Sat.Nov 28, 2009 - Fri.Dec 04, 2009

article thumbnail

Save Your Spin for Someone Who Cares

Both Sides of the Table

Handling PR with VCs. This is part of my series on How to Raise VC but could equally be filed under Startup Advice more generally. I recently got a phone call from an entrepreneur whom I respect and who runs a company that I hope will do great things one day. He had pitched me in the past and I told him that for a variety of reasons his company was too early stage for me but that I would happily keep track of their progress.

article thumbnail

Bakespace Inks Partnership With Cartoon Series

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based BakeSpace.com , the online web community for swapping recipes and network with other foodies, has inked a deal with a cartoon series, the firm said today. According to BakeSpace, it has linked with cartoon "The Gloomers" which features a family which apparently has nothing but bad luck, especially in the kitchen. The two are promoting a contest where the "gloomiest" real life kitchen disaster submitted by a BakeSpace user will be included in an upcoming episode of the cartoon.

Web 174
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

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

article thumbnail

Fewer words, greater effect.

Berkonomics

I have a business friend, an experienced manager and teacher with a Harvard MBA, whose creativity and intelligence are admired by many. But he dilutes his effectiveness with wordy PowerPoint presentations. It has become a long running joke between us, as I often remind him that most of us have a very limited attention span and ability to recall important points from a presentation.

Startup 159
article thumbnail

Pour And Stir II – Managing Your Cost Per Customer

InfoChachkie

“I know half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, but I can never find out which half.” John Wanamaker. If Mr. Wanamaker had access to the Internet, his oft-repeated quote, would have never been uttered. In the “good old days”, pre- 1999, advertising dollars were largely gambled away. As noted in Pour and Stir Part I , the key to the successful execution of this strategy is managing the following equation: The cost to acquire a customer < lifetime value of a customer.

Customer 164
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

Hiring at a Startup? Know Thy Weaknesses

Both Sides of the Table

This is part of my ongoing series on Startup Advice. I was reading one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs, VentureHacks, this weekend and noticed that they are running a long piece on how to pick a co-founder. If you’ve read my blog for a while you’ll know that I’m a fan of starting businesses in a non-traditional way. I recommend that you start a company by yourself and own 100% of it.

Startup 289
article thumbnail

Lumexis Lands $15M For In-Flight Entertainment Systems

socalTECH

Costa Mesa-based Lumexis , a developer of in-flight entertainment and broadband connectivity systems, announced late Monday that it has scored $15M in a private equity funding from Perseus LLC. According to Lumexis, the financing round also included prior investors PAR Capital Management and Zone Ventures, and includes an option for an additional investment of $7.5M.

More Trending

article thumbnail

The Impact of Climate Change Legislation on Small Business

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, December 10, 2009 -- The Sustainable Business Council of Los Angeles, (SBCLA) presents a panel of sustainable entrepreneurs and experts sharing their success stories and results from a first-of-its kind economic analysis commissioned by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), showing the impact of the state's climate change policies on a specific small business in California.

article thumbnail

Is Strategic Money an Oxymoron?

Both Sides of the Table

This is part of my ongoing Raising Venture Capital (VC) series. Yesterday I had lunch with a really interesting and capable serial entrepreneur who is raising his A round. The topic of &# strategic&# investors came up. It felt like Groundhog Day because I have this conversation again and again – literally dozens of times each year. And I had 2 “strategic&# investors in my first company.

article thumbnail

DriveCam Gets $4M In Debt

socalTECH

San Diego-base d DriveCam , which develops systems for monitoring fleet drivers to reduce risky driving, has raised $4M in a debt funding, according to Leader Ventures, the lender in the deal. Leader said the funding came in the form of a term loan. DriveCam is venture backed by Chopra Ventures, Insight Venture Partners, Integral Capital Partners, JMI Equity, Menlo Ventures, the Tech Coast Angels, and Triangle Peak Partners.

article thumbnail

Must haves for him this year!

