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PALO ALTO, Calif.--Bill Clerico may not be Steve Jobs, but he's doing something very Jobsian: "I'm pushing people to do things they don't think are possible."

Clerico is CEO of WePay, an online payments collection service that is taking on the likes of PayPal, Stripe, Braintree, and others, and which is growing--fast. Its 2012 revenues will likely be several times that of 2011, and that means a big expansion in users and employees. Plus long hours and hard work for those already on staff.

It's nearly 10 a.m. on a recent Monday, … Read more

For startups in Silicon Valley, little is more prized than an audience with Reid Hoffman.

Entrepreneurs come for his money, attention, but most of all, his advice.

Hoffman is a bit of a mystic "startup whisperer," according to a New York Times profile on 44-year-old co-founder of professional network LinkedIn.

The profile paints a portrait of a man who juggles a full schedule of meetings with people seeking his guidance, giving rapid-fire suggestions on platforms, presentation, and strategy, while trying not to be tied to Facebook, Twitter, or any of the four cell phones he carries.

LinkedIn, which … Read more

commentary The introduction late last week by members of the House Judiciary Committee of the "Stop Online Piracy Act," or SOPA, may test a long-standing reluctance by technology companies to take up arms in the legislative battleground.

The bill, introduced as the House version of the Senate's Protect IP Act, solves few of the glaring problems of the Senate bill and introduces many all its own. While Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) may have given in to hyperbole in calling SOPA "the end of the Internet as we know it," there is certainly a great deal … Read more

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says if he had it all to do over, he would have stayed in Boston.

The Facebook chief executive said during an interview yesterday at Y Combinator's Startup School that Silicon Valley suffers from a bit of shortsightedness.

"If I were starting now I would do things very differently," he said. "You get this feeling when you are out here in the Silicon Valley that you have to be out here."

While he said there were a lot of great resources for beginners in Silicon Valley such as engineers, universities, and … Read more

Nearly seven years after its founding, YouTube employees still fiercely debate where to draw the line between titillating content that may or may not be acceptable.

Including videos of man boobs.

"Recently we had the issue of man boobs--do man boobs need to be age-restricted or not?" Victoria Grand, YouTube's director for global communications and policy, said today, referring to that unfortunate medical condition caused by abnormal development of male mammary glands.

Man boobs, also known as gynecomastia, is an unlikely but popular category on YouTube, in part because mischievous uploaders may imply the exposed bosoms are … Read more

It's hard to imagine making thermostats sexy, but if anyone could do it, it would be the "father of the iPod."

In 2008, amid renewed concerns about Steve Jobs' health, Fortune ranked the probable candidates to someday replace the famed Apple CEO. The first choice? Then COO and eventual successor Tim Cook. The second? Tony Fadell, chief of the iPod division and the man credited with the ideas that resulted in the creation of the iPod and its marriage with the iTunes Music Store.

Around that time, Fadell left Apple, his next move unknown, and since then, … Read more

commentary A day before Apple celebrated the life and career of its legendary co-founder, the company disclosed that its business in China is growing at a spectacular clip. The numbers: China accounted for 16 percent of Apple's fourth-quarter sales, roughly $4.5 billion; that's nearly quadruple what it sold there a year ago.

It was only coincidence but news of Apple's banner sales to the Middle Kingdom comes as the possibility of a full-scale trade war between the United States and China has moved from the realm of "no frigging way" close to becoming a … Read more

Superhero fans, we give you Herbert Chavez of the Philippines.

Chavez obviously read a comic book or two during his 35 years of life on Earth because he turned to extensive surgery to transform himself into everyone's famous Son of Krypton.

According to a ABS-CBN Filipino news report, Chavez has been undergoing Superman-ish procedures for 16 years now, including chin augmentation, rhinoplasty, silicone injections to his lips, and (my favorite) thigh implants. … Read more

Who would you pick to play Steve Jobs in a feature-length fimic biography of the tech titan?

You can bet that question is being pondered mightily by producer Mark Gordon and his production entity MG360, who, along with Sony Pictures, may eventually bring such a biopic to the screen. (And you can bet an actor or three is howling at his agent to "Get me that part!")

We're wondering if Noah Wyle is possibly in the running. As you may recall, the "E.R." star played Jobs in the 1999 made-for-TV flick "Pirates of … Read more