socalTECH

DECEMBER 10, 2010

Thanks to all of our sponsors and advertisers, who make our coverage of Southern. venture funding and business deals, technology develops, and more from Santa Barbara. It's the source for keeping a pulse on the dynamic world of technology, reaching venture capitalists, angel investors, entrepreneurs, CEOs, social media.

SoCalTech 127

SoCalTech Advertising Rustic Canyon Glendale 127

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 3, 2010

This was really a fun week at TWiVC because we decided to have an entrepreneur come and talk about raising capital rather than having a VC come on. In particular I tried to do most of the “entrepreneur advice on VC” up front so that if you don’t want to watch our views on the deals you don’t have to. They sponsor TWiVC.

Venture Capital 214

Venture Capital Startup Design S3 214

socalTECH

DECEMBER 10, 2013

Santa Monica-based SHIFT , which develops real time, online advertising and marketing tools, announced this morning that it has raised $6M in a Series B funding round. The company said the funding came from DN Capital, and will go towards international expansion in Europe. SHIFT said it has now raised $14M in funding. READ MORE>>.

Tool 174

Tool Marketing Santa Monica Advertising 174

socalTECH

OCTOBER 2, 2013

According to the startup, which is led by Kosta Gara, its customers include The UPS Store, Office Max Mexico and Pure Barre. vionic social offers venture capital angel media software advertising' READ MORE>>. vionic social offers venture capital angel media software advertising' READ MORE>>.

Social Media 183

Social Media San Diego Venture Capital Advertising 183

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 "In the old days, getting customers was easy. Putting customers first. Legendary customer support. Draw Your Ideas - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 16, 2010 I saw Jack Dorsey give this talk at The 99% Conference last month.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

socalTECH

JULY 5, 2016

Are we helping you to find and win customers and deals? Our coverage is supported by our members and sponsors -- not by web or mobile advertising -- and we need you to show your support by becoming an ongoing member. If so, we need YOUR support. Join today at [link] READ MORE>>.

News 113

News High Tech Southern California Venture Capital 113

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

He is very hands-on and helpful – especially for any company looking into customer acquisition. What better than to have capital from somebody who has actually done it in the trenches? Matt’s commitment to re-investing in tech startups is reminiscent to this great Fred Wilson post of “recycling capital. &#.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Custom Customer 304

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 29, 2009

Handling PR with VCs. This is part of my series on How to Raise VC but could equally be filed under Startup Advice more generally. Press doesn’t mean anything other than free advertising. Just notice how many VC emails you get after your TechCrunch article or after you were on stage at TC50.

Venture Capital 291

Venture Capital Press News Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. I can’t help feel a bit of rear-view mirror analysis in all of “VC model is broken” bears in our industry. They are, in fact, great news for traditional venture capitalists. This article originally ran on PEHub.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

I took the opportunity this past week to publish summary notes of some of the VCs and entrepreneurs I had interviewed on This Week in VC. One of my goals in doing the show was not only to educate entrepreneurs but also to put a human face on many of the VCs in our industry as VCs can be hard to get to know. 1:00 – 3:40).

Capital 265

Capital Venture Capital Veoh Startup 265

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

This thinking is largely driven by the venture capital industry (and subsequently Wall Street) who are in search of high margin, highly scalable businesses. It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. Why Shouldn’t Most Services Businesses Raise VC? It may be the right answer for you.

Services 332

Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

Because my role as a VC requires me to take and endless stream of meetings I long ago decided I need to learn as much as I can from the meetings I attend so I often just ask tons of questions and assimilate knowledge. When I think about what defines us as a VC I think: Operationally knowledgeable / strong startup competence.

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 9, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&#. I recently wrote a blog post here in which I argued that the best VC meetings are discussions and not sales pitches. I hope that when you’re presenting to a VC this will give you some sense of what might be going on in our minds. Both presenters are anonymized.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Advertising Yahoo 288

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 21, 2021

In my experience, here are some of the key elements of that “second-stage” of entrepreneurship: Move from small investors to major venture capital. Of course, customer relationships, and penetration into new market segments are also critical elements. Isolate marketing from sales for maximum customer focus.

Startup 151

Startup Course Sales Entrepreneur 151

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

She hasn’t raised any venture capital. It represents the great majority of entrepreneurship and eschews the fairytale rags-to-VC-riches stories we so often read about in the press. She focused on her customer. I blog on entrepreneurship & VC precisely because entrepreneurs and other VCs are my customers.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 14, 2014

In fact 61% of all mobile searches where a customer contacts a business it is via a phone call (source: Google). It’s why the first company I ever invested in as a VC – Invoca – just announced a $20 million funding by Accel Partners. People don’t want to speak to customer service reps. Not so fast.

Email 339

Email SaaS Venture Capital Google 339

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 21, 2011

When I first got into VC I decided I better have some investment themes. While the media industry is driven by a combination of subscriptions and advertising – it’s clear that the latter plays a unique role in media. Of the $300 billion spent annually on advertising, 90% of it ($270bn) is still offline and not measurable.

Mobile 329

Mobile Advertising Media Marketing 329

socalTECH

OCTOBER 6, 2017

We're the official mobile app for whatever our customer is. Laurence Sotsky: I've been working in the software-as-a-service space for some time, in medium-sized, venture capital backed companies. Previous to this, I ran a custom, mobile application development shop. We split that advertising revenue with our partners.

Mobile 162

Mobile Platform El Segundo UCLA 162

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 10, 2010

RealGravity said it provides an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of online video content and advertising. The company also provides an ad server and content management system for its customers, which include NBC Universal Sports, Howcast, Vibe.com, the Tribune Company, and others. READ MORE>>.

