Rustic Canyon

By CAMILLE RICKETTS, VentureBeat
Published: May 14, 2009

DocStoc , the site that lets you post, share and embed PDFs, documents and other files — much like its prime competitor Scribd — has emerged from beta with a new look and a new business model . While the site is growing rapidly — now with 1.6 million unique monthly visitors — it’s still running to catch up.

Changing the way it brings in revenue, the company has introduced DocCash, a program that will split Google AdSense revenues with users who opt into online advertising next to the documents they’ve uploaded. The homepage has also been redesigned to attract viewers, highlighting documents that are somehow relevant to current events. It is now easier to navigate for users and viewers, as well — making up for the polish it has been lacking since its inception.



Another boon for DocStoc’s users: The site has opened up its API so that other web sites can use the same posting and embedding technology themselves. Visitors to these sites can now search for and preview documents as well.


But DocStoc isn’t the only service of its kind that has continued to innovate. Not only does Scribd continue to grow, pulling in 50 million readers every month, but smaller rival Issuu is also adding features to give document storage more of a social, community feel. That company has also done a good job of attracting enterprise customers with offerings such as subscriber management tools.


DocStoc has raised $4 million to date from Rustic Canyon Partners , Crosscut Ventures and several individual investors.

The document sharing site Docstoc, now out of beta, is announcing that it will start splitting advertising revenue with users who upload content to the service, in a new program called DocCash.

Using the Google AdSense API, Docstoc will crawl through uploaded documents, put related ads alongside them, and send the person who uploaded a document half the Google revenue when users click through to ads that run next to it.

This change to Docstoc is part of the company's new plan to help users monetize content, but CEO Jason Nazar harbors no illusion that it will make his users rich. Although he thinks a lot of people could make "$50 a month without too much effort, maybe more if they promote their docs on Twitter and Facebook."

Future changes may increase user revenue more. Today's new ads only show up on the Docstoc site itself, for example. An upcoming revision will let ads show up on embedded documents (embedding is a key feature for the service). Actually allowing users to sell access to documents is also coming. "It's the direction we're headed in. It's a two-phase process," Nazar says.

Few services built on user-generated content actually give users a share of revenue, and Docstoc's new direction may indicate an interesting trend, even if most people won't make much money from shared ad revenue. Worse, attaching dollars to user-generated content will likely cause a surge in the uploading of plagiarized or copyrighted material, which Docstoc staffers will have to work hard to stay ahead of.

However, it's a milepost on the road to giving users something tangible in return for their uploads. And it's a smart move for Docstoc, since it does give the company a financial leg up on competitors Slideshare and Scribd.

Nazar says he expects his company to become profitable this year. Docstoc first raised venture funds a year ago, and has taken in $4 million so far. The site gets about 4.8 million unique users a month. Nazar has produced a video walk-through of DocCash.

Camarillo-based Transonic Combustion, the maker of new fuel injection technology it says could push gasoline engines to 100 mpg, has landed another round of funding.

The firm didn’t say how much it raised in the third-series round and hasn’t disclosed how much it previously raised. However, it noted that existing investors Venrock, Khosla Ventures, Rustic Canyon Partners and Saints Capital “depended on their support.”

By JOSEPH SZCZESNY
Of The Oakland Press

Transonic Combustion Inc. of Camalito, Calif., which develops new technology that will make auto engines cleaner and more efficient, is setting up offices in Oakland County.

“Our team is developing a fundamental, cost-effective improvement in internal combustion efficiency,” said Brian Ahlborn, Transonic’s chief executive officer, who said the company’s ability to attract venture capital is making expansion possible.

In addition to investor backing, Transonic has secured support from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and plans to expand its presence in the Detroit area by opening a sales and technology office in Oakland County.

The California-based firm plans to invest $247,000 in the office, which will support the development and commercialization of Transonic’s ultra-high efficiency fuel injection system for internal combustion engines.

The new office will be staffed by about 25 employees and is being supported by a state tax credit valued at $648,313 over six years.

The credit helped win the company’s investment as the first new expansion site outside its California headquarters.

Several California-based venture capital firms, among them Venrock, Khosla Ventures, Rustic Canyon Partners and Saints Capital, have increased their support of Transonic, which already has earned a spot on the “Clean-Tech 100.”

“Transonic has developed a revolutionary approach to improving internal combustion engine efficiency that could change the automobile industry forever,” said Ray Rothrock, a partner in Venrock.

“We’re at a pivotal time of increased regulations and consumer demand for efficient, affordable cars,” added Vinod Khosla, founding partner of Khosla Ventures.

