Mr. Siegler. (Photo: LinkedIn)

A year and a half after bailing on the blog life during the Great TechCrunch Conflagration of '11, MG Siegler is wading deeper into the world of venture capital. He announced today that he's heading to Google Ventures as a general partner. He'll join Kevin Rose and Wesley Chan, focused on seed and early-stage investments.

Mr. Siegler said he'd "continue to work closely with CrunchFund" on investments they've already made as well as writing the occasional column for TechCrunch, because apparently that place is actually the Hotel California. But perish the thought of his revealing confidential info from inside the notoriously secretive GOOG:

"Obviously, there will be some knowledge that I become privy to that I won’t be able to share — but that’s not any different than it has been with many of the startups I’ve worked with over the past 19 months. The difference now is that some of that knowledge will be about one of the most successul startups of all time: Google."

He closed on a contemplative noted, informing readers of his Tumblr: "Yes, they’re letting an Apple fanatic into the building — wild, I know. But as I said, I left the reporting path long ago. I’m on a new path now. Don’t worry, I’m bringing my iPhone with me." Whew, what a relief.

While Facebook claims it's an effort to stop spam and promote apps that add value to the network, "Developers say the crackdown is an attempt to stifle applications that compete with Facebook-owned services," or pay for ads on Facebook, the Wall Street Journal reported last night.  

This past Friday, MessageMe joined the ranks of apps like Vine, Voxer, and Yandex's social discovery app Wonder, in getting blocked from Facebook's platform.

But it would be hard to make the case that MessageMe--a rich, incredibly easy-to-use app that lets users send doodles, locations, photos, Google images, videos, iTunes songs, and even Snapchat-like drawings on photos--doesn't add value considering Facebook reportedly tried to acquire the app.

Rather, cofounder Arjun Sethi told Betabeat, he was informed Friday that MessageMe was not compliant with platform policy guidelines related to duplicating Facebook's core services (i.e. Facebook Messenger) and that "they’d be shutting off access to our users to get to their friends list."

Mr. Sethi said his team "worked over the weekend and basically removed the feature. So if you looked at the app now it’s not there anymore." When we downloaded the app last night, the option to find friends on Facebook still showed up, which would have been a welcome option considering only seven early adopters from our contact list were already on the service, but MessageMe is that supremely rare app we actually wouldn't mind bugging our normal friends to join.

That explains why, in a blog post today revealing seed funding from True Ventures, First Round Capital, Google Ventures, SVAngel, Resolut.vc, Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners and Social+Capital Partnership raised last year, MessageMe also announced that it picked up more than 1 million users since launching (with the Facebook connection) on March 7th.

The company said it's sending more than 500 notifications per second worldwide and that in the U.S. alone, users have shared more than 10 million doodles and more than 4 million songs on iTunes.

Facebook's social graph may be in the midst of midlife crisis, but MessageMe's features are perfectly suited to the current state of discourse, which seems to be frozen in adolescence.

Mr. Sethi said his team's background is in social gaming and they plan on introducing in-app monetization when the time is right, rather than advertising or selling data to third-parties. (The "stickers" and "money" buttons next "video" and "doodle" are currently turned off.) The same cofounders previously collaborated on a company called Lolapps, which was acquired by a Korean company.

When it came time to build MessageMe, they took their inspiration from the more personal social network Path and its so-called "stickers," as well as the Chinese messaging app QQ and the older BBM-style messaging on Blackberries. "When you look at our product, you can see there’s a PIN system so we focus a lot of our attention on that as well, rather than like some sort of public broadcast of usernames," he explained.

(An earlier version of MessageMe's blog post noted typically "Asian" messaging behaviors becoming more mainstream.)

And like Path, MessageMe sets its sights smaller. "We’re not focused on the replication of your Facebook graph," he explained. "We’re focused on having you communicate with people that you want to communicate with the most and people that you feel you can be yourself with." The average customer, he said, will have a network of 20 to 25 people they spend their time chatting with, rather than hundreds of Facebook friends.

That may be more than just a defensive posture. As John Herrman recently wrote on Buzzfeed, app developers at SXSW were "actively planning for the graph-rot contingency" by "leveraging to build separate graphs of their own." Besides at this point, getting booted off of Facebook offers its own little media boost.

Mr. Sethi acknowledged that tensions between Facebook and developers were rising. "I do feel like some developers are feeling the pain depending on the type of applications they’re making. It’s just part of like a natural cycle of any platform or ecosystem, depending on what is core to them."

