Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. While I’m not an LP, the following post represents my discussions with more than 100 LP firms – specifically ones that do fund VCs – and full survey data from 73 firms , so I’ve tried to capture the essence of what I’ve learned.

Venture Capital 186

Venture Capital Capital Marketing Seed Funding 186

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2016

Are you an aspiring singer, who is interested in sharing your voice talent with the world? Los Angeles-based mobile app developer Wurrly said Tuesday that it has rolled out an Android version of its app, which lets users record and share their covers songs of popular tunes. The company--which already offers up an iOS version of its app--lets singers pick and record tracks, which can be customized by key, tempo, and instrumentation.

Mobile 116

Mobile Los Angeles Customer Custom 116

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 1, 2016

Scrolling through the @shopboxfox Instagram account is enough to notice the clean-cut aesthetic: feminine, driven, artistic. However, the ladies behind LA’s BOXFOX, Chelsea Moore, Sabena Suri and Jenni Olivero, are channeling much more than their social media accounts let on; they are enhancing strategy and technology to make one of life’s favorite moments, gift giving, easier and… Read More.

Social Media 100

Social Media Startup Media Technology 100

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2016

Irvine-based disk drive maker Western Digital says it has bumped the upper limits of its hard drive capacity to 8TB, across its entire line of hard drives and external storage products. According to WD, it will be launching 8TB hard drive support throughout the first half of 2016, across both its popular My Cloud personal storage devices, My Book external hard drives, and other products.

Product 116

Product 116

Advertiser: Aggregage

Office leases are one of companies’ largest expenses, and if your whole team is working from home with no clear end in sight, you may be wondering what to do about your lease.

Company

Frank Addante

MARCH 1, 2016

As a serial entrepreneur and founder of 6 companies, I’ve found one of the most important ingredients for innovation to be something I call “ whitespace ”. Whitespace is time you set aside to refresh your thinking, strategize, reflect on your primary goals and gain perspective. To me, whitespace is the lifeblood of the innovator, and an absolute must for any creative person.

Activity 40

Activity Tool Ideas Entrepreneur 40

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2016

Startup Next Los Angeles , a program which is part of the Techstars startup accelerator, said Tuesday that it has opened up applications for its Fall program. According to Startup Next, it helps startups prepare for accelerators and seed investment, using mentors and other founders to help startups with pitches, and puts them through a series of weekly seminars around pitching their company, market sizing, finding product/market/fit, and other topis.

Los Angeles 109

Los Angeles Startup Angel Mentor 109

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2016

Lionsgate and Hulu said that they have teamed up to acquired the North American rights to a film, Joshy , from writer and director Jeff Baena (Life After Beth), the two said on Tuesday. Financial details on the deal were not disclosed. According to the two, Lionsgate Premiere will release the film on its label, which will be available exclusively for streaming on Hulu following its theatrical run.

Hulu 109

Hulu Netflix Services Hollywood 109

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2016

Ventura, California--despite a number of growing high tech startups--has not been known for buildling multi-million dollar Internet companies. However, The Trade Desk , the advertising software developer led by Jeff Green, has quietly pushed past $202M in revenues, to become one of the faster growing firms in the region. The company--which quietly disclosed the $202M in 2014 revenues in the 2015 Inc. 5000 rankings--is backed by Double M Partners, Founder Collective, Hermes Growth Partners, IA Ve

Ventura 109

Ventura High Tech Advertising Software Development 109

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2016

Santa Monica-based HomeHero , which operates an online marketplace for finding in-home care for seniors, said today that it is shifting its care providers from independent contractors to W-2 employees. According to HomeHero, it will use the shift to create a new platform called the HomeHero Collaborative, which it says will help provide hospitals and health plans with finding care providers.

Santa Monica 109

Santa Monica Platform Help Capital 109

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2016

Anaheim-based consulting and technical services provider Willdan Group said late Monday that it has acquired New York-based Genesys Engineering , a provider of mechanical and electric consulting and engineering for the power and utility industry. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Willdan said Genesys had approximately $30M in revenues in 2015, and provides planning, design, project management, and commissioning services for the energy and utility infrastructure of major faci

Acquisition 109

Acquisition Design Services Customer 109

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2016

Venice, California-based Snapchat has hired on Facebook executive Sriram Krishnan, who had headed up Facebook's ad network for the last few years, according to a report on Monday. Krishnan ran Facebook's Audience Network, its effort to sell display and video ad space on Facebook apps. READ MORE>>.

Snapchat 109

Snapchat Venice Networking Report 109

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2016

Mountain View-based Wrike , a developer of enterprise work management software, said on Monday that it has opened up a new office in San Diego, and plans to hire 150 people in the location. Wrike said the new jobs in the location will be in sales and customer service. Write said it selected San Diego over several other cities, including Austin, Raleigh, and Phoenix, citing the city's "rich talent pool" and startup environment.

San Diego 109

San Diego Writing Software Sales 109

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2016

Fountain Valley-based Kingston Digital , the flash memory arm of Kingston Technology, said on Monday that it has sold off the HDD division of IronKey, and set plans for the rest of the company. Kingston Digital said it has sold of Ironkey's external, encrypted HDD business to DataLocker. Financial details of that sale were not announced. Kingstom said the remainder of IronKey's products--particularly, its USB flash drive line--will be used to help customers who need FIPS 140-2 Level 3 encryption

Product 109

Product Sales Customer Custom 109

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2016

Irvine-based Kurion , which develops nuclear and hazardous waste cleanup and removal systems, said Monday that it has completed a prototype of a new system for removing tritium from contaminated water. Tritium is a dangerous, highly radioactive isotype of hydrogen, which is difficult to remove from water -- and is one of the nuclear isotopes that are causing major headaches at Fukushima , due to the need for a vast amount of water to continue to cool Fukushima's damaged reactors.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Customer Custom Help 109

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2016

Los Angeles-based NantMobile , one of the companies founded by biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, has launched a new app with AT&T, the companies said today. NantMobile's new miik access by iD app allows users to share and access digital content from other users, handling photos, videos, large filess, and more. The app runs both on iOS and Android.

Media 100

Media Los Angeles Content Angel 100