Why won't it work?! (Photo: Rob Bateman, www.nukomp.com, via Flickr)

Twice as many households have "smart tvs" as streaming devices--but only 69 percent of them are actually connected to the Internet. Grandparents! [GigaOm]

“When I got here, I was very emotionally touched by all the great companies in this area....These were all the companies I had heard of since I was a kid. I felt like I should be here. Like I belong.” [New York Times]

Here is how you remove tagged Instagram posts from your profile. [Wired]

Earlier this year, Mt. Gox and CoinLab teamed up in a partnership to reach the American market more efficiently. Now CoinLab is suing for $75 million in damages. [Gawker]

Do you trust your friends enough to give them the extra set of keys to your Facebook account? [L.A. Times]

(Photo: Instagram/Mazy)

At this point, it seems fair to say that celebrity-associated tech startups occupy their own stratum of Startupland. There's the celebrity-backed startup, benefitting from the digital ambitions of investors like Scooter Braun, Ashton Kutcher, and Lady Gaga. Then there's the celebrity "cofounded" company (see: half the startups in Los Angeles). There's even startups that help brands harness the buying power of, say, Team Breezy.

Coming soon: a celebrity-backed venture capital fund, with a hashtag in the title, of course.

Hipset falls into a slightly different niche: startups that help musicians make money off social media. (Media companies aren't the only ones eyeing potential Internet revenue streams with rabid interest.) The cofounders of Hipset, Mazy Kazerooni and Matt Schlicht, started out as college dropouts, working their into influential positions at UStream, where they met rappers like Wiz Khalifa and Lil Twist.

They left UStream and took their celeb connections with them to found Tracks.by, a Facebook app to help musicians get likes and manage their content that made its way into Y Combinator's summer 2012 class and picked up a number of high profile angel investors like Dave Morin, Lil Wayne's manager Cortez Bryant, Alexis Ohanian, Matt Mullenweg, and AngelList's Naval Ravikant, as well as Menlo Ventures.

But, like many third-party developers before them, Tracks.by was wiped out by the whims of Facebook, Mr. Schlicht told Betabeat, when Zuck eliminated the ability to set a default tab for fan pages.

Oh, welp, onto the next social network!

Today Tracks.by is officially relaunching as Hipset, a music site they began last summer, and debuting the Hipset Network, which offers a similar service as Tracks.by but for YouTube. It is also launching a service called Boost which, "will allow people to create social media campaigns where their fans have to follow them on Instagram (or like them on Facebook, Follow them on Twitter) before accessing exclusive content," said Mr. Schlicht.

Where popular YouTube personalities can generate consistent income from the site, celebrities haven't been as focused on monetizing it, he explained. They often have few subscribers on their YouTube channel, despite the fact that fans watch videos on the site. Hipset thinks they can change that by asking fans to subscribe to a YouTube channel or like the artist on various social networks before accessing content. To do this, the startup uses YouTube's ability to make a video unlisted. Musicians tweet or share a link to a Boost page with the YouTube video embedded. In theory, all those additional likes and views will help rake in advertising dollars or paid downloads.

"For them, it's found money," Mr. Schlicht said. "They’re not paying us a retainer, we get a percentage of the revenue that’s generated off YouTube." He declined to specify the exact amount: "I don't necessarily want to put the percentage out there."

To differentiate itself, Hipset is going beyond optimizing existing videos and helping its celebrity clientele to collaborate on new content with top YouTube personalities like Sam Betesh (Xjawz), who is apparently "one of the most popular people on YouTube with over 1 million subscribers and over 300 million views." Hipset is also training musicians to adapt to the milieu. "Artists don’t typically acknowledge that the camera is there, YouTube is a place where you should be acknowledging the camera" to talk to fans, Mr. Schlicht explained.

Like they say, Facebook's loss is YouTube's gain.

This painting of Ron Conway was a gift from Steve Jobs' wife. (Photo: Twitter/b_c_g)

Yesterday, Y Combinator (Silicon Valley's ur-accelerator) hosted its biannual Demo Day at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.

As cofounder Paul Graham announced last fall, YC downsized both the number of startups and the size of the investment in this current class. And fears that the accelerator bubble is about to pop were not lost on the 47 startups who presented, nor the 500 or so investors in attendance.

Where the buzziest startups once commanded valuations of up to $20 million, "now the higher end is closer to $10 million, and the financial terms of the investment deals have shifted slightly for the benefit of investors," reports the Wall Street Journal. (Perhaps to loosen checkbooks, they started serving booze earlier in the day this year.)

Indeed, like their more established brethren, the hottest trend among YC's early stage companies seemed to be (wait for it) generating revenue! The Journal says Demo Day offered "further proof that the social-networking craze has died down and more founders are tackling 'boring' problems that generate cash."