However, that hasn't been the case between MessageMe and Apple. "Our product is competitive with iMessage and they’re not revoking access for us. So I think it just depends on the way each company thinks about the platform and product."

In the meantime, DM us if you want our MessageMe pin? We really want to spend the morning sending doodles and most of the people on our contact list are venture capitalists. :(

ThinkNear founder Eli Portnoy. (Photo: LinkedIn)

Cha-ching! GigaOm reports that TechStars New York just got its first acquisition: 2011 graduate ThinkNear, a hyperlocal mobile ad startup, was acquired by GPS purveyor Telenav for $22.5 million. The startup will be incorporated into a newly launched mobile ad platform called Scout Advertising. It's the largest TechStars acquisition thus far.

Not too shabby. 

ThinkNear started out peddling a yield management tool, with the idea that businesses would run ads to attract customers when sales were slow, and quickly picked up a $1.6 million round with IA and Google Ventures. But when that turned out to be an uphill battle, the startup shifted to a broader hyperlocal model, and now here we are.

Here's what the acquisition will allow:

Now, advertisers will be able to use ThinkNear’s location targeting to reach consumers within 100 meters of any location. But the ads will tap Telenav’s Drive-To Advertising platform to provide browser-based GPS turn-by-turn directions to lead the person to the place that’s being advertised. That’s important for advertisers who want to measure their advertising ROI because they can see if someone arrives at a place after seeing an ad.

Advertisers who want any more guarantees than that will have to hire someone with a cattle prod to harass sidewalk passersby.

Time for school! (Photo: flickr.com/slambert)

First Round Capital has built a brand-new platform for startups seeking press coverage: HackPR, designed to connect them with journalists. The firm is hoping to replicate the same kind of buzz that made Warby Parker an e-commerce darling after an early profile in GQ. [TechCrunch]

Kids from Cornell got a tour of the New York startup scene yesterday. [New York Daily News]

Kleiner Perkins, Andreessen Horowitz and Google Ventures are all backing a startup called LendUp, which'll make small loans (think $300) to people with poor credit. Basically, it's an alternative to the traditional payday loan, with friendlier customer service. Good luck and God bless. [AllThingsD]

No, you're not just imagining it: There are Meetups everywhere, all the time, for everything. You're going to need to be strategic in your selection. [WYNC]

Please enjoy this cri de coeur against Instagram filters, which are basically photography training wheels. [Wired]

(Photo: Hyperbole and a Half)

The Amazon phone nobody wanted is coming. [The Verge]

Different ads looping simultaneously on the MTV website is just one version of hell. [Wall Street Journal]

"Our company is at the intersection of X and X" is the new "It's like X for X!" [Bloomberg]

Paul Graham is talking shit on Google Ventures. [Business Insider]

Reddit nabbed 3.4 BILLION pageviews in August, thanks in large part to Obama's AMA. [Daily Dot]

Disrupted. (Photo: flickr.com/toasty

Good news if poorly selected background music makes you miserable: Music tech startup Roqbot has raised a $1.2 million seed round, led by Google Ventures and Detroit Venture Partners and including Penny Black, T5 Capital, and Accelerator Ventures, as well as angel investors.

Roqbot aims to offer a more interactive alternative to the background music services that produce the anodyne mixes you'll hear in the grocery store, without requiring the level of participation of a jukebox. Customers in a bar or bowling alley request whatever they'd like to hear via a smartphone app. So the business gets final approval, but doesn't have to painstakingly build a playlist or default to a standard background music service. The idea is to create "a streaming music solution that's customized for each location, that lets the customers engage with the music and discover what's playing," explained cofounder and CEO Garnett Dodge.

"At the end of the day, we're really trying to create the best possible music experience that balances the interest of the business owner that wants to create a certain vibe and the consumer who wants to engage with that music and discover what's playing," he said.

The infusion of cash will enable Roqbot to grow its team, starting with the sales and marketing team and with an eye to expanding in specific geographies, cofounder and CEO Garrett Dodge told Betabeat. He expects the company will likely double from its current staff of five in the near-term.

Founded in September 2010, the company has focused thus far on "building out this platform," and now it's a matter of geographic rollout. At the moment, the company's reach is limited to 40 or so venues, with beachheads in Austin and the Bay Area, as well as outposts in L.A. and New York. "That's really the piece we're looking to grow with this round," said Mr. Dodge, adding, "I think like many other small business applications or business software, we definitely have a little more work to do to expand to all those venues versus a typical consumer application."

