socalTECH
NOVEMBER 11, 2010
North Carolina-based Dex One , the current owner of Santa Monica-based Business.com , said this week that it is shutting down Business.com, and realigning those operations, merging them into its current business. The shutdown comes three years after Dex One paid $345M for Business.com. Business.com offered up an online directory of local businesses, combined with content and expert commentary.
Berkonomics
NOVEMBER 12, 2010
The CEO position can be a lonely place, especially when the CEO finds himself in a position of not being able to bring an issue directly to the board and not wanting to explore solutions with associates within the company. This sometimes happens when a CEO is unwilling to admit a weakness in an area that is critical, such as analysis of financial statements, or when a CEO is unhappy with the actions of his board or with pay offers by the board’s compensation committee that cannot be resolved am
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InfoChachkie
NOVEMBER 9, 2010
In the early 1970s, the Seven-Up Company devised an ingenious plan to market its flagship soda. The campaign was so successful it eventually catapulted 7-Up’s sales to rival that of both Coke and Pepsi, making it the third most popular soft drink in the US. The company hired the Dominican actor Geoffrey Holder, who delivered the commercial’s signature tagline with memorable panache, “ Maaarvelous, absolutely maaarvelous.
SoCal Tech Calendar
NOVEMBER 8, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010 -- Southern California Digital Asset Managers. This meetup is a home for DAM practitioners in the Southern California region who are looking for networking and sharing opportunities with colleagues working in, or interested in, the field of digital asset management. See [link] (more).
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.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 9, 2010
Los Angeles-based OnGreen , the online marketplace for green technology projects and investments headed by Nikhil Jain, said today that it has raised $1.4M in a Series A funding round. The round came from China Southern Hong Kong Investment Ltd. OnGreen said the new funding will go towards developing new tools for the site. OnGreen's site is aimed at helping clean energy and other green technology businesses, startups, and projects find angel investors and venture capital.
Berkonomics
NOVEMBER 8, 2010
Whenever there are outside shareholders, and when there is a product in release, there is a chance, no matter how slight, of a lawsuit against members of the board as well as against the corporation itself. Even if such a suit is completely without merit, the cost of defense and the risk of a negative outcome both hang over the company and the director.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
SoCal Tech Calendar
NOVEMBER 12, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010 -- CommNexus Presents:Smart Wireless Emergence of Smart Grids and the Role of Wireless Technology. As various utilities have successfully deployed large-scale Smart Grid solutions reaching millions of homes throughout the country, this technology has recently generated significant interest. Locally, SDGandE has installed over 1 million wireless smart electricity and gas meter devices to date, and is on track to complete its full Smart Meter deployment of 2.3 million d
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 8, 2010
Costa Mesa-based clean technology venture capital investor SAIL Venture Partners announced today that it has added John Picard, a green technology leader, to its advisory board. SAIL Venture Partners said Picard was involved in the Gap's sustainability strategy, and also has helped clients such as Sony, BMW, Siemens, Ford, MGM, eBay, and others. Picard runs his own sustainable design, building and consulting business.
Tech Zulu Event
NOVEMBER 8, 2010
On Thursday, December 9th, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. PST we have special guest Kamran Pourzanjani CEO of Bestcovery and former CEO and Co-Founder of Pricegrabber on TechZulu Live. Visit TechZulu for full story. Tags: Entrepreneurship Startup TechZulu Live Bestcovery Kamran Pourzanjani Pricegrabber.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 10, 2010
I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. But what if you are an introvert, or new to this game, and don’t know where or how to start? I have learned over the years that there is an etiquette to this process, just like there is for social networking.
SoCal Tech Calendar
NOVEMBER 10, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 -- Tools and Tips for Building a Sustainable Business. Sustainable Business Council of Los Angeles (SBC). The panel features six key players in businesses who will help guide the audience through topics especially integral to bolstering and growing sustainable businesses in Los Angeles. See [link] (more).
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 10, 2010
Aliso Viejo-based Predixion Software , the provider of cloud predictive analytics run by Simon Arkell, said this morning that it has added a former Microsoft executive as an advisor. Predixion said it has added former Microsoft executive and Distinguished Engineer Bill Baker to its advisory board. Baker was most recently CTO of Visible Technologies, and was previously involved in Microsoft's BI team within its SQL Server product unit.
