TechCrunch LA

APRIL 4, 2020

Under new guidance issued by the Small Business Administration it seems non-profits and faith-based groups can apply for the Paycheck Protection Program loans designed to keep small business afloat during the COVID-19 epidemic, but most venture-backed companies are still not covered. Late Friday night, the Treasury Department updated its rules regarding the “affiliation” of private entities to include religious organizations but keep in place the same rules that would deny most start

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Startup Organization Los Angeles Demand 322

L.A. Business Journal

APRIL 13, 2020

Pray is among a fortunate handful of companies whose businesses have actually benefited from the statewide shutdown. The platform's monthly active users grew 50% from February to March.

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Activity Platform Company Companies 313

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 1, 2020

In the past two weeks we have entered perhaps to most surreal experience in any of our lives. I think intuitively many of us believe it may be a more lasting impact than just “60 days at home,” which is why we almost have a nervous laughter when we call (Zoom!) somebody we haven’t spoken to since before the crisis and acknowledge how bizarre we all feel right now.

Demand 215

Demand Guide Customer Custom 215

Berkonomics

APRIL 16, 2020

Most of us are affected by this current crisis. Many businesses threatened with closure forever. Small businesses are the most vulnerable, even though most have furloughed employees. Rent and other fixed costs continue, even when revenues have dried up – a fatal combination. So, here are three urgent questions for you. FINANCIAL: Do you have twelve to eighteen months of cash to cover your “burn rate” now and as you recover?

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Layoffs Sales News Marketing 218

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

socalTECH

APRIL 30, 2020

Elon Musk , the founder of Hawthorne-based SpaceX , in addition to Tesla , appeared to go off script and off the rails on the Tesla earnings call on Wednesday. Musk--while answering questions about when Tesla might resume production in the Bay Area--suddenly called the Bay Area's "shelter in place" order "fascist" and said that is "not why people came to America or pulled this country--what the f**k?".

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Hawthorne SpaceX Product 178

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 10, 2020

The world of marketing is changing faster than technology these days. Winning entrepreneurs have long since supplemented conventional print and video “push” marketing with digital online interactive “pull” marketing, and a while back added social-local-mobile ( SoLoMo ) to the mix. Mobile and global are driving all of these in innovative new ways to grow your business.

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Mobile Marketing Technical Review Startup 173

L.A. Business Journal

APRIL 27, 2020

The sudden collapse in oil prices has roiled the local oil industry, prompting producers to start shutting down wells, oil well service companies to lay off staff and refineries to reduce operations.

Pricing 237

Pricing Services Company Companies 237

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 21, 2020

Several years ago I made an appearance in a burgeoning new podcast called “20 Minute VC,” which by now needs no introduction. Harry was gracious enough to invite me back so this past week we recorded an episode discussing the current market environment. Please download the episode here , if for no other reason than to make Harry happy :) but I’ve also included some quick notes below including a few notes I didn’t share in the podcast (and vice versa by the way?

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Venture Capital Marketing Startup Writing 263

Berkonomics

APRIL 30, 2020

So, you’ve been at this for years through thick and thin, great days and days in which you’ve had better times. Much of your job has become routine. But it feels good to see your “baby” grow and others buy into your vision. That daily routine. It is human nature for you and every entrepreneur to fall into a routine of taking care of day to day issues, meetings, communicating with customers and shareholders.

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Email Report Sites Entrepreneur 194

Tech.Co

APRIL 7, 2020

The current Covid-19 pandemic has had an epochal effect on businesses, and even the humble office space has taken a blow, with millions of us now working from home. While most companies are able to continue operating with employees remote working, what about those businesses where the office itself is the revenue model? One such business is LABS, a shared office space company that has eight locations in London, plus one in Tel Aviv.

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Newsletter News Geni Email 153

socalTECH

APRIL 29, 2020

Fountain Valley-based HyperX is jumping into the world of Fortnite, saying this morning that it has signed up Fortnited streamer Soleil "Ewok" Wheeler as one of its brand ambassadors. According to HyperX, Ewok will use HyperX gaming keyboards, mice, mousepads, SSDs, and memory modules while streaming as part of the sponsorship deal. Other details on financial arrangements for the sponsorship were not announced.

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TechCrunch LA

APRIL 18, 2020

The diagnostics startup Curative has received an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its novel test to determine COVID-19 infection. The company says that its tests have already been used by the City of Los Angeles since late March and have tested over 53,000 city residents. Curative’s tests use an oral-fluid sample collected by having the subject cough to produce sputum, which release the virus from deep in the lungs, according to a spokesperson.

