The ultimate goal for any consumer offering--and the goal that will frame the remaining nine rules--is to build a brand. If your brand becomes synonymous with a particular category (e.g. books for Amazon, DVDs for Netflix) you gain tremendous leverage in your marketing spend. But exactly how you build a brand has changed a lot in the last decade.

This morning’s somewhat vague statement by Apple on updates to it’s developer agreement brought a flurry of questions. Did Apple just allow Flash-powered Apps into the App ecosystem? Will third-party anlaytics companies like Flurry still be blocked? And one important question—did Apple rescind its terms that effectively prevented ad networks that are owned by a device or OS manufacturer (ie Google’s AdMob) from serving ads on iOS devices?

This past April, the Carbon War Room asked attendees at its conference to come up with recommendations and strategies for solving six major problems in green technology.

Amie Street is one of those startups that just got me – love at first site if you will. I first discovered them in 2006, calling it an awesome new music model. Artists upload songs and those songs are free to download to start. As more downloads occur the price goes up. A cent, fifty cents, etc., up to $1.

The price of the song is an indication of how good it is, as friends share the good stuff with others.

Earlier this year we wrote about TechCrunch 50 company Localbacon’s relaunch as Jibe, a next-generation job board that leverages Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to help job seekers find the best positions in the job market.

I’ve had a post in my head for months – maybe longer – about the role of a CEO.   It originally appeared on TechCrunch as a guest post but just in case you missed it there.  My primary role was “chief psychologist” and as I’ve learned over the past few years the same has been true as a VC.  Both are basically people businesses.

I'm not sure what to make of the company I just interviewed -- New Energy Technologies (OTC BB: NENE.OB).  And more broadly, I wonder what thinly traded, small-market-cap, over-the-counter traded stocks can add to the advancement of renewable energy markets.For context, Investopedia explains Over-The-Counter (OTC) stocks:

Earlier today AT&T sent out a “Special Message From AT&T” email highlighting a 18-19 billion dollar investment in their network as well as plans for other improvements. The email provides a link to their Facebook page an avalanche of comments like this cropped up:

“”Im only sticking out my contract because I dont have the money to pay a termination fee at the moment. “

Apparently some of Digg’s employees aren’t super happy that their main source of news about Digg is TechCrunch – probably referring to the news that VP of Engineering John Quinn is out.

Digg Designer Danny Trinh Twitters “I love finding out about @digg company news via @techcrunch. Wonder if they’ll post our lunch menu too..”

Yes, we will.

There is no shortage of gift card marketplaces on the web, with startups like Cardpool, Gift Card Rescue, and Plastic Jungle all promising to rescue your unused credits or sell discounted cards. However, these sites typically require buyers to wait several days for the physical arrival of their gift cards, frustrating users who want to use credits immediately for online purchases.