socalTECH

JUNE 29, 2018

GroGuru , a startup developing irrigation automation technology for the agriculture industry, has raise $250,000 in a seed funding from Western Growers and Radicle Growth. GroGuru is part of San Diego- and Irvine's EvoNexus startup incubator, and develops a precision soil and irrigation monitoring system.

Seed Funding 113

Seed Funding Funding San Diego Incubator 113

Tech.Co

MAY 9, 2024

Seeking funding is a right of passage for many small business owners. If you’re interested in pursuing this type of finance, we round up some government grants small businesses can apply for in May, including their specialisms, funding limits, and deadlines. 🌎 Or appear as if you're in another country?

Outsource Development 207

Outsource Development Technical Review Research Writing 207

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

But LA-based performance marketing agency MuteSix didn’t wait that long to build its business around scaling DTC brands. They also have a very smart and efficient approach to creative development that was critical to helping us scale,” she wrote. (If Why do you think that performance marketing is the right fit for DTC?

Commerce 211

Commerce Content Marketing Startup 211

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Mostly it’s because your marketing campaigns suck. Or more directly – they are likely narcissistic resuscitations of your newest features or bragging points that nobody but your marketing team and your mom care about. Plus they run conferences with the top people (which is another form of POV marketing by the way).

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

Fund raising. But it’s critical for your business, for you as a leader and people who excel at fund raising have an extreme advantage over those who do not. As a VC I also have to fund raise every three years and these posts 100% apply to VCs raising money, too. It definitely has a “d” in it, as in it’s really not fun, raising.

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2019

With the advent and popularity of crowdfunding platforms, including Kickstarter and IndieGoGo , as a winning alternative for funding your new venture, I find that many aspiring entrepreneurs are confused about the need to ever seek a professional angel investor. They don’t get excited by early stage research, development, or marketing hype.

Funding 119

Funding Startup Platform Examples 119

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

If you’re funding the same stuff as everybody else and if you started your activities when the clues were obvious you’re much less likely to drive enormous returns. When Fred Wilson funded Twitter I guarantee you it wasn’t obvious that it was a billion dollar idea. Venture Capital is a tricky industry. Far from it.

Funding 362

Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

With the enormous changes to our economies and financial markets?—?how how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? One of the most common questions I’m asked by people intrigued by but also scared by venture capital and technology markets is some variant of, “Aren’t technology markets way overvalued?

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

Understanding “The Funding Angle” I sit at enough board meetings to hear conflicting advice given to entrepreneurs about how to handle PR and announcements at startups. Is Funding a Worthy Announcement? There are reasons you may delay funding announcement but rarely reasons not to announce. But trust me on this.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. People who believe the former believe that you should see the market demand before too many people know you’re “in market.”

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

Read on to find a financing option that suits you, whatever your business's specialism, needs, and financial profile, or jump to a specific funding type below. It's competitive though – last year 18,000 applicants competed for only 12 slots. Want to browse the web privately? ? Or appear as if you're in another country?

Technical Review 193

Technical Review Software Review Startup Competition 193

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

Every time I challenge a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. First of all, Seth Godin pointed out a long time ago that viral marketing does not equal word-of-mouth. Develop viral content.

Marketing 107

Marketing Invest SEM Startup 107

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

Non-credible funding request or unreasonable valuation. Naïve expectations on funding terms and process. Marketing programs and distribution channels are required for even the best solutions, with an appropriate and viable rollout and growth strategy. Solution development undefined or incomplete.

Funding 123

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Invest 123

socalTECH

APRIL 12, 2021

Two startups won a total of $25,000 in prizes last week at the Sunstone Innovations Challenge at CSULB, a startup pitch competition involving student teams from CSU Long Beach. The runner up was UNWIND, which is developing personalized meditation programs, which received $10,000 in seed funding.

Long Beach 113

Long Beach Seed Funding Startup Competition 113

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2010

Last week, the University of Southern California 's Viterbi School of Engineering announced that it had established a new, business plan competition, the Maseeh Entrepreneurship Prize Competition ([link] specifically aimed at students in the engineering school. Why a business plan competition, and why in engineering school?

Competition 154

Competition Southern California Mentor USC 154

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 10, 2023

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. I still see entrepreneurs who spend money and time for months on a new business idea without any separation of personal and business funds, and any formal accounting system for their new business.

Outsource Development 115

Outsource Development Startup Competition Ideas 115

socalTECH

JULY 20, 2020

El Segundo-based Carbonated Games , a developer of mobile games, has raised $8.5M in a seed funding round, the company said late last week. The funding came from Andreessen Horowitz, Golden Ventures, and Bitkraft Esports Ventures. The company is led by founder and CEO Travis Boatman. READ MORE>>.

El Segundo 113

El Segundo Electronic Arts Seed Funding Mobile 113

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 30, 2014

In order to support all of these teams, there are several on-campus startup competitions every year, from the Silicon Beach USC competition to the New Venture Seed Competition, with prize funds to help build the companies. The post HipTraveler | Taking Startup Competitions by Storm appeared first on TechZulu.