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Long Beach Sample Los Angeles UCLA 268

L.A. Business Journal

APRIL 27, 2020

Miso Robotics Inc., a Pasadena-based robotics and artificial intelligence company, is seeking to raise a $30 million Series C through crowdfunding on the SeedInvest platform.

Artificial Inteligence 219

Artificial Inteligence Pasadena Platform Company 219

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2020

Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think the most creatively, not only in their initial product or service, but more importantly all through the stages of growth from startup to maturity. But even the best of them can easily slip into some bad decision habits that limit or hurt their business, due to natural human tendencies and the pressures of business challenges.

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Metrics Demand Statistics Sales 157

Berkonomics

APRIL 2, 2020

Surely, you’ve heard the buggy whip analogy. A business making those necessary items ignored the signs of progress and found itself without a market. Perhaps that happened to sword smiths upon the invention of the rifle, and certainly to the makers of cassette tapes upon the dawn of the CD. And CD’s with the advent of streaming. My stories of unexpected change.

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Southern California Examples Social Network Press 177

Tech.Co

APRIL 15, 2020

Amazon has discreetly made massive changes to its affiliate rewards scheme, with huge implications for sites that have come to depend on monetizing this way. The Amazon affiliate reward program, which pays websites with commissions in return for sending users to Amazon, is used by thousands of websites (including Tech.co) to generate revenue. The buyer doesn't incur any extra cost, but Amazon does have to split some of its healthy-looking profits with other websites.

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Sites Technical Review Startup Guide 139

socalTECH

APRIL 14, 2020

Los Angeles-based Q-CTRL , a company that is developing quantum computing and control technology, has received a strategic investment from In-Q-Tel (IQT), the investment arm of the U.S. intelligence community. Size of the funding was not announced. According to Q-CTRL, the new funding will go towards accelerating quantum technology for national security applications.

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TechCrunch LA

APRIL 28, 2020

Even as oil companies are getting crushed by the collapse of demand for energy in the wake of international shutdowns responding to the global pandemic, investors representing one of the world’s savviest financiers are placing a small bet on electric charging as the future of transportation. Soros Fund Management, the financial investment vehicle led by famed investor George Soros, is placing a small, $13.2 million bet, alongside Siemens and a host of other investors into the Los Angeles-b

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Funding Pricing Los Angeles Customer 267

L.A. Business Journal

APRIL 2, 2020

Virgin Orbit will start making a "bridge ventilator" for partially recovered Covid-19 patients at its Long Beach manufacturing facility.

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Long Beach 246

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2020

Investors will tell you that they love to put money into startups that are scalable, and ready to become the next unicorn. But what does that really mean? Simply stated, it means that your business has the potential to multiply revenue with minimal incremental cost. Ready to scale is when you have a proven product and a proven business model, about to expand to new geographies and markets.

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Startup Outsource Ideas Research 154

Berkonomics

APRIL 23, 2020

To survive this nasty Covid 19 surge facing businesses of all types, leaders must make decisions that hurt but are necessary. Keep the employees for the SBA PPP requirements regarding loan forgiveness, or furlough or let good employees go, so they can file unemployment claims? And what about termination decisions you make affecting just the few you wanted to eliminate anyway?

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Startup Email Customer Custom 156

Tech.Co

APRIL 20, 2020

Wix has announced a limited-time half price sale on its website builder plans, with a 50% off deal beginning today and ending on Wednesday. The half price sale is open to new users and anyone currently using Wix's free plan. This means you can access one of the best website builders and ecommerce platforms on the market from as little as $6.50 per month.

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Pricing Sales Template Technical Review 139

socalTECH

APRIL 28, 2020

Fountain Valley-based gaming products brand HyperX says it is in a collaboration with HIT COMMAND , a subsidiary of Red Light Management, to bring music and entertainment celebrities from HIT COMMAND to the world of gaming and esports. According to the two companies, they are "creating a new experience that merges entertainment and gaming." The two said that HyperX will become the "Preferred Peripherals Partner" for several live and online events in development between the two companies.

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Entertainment Product Develop Development 133

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 23, 2020

Representatives from the government and the utility managing the power of Los Angeles are proposing a sweeping infrastructure package worth roughly $150 billion centered on the broad electrification of transportation and industry. Drafted by the Los Angeles-based public-private Transportation Electrification Partnership , a collaboration between the Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti, Southern California Edison, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, th

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Southern California Los Angeles Rosemead Incubator 261

L.A. Business Journal

APRIL 13, 2020

Several Los Angeles tech businesses have stepped up to assist the thousands of students and educators across the United States who are adapting to virtual classrooms amid coronavirus-driven school closures.