Eric Greenspan

Need a few ideas for him? Here’s stuff I love and own myself. Sonos : Multi-zone music player, plug it in and go and control it with your iPod/iPhone. Plays your digital music, most online services including Rhapsody, Napster, Last.fm, Pandora, Internet radio, you name it! LOVE THIS THING, I have 7 zones, including one poolside. Cinemin Swivel : Project your laptop or iPhone on any wall.

Design 113
article thumbnail

Investor Outlook 2010

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, December 10, 2009 -- Investor Outlook 2010: Startup Funding Forecast from Angels and VCs. Dealmaker LA. 2009 put startup valuations on a diet, bootstrapping and revenue models were back in the spotlight; and Angel investors made a comeback. Despite the fears and outcries from some, startup funding didnt quite freeze into the nuclear winter many thought it would.

article thumbnail

Humanity+ Summit Live Saturday and Sunday

Tech Zulu Event

This coming weekend December 5 and 6 TechZulu will be live streaming the Humanity+ Summit. The H+ Summit (Organized by Humanity + ) is a two day, interactive event that will explore how humanity will be radically changed by technology in the future. Over 30 visionary speakers will explore how to enhance your body, mind, life, and world. What is going to be like to be a human in this next phase of technological progress?

article thumbnail

SpaceX Conducts NASA Training

socalTECH

Hawthorne-based SpaceX , the commercial spacecraft startup started by Elon Musk, reported Thursday that it has hosted its first preliminary training for NASA astronauts, in preparation for the firm's first delivery of payload to the International Space Station. SpaceX said that it hosted a group of NASA astronauts and personnel at its headquarters in Hawthorne in October, covering interfacing the firm's Dragon spacecraft with the ISS.

Training 154
article thumbnail

Wave to the Moon (Google Wave Discussion)

Eric Greenspan

Join us for an online discussion about Google Wave, using Google Wave on Weds, Dec 2nd, 8pm PST. I just attended one tonight and it was amazing, so I thought I’d do one for my tweeps. You can register for the event here. We will discuss, share and demonstrate: 1. What is Google Wave? 2. How will we use it in business and in our personal lives?

Google 101
article thumbnail

digiday:APPS

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, December 10, 2009 -- digiday:APPS. Toyota, Pizza Hut, NBA, Fandango, and More Share Their Success Stories with Mobile and Social Apps. Please join us at digiday:APPS on December 10th, in Los Angeles. During this high-level event, Top Brand Marketers, Agency Executives, Publishers, and App Developers will come together to discuss and explore how brands can harness the power of the billion dollar app boom.

SoCalTech 100
article thumbnail

Biopolitics of Popular Culture Seminar Live Friday

Tech Zulu Event

This coming Friday December 4, 2009 TechZulu will be streaming live from the Biopolitics of Popular Culture Seminar. Join us as we explore and discuss popular culture's tropes and cliches that shape our debates about emerging technologies. Description from site below: "Our most transcendent expectations for technology come from pop culture, and the most common objections to emerging technologies come from science fiction and horror, from Frankenstein and Brave New World to Gattaca and the Termi

article thumbnail

Vizio: 280,000 HDTVs Sold On Black Friday

socalTECH

Irvine-based HDTV maker VIZIO reported Tuesday that it sold over 280,000 of its HDTVs on Black Friday, or 40 percent more over its sales in 2008. The firm attributed the boost in sales to its wide product range of HDTVs, as well as retail partners such as Costco Wholesale, Sam's Club, Walmart, Target, and others. Vizio is one of the largest makers of HDTVs.

Commerce 154
article thumbnail

Wave to the Moon (Google Wave Discussion)

Eric Greenspan

Join us for an online discussion about Google Wave, using Google Wave on Weds, Dec 2nd, 8pm PST. I just attended one tonight and it was amazing, so I thought I’d do one for my tweeps. You can register for the event here. We will discuss, share and demonstrate: 1. What is Google Wave? 2. How will we use it in business and in our personal lives?