"This round will give us the opportunity to really expand what we've built on the product side to a larger audience," he told us.

Right now the company is focused primarily on working with business owners, but they've also partnered with bigger brands like the Gap and Miller Lite. Mr. Dodge explained there are basically two types of brands that might be interested in Roqbot's services. The appeal is obvious for brands with physical locations--i.e, don't lie, peppy indie rock probably inclines you to buy sundresses. (Could someone please tip Lane Bryant to these guys' existence? We can't take another "self-esteem boosting" mixtape.)

The use case for the latter group is similar, but without the physical location. Mr. Dodge offered the example of their partnership with Miller Lite in Austin: "You're hanging out in the bar and Miller Lite has basically sponsored the interaction on the system there, so there's a great opportunity for a brand to be in front of those consumers as they are deciding which beer they are going to purchase."

Google Ventures partner Wesley Chan explained his interest in the company via email: "We like backing companies that transform the way people engage in their daily lives. Roqbot is one of the companies that can change the way we consume music in public places and interact with groups be it in a bar, restaurant or mall. They are making listening to music a social event."

Yeah, plus we'll only need 30 seconds to evaluate whether it's worth staying at a bar. Now that's our kind of innovation.

Mr. Wall via Twitter

Say you're a small business trying to figure out whether a deal with Groupon or ad on Yelp will bring customers to your door. That already-tricky marketing decision gets more complicated when you factor in fragmentation among daily deals sites and all the other publishers that could potentially host your ad. If you wanted, however, you could pay a New York-based startup called Signpost $99 a month to make the decision between a Google Offer, Living Social, or ad on Yelp for you based on the type of traffic you're trying to drive to your business. "Our quick pitch is we want to be a one stop marketing platform for local business," Signpost CEO and cofounder Stuart Wall told Betabeat.

Since late last year, Signpost has already signed up 3,500 small businesses, 93 percent of which renew with the service each month, said Mr. Wall. That might explain why Spark Capital just signed on to lead the startup's $3.75 million Series A round. Signpost had already raised $1.25 million in seed financing from Spark and Google Ventures back in 2010.

According to Mr. Wall, Signpost is also leaving the option of a $1 million follow-on round on the table from existing investors who have expressed interest, although no decision has yet been made. Mr. Wall said he's in a good position because Signpost works off the revenue it generates rather than investment, which will be used, in part, to boost its sales team. "The cost for us to acquire a customer, versus expected value is over 5.5 multiple from sales people," he said. "But you need a little bit of capital to fund that growth."

As part of the announcement, Signpost revealed that it will be bringing on Christopher DePatria, former head of sales at AOL’s Patch, to lead its sales force.

Of course, Signpost isn't the only New York startup going after online marketing for small businesses. Yext and Yodle, where Mr. DePatricia once worked, also help businesses show up in local search results and enhance their listings. But Mr. Wall says Signpost's special sauce is its focus on driving purchases over brand awareness. "Our view is brand advertising might make sense for Pepsi," said Mr. Wall. But for small businesses, they focus on offering deals to drive sales in the acquisition campaigns for volume, like a 50 percent off coupon on Google Offers, one of Signpost's 1,200 publishing partners, as well as utilization campaigns for filling slow periods or filling in a certain time of day. In the case of one Lasik eye surgeon, Mr. Wall says Signpost was able to generate $20,000 in sales in a week.

"There are so many platforms out there that to be on to be effective, it’s nearly impossible to do it by yourself," said Mr. Wall, who added that Signpost "white labels" content to make the experience seamless.

As for all those open sales positions, Mr. Wall said Signpost aggressively goes after hiring "passive candidates" among New York's young and hungry. So, in other words, poaching? "We tend not to do it with other startups as a rule," said Mr. Wall. Instead Signpost goes after, "Other companies where we don’t think it will hurt too much." Like AOL? "I don’t know if I feel like mentioning specific companies," he demurred.

Mr. Rose. (flickr.com/joi)

It appears we now have a concrete reason for Oink's mysterious shuttering yesterday. Kevin Rose, Internet cutie pie and ex-overlord of Diggnation, has been hired by Google. According to AllThingsD, "Google is not outright buying or 'acqhiring' Milk, the sources explicitly said, but Rose and some others from the company have been hired."

