What's it like to be one of the hottest startups in Silicon Valley? Last month, Flipboard found out. The Palo Alto Calif. company makes a free application for Apple's AAPL iPad tablet that it calls a "social magazine." The app automatically pulls in articles, photos, and video from online publications you selectâ??or that your friends link to on Twitter and Facebookâ??and presents them in a format resembling a printed magazine.

The team rang a gong to celebrate its launch at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, July 20. Glowing reviews poured in from around the world. Technology blogger Robert Scoble called it "remarkable." Actor and Flipboard investor Ashton Kutcher touted the app to his 5.3 million Twitter followers. It became the top iPad download. Venture capitalist John Doerr, whose firm is also an investor, took a celebratory photo of the team.