October, 2010

article thumbnail

Be Careful not to Become a Conference Ho

Both Sides of the Table

You know the type. You see them on Twitter, Facebook or Plancast plotting out their next 12 conference. You see their Tweets from airports across the globe. Look at me! I’m in Spain! Now I’m in France. Next week I’m speaking in Cabo San Lucas! They are professional conference attendees. They are CEO’s addicted to the schmoozing.

article thumbnail

Mattel Unleashes Twitter Device For Dogs

socalTECH

Not happy with just keeping up with the thousands of updates from your fellow Twitter users? If not, El Segundo-based toy maker Mattel has launched a new toy this week which connects the Twitter micro-messaging service to your own pet dog. Mattel said it has launched a new gadget called Puppy Tweets , which allows users to follow their dog's activities via Twitter.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Is life moving faster now or does it simply move faster as you age?

Eric Greenspan

Jackson Greenspan, 6 months. It’s hard to believe that my newborn is not so new anymore. The past 6 months went by faster than any I can ever remember. Jackson keeps getting bigger and the days keep getting shorter. The older I get, the faster life seems to wiz by. I’m pretty sure I used to pray to be older and for a day to finally end. Now, I just want one more minute or another week or the past 10 years back.

News 228
article thumbnail

Some People Are Indispensable, But No One Is Irreplaceable

InfoChachkie

Reginald Martinez Jackson was a perennial major league baseball all-star throughout most of his 21-year career. Reggie earned the nickname “Mr. October” because of his consistent ability to hit home runs during clutch situations in playoff and World Series games, which contributed to his teams winning five Championships. He was also often referred to as a “hotdog” for his self-promotional antics and lackadaisical on-field play.

article thumbnail

Can You Ask for Office Rent Relief? How to Manage Your Lease During COVID-19

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.

article thumbnail

Feed your board with constant care and attention.

Berkonomics

Plan 10% of your time for board relations. Most all leaders new to the CEO position underestimate this time requirement. It is good for the company when the CEO shares concerns, threats and opportunities with the board. The rule of “no surprises” works well for the longevity of a CEO. But there are always surprises. CEO’s should communicate with members of the board if not a committee of the whole as soon as possible when threats to the corporation arise.

article thumbnail

SpaceX Expands In Alabama

SoCal Tech Calendar

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 -- Cleantech Focus Los Angeles: Water Efficiency and the Corporate Perspective. Cleantech Group, known for a second-to-none network of investors, entrepreneurs, technologies and policy leaders, has developed a unique understanding of where commercial opportunity lies in the deployment of cleantech business models. Introducing Cleantech Focus Los Angeles, a networking event and conference focused on opportunties in water.

SpaceX 133

More Trending

article thumbnail

Interview with Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin, Lynda.com

socalTECH

How do you take a business you started as your own personal web site, and turn it into an online powerhouse, completely bootstrapped, from the little town of Ojai, California--not exactly known as a technology town? Not too many people are aware of the success and story of Lynda.com (www.lynda.com), started by Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin , and how the firm's now grown to a double-digit, multimillion dollar business which is known as THE source for online training on such things as web design,

Startup 242
article thumbnail

Ten Top Rules of Successful Entrepreneurship

Startup Professionals Musings

In these tough economic times, more and more people are turning to entrepreneurship as an alternative to traditional employment. I applaud this trend, but caution all of you thinking this direction to approach entrepreneurship with your eyes wide open. It is not for everyone, as the entrepreneur’s path is fraught with challenges. Many experts have tried to clearly lay out the criteria for success in a way that allows you to judge your own situation and your own temperament, and make a rational d

Startup 102
article thumbnail

TechZulu Law Welcomes “Gri.pe” Founder Farhad Mohit on October 28

Tech Zulu Event

"We have spent years building our online clout and our network on the Internet, but never really get the respect we deserve as we walk around in the real world," said Mohit at TechCrunch Disrupt SF. Visit TechZulu for full story. Tags: Entrepreneurship Social Media TechZulu Law Android BizRate Christina Gagnier Coloft David Kazzie etnrepreneurs Farhad Mohit gri.pe iPhone LA LA Startups law Law news Lisa Borodkin Mobility News online shopping Reputation ShopZilla tech news TZ Law TZLaw YouTube.

article thumbnail

Early stage boards work for stock options, not cash.