Google 100
article thumbnail

Creating and Protecting Your Brand

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, December 10, 2009 -- The IP SIG Presents. Creating and Protecting Your Brand Building a Business Around Your Trademark. CommNexus. A panel of legal, business, and academic leaders will share their insights into the issues that they believe are most important for todays high tech business executive to know about trademark use and the benefits of such use, including practical hints and tips regarding when to register a trademark, how to get the most value from your trademarks, whether

High Tech 100
article thumbnail

Will Seesmic for Android be the Tweetie of the Android Market?

Tech Zulu Event

Guest post by Jim Alden @TechFrog. Everything is about compromise right? There is no perfect situation in any aspect of life. Want an iPhone and the plethora of apps it offers? You must put a ring on the finger of AT&T. Want to be on another network? Fine, but you’ll have no access to that huge cookie jar of applications. Although Android phones are not that new, multiple networks here in the US are adding them to their lineup.

article thumbnail

Oversee.net Expands in Europe

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Oversee.net is planning a European expansion, the firm said this week, saying its DomainSponsor domain monetization division is planning to establish operations in Europe during the first quarter of 2010. According to Oversee.net, it has name Joerg Schnermann as General Manager of DomainSponsor Europe as part of the move, and also hired two other executives to cover the area.

article thumbnail

Why integrity doesn’t matter any more that gravity.

Daradiction

Integrity schmegrity. Consider the baseline of diminishing integrity phenomena. Most folks don’t play at 100% integrity, and that’s why they get less that optimal results. Consider that the difference between 100% and 99% integrity is literally vaster and deeper than the Grand Canyon. Here’s the deal, it seems to me that most folks run a ‘cost benefit analysis’ on integrity, or in other words having integrity where it “matters&# but then letting things ’

Slides 49
article thumbnail

Trademarks

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, December 10, 2009 -- The IP SIG Presents. Trademarks: A Practical Primer for High Tech Executives. CommNexus. A panel of leaders in Business, Academia and Legal Practice will share their insights into the issues that they believe are most important for todays high tech business executive to know about trademark use and the benefits of such use, including practical hints and tips regarding when to register a trademark, how to get the most value from your trademarks, whether to rely up

High Tech 100
article thumbnail

Physically Diving Into The Azure Cloud

Tech Zulu Event

Everyone today is talking about cloud computing and putting everything in the cloud. However, have you ever wondered what the cloud actually looks like? Have you been able to touch? Well we have thanks to the Microsoft PDC09 event, and now you get to as well (well see what it looks like, not actually touch it). We step into the Microsoft's Azure cloud and get a guided tour thanks to Frank Arrigo.

article thumbnail

Report: Cyber Monday Spending Up 5 Percent

socalTECH

The latest Internet traffic numbers from comScore are out, with the research firm reporting that Cyber Monday sales online reached $887M, up five percent versus a year ago. The firm also found that so far for the November-December 2009 holiday season, $12.26 billion has been spent online, up 3 percent versus the same days last year. comScore, which released the numbers this morning, also reported that Thanksgiving Day sales were up 10% year-to-year, and Black Friday sales were up 11% versus a ye

Report 150
article thumbnail

Register For A CEOFlow Consult

CEO Flow

Know any CEOs feeling overwhelmed while juggling life, employees and the world? I have a great opportunity for both you and the person that refers them to me… CEOFlow is my coaching program for CEOs. I saw, from being a CEO, working with them and knowing many of them, that it’s easy to create a business that traps you rather than works for you.

Coach 40
article thumbnail

Alternative Financing

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, December 10, 2009 -- Alternative Financing. Your family, angels, and VCs aren't the only sources of funding for a growing business. This workshop will show you the various options available and provide you all the alternatives you can explore to finance your company. You will learn what to consider if looking at equity equivalent financing (grants, strategic partners, etc.) and different forms of available debt (SBA loans, factoring, PO financing, etc.).