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Help Services Education Los Angeles 147

Xconomy

APRIL 2, 2020

Flagship Pioneering founder and CEO Noubar Afeyan didn’t know a global pandemic was in the cards for 2020 when he and his team laid out three new thematic areas of focus for the company last fall. One proved eerily prescient: The notion of “health security,” or the development of new products and therapies to treat health concerns before they arise or escalate.

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Venture Capital Capital Develop Development 143

Berkonomics

APRIL 9, 2020

And these are indeed strange times, especially if you haven’t lived through 2000-2002 and 2007-2008 recessions and difficulty in finding money from banks and investors. The simple economic truth. Here is a simple economic truth. Fixed overhead continues to eat into your cash month after month. It doesn’t differentiate facile, efficient businesses from slow, disorganized, quality-challenged ones.

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Competition Sales Marketing Product 156

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 4, 2020

As an entrepreneur advisor, I am surprised at how often I hear the same or very similar proposals of an incremental innovation to an existing process, versus a really new or breakthrough solution. If you are seriously looking to start the next billion-dollar startup, you need to get beyond the realm of enhancing a current solution. Investors are looking for breakthrough solutions to fund.

Startup 134

Startup Artificial Inteligence Ideas Entrepreneur 134

socalTECH

APRIL 15, 2020

Pasadena-based Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health , a healthcare innovation fund led by Jay Goss and Dr. John Nackel, says it has launched a new venture capital fund, Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health Fund II. Size of the new fund was not announced. According to Wavemaker 360, the fund focuses on healthcare start-ups seeking seed-stage investment, and importantly avoids biotech.

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Funding Draper Santa Monica Pasadena 133

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 24, 2020

Divergent, the Los Angeles-based startup aiming to revolutionize vehicle manufacturing, has cut about one-third of its staff amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has upended startups and major corporations alike. The company, which employed about 160 people, laid off 57 workers, according to documents filed with the California Employment Development Department.

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Startup Technical Review Outsource Development Platform 251

L.A. Business Journal

APRIL 21, 2020

OriginClear Inc., a downtown water treatment technology business, has moved its corporate headquarters to the company's manufacturing site in McKinney, Texas.

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Sites Technology Company Companies 147

Xconomy

APRIL 22, 2020

The start of a potentially big biomedical breakthrough is blooming within all of us. Drug research aiming to turn bacteria into microbiome therapies now spans programs aiming to address gut disorders, autism, cancer, and more. Given the number of late-stage and mid-stage studies expected to report data in 2020—assuming they stay on track amid the COVID-19 pandemic—this could be a pivotal year for the field, said Isabelle de Cremoux, CEO and managing partner of Seventure Partners.

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Class Study Research Report 138

AllTopStartups

APRIL 17, 2020

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) increases both the quantity and quality of traffic to a website. It provides businesses with the visibility they need to attract customers. SEO consists of multiple strategies,… The post AlchemyLeads Helps Businesses Increase Both Traffic And Web Conversions appeared first on AllTopStartups.

Search Engine Optimization 114

Search Engine Optimization Web SEO Help 114

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2020

Successful entrepreneurs often start with a “random” idea, but they quickly focus their efforts and follow a “system” to organize their startup and maximize the clout of their activities. Too many entrepreneur “wannabes” never get past the idea stage, or strike out randomly in many directions, hoping that their passion will convince people to follow them and make their business grow.

Social Media 126

Social Media Media Ideas Writing 126

socalTECH

APRIL 9, 2020

It's an unusual time for the startup world, however, despite the ongoing health emergency, companies are still announcing funding. One of the companies to recently raise funding is SteadyMD (www.steadymd.com), a developer of an online telehealth service which matches up people with their own, personal doctors they can access via video, text, and phone.

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Startup Westlake Village Platform Southern California 133

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 9, 2020

The Los Angeles-based app development shop, V/One , is giving away 50,000 free mobile app builds through the rest of April as the company officially launches its platform for would-be, LA-based mobile app moguls. Since its soft launch, December 20th of last year, the app development company has built over 100 new applications. The company’s December launch featured an “app accelerator” and offered a guidebook for people who wanted to develop mobile applications to work with the

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Mobile Develop Development Artificial Inteligence 250