“Transonic’s technology offers a high-impact, near-term clean technology solution to promote energy independence and climate change mitigation.”

“Transonic’s innovative technology, unique market position, and enormous commercial promise hold broad economic, environmental and social impact,” said Lee Bailey, advisory partner with Rustic Canyon Partners.

Transonic’s fuel injection system has demonstrated it can boost fuel economy substantially and reduce emissions in gasoline or diesel engines, the company says.

Transonic Combustion, the Khosla Ventures-backed startup currently developing a high-efficiency fuel injection system that could lead to 100 mpg vehicles, said today it’s raised a third round of funding, though it declined to say exactly how much. Venrock, Rustic Canyon Partners and Saints Capital also participated in the round. The Camarillo, Calif.-based startup, which tends to be tight-lipped on many details of its business deals, will use the money to move its system closer to commercialization.
Transonic’s technology is a new fuel-injection system that runs on high-compression diesel engines and minimizes waste heat while raising fuel economy, explains marketing director Eric Sharp. Once applied to engines, it can reduce emissions of NOx pollutants, such as the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, by up to 50 percent.

Transonic’s aim is to sell its fuel-injection systems directly to automakers, which would install them at their factories. Most automakers today buy their fuel-injection systems from third-party vendors, Sharp said. Transonic’s system can be attached to diesel engines without much retooling and would enable them to run on gasoline.

Transonic is collaborating with what it calls “global automotive manufacturers” to test and develop its products. Mike Rocke, VP of business development, previously told us that the company was in discussions with three automakers — one each in the U.S., Japan and Germany. But Sharp wouldn’t offer a date as to when he expects cars equipped with the system to be sold at lots. Instead, he would only say that the three-year-old firm is looking for “near-term adoption.”

A “drop-in technology,” as Transonic calls it, that raises fuel standards and reduces emissions should be attractive to automakers. The driving public is increasingly demanding more fuel-efficient cars, and governments are tightening limits on tailpipe emissions. In March, the Department of Transportation proposed the first increase to passenger vehicle fuel efficiency standards in more than 20 years, a step toward the 35 mpg corporate average fuel economy requirements set for 2020 in the 2007 Energy Bill. And while plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles hold promise, many industry watchers argue that it will be some time before they’re ready for mass adoption. Transonic, by comparison, claims its technology will be ready much sooner.

But persuading automakers to adopt its fuel-injection system won’t be so easy, according to IHS Global Insight analyst Paul Lacy. While the technology might increase fuel economy, automakers will want to know how it will affect engine performance and durability. “Can the company say that it’s run the system on a mainstream engine for 250,000 miles and shown that it doesn’t cause any major negative effects?” asked Lacy. “Warranty is a very expensive part of doing business in the auto industry.”

Lacy also questions Transonic’s plug-and-play claim. He said emissions depend on many parts working together, including fuel injection, chambers, intake manifolds, catalytic converter and more. Change one piece and it affects the rest of them. Automakers will also be concerned about how much tweaking their current designs would need in order to achieve the performance that Transonic promises.

Trion World Network's MMORPG getting showcased this summer.
If you've never heard of Trion World Network, don't be all that surprised – they haven't even released their debut game, Heroes of Telara. However, the developer and publisher today announced that the upcoming MMORPG will be showcased at their first E3 appearance later this year.

CAMARILLO, Calif., May 6, 2009-- In its mission to dramatically improve fuel economy and cut carbon emissions, today Transonic Combustion, Inc. announced that it has raised a C-round of equity funding. Transonic will use the capital to further advance its patented technology, expand its technical team and facilities, and continue collaborating with global automotive manufacturers.

Existing investors Venrock, Khosla Ventures, Rustic Canyon Partners and Saints Capital have all deepened their support of Transonic. “Transonic has developed a revolutionary approach to improving internal combustion engine efficiency that could change the automobile industry forever,” said Ray Rothrock, partner, Venrock.

“We’re at a pivotal time of increased regulations and consumer demand for efficient, affordable cars,” added Vinod Khosla, founding partner, Khosla Ventures. “Transonic’s technology offers a high-impact, near-term clean technology solution to promote energy independence and climate change mitigation.”

“Transonic’s innovative technology, unique market position, and enormous commercial promise hold broad economic, environmental, and social impact,” said Lee Bailey, advisory partner, Rustic Canyon Partners.

