Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Today is amongst the proudest days I’ve had at Upfront Ventures — getting the chance to announce that Kevin Zhang has been promoted to Partner. Watching him develop over the past 4.5 years at Upfront has been both a pleasure and also has taught me a lot about venture capital. Kevin joined Upfront in 2012 as an Associate. We generally look for associates who are deeply quantitative, have great research & analytical skills and often have the tool kit for framing and making complex decisions.

Venture Capital 156

Venture Capital Startup Invest Course 156

socalTECH

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Los Angeles-based private equity investor Marlin Equity Partners unveiled a new company, Elenion Technologies , focused on silicon photonics. According to Marlin Equity Partners, Elenion has been in existence since 2014, and has been operating in stealth mode. Marlin Equity said that it has named Larry Schwerin, former CEO of Silicon Lightwave Services and Capella Intelligent Subsystems, as CEO of the company.

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Equity Technology Incubator Los Angeles 125

Xconomy

DECEMBER 14, 2016

If you’re not much of a podcast listener and you have a sense that you’re missing out on a lot of great content, you’re absolutely right. But now is a good time to fix that, thanks to a new profusion of listening options. And to get you started, I have a few shows to suggest. Fifty of them, in fact. I’ve always been a big fan of podcasts—and I mean always, back to the days of the very first podcasts around 2004.

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Content San Diego Journal Google 87

socalTECH

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Coding Dojo the operator of coding bootcamps and classes, has expanded ito Orange County, the company announced on Wednesday. The company said that it opened up the new campus in Orange County in addition to a new location in Berkeley, California. Coding Dojo is based in the Seattle area. The company said its new campus is at 3333 Susan St. in Costa Mesa, and has more than 12,000 square feet.

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Orange County Class Los Angeles Angel 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

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Too many aspiring entrepreneurs I mentor can talk at length about their innovative ideas and passions, and ask lots of good questions, but never make much progress in building a real business. In my experience, building a business is much more about getting things done than having great ideas. The challenge is to move from ideas to specific goals, to delivered solutions.

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Writing Ideas Startup Entrepreneur 100

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DECEMBER 14, 2016

Camarillo-based Hygiena , which provides food safety and environmental sanitation testing, said this morning that it has acquired the food safety diagnostics business of DuPont. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. Hygiena--which is owned by private equity investor Warburg Pincus--is buying all of DuPont Diagnostics business assets, including its BAX and RiboPrinter Systems, associated test kits, its sales, R&D and manufacturing organization, and in-house production.

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Equity Acquisition Organization Sales 116

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DECEMBER 14, 2016

Los Angeles-based dating app developer Tinder said on Tuesday that it has launched its own, Apple TV app, specifically aimed at letting users share their dating choices with friends and family. The Apple TV app lets users swipe left or right on potential matches--however, on the big screen. Tinder said the app is "taking a page from the age-old book of matchmaking" and letting people you know help you pick a partner.

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Screening Los Angeles Help Angel 109

L.A. Business Journal

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Rubicon Project and Clear Channel launch programmatic billboard network, Elon Musk to advise President-Elect Donald Trump, and Wevr launches paid subscription for virtual reality apps.

Networking 125

Networking Report 125

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DECEMBER 14, 2016

Santa Monica-based TigerText , the developer of a secure text messaging solutions which has seen widespread adoption in the healthcare industry, said it now has over 3,000 healthcare customers, after adding over 300 healthcare organizations in 2015. The company said it saw a year of record growth. Financial details of that growth were not announced by the company.

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Custom Customer Santa Monica Organization 109

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2016

A room full of some of the top tech leaders in our country: Apple, Facebook, Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Amazon, Tesla and so forth. It’s a breath of fresh air to see that Marc Benioff, who has become a beacon for protecting the rights of our most vulnerable citizens, is not in attendance. But I actually fall on the side of the issue that it’s good that our tech leaders are meeting with Trump for 2 reason: Whether I like it or not (I most certainly do not like it), Donald Trump will be

Oracle 252

Oracle IBM IBM Course 252

socalTECH

DECEMBER 14, 2016

San Diego-based Qualcomm and Google are in an effort to work together on Google's new, Internet-of-Things focused version of Android, Android Things , Qualcomm said on Tuesday. Qualcomm said that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, will add support for Android Things on its Snapdragon processors. The company explained that its IoT support with Android Things will include connectivity to cellular, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networks, support for a wide array of sensors, access to cameras, graphics, a

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Google San Diego Networking Technology 109

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DECEMBER 14, 2016

Venice, California-based Snapchat said on Tuesday that it has launched a new group chat feature , called Groups , which lets up to 16 people communicate through the service. Snapchat said that, by default, snaps sent to a group are deleted by default after 24 hours, and that each recipient can only open and replay each of those snaps once. The new feature also includes ways to quickly start 1:1 chats with members of the group.

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Snapchat Venice Startup Services 109

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DECEMBER 14, 2016

Westlake Village-based Ember Technologies , which develops a coffee mug that allows users to adjust the temperature of their cup of joe to whatever they want, has raised $8.5M in a funding round, according to the company. The company's mug--which can also be used for tea or other beverages--is already selling at Starbucks stores and online. According to Ember, the funding has come from such celebrities as Demi Lovato, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas, Alex Pall and Drew Taggart of The Chainsmokers, NFL

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Westlake Village Funding Technology Develop 109

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DECEMBER 14, 2016

Culver City-based Survios , a developer of virtual reality game titles, said this week that it has raised $50M in a Series C funding. The funding was led by MGM, and also included prior investors Lux Capital, Shasta Ventures, Danhua Capital, Shanda Holdings, Felicis Ventures and Dentsu Ventures. Gary Barber, the Chairman and CEO of MGM, has joined the company's board as a result of the investment.

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Culver City Capital Invest Funding 109

socalTECH

DECEMBER 14, 2016

Elon Musk , the billionaire behind Hawthorne-based rocket developer SpaceX and electric car company Tesla Motors --as well as solar installer and financing firm Solarcity, which is now part of Tesla--is set to become a regular advisor to President-Elect Trump, according to reports this morning. Musk apparently has joined with other executives--including Uber CEO Travis Kalanick--on a "Strategic and Policy Forum" for the administration.

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Hawthorne SpaceX Report Help 116