Berkonomics

Give one percent equity to each outside board member vesting over four years of service. Many early stage CEOs and board members have asked for some guidance regarding pay and time commitments for board members. Here is my best advice, based upon many boards and many years. Pay early stage board members of companies that are not lifestyle businesses one percent of the fully diluted equity in the form of an option that vests over four years of service.

article thumbnail

VIDEO: Interview with Angel Investor Paige Craig

Jason Nazar

Here is the video interview I did with Paige Craig on TWIST this week. We talk about topics like how to raise angel investment, the qualities entrepreneurs should demonstrate and Paige’s new business.

Angel 92
article thumbnail

Startup Sales – Why Hiring Seasoned Reps May Not Work

Both Sides of the Table

A while back I wrote a bunch of posts on Sales & Marketing and have been meaning to get back to that theme for a while. Even if you don’t have “direct&# sales I would tell you that “everything is a sale&# including fund raising, hiring, getting press and doing business development. So I hope these posts will be useful to all and not just those who need road warriors.

Sales 346
article thumbnail

Blizzard Sets World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Release Date

socalTECH

Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment said that its third expansion for World of Warcraft is expected to debut in stores on December 7th. The firm--which has been running a invite-only beta of the expansion pack for World of Warcraft since July--said it will make the release available for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Macintosh computers both at retail stores and online as a download.

Content 231
article thumbnail

Which Social Networks are for Entrepreneurs?

Startup Professionals Musings

Social networking is indeed the new business networking. But you need to understand the different cultures to make it work. For example, my personal interest is entrepreneurs, and MySpace is for tweens. Me going to MySpace is sort of like your parents crashing your high school prom – everyone is uncomfortable and neither side has any fun. Since I’ve been lurking around the various social networks for the last year or so, I’ve learned a few things, so I thought it would be helpful to clue you in

article thumbnail

TechZulu Presents: Financing A Startup

Tech Zulu Event

Click here to watch live on October 28th at 8pm PT. TechZulu and CAPLINKED are teaming up to putting together an amazing panel for all the startups and entrepreneurs out there. And if you just so happen to not be in town or are not from Southern California no worries. TechZulu will be live streaming the entire panel and you will be able to participate virtually.

Startup 87
article thumbnail

GREAT Video On “Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us”

CEO Flow

Higher bonuses and incentives for white collar work reduces performance? Watch this!

53
article thumbnail

Skate Where the Puck is Going

Both Sides of the Table

Anyone who works in the venture business or frankly just lives in Silicon Valley will be used to hearing a buzz word rise up out of nowhere to capture the technology zeitgeist and find its way into every entrepreneur’s product development plan or every aspiring entrepreneur’s pitch deck. I call this “the puck at your feet&# because it’s not where the industry is heading but rather where the industry is today.

Startup 296
article thumbnail

Want to Work in VC? Here’s How

Both Sides of the Table

I’m often asked by people, “how do I get into VC?&# and I normally respond by saying, “there is no easy path. It’s often a combination of luck, relationships & timing. Often these jobs aren’t even publicized.&#. Well, I know 3-4 VC jobs that are publicly available. GRP Partners is looking to hire two analysts (maybe even three) to join our practice in Los Angeles.

article thumbnail

Scaling Sales: Arming & Aiming – A’s, B’s & C’s

Both Sides of the Table

This article was originally posted in a much more concise version over GigaOm if you prefer the shorter version. This is part of my ongoing Sales & Marketing Series. In the first part of this post I talked about how sales in a startup is often evangelical , requires as consultative sale and needs constant adjustments based on customer feedback.

