Sat.Jul 26, 2014 - Fri.Aug 01, 2014

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A Great Discussion with @skupor @davemcclure @msuster on Changes in the VC Industry

Both Sides of the Table

'I recently attended and presented at Dave McClure’s PreMoney conference in San Francisco. I go every year because I love events hosted & moderated by insiders involving discussions by insiders because it maximizes the amount of real discussions people have. What you’ll see if you watch the video is an unscripted and unfiltered look into how Scott Kupor & I see some of the changes and challenges of the venture industry. tl;dr version.

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SoCal BitCoin Angel Brock Pierce Leads Investment In ZipZap

socalTECH

'Brock Pierce , the Southern California angel investor who is one of the most active proponents and investors in Bitcoin and its startups, has made another investment in the space, leading an AngelList syndicate funding of ZipZap. ZipZap operates an online, global transaction network focused on letting consumers buy, sell, and use digital currency like Bitcoin.

Insiders

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The Newest Source Of Startup Funding – The Sharing Economy

InfoChachkie

'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. The broad implications of the sharing economy are only beginning to be felt. The ability for people to turn their time, residences, cars and other personal assets into viable income streams is revising the traditional definition of "employment.". The sharing economy is also proving to be a significant source of bootstrap startup capital.

Funding 223
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The three legged stool of marketing excellence

Berkonomics

'Marketing is a science devised to help drive customers to your door. There are lots of ways to define how to market well, including the four P’s of marketing (1): product, price, promotion and place. This is considered to be the producer-oriented model. These are still the driving focus behind most marketing courses, and deserve to be so. Then there is the four C’s, the consumer-oriented marketing model (2).

Marketing 201
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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.

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Entrepreneurs Today Don’t Need A Big Budget To Start

Startup Professionals Musings

'It wasn’t so many years ago that starting a new e-commerce business on the Internet was a complex custom development project, usually costing a million dollars or more. Now you can do it for free, or a few hundred dollars, with one of the many web building tools available, like Shopify or Weebly Store. A programmer can build a new smartphone app for a few thousand dollars.

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Staff Ranker: Helping Hospitality Businesses Better Manage Workers

socalTECH

'If you run a distributed, restaurant or hospitality business, how do you manage your business? It turns out, it''s not so easy. However, Redondo Beach-based StaffRanker (www.staffranker.com) has rolled out a system to help those companies better manage what is a notoriously difficult segment of the labor market, which has a lot of turnover and which just doesn''t match existing, corporate performance management systems.

Help 223

More Trending

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O Labs Launched To Incubate, Accelerate Enterprise Software In LA

socalTECH

'O-Labs , new Los Angeles-based accelerator/incuabtor has launched today, create as joint venture of Originate, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP and ICM Partners. According to the three, they have created O Labs as an independent company specifically to create, grow, and operate portfolio companies focused on helping large and growing enterprises.

Incubator 194
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Swagbucks Buys Sodahead

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based prodege , the parent company of Swagbucks , said this morning that it has acquired Sodahead , the online polling and discussion platform founded by Jason Feffer. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. According to Prodege, it will acquire all of SodaHead''s assets and staff from its Encino headquarters, and will move them to Swagbucks offices in El Segundo.

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Belkin Rolls Out A Smartphone Connected Crock Pot For The Modern Age

socalTECH

'Remember the Crock-Pot, that stable of busy mothers (and garage sales) everywhere? The age-old cooking device has gotten a modern makeover, thanks to Playa Vista-based electronics and accessories manufacturer Belkin. According to Belkin and Crock-Pot, they have just rolled out a brand new, smartphone enabled Crock-Pot, which allows consumers to adjust, manage, and monitor their slow cooker using a smartphone or tablet.

Belkin 185
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Eventure Interactive Finds $4.1 Million

socalTECH

'Costa Mesa-based Eventure Interactive , a developer of social, photo sharing applications, said last week that it has raised $4.1M in funding from Kodiak Capital Group as well as angels. The funding said $3M of the funding came from private equity group Kodiak Capital Group, with the remainder from family offices and high net worth individuals. Eventure is led by Gannon Giguiere.

.Net 180
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Qualcomm Buys EmpoweredU For Mobile Learning Technology

socalTECH

'San Diego-based Qualcomm is expanding its efforts in the education sector today, saying that it has acquired EmpoweredU , a developer of mobile learning technology for the K-20 market. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. EmpoweredU was headed by Steve Poizner, who has been very active in California''s Charter School movement. Qualcomm said the move would help it accelerate mobile innovation and help provide 24/7 access in education with its mobile tools.

