Sat.Jan 14, 2012 - Fri.Jan 20, 2012

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Elon Musk To Deliver Caltech Commencement

socalTECH

California Institute of Technology in Pasadena said over the weekend that Elon Musk , the technology mogul who founded SpaceX and Tesla Motors, and co-founded PayPal, will deliver this year's commencement address in June. Caltech said Musk will deliver the commencement address for the school on June 15th at its campus in Pasadena. The school said that Musk will talk about how "brilliant, big ideas can and will have a positive impact in the world.

CalTech 209
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What about previous company non-competes?

Berkonomics

Entrepreneurs tend to remain in the business arena they came from. Some are alumni from companies that would be a competitor to the enterprise being created or joined. And some are former selling shareholders of just those businesses. What is the rule about those pesky non-compete agreements signed upon discharge or sale of the previous company? The good news is that if you were not a significant (usually 5% or more) selling shareholder of a previous company, many states specifically exempt n

Company 136
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Drupal Business Summit

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, January 26, 2012 -- Drupal Business Summit. The Drupal Business Summit aims to show decision-makers in the Southern California community just how much time, money and energy can be saved by switching their companys web presence over to Drupal and the power of open-source.

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7 Ways to Avoid a Poor First Impression in Business

Startup Professionals Musings

Entrepreneurs are all about firsts, and the most important is you making a great first impression – on investors, customers, new team members, and strategic partners. Poor first impressions can be avoided, but I’m amazed at the number of unnecessary mistakes I see at those critical first introductions, presentations, and meetings. The key message here is “preparation.

.Net 107
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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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Convertro Taps Avedissian As COO

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based Convertro , the venture backed, advertising analytics and optimization firm run by Jeff Zwelling, said today that it has hired Armen Avedissian as its Chief Operating Officer. Avedissian was most recently Chief Revenue Officer at MyLife. Zwelling said that Avedissian is "the biggest hitter" in the area of attribution and media optimization.

MyLife 205
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The Future of Couponing | How Social-Local-Mobile has Changed the Game

Tech Zulu Event

“The object is to exploit the convergence of people, information, products, services and places with today’s smartphones and tablets, which drive online orders in addition to purchases from brick-and-mortar stores.”. – Paul Breummer, Search Engine Land. In April 2011, the Association of Coupon Professionals held an Industry Conference in Atlanta to address the present and future state of couponing.

Mobile 85

More Trending

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10 Hiring Shortcuts No Young Company Can Afford

Startup Professionals Musings

Every startup with any traction quickly reaches a point where they need to hire employees to grow the business. Unfortunately, this always happens when pressures are the highest, and business processes are ill-defined. At this point you need superstars and versatile future executives, yet your in-house hiring processes and focus are at their weakest.

Company 94
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Invested.in Joins Amplify Accelerator

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Invested.in , which is headed by Alon Goren, is one of a number of companies that debuted at the startup accelerator Amplify LA this week. Invested.in provides a platform which can be used for crowd funding projects, and can also be white labeled by other companies. Amplify is one of a number of accelerators which have cropped up in Los Angeles in the last six months or so.

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Spotlight: LA Tech Judges and SuperDemo Bill Gross of Idealab!

Tech Zulu Event

I know you all have been dying to know who the Spotlight: LA Tech Winter SuperDemo is going to be. We have been holding off on this announcement for quite a bit and now we can officially announce Bill Gross of Idealab as our SuperDemo presenter. Always looking to provide the very best for our community so that you may learn and grow as a startup or entrepreneur, Bill Gross is one of the best experts we could provide.

Idealab 84
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Growth Capital Conference

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, January 26, 2012 -- Growth Capital Conference. Network with capital sources,advisors,dealmakers and 50 entrepreneurs seeking capital and counsel. DEAL DISPLAY showcases attractive firms needing growth capital. View products, videos, on-line demos.

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The Characteristics of Exceptional Entrepreneurs: How to Break Out of the Pack

Jason Nazar

I recently gave a speech at the MBA program at Pepperdine University on “How to Break Out of the Pack” It was a talk to a large group of budding entrepreneurs who were looking for some advice on what exceptional business leaders do to distinguish themselves from everyone else. The follow presentation is a set of 10 lessons I’ve learned.