Sales 286
article thumbnail

This Week’s Keynote Presentations

Both Sides of the Table

I have often complained how much I hate sitting on panels. The reason is that conferences usually pack them up with speakers to maximize the number of high profile guests in attendance to sell more general admission tickets. So with a panel of 5-6 people and 30-45 minutes it’s hard to have a real conversation. Every speaker wants to get their points in so the conversation often lacks rhythm.

CalTech 222
article thumbnail

Activision, Jeep Tie On Call Of Duty Black Ops Wrangler

socalTECH

Although creating films and cross licensing videogame titles is not new to the videogame industry, it looks as if Santa Monica-based Activision Publishing and automotive maker Jeep have taken the trend of taking videogames into other product areas to a new area today: a new, Call of Duty: Black Ops-themed Jeep Wrangler. Jeep and Activision said this morning that the two are in an exclusive partnership, where Jeep will create a 2011 Jeep Wrangler Call of Duty: Black Ops Edition.

article thumbnail

Virgin Galactic Completes Test Flight

socalTECH

Virgin Galactic , the commercial spaceflight venture of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, said over the weekend that it has completed a piloted, free flight of SpaceShipTwo, the spaceship the firm is developing in Mojave. According to Virgin Galactic, it released the VSS Enterprise, its first vehicle, from an altitude of 45,000 feet over the weekend, and successfully landed at the Mojave Air and Space Port.

Design 216
article thumbnail

Interview with Richard Koffler and John Morris, The Tech CEO Network

socalTECH

Looking to bridge the gap between the immense amount of technology created at local universities and the commercial market, a new group--the Tech CEO Network (www.techceonetwork.com)--has quietly been working in Los Angeles to try to help spin out new companies from institutions like UCLA, Caltech, USC, UCSB, and other colleges and universities in town.

article thumbnail

USC Launches Annual, $50K Entrepreneurship Prize For Engineers

socalTECH

The University of Southern California and wealthy engineer Fariborz Maseeh , now a hedge fund manager in Newport Beach, is announcing this week a $1M endowment, which will fund an annual, $50,000 prize for a business plan competition for the school's engineering students. The new prize, which is being funded by the Massiah Foundation, will award $50,000 each year to the best, entrepreneurial plan and idea to come out of the USC Viterbi engineering school.

USC 214
article thumbnail

Interview with Kevin O'Connor, FindTheBest.com

socalTECH

Kevin O'Connor is the co-founder of DoubleClick , which he took from startup to IPO on the Nasdaq in 1998, sold it to private equity firm Hellman & Friedman for around $1.2 billion in 2005, and finally sold again to Google in 2007 for $3.1 billion. After DoubleClick, Kevin eventually settled down in Santa Barbara, which is where his newest startup-- FindTheBest.com (www.findthebest.com) is headquartered.

Startup 210
article thumbnail

BeachMint Launches Jewelry Site, JewelMint

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based BeachMint , the stealth e-commerce startup headed by former MySpace exec Josh Berman and backed by Anthem Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, and others, has rolled out a new, fashion e-commerce site, JewelMint. According to BeachMint, the new site will feature unique jewelry designs created by actress Kate Bosworth and celebrity stylist Cher Coulter.

Sites 208
article thumbnail

MySpace's New iPhone App: Drawler

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based MySpace has launched a new iPhone app, the site has announced. According to MySpace, its new 'Drawler' application allows iPhone users to draw, color, add stickers, art, and other decorations to mobile phone photos. MySpace said the free application also allows users to share those creations with friends on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.

Mobile 206
article thumbnail

RateBlend.com Targets Commercial Real Estate

socalTECH

San Clemente-based RateBlend.com , a new site developed by Nuvolocity , said this week that it has launched a web-based calculator site targeted at commercial real estate professionals. According to Nuvolocity, the new site helps those professionals calculate lease rental rates and rental concession savings. Nuvollicity was founded by Kris Williams, who was a former software developer at MySpace.