Guess bored founders will have to get their kicks from checking their bank balance--and still existing in a few years.

Where the pitch decks of yore could be counted on for bubblicious slides on market size, the ones presented yesterday also highlighted money-making metrics:

"Don Dodge, a startup investor and well-known 'developer advocate' for Google, said today’s startups are more focused than ever on revenue—as evidenced by the large revenue-growth charts most of them showed off during the presentations to investors. In prior years, founders focused more on the number of people using their service, he said."

So what did all this emphasis on practicality amount to? Copying proven business models instead of pie-in-the selfie-sky ones, according to CNET.

Does that mean we're done with, "Instagram for ___" startups?: At Y Combinator Day, echoes of Kickstarter cnet.co/16XEfEx via @cnet

— Paul Sloan (@PaulSloan) March 27, 2013

This batch wasn't entirely lacking innovative ideas, however. There was "everything from a “Kayak for insurance” to a service that promises to help people divorce amicably."

But PandoDaily's representative failed to notice an appreciable difference:

"While Y-Combinator made changes over the past year, there wasn’t a whole lot different about the companies this time around. Less money did not, YC partner Jessica Livingston claims, result in greater fiscal austerity. 'It’s not like they were really irresponsible to begin with,' she says. More squishy was the outward impression each company emitted: some attendees told me there was a greater sense of founder modesty."

As revolutions go, disrupting egoes ain't half bad.

San Quentin. (Photo: Wikipedia)

So the tech world likes incubators. Indeed, even as new players enter the field, there are signs that the incubator model is bursting at the seams. Y Combinator downsized to less than 50 companies in its most recent class, from 84 last summer. When 500 Startups decided to establish a base in New York, it opted for a coworking space instead of an incubator. TechStars keeps growing, but its most recently announced additions have been abroad or in more narrowly-defined niches.

Perhaps the surest sign of the incubator model's ubiquity comes from California's San Quentin State Prison, which just graduated its first class from its so-called Last Mile program, which gathers inmates twice a week to discuss startups (they also answer Quora questions:

The latest batch of startup ideas included a fitness app that would motivate drug addicts to exercise, a cardiovascular health organization, a social network for sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder, a food waste recycling program, and an e-commerce site for artists in prison.

To be fair, Last Mile founder Chris Redlitz told Reuters he's not looking for his next investment as much as he's hoping to teach inmates about entrepreneurship and bridge the gap between Silicon Valley elites and the hoi polloi. To the former, we'd applaud Mr. Redlitz; on the latter... good luck with that.

LONGREADS

Ultra-Orthodox Jews Take a Hard Line on the Internet at Rally of 40,000 Men (And Me) In which our intrepid reporter sneaks into Citi Field in drag. 

Faith, Hope, and Singularity: Entering the Matrix with New York’s Futurist Set It's the end of the world as we know it, and they feel fine.

The Battle Over Revenge Porn: Can Hunter Moore, the Web’s Vilest Entrepreneur, Be Stopped? Victims and hackers are on the case.

Meet Betabeat's 2012 Tech Insurgents Ambiable agitator Anil Dash, Tumblr's Mad Man Rick Webb, and the merry pranksters of OkFocus.

Jonah Peretti’s Meme Streak Making viral happen inside the factory at BuzzFeed.

THE YEAR IN HEADLINES

Uber Bulldozes Its Way into New York City's Taxi Market Before all the bureaucratic setbacks, CEO Travis Kalanick revealed his grand plan.

Flash Dance! Luxury Flash Sales Sites Regroup After Layoffs Can Gilt Groupe cross the IPO finish line without scuffing the lacquer on its Louboutins?

How to Avoid Being Pushed Out of the Company You Founded Insiders dish on Naveen Selvadurai's defoundering.

Records Point to Credit Card Fraud by Silicon Swindler Shirley Hornstein She used her friend's credit card to buy a plane ticket in her name. Twice. 

Investors Wonder About the Future of TechStars New York Will TechStars New York maintain its prominence?

OP-EDS

We Need to Make Tech Uncool Again A call to arms for the idealistic nerd in us all.

Friends Investing in Friends: When It Comes to Startups, Is the Fix Already In? Is Startupland an insider’s game?

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Why We’re Definitely in a Bubble The social media bubble is real, and it's spectacular.   

Social Media Companies Have Absolutely No Idea How to Handle the Gaza Conflict War in the time of social graphs.

Area Blogger Worried People Will Think Reality Show Is Real A little perspective on Bravo's version of Silicon Valley.

TINY GEMS

Diary of Two Snapchat Addicts We just can't help ourselves.

Google Says ‘Gchat’ Is Not a Word Ubiquitous noun/verb is totally unofficial.

