When Duran Duran Made ‘Planet Earth’ Their Success Manifesto
When Duran Duran formed in the industrial midlands of England in 1978, they agreed to pursue the ambition of playing Madison Square Garden within two years. They missed their target – it took them four years, and it started with the release of their debut single “Planet Earth” on Feb. 2, 1981.
The group had started out as the house band (and bartenders) at a Birmingham club, before its owners became their managers and mortgaged the property to buy them onto Hazel O’Connor’s 1980 U.K. tour. Spotted on the road by A&R exec Dave Ambrose, who’d previously signed Sex Pistols, they secured a record deal with EMI, which led to the release of “Planet Earth.”
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Each week we round up travel startups that have recently received or announced funding. Please email Senior Travel Tech Editor Sean O Neill at
so@skift.com if you have funding news.
Travel startups announced more than $100 million in funding recently.
Hipcamp, a startup that pairs people who wish to pitch their tents with landowners who want to accommodate them, has finalized $57 million Series C funding round, The Information reported on Thursday.
Htrip, a provider of operational and analytics tools to hotels, has had another extension to its Series A funding. Skift reported on the first portions. The Guangzhou-based company has now raised a total of $25 million in the Series A round.
Storyboard, a Palo Alto, CA-based enterprise podcast and audio platform, closed $4.5m in seed funding.
The round was led by CRV, with participation from Harry Stebbings of 20MinuteVC, Operator Partners, Slack Fund, Dave Ambrose, and Matt Ziskie.
The company will use the new capital to accelerate its growth, develop its audio platform, and to continue building out its team.
Founded in November 2019 by JP Gooderham, Storyboard is a platform for companies and organizations to share audio internally. The platform enables enterprises to create podcasts where employees can listen and engage with content on-demand, including trainings, town halls, culture updates, and more.
Storyboard is Transforming How More Than 1,700 Companies Communicate and Engage with Their Employees
PALO ALTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Storyboard, the enterprise podcast and audio platform, today announced the closing of $4.5 million in seed funding led by CRV, which is known for investing at the earliest stage of high-growth companies like Airtable, DoorDash, Twitter and Zendesk. The funding also includes participation from Harry Stebbings of 20MinuteVC, Operator Partners, Slack Fund, Dave Ambrose, and Matt Ziskie. The company will use the new capital to accelerate its rapid growth, develop its audio platform, and to continue building out Storyboard’s talented team.
Storyboard is transforming how teams collaborate and engage through the creation of internal audio content. In its first year, over 1,700 companies around the world, including Delta Air Lines, DHL, HelloFresh and many others, launched channels on Storyboard. Companies are providing corporate updates, distributing