The move actually makes complete sense, considering that Milk Inc. has produced nothing but one failed app since it started in 2011. All signs indicate that Milk itself will be shut down, with its employees transitioning to Google.

Google Ventures, the venture capital arm of Google, invested in Milk in 2011, with Google Maps serving as a critical component to Oink's functionality. Milk is still listed as one of Google Ventures' companies in their portfolio.

"Rose wants to build in more Google technology in future updates," TechCrunch said of Milk last year. Guess nothing's stopping him now.

Mr. Rose is also the only person in the entire known universe actively using Google+. Even his website kevinrose.com redirects users back to his Google+ profile. That's what we call a dedicated brand advocate, folks.

Mr. Rose's first day at Google is supposedly on Monday, and we wish him the best. The food at the Googleplex is to die for; too bad Oink isn't around to rate it.

UPDATE:

Google was actually in a bidding war with Facebook to snap up Milk's employees, reports TechCrunch. This is a pure talent acquisition: Mr. Rose and the rest of Milk will be joining the social team at Google for the small price of $15-30 million.

Kinda like a superhero hero. . . special power: raising $$$!

A few weeks ago, Betabeat jumped down the rabbit hole of legal starts that were trying to bid farewell to the billable hour by making it cheaper and easier to get legal advice and legal documents.

At the time, we had a heaping handful of signs that the venture capital market thought the time was ripe for legal disruption. Just last year, Nolo.com was acquired for $21 million, LegalZoom picked up $66 million (and rumors of an IPO), local TechCrunch Disrupt winners Docracy raised $650,000. Google Ventures led a $1 million round in LawPivot and an $18.5 million round in Rocket Lawyer.

But apparently that was just the beginning.

Just five months after raising that $18.5 million, VentureBeat uncovered an SEC filing that Rocket Lawyer, which is based in San Francisco has raised another $10.8 million.

According to the company:

“This is a combined Series D financing of $18.5M from August Capital, Google Ventures and Investor Growth Capital plus the $10.7 M investment from the new investor, Industry Ventures, for a total of $29.2M.”

Those additional funds bring Rocket Lawyer's funding to $40 million. The site competes with LegalZoom, which has faced a spate of lawsuits, but has managed to double its visitors between September 2010 and September 2011 and claims to have a customer base of 15 million individuals and several thousands businesses.

In a new niche like legal startups and a profession so resistant to change, this influx of funds could be goods news for very early stage locals like Docracy, or General Assembly-based Paperlex.  If the Groupon clones were any indication, VCs don't seem to have a problem betting on a number of horses in one race.

We really wanted to use the headline Enterp the Void, but it made no sense.

Enterproid isn't exactly a name that rolls off the tongue, which is why Betabeat recognized it immediately when we saw TechCrunch post that the New York-based company had raised $11 million in a Series A round from Google Ventures, Comcast, and Qualcomm. The startup uses a platform called Divide to let corporations offer their employees the ability to make distinct professional and personal profiles on the same Android device.

We recognized the name from an interview Betabeat did last week with Kirill Sheynkman, the VC running RTP, a $750 million fund backed by Leonid Boguslavsky, aka Russia's number two tech investor after Yuri Milner.

At the time, Mr. Sheynkman, who invests in IT, SaaS and cloud computing companies pointed to Enterproid as an outlier in the New York's mainly consumer-facing tech scene.

Mr. Sheynkman considers Roger Ehrenberg a friend, and says what Mr. Ehrenberg has done with IA Ventures is a good model. “You hear people in New York say, ‘Oh, you’ve got big data, you should talk to Roger.” He hopes that RTP will find a similar niche in Silicon Alley. “There are companies here I like. MongoDB brings a smile to my face. Bit.ly on the scientific side or Enterproid. But these are the exceptions you can count on your fingers.”

As a deep tech, enterprise company--see, we told you to stop ignoring those!--Enterproid has the benefit of scaling with large corporate clients who like the enhanced security, ability to manage devices from the cloud (like remotely locating and wiping corporate data), as well as built-in expense management tools.

But it's also capitalizing on a consumer trend. Enterproid's CEO Andrew Toy told TechCrunch that the Divide platform capitalizes on "the BYOD" or Bring Your Own Device [to work], movement, recently featured in the New York Times. Two smartphones in your suit pocket--not a good look.

Apple fans will have be patient. The app, which is currently in private beta, has plans expand into iOS and Windows Phone 7 platforms in the future.