Sites 203
article thumbnail

MySpace Faces Challenge From KPCB's sFund

socalTECH

Emphasizing the challenge that faces Los Angeles-based MySpace in taking back the initiative in the social networking industry, competing social network Facebook has seen a significant boost to its efforts to dominate social networking, as it aligned with Amazon.com, Zynga, Comcast, Liberty Media, and Allen & Company in funding a new venture fund from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Thursday.

article thumbnail

ReachLocal Grows Revenues By 47 Percent

socalTECH

Woodland Hills-based ReachLocal , the provider of local online marketing services for small and medium sized businesses, reported its results Tuesday, saying that it had $77.1M in revenues for Q3 of 2010, up 47 percent from Q3 of last year, when it had $52.6M in revenues. The quarterly results were a 10 percent growth from the prior quarter. The firm reported a net loss of $2.8M, compared with net income of $14.9M for the quarter.

article thumbnail

ELC Technologies Acquired By Pourzanjani, Rahmat

socalTECH

Kamran Pourzanjani , the former CEO and founder of PriceGrabber.com, and Omid Rahmat , the former CEO of Tom's Hardware, have acquired Portland- and Santa Barbara-based ELC Technologies , the development firm founded by Jonathan Siegel. ELC is the firm behind startups RightScale, RightCart, and RightSignature, and also provides technology consulting and development to other companies.

article thumbnail

Demand Media Selects NYSE For IPO

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Demand Media , the online content publishing empire of Richard Rosenblatt, has updated its S-1 filing with the SEC, saying that it has applied to list its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol "DMD". The firm had not yet specified an exchange where it hopes to take the company public before today. In addition, Demand Media revealed it had executed a 1-for-2 reverse stock split of its common stock ahead of its planned IPO, and also that it plans to use $50 to $75M

Demand 196
article thumbnail

San Diego Clean Technology CEOs Line Up Against Proposition 23

socalTECH

The fight over Proposition 23, the California referendum coming to the polls to overturn AB32, has more backers today, from a group of 30 San Diego CEOs. According to The Green Chamber of San Diego County and those CEOs, they are urging San Diegans to vote no on Proposition 23, saying that the effort to repeal the state's Clean Energy Law would be "be harmful at best and devastating at worst" to its business community, neighborhoods, and the California economy.

San Diego 196
article thumbnail

Q3 Venture Investments For SoCal Total Around $1.0 Billion

socalTECH

Southern California venture totals for Q3 totaled around $1.0 billion in investments, according to the Q3 analysis of venture capital deals by socalTECH.com. According to an analysis of socalTECH's proprietary database of venture capital deals, venture investors invested slightly more than the $966M in Q3 of 2009, but less than the $1.6 billion invested in Q2.

article thumbnail

Report: Southern California Venture Capital Totals $464M In Q3

socalTECH

Venture capital investments in Southern California in Q3 totaled to $464.18M, according to the latest numbers released by the PricewaterhouseCoopers/NVCA Money Tree Report this evening, based on data from Thomson Reuters. Nationwide, there was $4.8 billion invested in 780 venture capital deals for Q3. The investment totals nationwide were down 31 percent in dollars, and 19 percent in terms of the number of deals from Q2, as investment in all sectors slowed.

article thumbnail

ValueClick Expands Into Home and Garden Ads

socalTECH

Westlake Village-based ValueClick said today that it has launched a new, vertical advertising network focused on the Home and Garden sector. ValueClick said its new Modern Living Media network will deliver targeted consumer audiences for home and garden marketers and agencies, and has a potential reach of 8.5 million unique visitors per month. According to Valueclick, its network includes adults 25 to 54 years old, who are homeowners and have household income greater than $75,000.