SoCalTech 140

SoCalTech Hollywood Content Venture Capital 140

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2023

If ten percent of these numbers, multiplied by your average product price, will get you the revenue you need to scale your business, you will get the love you need from angel and venture capital investors. Conduct your own customized market research.

Statistics 120

Statistics Research Report Newsletter 120

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 15, 2019

The company recently raised a round of funding from Santa Barbara-based ScOps Venture Capital. Now we're in over 100 cities and have over 10,000 clients, 10,000 tutors, and a platform which is working very efficiently, and gives the customer what they want. In this industry, customer acquisition costs are super high.

Startup 113

Startup Venture Capital Beverly Hills Acquisition 113

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

Do you imagine eventually raising VC and trying to build a faster growing company?” ” Because of the circles I run in I tend to meet many people who eventually do want to build large companies and therefore do want to eventually raise VC and “go big.” They raised $5 million in venture capital to fund growth.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 15, 2018

It was from their hometown Los Angeles exurb, that Kim and Lee first began plotting how they would turn their experience working for PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young (respectively) into the software business that just managed to rake in $40 million in financing led by one of venture capital’s most-respected firms, Battery Ventures.

Startup 155

Startup Cerritos Los Angeles IBM 155

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. In the Early Days. Offering a sparring-partner function on strategic decisions.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

socalTECH

JULY 21, 2011

The firm's software-as-a-service creates video advertising for local business customers, using a network of 4,000 videographers for generating content. The firm is headed by John McIntyre. PixelFish said the funding will go towards sales, marketing, and technology. READ MORE>>.

Torrance 213

Torrance Advertising Content Sales 213

socalTECH

MARCH 20, 2015

Ross tells us about how they bootstrapped the company, the challenges of going up against big, venture funded competitors, and how it sees opportunity in Europe. Ross Weber: ClickTripz is an advertising platform for travel advertisers. What''s different about your platform that more general advertising platforms?

Advertising 100

Advertising Startup Software Review Platform 100

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 4, 2009

If you sell a product direct to a customer – in person or on the phone – you need to understand what their pain points are and position your product benefits against those pain points. Many, many tech companies I meet start with a set of “awesome features” and present them to me (and I suspect also to customers). Why Buy Mine?

Sales 319

Sales Startup Platform Tips 319

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 16, 2011

The moment a big job is advertised you’re fawked. Understanding customer requirement ? Are You a VC? Whatever amount you’re getting out and talking with prospects, customers, employees, recruits, competitors, press, investors, potential investors … it’s never enough. You’re a candidate.

Startup 410

Startup Writing Press Venture Capital 410

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2016

Most people have heard of Foursquare for local nightlife and Airbnb for rooms, but other nationally recognized sources for local services are still hard to find, including social media, local news, advertising, and event calendars. I still hear often the dream of a free service to users, supported by advertising, per the Facebook model.

Advertising 63

Advertising Content Social Media Satisfaction 63

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2020

If ten percent of these numbers, multiplied by your average product price, will get you the revenue you need to scale your business, you will get the love you need from angel and venture capital investors. Conduct your own customized market research.

Marketing 157

Marketing Statistics Research Report 157

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

Messenger : Rob Duva , Co-Founder, COO RingRevenue, prior Director of Customer Acquisition, CallWave. Value Prop Twitter Style : “Ringrevenue’s call performance marketing platform enables ad networks, agencies, advertisers & publishers to generate more inbound sales calls.”.

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2019

We have built an application services platform for vehicles, and our first customer was actually USAA. That's where we started to play with Honda, our next big customer, where we have built out these infotainment and commerce systems in a vehicle, with an ad platform on top of what we started as an incentive for safe driving.

Artificial Inteligence 113

Artificial Inteligence Startup Commerce Platform 113

Frank Addante

AUGUST 29, 2006

▼ August (3) Venture Capital - What's the rush? the Rubicon Project (Internet Advertising Technology) Status: Pre-Launch Visit the Rubicon Project Website Startup 5.0: the Rubicon Project (Internet Advertising Technology) Status: Pre-Launch Visit the Rubicon Project Website Startup 5.0: Hire Entrepreneurs!

Venture Capital 40

Venture Capital Capital Startup Outsource Development 40

socalTECH

JANUARY 14, 2013

Convetro , the online advertising targeting and optimization technology developer headed by serial entrepreneur Jeff Zwelling, has raised $5M in a Series B funding round, the company said this morning. The firm said the funding came from Bessemer Venture Partners and DAG Ventures, and will go towards sales and marketing.

Santa Monica 147

Santa Monica Advertising Equity Entrepreneur 147

socalTECH

JULY 7, 2010

One complaint we sometimes hear from venture capitalists visiting Southern California for the first time, is the difficulty of finding experienced entrepreneurs and executives. The firm has backing from such investors as Google Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, and OReilly AlphaTech Ventures. which he sold to AOL.

Southern California 228

Southern California Entrepreneur SoCal Mahalo 228

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

in a funding led by Orange County's Okapi Venture Capitalis looking to help direct to consumer brands use better data to direct their marketing and other efforts. That makes it difficult to figure out what it costs to acquire a customer, and what a customer is worth. Dan LeBlanc: Shopify loves their partner ecosystem.

Startup 113

Startup Platform Commerce San Diego 113

InfoChachkie

JUNE 23, 2011

You guys did a lot of self-funding before you approached the venture capital community. The catalyst was that we saw the demand and it was confirmed by some of the leading advertisers in the marketplace. One of the things the Internet was supposed to do for advertisers is enable real-time, highly engaging messaging.

Yahoo 210

Yahoo Startup Advertising Summary 210