Transonic Combustion is on course to directly supply global automotive manufacturers with its high efficiency fuel injection systems. Transonic’s TSCi™ fuel injection system has demonstrated extraordinary fuel economy and lower emissions, while also running gasoline effectively within diesel architectures. To date, testing on several different engine platforms with multiple customers and multiple fuels has regularly achieved air-to-fuel ratios in excess of 80:1 at cruise conditions, with engine-out NOx at just 50% of comparable standard engines. These promising results have led to significant engagement with leading global automotive and engine makers.

“Our team is developing a fundamental, cost-effective improvement in internal combustion efficiency,” said Brian Ahlborn, CEO, Transonic Combustion. “We appreciate the continued support of our investor group in helping us meet our very ambitious goals.”

In addition to investor backing, Transonic has secured support from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and plans to expand its presence into Southeast Michigan.

About Transonic Combustion

Founded in late 2006, Transonic Combustion’s TSCiTM fuel injection systems provide global automotive manufacturers with ultra-high efficiency powertrain technology for their modern engine platforms, with the long-term promise of running on renewable zero net carbon biofuels. The company is headquartered in Camarillo, California, with 3 facilities totaling over 70,000 square feet. For more information, please visit tscombustion.com.

Contact:
Transonic Combustion, Inc.
Eric Sharp
805-465-5119
eric.sharp@tscombustion.com
or
Stonerose Advisors, LLC for Transonic Combustion, Inc.
Meghan Roman
415-260-1857
meghan@stoneroseadvisors.com

Transonic Combustion, the Khosla Ventures-backed startup currently developing a high-efficiency fuel injection system that could lead to 100 mpg vehicles, said today it’s raised a third round of funding, though it declined to say exactly how much. Venrock, Rustic Canyon Partners and Saints Capital also participated in the round. The Camarillo, Calif.-based startup, which tends to be tight-lipped on many details of its business deals, will use the money to move its system closer to commercialization.
Transonic’s technology is a new fuel-injection system that runs on high-compression diesel engines and minimizes waste heat while raising fuel economy, explains marketing director Eric Sharp. Once applied to engines, it can reduce emissions of NOx pollutants, such as the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, by up to 50 percent.


Transonic’s aim is to sell its fuel-injection systems directly to automakers, which would install them at their factories. Most automakers today buy their fuel-injection systems from third-party vendors, Sharp said. Transonic’s system can be attached to diesel engines without much retooling and would enable them to run on gasoline.


Transonic is collaborating with what it calls “global automotive manufacturers” to test and develop its products. Mike Rocke, VP of business development, previously told us that the company was in discussions with three automakers — one each in the U.S., Japan and Germany. But Sharp wouldn’t offer a date as to when he expects cars equipped with the system to be sold at lots. Instead, he would only say that the three-year-old firm is looking for “near-term adoption.”


A “drop-in technology,” as Transonic calls it, that raises fuel standards and reduces emissions should be attractive to automakers. The driving public is increasingly demanding more fuel-efficient cars, and governments are tightening limits on tailpipe emissions. In March, the Department of Transportation proposed the first increase to passenger vehicle fuel efficiency standards in more than 20 years, a step toward the 35 mpg corporate average fuel economy requirements set for 2020 in the 2007 Energy Bill. And while plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles hold promise, many industry watchers argue that it will be some time before they’re ready for mass adoption. Transonic, by comparison, claims its technology will be ready much sooner.


But persuading automakers to adopt its fuel-injection system won’t be so easy, according to IHS Global Insight analyst Paul Lacy. While the technology might increase fuel economy, automakers will want to know how it will affect engine performance and durability. “Can the company say that it’s run the system on a mainstream engine for 250,000 miles and shown that it doesn’t cause any major negative effects?” asked Lacy. “Warranty is a very expensive part of doing business in the auto industry.”


Lacy also questions Transonic’s plug-and-play claim. He said emissions depend on many parts working together, including fuel injection, chambers, intake manifolds, catalytic converter and more. Change one piece and it affects the rest of them. Automakers will also be concerned about how much tweaking their current designs would need in order to achieve the performance that Transonic promises.

CHICAGO, IL — Serious Materials, the leading energy-saving building materials company in the U.S., today welcomed United States Vice President Joe Biden along with United States Senators Dick Durbin and Roland Burris and Mayor Richard Daley to its most recently acquired windows manufacturing plant in Chicago.  Vice President Biden, whose support played a pivotal role in the passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), visited the high-performance window manufacturing plant to demonstrate his support for the creation of new green jobs through the American manufacturing of energy-saving building materials like  SeriousWindows™ and SeriousGlass™.

