The East Coast vs. West Coast talent war is heating up. Yahoo’s billion-dollar acquisition of New York’s Tumblr suggests that Silicon Valley is still calling the shots, but it also shows that developers and engineers don’t have to go to the Valley to build big Web companies. Meanwhile, in the Boston area, online marketing firm HubSpot has upped the ante on its referral program for developers. The company will now pay $30,000---yes, $30K---for any tip that leads to a successful software hire. That will surely stir up local competition as well.
In other innovation news…
-The TechStars Boston accelerator program has graduated its latest class of startups. The group includes PillPack in home-delivery of medications and Freight Farms for raising crops in urban environments.
-Our startup of the week is Swipely. The Rhode Island company led by Angus Davis has just raised $12 million that should help get its payment and marketing software into more stores and restaurants.
-And in movers and shakers, you might know Andy Miller as the former CEO of Quattro Wireless, a Boston mobile-ad startup bought by Apple in 2010. Miller, who reported to Steve Jobs for two years, is a new co-owner of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, as part of the deal to keep the team from leaving town. Guess you do have to go west for some deals.
