Designers in vogue in Silicon Valley

Pinterest and Flipboard, the two hottest startups in Silicon Valley, owe much of their success to sleek graphic design. They are dressed for success. The tech hub has taken notice. Designers are now in high demand.

Shannon Callahan, a partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley's leading talent scouts, has taken heed, reports Advertising Age.

"It's important to realize that designers in general have elevated themselves to being equivalent to engineers," she said.

Former king of venture capital in Silicon Valley trying to reclaim his crown

John Doerr

John Doerr is to venture capital in Silicon Valley what Tiger Woods is to professional golf - the former undisputed champion trying to reclaim his tarnished crown.

Doerr is the driving force behind Kleiner Perkins, for many years the top dog on Sand Hill Road, the equivalent of Wall Street in Silicon Valley for private equity. Many astute Silicon Valley observers are wondering if the aging star of venture capital has lost touch after Kleiner admittedly missed the boat on recent bellwether IPOs - namely, Facebook, LinkedIn and Groupon.

But Kleiner has proven recently that it can take a punch. The battered legendary 41-year-old firm has been the biggest booster of Flipboard, the very popular magazine-style, news aggregation app for Andriod and iOS.

The Kleiner portfolio also touts Square, social network Path, and online education startup Coursera.

Details of the Flipboard saga and more are detailed in the Forbes article The Kleiner mojo: still alive and well in Silicon Valley.  Doerr also appears on the May 27 cover of Forbes. Read more

Related article:

• Kleiner Perkins' Next Generation: Mike Abbott and Megan Quinn

Flipboard iPad app adds new features

Flipboard Ceo Mike McCue demos the new social networking features of the Silicon Valley startup's popular iPad app.

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• Flipboard 2.0 iPad app allows comments on friends' activities (USATODAY.com)