What Y Combinator Startups Actually Do, Based on Their (Unpronounceable) Names Zapier: Birchbox for swords?

Tortoise & Blonde Thought ‘We Want To Sit On Your Face’ Was a Good Idea for a Slogan "This was a family decision."

In Which We Went to Bravo’s Casting Call for the Real Wantrepreneurs of Silicon Alley The first tech party where someone tried to yank up our skirt! 

Photo: Edward Reed (via Inc.com)

At any startup accelerator, Demo Days are a relentlessly upbeat affair--a parade of promotional pitch decks and stats about market size that somehow always reach up into the billions. But in New York City, Techstars' biannual showcase takes the cake.

Founded in Boulder, the program launched in New York in 2011 (just as the startup scene cried out for tent poles to rally around) and easily fills auditoriums. Companies often announce “soft-circled” funding or even that the round has already closed. Mayor Bloomberg even called the number of investors who fly to New York to check out presentations, "proof positive that the TechStars is going to change this world and certainly change America and this city.”

Or as TechStars mentor Joel Spolsky put it before introducing one of the startups at Webster Hall: "Time to get my company oversubscribed."

However, some investors and entrepreneurs have expressed concerns about whether the spring 2013 class of TechStars New York will yield the same financial windfall--and the same amount of interest from potential applicants.

Part of the worry is related to the Series A crunch and fears of funding cliffs and falling valuations. Economic conditions are unlikely to support the accelerator boom we've seen over the past couple years. "We grew too fast," Paul Graham wrote this month, announcing that Y Combinator, the mother of all incubators, would reduce the number of startups in its program from 84 down to 50. And that was after downgrading the investment per company from $150,000 to $80,000. Under the headline, "We know accelerators are headed for a shakeout — but do they? "PandoDaily recently pointed out, there are "at least 100 such programs churning out thousands of startups a year and the expectation that 90 percent of them won’t return their money."

"I'm not sure why you'd say there's an overall constriction based on one data point on the opposite side of the country," TechStars founder and CEO David Cohen retorted by email when we brought up changes at Y Combinator as a sign of things to come for other accelerators. "The fact that TechStars is in NYC, offers more funding than Y Combinator, has an awesome alumni and mentor network right there means that more startups from the area will likely apply," he said. (In exchange for 6 percent equity, TechStars invests $18,000 per company and a $100,000 convertible note.)

Mr. Cohen noted that New York's first program raised $24.2 million including follow on rounds, where the second program raised $13.8 million and the third raised $11.6 million. As for whether the next class will see as much investment, he said, "Time will tell."

But in interviews with Betabeat, local sources also listed specific concerns related to the management of TechStars New York, which recently saw a changing of the guard. David Tisch, who rose to prominence in his role as managing director of the program, stepped down in August to focus on investing through Box Group, his boutique angel fund, which has already seen a number of exits including GroupMe and just this week Behance.

Betabeat has learned that Adam Rothenberg, a director at TechStars for the past two years, has also left the program and will likely be working on investments through Box Group as well. Both Mr. Tisch and Mr. Rothenberg declined to comment for this article.

In November, rather than announcing a permanent replacement for Mr. Tisch from within the New York ecosystem, TechStars shipped in an interim managing director from the Boulder: Nicole Glaros. Ms. Glaros, a serial entrepreneur, comes equipped with plenty of relevant experience. She's run five previous TechStars' programs and will be living here.

So far, the absence of a hometown cheerleader like Mr. Tisch doesn't appear to have affected applicant interest. Mr. Cohen told Betabeat that the April program already boasts 735 application with a month to go before the deadline. "My guess is we'll break another record--which has happened every year since inception. As you know our acceptance rate is around 1% nationally, and we've seen 1200-1400 applications in the past in NYC for 10-12 spots. This doesn't seem to be slowing down," he said.

Mr. Cohen will be "very hands on with this program as usual," he added, noting that TechStars cofounder Brad Feld "will be spending extra time with this program as well."

However, those familiar with TechStars New York noted an unusual aura of silence around this program's candidates. "It's still a big mystery. Rumors usually spread like wildfire within the TechStars community," said one source, noting that around this time insiders typically know who is applying.

A couple of sources wondered if there was difficulty in finding a permanent replacement because of the way managing directors, who get a cut of TechStar's equity in companies, are compensated. Details offered are always hazy in terms of whether the position requires a buy-in. "There is limited salary at best for the position, but there are PLENTY of great people in NYC who can make this work," one TechStars mentor told Betabeat.

Mr. Cohen dismissed speculation about compensation, adding that although no offers have been made, TechStars has "heavy inbound interest in the role." Including other cities, TechStars boasts 17 exits overall. "In the past it's helped us attract high quality people such as Katie Rae, Jason Seats, Andy Sack, Nicole Glaros, Luke Beatty, and David Tisch in the past, and I don't expect that will be a concern at all."