Tech Zulu Event
NOVEMBER 10, 2010
The time has come! Pubcon 2010 and all the amazing content that we will be streaming live from our booth is here. To top things off we decided that we are going to be giving a Sony Bloggie away to one lucky viewer. So how do you win? Simple! Visit TechZulu for full story. Tags: Advertising & PR Blogging Events Pubcon Bloggie Collecta FreshDrop Lunch pubcon Pubcon 2010 Sony Wowee.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 6, 2010
If your confidence is low about starting your own business, and you are tempted to “reduce the risk” by signing up for one of the many “work at home” startup offers you see, think again! These offers that you see on every social network and Craigslist are invariably scams. The problem is getting worse. To stem the tide, the web giant Google late last year launched a legal battle against more than 50 companies that allegedly infringe upon the Google name to promote "work-from-home" scam
SoCal Tech Calendar
NOVEMBER 11, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010 -- Turnaround Strategies. All the signs are that the recession has reached bottom, with some pundits even suggesting the recovery is already under way. Regardless, it is incumbent upon every company to be able to define and execute it's own turnaround strategy as they transition from mere survival to achieving sustainable growth through value creation.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 10, 2010
Beverly Hills-based Nash Information Services, the company behind The Numbers , a data information service providing the latest movie industry box office information, said today that it has launched a new service, OpusData. According to Nash, OpusData allows users to access financial data information on over 15,000 movies, including budgets, domestic and international box office, domestic DVD sales, and biographical information.
Daradiction
NOVEMBER 6, 2010
Just finished watching Ken Burn’s documentary on Lewis & Clark. So inspiring. Lewis’ birthday meditation both inspires and resonates with me: “This day I completed my thirty first year, and conceived that I had in all human probability now existed about half the period which I am to remain in this Sublunary world. I reflected that I had as yet done but little, very little indeed, to further the happiness of the human race, or to advance the information of the succeeding gen
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 9, 2010
All too many startups are founded simply on the basis of a new and exciting technology invented by an industrious technologist. This is the origin of the “ solution looking for a problem ” and “ if we build it, they will come ” syndromes, which result in surprise and frustration waiting for funding, and waiting for customers that don’t materialize. The right approach is to start by solving a problem causing real pain to a large number of customers willing to pay real money for a solution.
SoCal Tech Calendar
NOVEMBER 11, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010 -- MarketLink: Verizon Wireless. CONNECT. An Opportunity to Present Your Technology to Verizon Wireless. CommNexus MarketLink is a complimentary program that pairs regional companies with multinational corporations hoping to discover new business interests and partnerships. See [link] (more).
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 10, 2010
Los Angeles-based MyShape , the online personalized fashion and women's clothing and apparel firm, said today that it has raised $5.5M more in funding. The funding came from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Tenaya Capital, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson Growth Fund. The company said the new funding will go to grow its operations, aggressively build out its product assortment, and to further develop its personalization technology.
Daradiction
NOVEMBER 6, 2010
Just finished watching Ken Burn's documentary on Lewis & Clark. So inspiring. Lewis' birthday meditation both inspires and resonates with me: "This day I completed my thirty first year, and conceived that I had in all human probability now existed about half the period which I am to remain in this Sublunary world. I reflected that I had as yet done but little, very little indeed, to further the happiness of the human race, or to advance the information of the succeeding generation.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 11, 2010
If your startup desperately needs an investor, you may not care if the investor is a so-called “angel” investor, or a venture capitalist (VC). The money is the same color in either case. But I have found that making the right choice at the right time can have a major impact on your long-term success, and the decision process is complex. The basics are simple.
SoCal Tech Calendar
NOVEMBER 10, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 -- LAPHP Talk: E-commerce with PHP Introduction to Magento. Join us for a monthly LAPHP meeting. This month's talk is on e-commerce with Magento. Magento attracted a lot of attention lately and quickly becomes de-facto standard e-commerce platform for PHP. More details and RSVP. See [link] (more).