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Gamzee Shifts Staff, Looks Towards Smaller Games

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Gamzee , the HTML5 game development firm headed by Howard Marks, one of the founders of Activision, has shifted its staff as it rethinks how to approach the market. The startup develops the Skyscraper City social game, which lets users create and build a city, adding buildings, redeveloping neighborhoods, and more. According to Marks, the firm has decided to rethink the opportunity, and now sees that it's important to create smaller, rather than bigger games, due to the time it

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CES | Healthy Living and Fast Cars

Tech Zulu Event

Wrapping up an amazing trip at the Consumer Electronic Shows (#CES), we find ourselves in the North Hall. Taking us through all things auto, audio, and digital health. To set the stage for you, imagine being at the Detroit Auto Show, then hopping in your slick ride with the subs kicking on your way to DJing at the city’s hottest club. This was our day in North Hall.

Startup 75
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UCI Entrepreneurship: Milton Chang, Incubic

SoCal Tech Calendar

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 -- Milton Chang, Ph.D., Managing Director, Incubic Management (a venture capital fund in Mountain View, CA). Entrepreneurship Course, 2012 Guest Speaker Lectures, Henry Samueli School of Engineering, UC Irvine. Free and open to the public. This series is part of a course on Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers, but enrollment is not necessary to attend these guest speaker lectures Email goran@uci.edu for details.

Incubator 113
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How to Develop Your Fund Raising Strategy

Both Sides of the Table

Raising money is hard. And when you’re relatively new to the process it’s easy to be confused by the process. There is all sorts of advice on the Internet about how to raise capital. Of course much of it is conflicting. I’ve raised money as a “hot company” and I’ve raised capital when no one would return my phone calls.

Develop 366
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Mobile Roadie Launches Red Hot Chili Peppers App

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Mobile Roadie , the developer of branded, mobile applications, is powering another app release, this time from the band the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Mobile Roadie said that the Red Hot Chili Peppers released its free app earlier this week. The app is currently Mobile Roadie's number one app in terms of downloads this week. Mobile Roadie has not announced any details of the deal to develop the app; the company is behind a significant number of high profile apps for brands, musicia

Mobile 185
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CES TV and Camera Heaven | Up to 92? of Viewing Glory

Tech Zulu Event

After a rocking day one at this year’s Consumer Electronic Show (#CES), we hoped it would only get better…and it did. Today’s mission was Central Hall, the home of everything television, home audio and headphone central. I’ve never seen so many televisions and headphones in my life. It was unbelievable. As expected with televisions now a days, it’s a race to see which company can get the largest, thinnest, and 3D pumping TV out to market.

Startup 69
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Personalized Medicine

SoCal Tech Calendar

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 -- Personalized Medicine: How Genomics and Wireless Technologies are Making Healthcare More Predictive, Preventive, Personalized and Participatory. CommNexus Healthcare Communications SIG. Panel includes: Nicholas J. Schork, Cypher Genomics; Samir Damani, MD Revolution; Patrick Merel, PhD, Portable Genomics; Ron Richard, Qualcomm Wireless Health.

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Mark Suster’s Advice To Emerging Entrepreneurs – “Do Not Do, As I Have Done”

InfoChachkie

As part of UC Santa Barbara’s Distinguished Lecture Series, serial entrepreneur and noted venture capitalist Mark Suster recently shared his advice with a large crowd of emerging entrepreneurs. Mark is a Partner at GRP Partners and authors one of the most widely read startup blogs, BothSidesOfTheTable. Mark framed his comments around the major mistakes he made during his early ventures.

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TrueCar Swizzles Billing Model, After Pressure From States

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based TrueCar , the online auto buying site led by Scott Painter, said Monday that it is addressing compliance issues and concerns with its service with a change to its billing model. The firm said it will offer up a new, flat fee billing model in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a move which comes after a public complaint by the state, which was made public most recently in December, "reminding" the company that the laws of that state prohibit compensating anyone in connection with th

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Google Shuts Urchin, Other Services

socalTECH

Internet giant Google said Friday that it will be shutting down web analytics service Urchin , the onetime San Diego startup which had been acquired by Google in April of 2005. According to a post from Urchin co-founder Paul Muret, the shutdown comes as the software has been overtaken by Google Analytics, which had originally started as an online version of the Urchin software.

Google 176
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Fisker Auto Sees Another Recall

socalTECH

Irvine-based Fisker Automotive looks to be working out more bugs in its newly introduced Karma electric car, as another recall came to light Thursday. According to site Hybridcars.com, the recall apparently fixes issues with random check-engine lights and problems with the navigation and entertainment system. Fisker was hit by a recall earlier this month around its battery systems.