Mobile 178
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3D Robotics Buys Sifteo

socalTECH

'3D Robotics , the developer of personal drone and unmanned aerial vehicles headed by former Wired editor Chris Anderson, has acquired Sifteo , a developer of embedded computing products. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Sifteo had initially been aiming its technology at the toy market, and was based on research out of MIT. Sifteo was venture backed by True Ventures and Foundry Group; 3D Robotics is venture backed by Mayfield. 3D Robotics has its engineering facilities in San Diego

San Diego 174
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Report: Apple Cutting Beats Staff

socalTECH

'It looks like Apple Computer is in the midst of pruning away staff over at Santa Monica-based Beats , two months after it acquired both Beats Electronics and Beats Music for $3 billion. According to a report from Mac industry publication 9to4mac, Apple executives are in Santa Monica, sorting out which Beats employees will or will not be working for Apple.

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AmazonFresh Expands To San Diego

socalTECH

'AmazonFresh , the online grocery and product delivery service run by e-commerce giant Amazon.com , expanded into San Diego yesterday, as the company starts to expand operations nationwide. The service--whic has been available in Los Angeles since last year, and also operates in Seattle and San Francisco--offers up same day deliveries of everything from grocery products to consumer electronics and books.

San Diego 173
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Cie Games Acquired By Glu Mobile For $100M

socalTECH

'Long Beach-based Cie Games , the maker of the social and mobile game Car Town and Racing Rivals, has been acquired by Glu Mobile , the two said Wednesday afternoon, in a deal worth $100M. Glu Mobile said it would pay $30M in cash and $70M in stock for Cie Games, whose games are popular on both iOS and Android. Cie Games released Racing Rivals back in August of last year.

Mobile 170
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Report: Beats' Ian Rogers To Head Up iTunes Radio

socalTECH

'Ian Rogers , the CEO of Beats Music , is set to head up iTUnes Radio , according to a report from the WSJ Friday afternoon. The WSJ, citing "people familiar with the matter" said that Rogers will run both Beats Music and iTunes Radio, now that the acquisition is complete. Rogers is no stranger to runnning the music service of a large, public company: he was previously General Manager of Yahoo!

Report 168
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Karlin, A-Grade Get Exit At Gyft

socalTECH

'Two, Southern California venture capital investors A-Grade Investments , the investment company run by Ashton Kutcher, and Karlin Ventures , which is managed by TX Zhou--have scored what looks like a nice exit over at Gyft , a mobile gift card service. Credit card processing giant First Data said this morning that it has acquired Gyft, to help bolster its mobile wallet and gift card efforts.

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Kixer Raises $1M In Seed Funding To Connect App Makers, Publishers

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based Kixer , which was founded by Keith Bonnici, Jake Moilanen, and Omar Nicola, has raised $1M in a seed funding, for the company''s native advertising platform. Kixer develops a native advertising platform which helps mobile app developers reach users via online publishers. B The funding came from TenOne Ten Ventures, Lowercase Capital, as well as angels, including Clark Landry and other local investors.

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Zadara Upgrades Storage Options

socalTECH

'Irvine-based cloud storage technology developer Zadara Storage , which is led by Nelson Nahum, said today that it has begun offering 5 TB hard disk drives as part of its enterprise-focused, storage-as-a-service offerings. The company said the support of the higher capacity disk drives will allow for better cost efficiency for its customers. Zadara both offers its service in the cloud, as well as installed on premise.

Services 164
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Amgen To Cut Nearly 3,000

socalTECH

'Thousand Oaks-based biotechnology giant Amgen said Tuesday that it plans to cut 2,400 to 2,900 staff, including at its headquarters location, and will also close facilities in both Washington and Colorado. According to Amgen, the move is part of a restructuring plan to improve its cost structure. As part of the move, Amgen said it will also consolidate staff into less buildings in the Thousand Oaks area.

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Pogoseat Gets $2.3M

socalTECH

'Santa Monica-based Pogoseat , which develops mobile apps to allow people to get upgraded seats at events on the same day--or even during the event--has raised $2.3M in a funding round. The funding came from Structure Capital, SK Ventures, Zelkova Ventures, KDDI, Golden Brain Open Innovation Fund, Tylt Lab, Universal Music Group, Kima Ventures, XG Ventures, Joshua Schacter, plus the owners of both the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors.

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Portfolium Raises $900,000 In Seed Funding

socalTECH

'San Diego-based Portfolium , a startup developing an online platform to share a students'' academic portfolio, has raised $900,000 in a seed funding, according to startup incubator EvoNexus. The funding came from the Tech Coast Angels, Taner Halicioglu of Keshif Ventures, and others. Portfolium is based in EvoNexus, which said this newest funding brings the total raised by its startups to $573M.

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European Commission Gives Nod To Beats Deal

socalTECH

'The European Commission said today that it has given approval to Apple Computer ''s acquisition of Santa Monica-based Beats Electronics. The European Commission said that the move did not raise any competition concerns for the regulator. Apple agreed to pay $3 billion for Beats back in May. The deal includes both the headphone electronics business and streaming music business of Beats.