Then there are some more pressing issues related to the startups themselves. One angel investor attributed skepticism about this class of companies’ ability to raise to the success rate of previous graduates. "TechStars bets on a category and hopes they can shape the startup," the investor explained. "People that invest after TechStars do it with the assumption that they've been vetted." However, the investor said, some graduates, "get the money and don't understand that it's money to build a business--or at least get LAUNCH. Where's Wander? How long has it been that they've been in beta?" Bondsy, another much-hyped startup, is also still in beta.

The investor also wondered if the lessons learned during the program were enough to prepare them for life outside the accelerator's bubble. "They teach them all this crazy shit about pitching that's not applicable in the real world. When going for your next round after TechStars, you can't go with your 10-slide TechStars deck and a promise that you're going to produce."

Mr. Cohen pointed out that TechStars New York has already had one exit from its first class: ThinkNear, a hyperlocal ad company that was acquired for $22.5 million by Telenav in October. "We're talking about 2011 here, last year," Mr. Cohen said in response to those concerns about the caliber of companies. "I wonder what sort of success people expect in that timeframe, now that it's the end of 2012?" It's often mentioned that Y Combinator, which was started in 2005, depends on a handful of blockbusters for its returns, including Dropbox, Airbnb, and Heroku.

Mr. Cohen encouraged anyone with questions or concerns about the upcoming program to reach out to him. There is an upcoming recruiting event, TechStars for a Day, scheduled for January 10th. The event will feature talks from Ms. Glaros, Mr. Spolsky and Thrillist and Lerer Ventures cofounder Ben Lerer. "Most importantly, it's a chance for us to spend time with interesting companies who want to learn more about TechStars." To get an invitation, startups have to apply before the January 4th early deadline.

Whether you're buying for a boss, family member or Secret Santa pal, we've got you covered.

Wikipedia

Did we mention that winter is coming? Y Combinator is funding less startups in its winter 2013 cycle—less than 50 so far, down from 84 this summer. To reach the smaller number, the accelerator focused on predictors of failure. Turned out, they took a friendlier view of applicants they met after lunch. [Y Combinator]

Ashton Kutcher's movie portrayal of Steve Jobs is set to debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2013. But will the tech-savvy actor's film be overshadowed by another Jobs flick—written by Aaron Sorkin and based on the Walter Issaacson biography that's also in the works? [The Verge]

A judge gave preliminary approval to Facebook's plan to pay $10 to as many as 2 million users to settle a class action suit charging the social media giant with using members names without permission to advertise products in its "sponsored Stories" feature. Hurry, while supplies last. [Bloomberg]

Apple and Android operating systems have made massive inroads into the Windows-operating Intel machines. That and more, from Mary Meeker's report on internet trends. [VentureBeat]

Oracle is paying out $800 million in dividends this month, with an eye to avoiding potential tax increases as Congress seeks a deal on the fiscal cliff. Which is nice if you're a shareholder, or someone with a private island to sell by year-end. [NYT]

(Photo: Wikimedia)

“If you put yourself in the position to ask for something that is already legal, you’ll find you’ll never be able to roll out." Perpetual bull-in-a-china-shop Uber is having some issues with regulators. [New York Times]

After ballooning to 84 companies this summer, Y Combinator is cutting back to less than fifty fundees. [YC]

Looks like Facebook is still hacking away at the problem of mobile: Now that Instagram has been fully assimilated, there's talk of the social networking buying the paid mobile messaging app Whatsapp. [TechCrunch]

The battle for same-day shipping supremacy is commencing, and it ain't gonna be cheap. [Wall Street Journal]

Free your miiind, man: Cast off the finance lens, with its talk of "bubbles," and focus on the product lens. That means asking not whether a sector is overfunded, but something more like, "have the products in area X caught up to the best practices of the industry? Are they reaching their potential?" [Chris Dixon]

(Photo: Twitter)

Nintendo is releasing a Wii Mini on December 7th, just in time for the holidays. [The Verge]

Startup incubator Y Combinator has announced a VC program, allowing YC students access to guidance and an $80,000 investment from firms like Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst. The program will replace the Start Fund. [Y Combinator]

First we worried that tech sites were turning into press release regurgitation factories; now it turns out some of those press releases aren't even true. Here's how PRWeb helps distribute fake and sketchy press releases. [Search Engine Land]

Tumblr has broken into the top 10 sites in the U.S. with a worldwide audience of 170 million people. [Tumblr]

Don't worry: the Pentagon says a human will always decide if a robot kills you. Feel better now? [Wired]

Kickstarter is being sued for patent infringement over a $3 million 3D printing project. [The Daily Dot]