Equity 100
article thumbnail

TechZulu heads to Paris with the Traveling Geeks!

Tech Zulu Event

It's official! TechZulu has joined the Traveling Geeks tour to Paris, France. We're meeting with everyone from startups to serial entrepreneurs and established tech companies to compare notes on the innovation happening stateside and abroad. As part of the tour, we will also be attending LeWeb , so stay tuned for all the news coming out of the conference.

article thumbnail

Stamps.com Targets Volume Shippers

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Stamp.com is targeting volume parcel shippers today, saying that it will begin offerings its Professional Shipper software without any monthly fees, to all of its customers who ship at least $1500 per month worth of parcels. The software--which it previously charged $34.99 per month for--is used for managing US Postal Service shipments by companies, and integrates with ecommerce software.

article thumbnail

Register For A Free CEOFlow Coaching Session

CEO Flow

Know any CEOs feeling overwhelmed while juggling life, employees and the world? I have a great opportunity for both you and the person that refers them to me… CEOFlow is my coaching program for CEOs. I saw, from being a CEO, working with them and knowing many of them, that it’s easy to create a business that traps you rather than works for you.

Coach 40
article thumbnail

Designing Wet Labs

SoCal Tech Calendar

Wednesday, December 9, 2009 -- "Designing Wet Labsfor Medical Device Development" BV-IEEE-EMB. Please join Kelsey Birkett-Bennett as she discusses Designing Wet Labs for Medical Device Development. This poses particular challenges, and in many cases, contributes to the validation and registration process for the medical device. Kelsey Birkett-Bennett will describe those challenges and solutions to them, geared specifically to engineers and entrepreneurs.

Design 100
article thumbnail

Come Be Part Of The Family At Digital Family Reunion

Tech Zulu Event

It is that time of the year again! A gathering of friends and family from all over the Southern California tech communities. Coming together to discuss all the latest technology and gadgetry to hit 2009. The annual Digital Family Reunion Holiday party is coming up this Wednesday December 2 at Wokcano Restaurant. DFR '09 will cross pollinate leaders from all the major industry sectors such as media, entertainment, finance, publishing, venture funding, software, commerce, education, and many mo

article thumbnail

Mogreet Hires Sales And Marketing VP

socalTECH

Venice-based Mogreet , which operates a text messaging-based greetings business, said today that it has hired Jay Goss as the firm's Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Goss was COO of Numedeon, which operates virtual world Whyville, and also has served at Disney, Reed Elsevier, and UCLA. Mogreet is venture backed by Ascend Venture Group, Black Diamond Ventures, DFJ Frontier and Spyglass Ventures.

Mogreet 145
article thumbnail

How To Apply For A Free CEOFlow Coaching Session (Five Available)

CEO Flow

Know any CEOs feeling overwhelmed while juggling life, employees and the world? I have a great opportunity for both you and the person that refers them to me… CEOFlow is my coaching program for CEOs. I saw, from being a CEO, working with them and knowing many of them, that it’s easy to create a business that traps you rather than works for you.

Coach 40
article thumbnail

HEART Holiday Event

SoCal Tech Calendar

Wednesday, December 9, 2009 -- HEART Holiday Event. The Annual Round-Up of Technologists: TechBizConnection, Tech America, Technology Council, AWT, TCVN, and Access Executive Network invite all to the HEART Holiday Event! Meet! Mingle! Celebrate! Enjoy a fantastic evening of food and networking, making this holiday evening one to be remembered. A portion of the proceeds benefit Olive Crest, dedicated to Preventing child abuse, to Treating and Educating at-risk children and to Preserving the fami

AWT 100
article thumbnail

Sometrics Signs Gaming Site

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Sometrics , a developer of analytics tools for online game developers, reported recently that it has signed on gaming site Ijji.com as a customer. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Sometrics said that it is optimizing the way that the gaming website presents advertising offers to members, increasing offer-based revenues at Ijji by more than 30 percent.

Sites 145