

More about Medicine, Tech, Apps Software, Gadgets, and Mobile

Variations of Street Fighter and Grand Theft Auto have intrigued the Internet this week, but a new Pac-Man might be the most exhilarating

Creator Tom Davies has introduced FPS-Man, a revamped, first-person edition to the classic arcade game. The main difference in this revamped version is that instead of an overhead view, gamers must collect their pac-dots without knowing what's around every corner. This makes for a more strategic and somewhat jolting gameplay.

Venture over to Kongregate to play FPS-Man from your browser. Users who create a username and password can track their high scores and game achievements, including how they stack up against other players. There's also instructions for first-time gamers. Read more...

More about Entertainment, Gaming, Pac Man, Conversations, and Watercooler

Soon you won’t need to be an astronaut to take a trip into space — but you'll still need a way to pay for things. The first Virgin Galactic consumer space flight is set to blast off this Christmas, and the first space hotel, created by a Russian company, is expected to be open for business within the next few years

While we’ve started to solve problems around how consumers will get to space, and where they’ll stay, one thing that hasn’t been discussed is how you'll pay for things once you get there. How do you pay for a cup of coffee at breakfast when you’re traveling outside the earth's bounds and traditional payment methods don’t work? Read more...

More about Space, Paypal, Nasa, Payments, and Tech

The next generation of Apple devices may include a fingerprint scanner.

A newly published patent obtained by the company shows a fingerprint scanner that could be embedded within products. Rumored to be included in the upcoming iPhone 5S, the scanner would add an extra layer of security to the iPhone

For instance, when you’re sliding to unlock the phone, it will also simultaneously scan your fingerprint. If it detects that the person swiping isn’t you, he or she won’t be allowed to use your phone, and will remain locked out.

This isn't the first time that Apple has looked at fingerprint technology. The Cupertino, Calif. company acquired fingerprint-scanning firm AuthenTec last year, causing many to suspect that it would be including a fingerprinting feature in upcoming devices. Read more...

More about Iphone, Apple, Patent, Tech, and Mobile

The Launchpad is a series that introduces Mashable readers to compelling startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Rockpack

One-Liner Pitch: Rockpack makes it easy for users to curate and discover video channels

Why It's Taking Off: Rockpack aims to solve the video-discovery problem, and it has gathered an impressive group of advisors, investors and content-providers to make that happen.

One night, Sofia Fenichell was sitting at her kitchen table, going through her inbox and clearing out all the irrelevant messages sent to her by marketers, when she stumbled upon a friend's email that contained a video; it made her laugh out loud Read more...

More about Youtube, Startups, Video Discovery, Business, and Video

For all you gamers out there looking for a real challenge, look no further: There's a free, newly updated puzzle game ready to test your skills (and patience)

Can You Escape, the brainchild of MobiGrow, coaxes iPhone, iPad and Android users to employ a trial-and-error solving method to scrounge for clues, as well as sleuth out ways to escape a series of rooms. The set-ups in the game are fully functional and interactive, with every drawer, chair and fixture serving as a possible point of detection.

The latest update contains two new levels, capping the game with a grand total of ten. Can You Escape's creators claim [iTunes link] the game will have a “constant update of new rooms.” Currently, the app is free for download on iOS and Android platforms. You can also add more levels and remove ads for an extra cost. Read more...

More about Iphone, Android, App, App Store, and Ipad

In May, Scroll Kit, a New York-based startup that lets users create websites without learning a single line of code, attempted to showcase its skills by recreating The New York Times' Snow Fall, an interactive multimedia report.

Scroll Kit recreated the experience, and said it took only an hour to make. However, The Times eventually asked co-founders Cody Brown and Kate Ray to take down the replica, citing copyright violations.

"We thought it was something [The New York Times] would see as an homage," Brown explained.

After The New York Times also requested that Brown and Ray remove any mention to Snow Fall from their website, Brown refused, saying their statement on the site reflected a true fact. Despite the legal confrontations, Brown said the incident helped gain a lot of interest and buzz for Scroll Kit Read more...

More about Startup, Web Design, Code, Website, and Business

Microsoft thinks very highly of its homegrown web browser, Internet Explorer. IE has been intertwined with Windows itself for over a decade, and when Microsoft debuted Windows 8 last year, it also released a new version of the browser, Internet Explorer 10, that was created specifically for the full-screen, touch-first experience that Windows 8 emphasizes.

