PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia's Future

It's been a rough five years for Yahoo investors and workers as the company struggles through a transition from being a one-stop Web shop to being a content driven media destination. Four CEOs and a number of Yahoo workers and shareholders are covered in tire marks from being run over by the likes of Google, Facebook and Microsoft. Four CEOs in five years have come and gone, each of them committing major gaffes at critical junctures that hurt the company. Many Yahoos have hit the exits, either...

The Silver Lake Sumeru Marlin Co-Invest Fund LP has raised $15 million, according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Menlo Park-based fund sold equity to raise the funds. The filing specifies that the general partner of the issuer reserves the right to offer a greater or lesser amount of limited partner interested. The party listed on the filing is: Karen King, executive, promoter. King is a managing director at Silver Lake and its chief legal officer....

Palantir Technologies Inc. raised $56.1 million, according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Palo Alto-based company sold equity to raise the funds. It provides analytics platforms for premier financial and intelligence clients. The parties listed on the filing include: Colin Anderson, executive; Stephen Cohen, director; Nathan Gettings, executive, director; Alexander Karp, executive, director; and Peter Thiel, director. Click here to read the filing. Written...

Aaron Sorkin, the screenwriter who brought the story of Facebook's early years to the big screen in "The Social Network," has agreed to write and direct a movie on the life of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. He will have a lot more ground to cover with Jobs, whose career spanned several decades that included early success, a banishment and a triumphal return. By comparison, Facebook's history would be little more than a trailer. Sony Pictures confirmed on Wednesday that Sorkin will do the adaptation...

Tony Blair, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, will speak at Stanford University May 17. The founder of the Africa Governance Initiative will appear before a group of students and faculty to address the issue of economic development in Africa and how it can lead to good governance in some politically unstable African nations. His organization works on economic development issues in such countries as Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda and Guinea in an effort to tackle deeply rooted poverty issues. The...

The San Jose City Council on Tuesday approved a set of temporary incentives to encourage high-rise residential tower development in the city, particularly in downtown. The incentives include: - A guarantee that application reviews will be no more than 120 days. - A 50 percent reduction of fees in lieu of adding park areas to developments. - A 50 percent reduction of construction-related taxes. - Elimination of the requirement for systems in high-rises that contain air to help firefighters control...

Juniper Networks Inc. has reportedly hired William Hamber as its new senior director, Distribution Partners for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The Sunnyvale-based networking company (NYSE:JNPR) said Hamber will report to David Helfer, vice president of EMEA partners, in his new role, according to MicroScope.co.uk on Wednesday. Hamber was previously a senior manager of channel sales and marketing at Edge-Core. He is expected to be based in Paris in his new role. Written by Lisa Sibley....

Google is reportedly shifting how it introduces new Android features in a way that will give it more control over devices that use the mobile operating system. The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources who said that the Mountain View company plans to give multiple mobile device makers early access to new Android versions, and also plans to sell devices directly to consumers. In the past, Google has initially worked closely with just a single device maker on new versions of Android.

Apple has reportedly ordered larger screens for the iPhone it will roll out later this year, growing the display to 4 inches from the 3.5 inches on previous versions of the popular smartphone. The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources in a story Wednesday that said Apple ordered the bigger screens for the new phone that is expected in the fall. It is reportedly working on the screens with with LG Display of South Korea and two Japanese companies, Sharp and Japan Display.

Facebook on Wednesday boosted the number of shares it plans to sell this week by 25 percent, raising its top target for its initial public offering to about $16 billion. Combined with the new price range of $34 to $38 a share, the social networking giant could now have a valuation of about $104 billion, a record for an American IPO. The Menlo Park-based company now plans to sell 421.2 million shares, up from 337.4 million shares it previously said it would offer.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini said that he expects his replacement will eventually come from within the company, saying Chief Operating Officer Brian Krzanich is one of a number of good candidates. His remarks came in an interview with Bloomberg TV. "We're a company that's always gone from within in terms of these promotions," Otellini said.

Here are fundings from Silicon Valley companies, announced or filed recently with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Funded is a recurring feature where we post new fundings that cross our desks, as well as an archive of past fundings. Included in this batch is Proteus Biomedical.

DNAnexus said it has hired Marc Olesen as its new president and COO. The Mountain View-based company specializes in DNA data management and analysis. Olesen was previously senior vice president and general manager of network and cloud security for McAfee.

Equinix said it has signed an agreement to acquire ancotel GmbH. Redwood City-based Equinix provides data center services. Frankfurt, Germany-based ancotel is a network neutral interconnection company, which generated about $21.4 million in revenue in 2011. Equinix will gain one data center in Frankfurt through the acquisition.

Google Inc. is reportedly shifting how it introduces new Android features in a way that will give it more control over devices that use the mobile operating system. The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources who said that the Mountain View company plans to give multiple mobile device makers early access to new Android versions, and also plans to sell devices directly to consumers. In the past, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has initially worked closely with just a single device maker on new versions of...

Here are fundings from Silicon Valley companies, announced or filed recently with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Funded is a recurring feature where we post new fundings that cross our desks, as well as an archive of past fundings. Proteus Biomedical Inc. raises $17.5M of $50M round The Redwood City-based health care company sold equity to raise the funds. The parties listed on the filing include: Joy Berberich, executive; Benjamin Costello, executive; Lorenzo Di Carlo, executive;...

Intel Corp. CEO Paul Otellini said on Tuesday that he expects his replacement will eventually come from within the company, saying Chief Operating Officer Brian Krzanich is one of a number of good candidates. His remarks came in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “We’re a company that’s always gone from within in terms of these promotions,” Otellini said. “I think that makes a lot of sense for most companies, particularly given the track record in the Valley lately.” The current 61-year-old...

Facebook Inc. has acquired the staff at a startup called Lightbox, according to blog post from its co-founders Tahi Tran and Nilesh Patel. The news comes in advance of Facebook's expected IPO this week. The London-based company said in the post it is joining the Menlo Park-based social networking company's team and is therefore no longer accepting new signups. Facebook is not acquiring the company or any of the user data hosted on Lightbox.com, Tran and Patel said. Lightbox allows users to share...

Cassidy Turley has tapped Kenneth DiScipio to serve as managing director of its Northern California office. DiScipio will be based in Palo Alto and report directly to Michael Kamm, CEO of the Northern California region of Cassidy Turley. DiScipio will be relocating from the Los Angeles area, where he most recently served as managing director of Grubb & Ellis’ corporate services group and oversaw the Western region. Prior to that, he spent five years as the managing director for CBRE in Australia/New...

Gigamon said Monday it has hired Paul Shinn as its general counsel. The Milpitas-based company specializes in traffic visibility technologies. Shinn is expected to report to CEO Ted Ho in his new role. Shinn will be in charge of legal strategy and legal matters, including contract negotiations, strategic acquisitions, compliance, securities, and intellectual property matters in his new role. He was previously at Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard Co. and worked as vice president and associate general...