“This is a story about how we inspire a better tomorrow.  You're making some of the most energy-efficient windows in the world, I would argue, the most energy-efficient windows in the world,” said Vice President Joe Biden. Speaking to Serious Materials’ employees, Vice President Biden continues, “And you're not just providing for your family with the income you're making here; but by lowering energy bills, you're saving the families in Delaware, California, Mississippi, Maine -- you're saving all of them. You're saving people in public housing which are investing in weatherization. You're saving people on the bottom line of how much money they will have to care for their families.” Biden continues, “Kevin, thank you and Serious for your faith in the people here at this factory, your faith in the country, your willingness to invest here in America.”

"Today, because of the hard work and determination of many people, this factory is once again providing jobs for people at the very time jobs are most needed in our country,” said Mayor Richard Daley.  “And, in part because of new federal tax credits for buyers of energy-efficient products such as the ones Serious makes, the future looks bright for the company, its employees and this community."

Republic Windows and Doors garnered national attention in December 2008 when it suddenly closed its doors, declared bankruptcy, and left over 260 people unemployed just before Christmas 2008. At the end of February, Serious Materials acquired the assets of the former Republic Windows and Doors. The Company has since began to rehire former-Republic union workers and is quickly installing new equipment for the manufacturing of its SeriousWindows products and commercial glass, SeriousGlass. With this new plant, Serious Materials will be able to meet the increased demand for its super-insulating windows accelerated by funding made available through the ARRA for energy-efficient building projects. The Company intends to formally re-open the factory within the next sixty days, creating more green manufacturing jobs.

“It is a great honor to host Vice President Biden at our Serious Materials Chicago factory. Vice President Biden understands how devastating it can be to a community when factories close and jobs leave,” said Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials. “That is why I’m so proud to lead Serious Materials – a company that is re-opening factories, and creating the green-collar jobs that are the key to our economic future.”

With the upcoming reopening of former Republic Windows and last month’s reopening of former Kensington Windows in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, Serious Materials is on track to accelerate production for its SeriousWindows and SeriousGlass product lines by tenfold this year. Replacement of existing windows with SeriousWindows and SeriousGlass could reduce the U.S. total energy use and carbon emissions by 200 million metric tons of C02 per year. Super-insulating, full-frame R-5 to R-11 windows exceed Energy Star® requirements by up to four times and can reduce heating and cooling up to 50%, resulting in a 5% savings in national energy use. SeriousWindows and SeriousGlass support energy efficiency programs as outlined under The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) including: Weatherization (WAP), Green Federal Buildings, State Energy Program (SEP), Energy Efficiency Block Grants, Energy Tax Credit for Consumers, and Tax Deductions for Commercial Buildings. 

Just last month, Serious Materials was commended by President Obama for the work it is doing to create thousands of American green jobs. On March 23, President Obama commented, “Serious Materials just reopened a manufacturing plant outside of Pittsburgh. Last year, that factory was shuttered and more than one hundred jobs were lost. The town was devastated. Today, that factory is whirring back to life, and Serious Materials is rehiring the folks who lost their jobs. And these workers will now have a new mission: producing some of the most energy efficient windows in the world.”

ABOUT Serious Materials
Serious Materials develops and manufactures sustainable green building materials that save energy, save money, improve comfort and aggressively address climate change.  The company was voted #1 at Cleantech Forum XII, won Global Gypsum Product of the Year 2008, won the first Aspen Institute award for innovation in Energy Conservation, and was awarded Green Product of the Year by Popular Science.  It has also been recognized by TIME/CNN, Fortune, and Business Week as one of the top green technology companies. SeriousWindows™ and SeriousGlass™ reduce heating and cooling energy costs by up to 50% and improve occupant comfort. QuietRock® soundproof drywall and QuietGlass® reduce material use, enhance livability, and support dense sustainable urban construction.  EcoRock™ uses 80% less energy in its core production and has the potential to save billions of pounds of CO2 annually making it the only true green alternative to gypsum drywall and five times more environmentally friendly. SeriousWindows, SeriousGlass and super-insulating ThermaRock™ drywall support energy efficiency funding programs as outlined under The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) including Weatherization (WAP), Green Federal Buildings, State Energy Program (SEP), Energy Efficiency Block Grants, Energy Tax Credit for Consumers, and Tax Deductions for Commercial Buildings. The company was commended by President Obama for the work it is doing to create thousands of American green jobs.
For more information visit www.SeriousMaterials.com.