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 10, 2010
Pasadena-based LeisureLink , a provider of distribution services for specialty lodging and vacation rentals, announced today that it has raised $9M in a Series C funding round. The round came from current investors, including Clearstone Venture Partners, Mission Ventures, and Wyndham Exchange & Rentals. The company said the new funding will go towards investments in its technology platform, and also for its sales efforts.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 8, 2010
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. The formation of Hulu was defensive – designed to stop another YouTube or Napster from emerging and causing disruption to the TV industry. The idea was that if you could put up a consumer site that was seen as the best place to consume content then people wouldn’t go to lower-quality or free sites to get it.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 12, 2010
There is no doubt that both inspiration and perspiration are always required in a startup. Yet many people seem to be stuck on one end or other of this equation – all perspiration with no dream, or all inspiration with no reality. Success is the right balance of both for fun and profit. Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them.
SoCal Tech Calendar
NOVEMBER 11, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010 -- Addiction and the Brain: The Neurobiology of a Deadly Disorder Presented by CONNECT's Frontiers in Science and Technology. See [link] (more).
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 12, 2010
For our Insights and Opinions section today, we have an article from Marc Averitt , a venture capitalist at Okapi Venture Capital. Marc shares some of his thoughts on leadership: In light of our recent mid-term elections, I have been spending a fair amount of time thinking about leadership the past several weeks. It has been said that leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management thinks is possible.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 10, 2010
Every once in a while I start to feel like I’m taking myself a bit too seriously and I have to slip in a more cheeky post. But to every jest there is some truth. So here’s what really winds me up! … It OUGHT to be really obvious how to create a proper tag for a conference, but my observation is that 98% of conferences suck at name tags.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 7, 2010
By Joseph A. Bockerstette, Main Street Venture Fund Angel investing in most parts of the country remains a relatively informal and unstructured process. The depressed economy has dampened the angel community’s appetite, making the identification of the trophy investor more important than ever. Professional angel investing takes time, knowledge, skills and resources.
SoCal Tech Calendar
NOVEMBER 12, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 -- Innovate! Pitch Slam. A dozen great startups are pitching for a place on the Innovate!100 list and you should come along. See [link] (more).
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 10, 2010
Los Angeles-based television streaming site Hulu expects to make $240M in 2010, according to Jason Kilar, the firm's CEO. Kilar, who revealed the numbers at today's NewTeeVee conference in San Francisco, also said the firm had $108M in revenues in 2009. Hulu is one of the many companies in Southern California rumored to be prepping for an IPO; the revelation of the company's financials might indicate the firm is nearing a filing.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 9, 2010
Los Angeles-based Bid4Spots , which operates an online reverse auction site for radio advertising, has extended into display media advertising, the firm said Tuesday. According to Bid4Spots, which is headed by Dave Newmark, it will offer up an online, weekly auction of unsold display media. Bid4Spots claims it has participation of 2/3 of all rated radio stations in the U.S. to its reverse auction, which is used to fill unsold radio airtime without impacting advertising rates on a station's price
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 8, 2010
Santa Monica-based NextCoupons.com , an online coupon site focused on online deals and coupons, has been acquired by Nextag , an online comparison shopping website. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. NextCoupons.com is headed by Joseph Raffetto, and offered an online site which lets users upload their own coupon deals. Raffetto is Chief Marketing Officer at BackSlash Agency and prior Director of Performance Marketing and Fox Interactive Media / MySpace, according to his LinkedIn prof
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 11, 2010
San Diego-based Aires Pharmaceuticals , a developer of treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension, said this morning that it has raised $20M in a Series B funding round. The round was led by MPM Capital, and also included prior investor ProQuest Investments. MPM's Dr. William Greene joins the board as part of the funding. As part of the funding, Aires said that it has entered into an agreement with Novartis, where Novartis will gain an exclusive option to acquire the firm completing successf
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 9, 2010
Monrovia-based Green Dot , the publicly held provider of prepaid debit cards, said in a statement with the SEC Monday that it is looking to offer up to $100M in a new public offering of its Class A shares. The firm--one of the Southern California companies which has successfully hit the public market this year--said all of the shares in the offering will be offered by its existing shareholders, and that none of the proceeds will go to the firm.
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