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ScoreBig Links With Hilton

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based discounted sports and event ticket company ScoreBig said Thursday that it has linked up with hotel loyalty program Hilton HHonors , where members of that program will receive savings on their ticket purchases, and also earn points for spending through ScoreBig. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. ScoreBig said the move--its first, hotel loyalty program partnership--will give Hilton HHonors members savings on tickets to live events from the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and

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Vakast Nabs $1.3M In Seed For Vacation Rental Search Marketplace

socalTECH

'Newport Beach-based Vakast , a startup aiming at the online peer-to-peer marketplace for vacation rentals, has raised $1.3M in a seed funding round, the company announced this morning. Vakast said the funding came from Chinh Chu (senior managing director, Blackstone Group) and Ken Pansuria (founder, Fine Hospitality Group), as well as Nicky Nguyen (NJ Enterprises).

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Hulu Updates Android App, Offers Up Free Content

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based streaming television provider Hulu said this morning that it has updated its Android app, and will offer up a selection of free content on the app. The move--the first to offer free content on its mobile apps--gives access to both current and past episodes of television shows, which Hulu said would mostly mirror the Hulu.com, ad-supported site.

Hulu 153
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Report: Snapchat In Funding Talks With Alibaba

socalTECH

'Venice-based Snapchat is reportedly in talks with Alibaba for more funding, in a deal which values Snapchat at $10 billion. The report, from Bloomberg, did not say how much Snapchat is looking to raise from Alibaba. Bloomberg cited "people with knowledge of the situation." Neither companies have commented on the rumors. READ MORE>>.

Snapchat 149
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Slacker Rolls Out Amazon Fire Phone App

socalTECH

'San Diego-based streaming music and radio company Slacker was one of the companies rolling out a new, Amazon Fire Phone app last week, as Amazon.com launched its own smartphone on AT&T. Slacker said last week that it has released a new version of its music app, specifically aimed to take advantage of Amazon''s new smartphone platform. The new app is free.

News 149
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NantHealth Teams To Create Gene Sequencing Health Network

socalTECH

'Culver City-based NantHealth , the healthcare technology company created by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, said Thursday afternoon that it has teamed up with The Chan Soon-Shiong Insitute of Molecular Medicine, and Providence Health and Services, to create a clinical, genomic network for whole genomic sequencing. According to NantHealth, the network will help provide whole genome sequencing for cancer patients, and is expected to serve 22,000 cancer patients across five western states.

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Fisker Automotive Bankruptcy Plan Okayed

socalTECH

'The Costa Mesa-based company once known as Fisker Automotive --now known as FA Liquidating Corp. and FAH Liquidating Corp.--has received court approval of its Chapter 11 plan. According to the companies, the company received approval from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on Monday to sell itself to Chinese company Wanxiang Group Corp. , for $149.2M.

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SolarReserve Wins Deal In El Salvador

socalTECH

'Santa Monica-based utility-scale, solar power project developer SolarReserve has scored a win in the country of El Salvador, saying recently that it has signed a contract to supply 20 MW of power there. The deal is part of a competitive supply contract tender from Distribuidora de Electricidad del Sur, a local electricity distribution company in El Salvador.

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PaxVax Finds $62M For Vaccine Efforts

socalTECH

'PaxVax , a biopharmaceuticals company developing vaccines for infectious disease, has raised $62M in a funding round. The funding included $50M in secured debt from Pharmakon Advisors, and $12M in a Series B extension round. The company is backed by Ignition Ventures, Ignition Growth Capital and the Blue Haven Initiative. According to PaxVax, the new equity funding brings its total to $80M in equity raised by the company.

San Diego 147
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Newport Corporation Buys V-Gen Ltd.

socalTECH

'Irvine-basd Newport Corporation , which develops optical components, lasers, photonics, and other equipment, said last week that it has acquired Israeli laser company V-Gen Ltd. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Newport Corporation said that V-Gen Ltd. is a developer of fiber lasers, and has approximately 50 employees worldwide. The deal is expected to add $15M to $20M in sales over the next twelve months.

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Ceres Gets Funding From Brazil

socalTECH

'Thousand Oaks-based agricultural biotech developer Ceres said this morning that its product development programs in Brazil are now being funded in part by that country. Ceres said it is expanding its product development programs in the country for sorghum and sugarcane, under funding from the Brazilian government''s PAISS Agricola initiative. Ceres said the effort makes it eligible for approximately $34M in government subsidized loans.

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Hulu In Deal With 'Manhattan'

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based Hulu said Monday that it has signed a deal for subscription, video-on-demand rights to the new television show "Manhattan." Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Hulu said it will make new episodes of season one of the series following the Sunday night airing on WGN America. The deal also will provide the five, most recently broadcast episodes of the series available for free on Hulu.com.

Hulu 147
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CONEXIS Acquired By WageWorks

socalTECH

'CONEXIS a provider of employee benefits administration and human resources services, has been acquired by WageWorks , a provider of services for employers, including managing pre-tax health accounts, commuter benefits, and more. Financial terms of the all cash deal were not announced. CONEXIS has significant operation sin Orange, California. WageWorks said that CONEXIS will continue to operate out of those offices, as well as Irving, Texas.

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