By its nature, IE10 was a big change, but it also had some strange limitations. Web content took up the whole screen unless you right-clicked — only then did you see your tabs or the URL bar. You couldn’t manage Favorites. You could only have 10 tabs open at once. To make the transition bearable, Microsoft kept a version of IE10 in the traditional desktop environment, although the same engine powers both. Read more...

More about Internet Explorer, Windows 8, Ie10, Tech, and Apps Software

Wimbledon is currently under way in full force, bringing tennis to the forefront of the sports conversation

But which countries are the biggest fans of the sport? The map below, based on Facebook data that the world's largest social networking site shared with Mashable exclusively, helps shed a bit of light

Turns out Americans love tennis tennis most, according to Facebook. India, Italy and England have tons of fans as well, while several countries sit one tier below. On the map, countries shaded darker have more fans, while the lightest countries have fewer: Read more...

More about Tennis, Entertainment, and Sports

True story: On Monday, in the midst of the morning scramble to get ready for work, I was all set to go, when I couldn't find my car keys. Ten minutes of frantic searching later, I found them in a jar where I keep my pencils and pens. We've all lost things in weird places at inopportune times, and a new product, Tile, could help ease that frustration.

Tiles are matchbook-sized, Bluetooth-enabled low energy devices that track your belongings. Just stick the white Tile to your laptop (using the included double-sided adhesive), attach to keys or drop into your purse/wallet and you can find those things using the Tile iOS app. You can add up to 10 Tiles on a single account. Log into the app on your own or your friend's iPhone/iPad and pinpoint the Tile's location within an advertised range of 50 to 150 feet. Read more...

More about Tracker, Gps Tracker, Lost Phone, Lost And Found, and Gadgets

Of all the modern luxuries we have today, spell check is one that we value most

Seriously, what would we do without those squiggly red lines underneath our slip-ups and typos? How else would we find out that we incorrectly spelled "spaghetti?" What would tell us that we left out a letter in "accidentally?"

For all the beautiful things spell check has done to our word processing experience, it's too bad that function hasn't yet extended to real life. There are plenty of reasons — too many reasons — that it is seriously needed Read more...

1. Because tattoos are permanent.

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In the wake of the Watergate scandals, nearly four decades ago, Congress overwhelmingly supported the expansion of the Freedom of Information Act. Today, the legislative branch is again faced with an administration keeping too many secrets, and it necessitates a similar counterweight.

Although Watergate involved outright criminality, the PRISM program and collection of mobile telephony data are legal, approved by acts of Congress and overseen by judges on a FISA court. The larger issue here is the lack of public knowledge regarding the extent of electronic surveillance

Read more...

More about Privacy, Us Government, Prism, Us World, and Politics

Nerdist's Course of the Force, a week-long relay across California dedicated to Star Wars enthusiasts, is teaming up with Rovio and Angry Birds Star Wars for its second annual lightsaber run this week, which gives geeks some exercise and raises money for charity.

The Course of the Force relay is for Star Wars supporters to celebrate their love for the series, and raise proceeds for the Make-A-Wish Foundations of California. Participants in the relay will be running quarter-mile segments down the California coast in July, with an ultimate destination of San Diego Comic-Con. After running a leg of their race, participants pass off a customized Course of the Force lightsaber to the next runner to continue. Read more...

More about Entertainment, Gaming, Star Wars, Angry Birds, and Course Of The Force

The online backlash from a Cheerios commercial featuring an interracial couple inspired Michael David Murphy and Alyson West to create a site that would represent families like theirs

The couple created We Are the 15 Percent, a Tumblr page whose name refers to a statistic that indicates 15% of new marriages in the United States are interracial. The site features personal portraits sent in by families across the country.

"Our hope is that the site will continue to be an active, living space for positive support, awareness and community," West said. "The site has been unbelievably uplifting for us, the contributing families, and anyone who enjoys seeing happy faces. We Are the 15 Percent is an attempt to represent the true face of the American family." Read more...

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Ultra HDTV is getting more affordable, and Sharp did its part on Wednesday by unveiling a THX-certified 70-inch ultra-HD television for $8,000. That sounds like a lot, but it's a fraction of some prices quoted for the futuristic TV sets that deliver four times the resolution of a garden-variety HDTV.

You won't have to wait for years to get one in your living room, either — Sharp says this new ultra HDTV will be available in mid-August.

Like you'd expect, it brings serious specs along with that crispy 4K video, including a quartet of HDMI inputs that accept native 4K signals, a couple of USB ports, an SD card reader and an ultra-thin frame that allows its 70-inch screen to take up the same space as a typical 65-inch TV Read more...

