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Some of SXSW's hottest startups say they're here to help small businesses compete, but eBay execs say those merchants want something else entirely. You'd think that wave-and-pay smartphone technology would be top priority for PayPal, one of the biggest competitors in the mobile payments space. But while big retailers love NFC for its hyper-targeted marketing potential , small businesses that run on payment services like PayPal may actually be interested in mobile payments for something far humbler: customer loyalty

In what would position Netflix as an even bigger threat to the major cable players, the company might soon offer original programming, according to Deadline Hollywood . The streaming TV and movie powerhouse has reportedly outbid networks from HBO to AMC for the rights to the David Fincher and Kevin Spacey series House of Cards. Nellie Andreeva calls it "probably the biggest gamble" in the company's history, and reports that while negotiations are still ongoing, Netflix has offered to commit to two seasons of the drama series in a deal that could be worth more than $100 million.

In this excerpt from his new book The Thank You Economy, author Gary Vaynerchuk turns a critical eye to the Old Spice Man marketing campaign. What did the brand get right

"I started swearing to myself four or five years ago that I would never launch another product at SXSW," says Josh Wiliams, founder and CEO of Gowalla, the Austin-based check-in service. "That's never come true--my success record on that promise has just not been good." Already gearing up to make a splash at this year's SXSW, the company today launched Gowalla 3 for Android, creating a "freshly baked" port of the popular iPhone app.

What would you do if you could predict the future? This is not a rhetorical question.