SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

Many of the founders of these companies are surprised to learn that I'm willing to review what they are doing (maybe an hour) and get on the phone for an hour with them and provide free advice. Generally I can provide quite a bit of help in that brief time. And I try my best to point them to resources that can help them longer term.

CTO Hire 259

CTO Hire Startup Technical Review Development Team Review 259

socalTECH

APRIL 13, 2021

For today's interview, we spoke to Dave Eastman, the Director of the Viterbi Startup Garage, a startup incubator that is run by the University of Southern California, out of its location in Marina Del Rey. Those are faculty members who have a commercialization idea and want help with that. What are your thoughts there?

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Marina Del Rey Startup USC Incubator 150

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

It’s obvious that we can be too late to these decisions of course. If — and it’s a big if of course — they can do that on the cheap, then why should an LP care at all? Pro tip: take on the mantle of book editor for a major tech publication, and the publishers will mail you books for free. Quality tech news from around the web.

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

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. Now, I run a hedge fund and finance firm in Southern California.

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Competition Southern California Mentor USC 154

socalTECH

AUGUST 6, 2012

Santa Monica-based Demand Media (www.demandmedia.com) has seen its share of ups and downs as one of the highest visibility technology and media companies to come out of Southern California's technology ecosystem in recent years. Can you explain that process? Most of those assignments now are segmented by expertise.

Demand 240

Demand Media eHow Content 240

socalTECH

OCTOBER 2, 2012

Southern California's technology community--despite all of the recent excitement around Silicon Beach--continues to be underserved in terms of capital, with a lack of venture capital funds (with money), and other private technology investors. The second reason is that we are a hybrid fund with a unique strategy.

Acquisition 168

Acquisition Software Review Technical Review Equity 168

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

Despite the excitement and lure of startups to those in the tech industry, not everyone wants to join a startup after college--according to Mike Gammarino , who is helping to organize a new effort here to recruit students to startups. Mike Gammarino: I'm an entrepreneur who has been working in technology since I graduated.

Startup 206

Startup Technical Review Outsource Yahoo 206

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2010

Bill Gates once famously said that people tend to overestimate the impact of technology in the 1-year timeframe and underestimate its impact in the 10-year timeframe. I tend not to go into heat when I hear the latest buzz on the tech blogs about the latest gadgets. There is, of course, a paid version. Pretty cool stuff.

Technical Review 278

Technical Review Software Review Startup SoCal 278

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

He eventually founded and sold consumer health firm ViSalus to a public company and is now back making investments, in technology companies, as a venture capitalist here at Los Angeles-based HashtagOne (www.hashtagone.com). So, now, as a VC, I swore I'd never treat entrepreneurs like those VCs treated me. I know all of that.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review 100

socalTECH

MARCH 4, 2010

Do you think you could have offered this earlier, or was it due to the scale that you could launch this? We started a year and a half ago by putting out a blog post, because I had people asking me for help on their business. I offered to bring in pizza and stay late one night to help, and was expecting 10-12 people.

Technical Review 171

Technical Review Rustic Canyon Screening Startup 171

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 11, 2010

This month’s big question is Examples of Big Impact from Technology and I’ve taken it as an opportunity to go back and look at the elements of different projects that I’ve worked on over the years that have had a big impact. I’ve seen that in courses and in design specs many times, and it’s a HORRIBLE IDEA.

Satisfaction 167

Satisfaction Examples Course Technical Review 167

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

Baghdasarian was co-founder of Monterey Networks, which was sold to Cisco Systems back in 1999, has been an active angel investor in Southern California. We've basically taken advantage of all the new technology out there--especially, the web-based service model. Plus, you still have course management and grades.

Education 124

Education Startup Course Tool 124

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

It’s always fun debating companies with Dana because she’s always so knowledgeable on deals – particularly those in the digital media, ad-tech and eCommerce spaces. Of course none of these funds (my own included) want to be lumped into just one category because we all move across the spectrum. Greycroft is an early-stage VC.

Venture Capital 240

Venture Capital Startup Platform Technical Review 240

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2011

So I feel the need to speak up. Babak Nivi is one of the most understated, helpful & important people on the entrepreneur / startup scene in NorCal. I said, “if you can help first-time entrepreneurs get access to investors – that’s golden. I believe everything I wrote then. Still, I have some concerns.

Venture Capital 267

Venture Capital Writing Blogging Startup 267

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

I know you’re not a tech guy and haven’t done anything other than an HTML course you once took, but if you’re inspirational and a leader you’ll find somebody to moonlight for free to get your prototype built. In SoCal we have Crosscut Ventures, Matt Coffin, Mike Jones, Klaus Schauser, etc.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2015

In the last few years, Southern California has been a key market in launching mobile applications and services, due to a huge, mobile-savvy consumer population. So, it''s no surprise that the area--specifically, San Diego--was chosen for the pilot launch of a new service from eBay, called Close5 (www.close5.com),

San Diego 100

San Diego Mobile Marketing Sites 100

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 10, 2010

The time has come for us to say goodbye SoCal (temporarily of course) and HELLO Austin! A huge thanks goes out to the Social Media ClubHouse (SMCH3) for helping put this all together. For years they've taken complex technology and simplified it for the everyday website owner. Media Temple hosts websites. Big and Small.

Stickam 71

Stickam Technical Review Draper SoCal 71

SoCal Delicious

JANUARY 20, 2010

On CBS MoneyWatch: Why Debit Cards Are Dangerous BNET Business Network: BNET TechRepublic ZDNet ZDNet Members login Newsletters Site Assistance RSS Feeds Home News & Blogs Videos White Papers Downloads Reviews Popular Enterprise Web 2.0 Dion Hinchcliffe Get Enterprise Web 2.0 These include: Open activity streams.

Web 29

Web Technical Review Web 2.0 Social Media 29

SoCal CTO

JULY 23, 2012

Given likely market changes, how will we design and build so that the systems can respond to marketplace changes? What are the biggest areas of technical risk? What technology research is required? What technologies will we use? What specific technical innovations might make sense? How can we address this risk?

CTO Coach 231

CTO Coach CTO Hire Outsource Development Develop 231

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

Of course much of it is conflicting. And of course I’ve sat on the other side of the table: As a VC. most Seed or A round deals will be done by an investor in your region so that should help you to focus. I get approached about clean tech or biotech periodically – I don’t focus on these.

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

10 Ways To Be Your Own Boss - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , June 18, 2010 The folks at Behance and Cool Hunting asked me to talk at their 99% Conference a couple months ago. had two occasions recently to review products which had clear market leadership. Here are the top 30 along with a brief snippet from the post.

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 3, 2015

We had just gotten over the dot com crash and return to normalcy where nobody seemed to give a s**t about tech companies any more. Maybe I could be SoCal guy? Jason charted his own course though. Many people knew that I knew him due to our Twitter conversations but also because I had him speak at every one of our conferences.

SaaS 150

SaaS Venture Capital Conference Technical Review 150

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , July 11, 2010 I just reviewed several hundred startup pitches for Capital Factory. Between this blog and reviewing applications to Capital Factory I see hundreds of pitches a year. Not so bad. Not that I blame you! We have the most features.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217