More about Thx, Tech, Gadgets, and Ultra Hdtv

Every time the Mad Men gang hits California, the mood of the show visibly lightens. You can almost see the smoky haze of Manhattan lifting. All the pot smoking, sun bathing, convertible driving and day drinking seem more acceptable poolside instead of deskside.

At the end of season six, Don, Megan, Stan and Ted are looking for a place to start fresh and leave their troubles behind. So what if they picked up and left Manhattan for the West Coast?

The video below gives us a glimpse, with a nod to old TV fan favorite The O.C.

Image courtesy of AMC Networks Read more...

More about Video, Mad Men, Jon Hamm, Tv, and Watercooler

If you're looking to quaff a free ice-cold Molson Canadian beer in one of these specially selected locations, you'll need a Canadian passport to open the refrigerator

As part of a clever online and TV ad campaign by agency Rethink Canada, fire-engine-red refrigerators full of Molson beer were strategically placed across a variety of European locations to attract crowds.

As you can watch in the heartwarming video above, as soon as a Canadian steps up and scans a passport in the refrigerator, it's party time.

We're wondering how the bright red fridge will attract a crowd in some of the more remote locations. Perhaps Molson is hoping rural residents will be enticed to drive to take advantage of the free beer, gathering from miles around. Somebody better remember to bring along a Canadian or a Canadian passport, though. Read more...

More about Ads, Beer, Advertisements, Ad Campaign, and Business

Social Media Day is right around the corner, and we've wasted no time planning the biggest celebration NYC has ever seen. The soiree will be hosted by Mashable, Vice and Milk Studios on Saturday, June 29. It's going to be quite the party — our guest list maxed out just two days after it was announced

Because we're expecting such a great celebration, we're giving away five pairs of VIP tickets to make it even bigger and better!

This contest is designed to highlight the power of the connected generation, using the newest social multimedia tool: Instagram video. We're looking for savvy users with inspiring stories about social media friendships Read more...

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Facebook has not handed over user data to Turkish authorities during the country's ongoing anti-government protests, the company said in a Wednesday statement

Facebook's comments follow a Turkish government minister's claim that Facebook was "in cooperation with the state" while Twitter was refusing to supply user data, per NPR.

Read Facebook's full statement below:

Facebook has not provided user data to Turkish authorities in response to government requests relating to the protests. More generally, we reject all government data requests from Turkish authorities and push them to formal legal channels unless it appears that there is an immediate threat to life or a child, which has been the case in only a small fraction of the requests we have received

We are concerned about legislative proposals that might purport to require Internet companies to provide user information to Turkish law enforcement authorities more frequently. We will be meeting with representatives of the Turkish government when they visit Silicon Valley this week, and we intend to communicate our strong concerns about these proposals directly at that time. Read more...

More about Facebook, Turkey, Arab Spring, Us World, and Politics

Spotify got its hands on an exclusive remix of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" — one of the summer's hottest songs. The remix from the electronic music duo is four minutes longer than the original, which arrived in April and has since been streamed 64 million times

As with the original, this reworked version features Nile Rodgers on guitar and Pharrell on vocals, singing about late-night antics, hanky panky and one-on-one connections.

"Get Lucky" from Daft Punk's Random Access Memories album holds down the No. 2 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 songs chart nine weeks after debuting Read more...

More about Music, Entertainment, Spotify, and Daft Punk

I am in a full-on state of denial about the approaching deadline to move my news-reading off Google Reader, Google’s industry-leading RSS reader. I don’t want it to happen, although I know I am powerless to stop it.

Google Reader is how I begin my workday. It is the first web application I open, and one I turn to multiple times throughout the day. My list of feeds is longer than the Amazon. It traverses breaking news, tech updates, press releases, cultural phenomena, science and space updates and even byzantine patents. It’s a perfect reflection of my interests and world view.

Read more...

More about Google, Rss, Google Reader, Tech, and Apps Software

Microsoft regularly introduces new features to its Bing search engine — such as the coming 3D maps — but often those features can't be used outside of Bing. That changes as of today with the launch of the Bing Platform for developers.

Announced today at Microsoft's Build 2013 conference, the Bing Platform will let app developers create experiences in their apps around Bing's services. For example, if an app wants to perform real-time translation of text, it could tie into the Bing Translator Control API for that capability, so the developer won't have to create the service from scratch

Read more...

More about Microsoft, Bing, Tech, Apps Software, and Dev Design