Competition 104

Competition Startup USC Southern California 104

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 26, 2010

Most often at the earliest point in the life of a startup, the dominant need is certainly to produce product to get something in the market, get funding, etc. What worries me a bit is how often I read that startups should hire a developer / hands-on lead developer. Gap closed, right? Probably not. What options do we have?

Fractional CTO 225

Fractional CTO CTO CTO Hire CTO Coach 225

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Santa Monica-based PatientPop , which develops healthcare practice management software, has rolled out a new product, aimed at helping independent healthcare providers compare themselves to other local competitors.

Tool 133

Tool Santa Monica Competition Google 133

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 8, 2020

Today, a startup that is doing this in the specific area of distressed property is announcing a round of growth funding to ramp up its team and expand its business. The funding is being led by QED Investors; Founders Fund, Susa Ventures, Navitas Capital, and Prudence Holdings also participated.

Sales 282

Sales Demand San Diego Funding 282

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 4, 2023

In reality, resource constraints should be seen by startups a competitive advantage, by forcing them to develop new markets, and to think differently and act differently than existing players. Startups funded by rich uncles rarely think about productivity. Rethink or reframe the challenge. Marty Zwilling

Resource 112

Resource Ideas Competition Entrepreneur 112

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

While the market isn't short of spritely, innovative entrepreneurs, harsh economic headwinds combined with a pullback in investor spending have made it harder than ever for budding businesses to break through. Source: runwayml.com In June, Runway raised $141 million in funding, nudging its market valuation to an envy-inducing $1.5

Startup 210

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 210

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2021

It provided an industry-leading graphic development interface, but was not so strong on modeling and simulation. As a result, we shared in capturing a new high-end market, without major new marketing or development. Here is a summary of each: Complementary strengths allows extended market penetration.

Startup 173

Startup Outsource Development Examples Customer 173

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2020

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. I still see entrepreneurs who spend money and time for months on a new business idea without any separation of personal and business funds, and any formal accounting system for their new business.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Outsource Development Startup Competition 131

socalTECH

MARCH 18, 2014

Irvine-based Bitvore , a startup developing big data and intelligence-gathering software which pulls information from both public and private data sources for businesses, said this morning that it has closed a $4.5M, Series A funding round. The funding was led by serial entreprenur Yuri Pikover, as well as $1M from crowdfunding.

Software 227

Software IBM IBM Social Media 227

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2013

It is simply the most important way to proactively control your career development and how the market perceives you. That was fine with me – the market is the market. That was the market. In today’s market you can prove your worth, in 1991 that was a bit harder. It is neither. Not kidding.

Technical Advisors 385

Technical Advisors Marketing Startup Venture Capital 385

Berkonomics

MARCH 30, 2012

You have enough in savings to get started, but how and where do you go to find additional funding sources? When searching for funding, one of your primary tasks should be to start where it is easier, and proceed from there. Fees may seem high at first, but, on a total cost basis, these funding sources can appear more reasonable.

Funding 192

Funding Entrepreneur Startup Invest 192

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

Here are the major elements of the best product plans: Market requirements section. This first section of every product plan defines the market, sizes the opportunity, and discusses individual needs and requirements that will be provided by your product and service. Development schedule and checkpoints.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2017

Every time I challenge a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. First of all, Seth Godin pointed out a long time ago that viral marketing does not equal word-of-mouth. Develop viral content.

Marketing 67

Marketing SEM Startup Blogging 67

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

The rise of “micro VCs” or seed-stage funds. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). 15 years ago we were at the peak of Internet hype with the launch of many over-capitalized businesses with a market size & opportunity was limited. On the surface the narratives have been.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 31, 2022

After many years in business, I’m convinced that none of us has the strengths and interest in all the areas needed for success, including solution changes, finance, marketing, and operations. Idea people often don’t get funded as entrepreneurs, because a new business is all about results, not just ideas.

Activity 108

Activity Satisfaction Metrics Startup 108

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

Value Prop Twitter Style : “Ringrevenue’s call performance marketing platform enables ad networks, agencies, advertisers & publishers to generate more inbound sales calls.”. In today’s market, so much focus is placed on transacting business online. Why aren’t there a half-dozen well-funded startups running up your tailpipe?

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

In reality, crowdfunding has become a major startup funding vehicle, expected to reach $3.62 He points out that the word crowd precedes funding in crowdfunding. Of course, if the campaign does not meet or exceed the funding objective, you get nothing. billion globally by 2030, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Startup 100

Startup Equity Entrepreneur Demand 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2013

Every time I challenge a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. First of all, Seth Godin pointed out a few years ago that viral marketing does not equal word-of-mouth. Develop viral content.

Marketing 99

Marketing Entrepreneur Startup SEM 99

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever. Minimum viable products (MVPs) are recommended for validating the market, with iterative enhancement to quickly meet market feedback. Marty Zwilling

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Startup Social Media News 104

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2022

I recommend that you always use brainstorming, or expert feedback, to define similar approaches and markets, before proceeding to produce and sell a solution that may be expensive to change later. One of the best ways to assess development risk is to build and test a prototype, or minimum viable product (MVP).

Ideas 145

Ideas Startup Case Study Writing 145