By Mehul Srivastava

The other day, after her cell phone stopped working during a trip, Beth Tomlinson used a pay phone to call her cell-phone carrier. Her call, like so many others around the world, was answered in Noida, an outsourcing-driven boom town about 20 kilometers outside New Delhi. Tomlinson, a Kansas-native who has lived in India for several years, didn't really care. After all, she was in Noida, too.

But when 20 minutes with a nervous operator went by and her cell phone still didn't work, Tomlinson did start to care. "I've called my American cell-phone company and had the call answered in Noida, and I've called my Indian cell phone company and had the call answered in Noida," she says. "But there is such a huge difference in the quality of service. I could hear kids laughing and giggling in the back, and I needed to get to an important work meeting right away."

Since the late 1990s, when cheap Internet telephony made it possible for U.S. companies to outsource their call centers, Americans have been complaining, loudly and regularly, about the quality of service. Just last week, Delta (DAL) pulled a call center out of India because its customers said they hated the service. "The customer acceptance of call centers in foreign countries is low," Delta Chief Executive Richard Anderson told his employees in a message. "Our customers are not shy about letting us have that feedback."

Indians are speaking out, too. In India's outsourcing world, the call-center industry, which employs as many as half a million people, is bifurcated. The better-paid, better-trained, and English-speaking operators typically go right to foreign-service call centers, and the lower-paid, not as well-trained, mostly local language speaking operators stay at locally targeted call centers.

Different Worlds
The results, predictably, have been lower quality of service for Indians as they try to navigate their cell-phone plans, their credit-card bills, or their flight reservations. "It took me three years to get a job with foreign clients," says Manish Tripathi, a 24-year-old call-center worker who asked that his employer's name not be mentioned. "And the difference was vast. Every day, they trained us on the software, the computers were better, even the telephones were nicer."

It makes economic sense, of course; foreign clients pay more than Indian clients do, sometimes by as much as 50% for total contracts, which are often decided by the number of "seats" that an operator has to fill to service a contract. Some Indian call centers, especially the ones set up in rural areas for low-cost government contracts, pay as little as $75 a month to its workers. That's a respectable living for a young person in a village, but a college grad with a couple of years experience could make as much as $400 working for an English-language operator in a city.

Quality control has been an issue for many Indian call centers. With many call centers are seen as temporary jobs for college graduates looking for something better, they have higher attrition than global rates—about 50% to 60% compared with the 28% worldwide, as measured by South Africa-based Dimension. But the key issue is training and making sure the right person answers the right call, says Martin Dove, a spokesperson for Dimension Data, which surveys call centers around the world every year. "As a whole, we've seen customer satisfaction stay relatively steady," he says, citing figures that slipped only slightly from 82% in 2006 to about 80% in 2008.
 
"It's not answering a call quickly, but making sure that when it is answered, i…when the caller starts speaking, he is speaking to a person who has the right tools, the right training to solve the problem."

That doesn't necessarily mean call centers have the real issue—keeping customers happy—figured out. After all, call centers' real clients are the companies to which they sell contracts, not the people who call them for help. Dimension Data found that the $130 billion industry has been slow to figure out how to measure customer satisfaction, instead focusing on cost-cutting and efficiencies.

Taking Training Seriously
In the six years that Seattle-based Hyperquality has been in business, it has listened to over 5 million calls between customers and agents, trying to help some of American's largest companies figure out how to keep customers satisfied. The biggest issue, says Chris Coles, Hyperquality's CEO, is training, but in some cases, accents and cultural sensitivity also come into play.

But for Indian call centers that serve Indian clients, Coles says the issue is basic: pay and prestige. "Folks in the contact-center industry are always looking for an improvement in compensation and status," he says. "There is certainly a food chain, so the effect is that talented folks that may enter in the domestic sector are looking for ways to move themselves [to] foreign language."

Unlike in the U.S., complaints in India are not about the fact that jobs have gone overseas, of course, or about accent or language. Instead, like Americans, Indians just want quick service. "It is unbelievable sometimes," says Anupam Mathur, who manages several bank accounts for his employer, a New Delhi-based furniture company. "They don't understand my questions, they don't have any answers, they don't have the authority to solve my problems."

To some extent, business is aware of the issue. Express courier service DHL's India operations made a big splash two years ago when it promised that every call would be answered by a real live person within three rings, a promise that DHL says it largely delivers on. "The customers love it, they really do," says Sheba Varghese, a spokesperson for DHL. "They don't have to press a 1, then a 2, then a 3. They speak to someone right away."

That someone, by the way, is in Cyberjaya, Malaysia.