No IPO Plan for Twitter

Biz Stone deflects rumors of a deal with J.P. Morgan, a bleak outlook for small-business lending and the rest of the day's news.

Each day, Inc.'s reporters scour the Web for the most important and interesting news to entrepreneurs. Here's what we found today.

Twitter says no to IPO. The microblogging start-up has no plans to go public any time soon, said co-founder Biz Stone. Speaking at the Reuters World Economy and Future Forum today in Seoul, Stone said Twitter is making money and doesn't need more funding. "We are not even discussing it internally. It's too far off," he added, deflecting rumors of a potential deal with J.P. Morgan Chase. Industry tracker eMarketer reports Twitter made about $45 million from advertising in 2010, and could make as much as $150 million this year.

House votes to repeal 1099 provision. Lawmakers voted yesterday to kill an unpopular tax-reporting requirement affecting small-business owners. It's the first major change made to the sweeping health-care reform bill signed into law last year, according to The Wall Street Journal. The so-called 1099 provision would have required business owners to tell the IRS about far more of their business transactions, so that more money owed in taxes would be tracked in order to help pay for the health-care package. The measure came under fire from owners and business groups, who said "the onerous requirements it placed on smaller firms far outweighed any benefit to the Treasury."

Lending up, but not to small businesses. A recent report from the Federal Reserve shows a slight increase in bank lending this year. But the story isn't quite so rosy for small businesses, according to TheStreet.com. The Fed's Senior Loan Officer Survey shows that banks are keeping the same stringent lending standards they've used since the financial crisis. And they clearly think bigger is better, since nearly 20 percent of large banks surveyed had eased their credit standards for loans to large and middle-market firms. But only 10% had eased standards for small businesses.

Are traditional bookbinderies a thing of the past? With the iPad 2 being revealed yesterday and other products like the Kindle and Nook, traditional book makers are feeling the pinch. The Wall Street Journal breaks it down for us.

Expand your social media presence on... LinkedIn? We hope most business owners understand the need for a social media presence these days. But Neal Schaffer, president of Windmills Marketing in Newport Beach, California, argues that most businesses don't pay enough attention to LinkedIn, the professional networking site, which he said is perfect for busintess-to-business marketing. "I am amazed at how many small businesses do not take full advantage of social media, which‚ as the Internet did two decades ago‚ allows any business to compete with larger, more established entities," he writes in BusinessWeek today. "What further amazes me is how few small businesses maximize their presence on LinkedIn and instead just follow the trend at Facebook and Twitter. Why would a niche business-to-business (B2B) company establish a Facebook fan page when their potential customers may not be social on Facebook but are already used to networking on LinkedIn? I'm confused."

This app's got a 360-degree view. Bubbli, a Silicon Valley start-up, gave a demonstration of its new app at this year's TED conference. The app allows you to take and view 360-degree photos, called bubbles. The images are similar to those on Google Streetview, and can even be embedded in HTML coding and viewed online. The New York Times reports that co-founders Ben Newhouse and Terrence McArdle scored $2 million in funding for the project.

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Venuri Siriwardane's work has appeared on Inc.com, and in the Newark, New Jersey Star-Ledger, USA Today, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, among other publications.