An Interview With Liz Eswein, Instagram User-Turned-Entrepreneur; Just a couple of years after she first opened an Instagram account, Liz Eswein has built a successful business on helping brands use the service

DECEMBER 26, 2013, 6:09 PM

An Interview With Liz Eswein, Instagram User-Turned-Entrepreneur

By NICK BILTON

We often read about how the founders of start-ups become rich and famous, but sometimes, users of new web services also find a way to benefit financially. Take Liz Eswein. Just a couple of years ago, she signed up to Instagram while a senior at New York University. Then she managed to turn that account into an Instagram-based business called The Mobile Media Lab, which has generated more than $1 million in revenue by helping brands use the service. The following is an edited interview with Ms. Eswein. Read more of this post

After Carriers Falter, Questions for Web Shopping

December 26, 2013

After Carriers Falter, Questions for Web Shopping

By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS and VINDU GOEL

After years of preaching the convenience and reliability of online shopping — shop in your pajamas, with fast, free delivery — retailers may have been too successful at spreading the message this year, contributing to the volume of holiday orders that overwhelmed delivery services like U.P.S. and FedEx. Read more of this post

Amazon Reveals a New Hint About Prime Membership Rolls; Amazon Prime is the company’s $79-a-year membership service. Still, Amazon has never said how many Prime members it has

DECEMBER 26, 2013, 3:47 PM

Amazon Reveals a New Hint About Prime Membership Rolls

By NICK WINGFIELD

SEATTLE — The world’s biggest online retailer has mastered the art of talking a lot about its holiday sales, while saying very little. For years, Amazon has blasted out a press release, a day or so after Christmas, filled with a string of tantalizing-sounding factoids about the holidays at Amazon without actually providing a very meaningful picture of its business. Read more of this post