Monday, November 17, 2014

Shark Tank Backed Groovebook aquired by giant Shutterfly for $14.5 million.


GrooveBook, a photo-printing app and subscription service that creates personalized photo books featuring up to 100 of your photos, shipped monthly, has been acquired by photo printing giant Shutterfly for $14.5 million. The smaller startup is probably best known for as the photo book app from TV’s “Shark Tank,” where founders Julie and Brian Whiteman pitched their uniquely-designed photo books, which have a groove in the side making them flexible – and also cheaper to print.
On the show, the startup scored a deal from Mark Cuban and Kevin O’Leary for a $150,000 investment for 80% licensing rights only. GrooveBook, which had acquired over 18,000 subscribers in the 8 months before the show, benefited from the exposure and grew its business to 500,000 paid subscribers post-Shark Tank, the company said in a later update.
Shutterfly tells us today that GrooveBook has more than 1 million downloads, 200 million photo uploads and GrooveBook subscribers have grown 15 times since appearing on Shark Tank.
Today, GrooveBook offers an iPhone and Android app that lets customers print photos from their mobile phone. The 4.5″ x 6.5″ GrooveBooks are then shipped out for $2.99 per month.
The company’s concept was interesting enough, but the app and service had mixed reviews. On iTunes, for example, the app held just a 2.5-star rating with customers complaining about its low-quality picture and paper quality, and technical issues with the app.
By joining Shutterfly, the smaller company will now have the resources of Shutterfly’s scale when it comes to photo printing, which may help get costs down even further, and boost its previously slim margins. A quote GrooveBook founder Brian hints that the company was not yet in the black. He said that by joining Shutterfly and “leveraging their technology platform, expansive manufacturing footprint, and expertise in quickly scaling brands, we will be able to scale GrooveBook operations and grow it into a profitable, nationally recognized brand.”
Initially, the Whitemans will stay on with Shutterfly as consultants, the company says.
GrooveBook is one of several photo-focused startups Shutterfly has acquired over the past couple of years. Others include ThisLife, R and R Images, Tiny Prints, Penguin Digital, MyPublisher, Treat, Wedding Paper Divas, BorrowLenses, and more.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Dow Jones +S+P 500 Celebrate GOP Senate Victory


Top 20 Largest - Consolidated Short Position Report

Top 20 Largest - Consolidated Short Position Report
Please find below the Top 20 Largest Consolidated Short Position Report Highlights. The report is produced twice
monthly, effective the 15th and the end of each month. The report below covers the 2-week period ending
October 15th, 2014.
TSX Markets (a division of TSX Inc.) collects this information on behalf of Investment Industry Organization of
Canada. Participating Organizations are required to file this information pursuant to Universal Market Integrity
Rule 10.10.
Issue Name Symbol As of Oct 15 As of Sept 30 Net Change
LUNDIN MINING CORPORATION LUN 61,717,125 55,693,625 6,023,500
ISHARES S&P/TSX 60 INDEX ETF UNITS XIU 58,439,828 37,229,320 21,210,508
BOMBARDIER INC. CL 'B' SV BBD.B 50,319,140 43,434,463 6,884,677
ATHABASCA OIL CORPORATION J ATH 47,887,546 41,663,112 6,224,434
TORONTO-DOMINION BANK (THE) TD 40,777,450 33,841,591 6,935,859
B2GOLD CORP. J BTO 34,604,210 25,336,758 9,267,452
KINROSS GOLD CORPORATION K 31,818,126 24,963,880 6,854,246
NEW GOLD INC. NGD 30,842,128 30,737,228 104,900
LEGACY OIL + GAS INC. LEG 28,153,168 27,057,329 1,095,839
BARRICK GOLD CORPORATION ABX 27,778,384 29,395,034 -1,616,650
GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. GWO 27,553,108 27,582,220 -29,112
HUSKY ENERGY INC. HSE 27,079,143 27,325,259 -246,116
PENN WEST PETROLEUM LTD. PWT 26,270,469 16,212,469 10,058,000
CELESTICA INC. SV CLS 26,228,563 26,147,913 80,650
MANULIFE FINANCIAL CORPORATION MFC 24,887,386 31,071,000 -6,183,614
ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS INC. CL 'B' NV RCI.B 23,932,616 22,574,307 1,358,309
BANKERS PETROLEUM LTD. J BNK 23,279,867 23,240,072 39,795
ELEMENT FINANCIAL CORPORATION EFN 23,054,128 21,095,864 1,958,264
ENBRIDGE INC. ENB 22,839,572 23,086,718 -247,146
CREW ENERGY INC. CR 22,647,227 21,802,314 844,913

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