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Evisions Buys Education Software Firm

socalTECH

Irvine-based Evisions , a developer of software for higher education institutions, said this morning that it has acquired Cayuse , a developer of web-based software for grant proposal development. Financial details of the deal were not announced. Cayuse, which is based in Beaverton, Oregon, will be combined with Evisions' Portland operations. READ MORE>>.

Education 162
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Chill Shifts To Social Discovery

socalTECH

In another shift of focus, Los Angeles-based Chill , the startup headed by Brian Norgard and Dan Gould, has recast the site as a social video discovery site, and away from its live chat and video hangout focus. The site now highlights videos shared by members, aggregating those videos and allowing users to comment on them. The site had earlier been focused on creating group chat rooms where users could chat in real time on livestreamed events.

Redpoint 160
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DreamHost Hit By Hackers

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based hosting provider DreamHost , a provider of shared and dedicated hosting, reported Friday that it detected unauthorized access to its databases, requiring all of its users using FTP or shell to change their password. The firm said it did not believe customer passwords were taken, but was still requiring users to reset their passwords.

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Southern California Firms Raise $738M In Q4 2011

socalTECH

The latest numbers from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture capital Association MoneyTree survey, which is based on data from Thomson Reuters, tallies $738.34M invested in Southern California in Q4 of 2011. The amount is up from $528.0M raised in Q4 of 2010, and up from the $652M invested in the region last quarter. Southern California fundraising matched a similar increase nationally, where $28.4 billion was invested, a 22 percent increase in dollars over the prior year.

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Evolve Media Buys RealityTea.com, WebEcoist.com

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Evolve Media Corp. , the parent firm of AtomicOnline, SheKnows, and a network of other digital media sites, announced this morning that it has acquired two sites-- RealityTea.com , focused on reality entertainment, and WebEcoist.com , a green living site. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The company said that both will become part of its Momtastic community for moms.

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Ranker Names COO, Taps Jones For Board

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Ranker , the online service which allows anyone to list and rank things on any topic, said today that it has named Mani Dhillon as Chief Operating Officer, and tapped former MySpace CEO Michael Jones for its board. The company, headed by Clark Benson, said that Dhillon was most recently the GM of Urbanspoon, and has also served at EA Mobile and Cisco.

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Interview with Greg Borrud, Seismic Games

socalTECH

How do you take what you've learned, having been part of the growth and creation of the traditional, videogame industry, and apply that to the new world of social games? That's what Los Angeles-based Seismic Games (www.seismicgames.com) is looking to figure out, headed by Greg Borrud, Eric Gewirtz, and Chris Miller. We caught up with Greg Borrud , formerly the co-founder of Pandemic Games, to hear more about what Seismic is up to.

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RPost Claims Patent Progress

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based RPost , which operates a service to encrypt email and electronically capture documents and electronic signatures, said today that one of its patents was validated by a California Federal Court, a move it says will help it in a number of lawsuits it has filed against Adobe-Echosign, DocuSign, Swiss Post, Canada Post, Zix Corporation, RightSignature, Farmers Insurance, Telarix, Trustifi, among others.

Patents 154
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YouMail, LetsTalk.com In Partnership

socalTECH

Irvine-based YouMail , the developer of advanced voicemail services and smartphone apps, and online phone retailer LetsTalk.com , have tied together in a partnership agreement. According to the firms, they will offer their services to each other's customers. The deal calls for YouMail's Visual Voicemail app to be preloaded on Android and Blackberry devices on LetsTalk.com, and YouMail's online store will allow users to purchase mobile devices and services from LetsTalk.com.

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Mad Catz In License Deal With Sony Computer Entertainment Japan

socalTECH

San Diego-based Mad Catz Interactive , a manufacturer of computer accessories, gaming accessories, and other products, said Wednesday that it has inked an agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. Mad Catz said that the deal allows its to manufacture and distribute products designed for use with the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. Details of the licensing agreement were not disclosed.

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Disney Launches New Baby Site

socalTECH

Glendale-based Walt Disney Company has launched a new, online destination aimed at expecting and new parents, DisneyBaby.com , the firm said Tuesday. According to Disney, the new site will provide a product showcase of Disney branded baby products, for expectant and new parents. Disney's new site also includes such features as a baby photo sharing service, and tips from other mothers.

Sites 150
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Microsemi Buys Product Lines From Maxim

socalTECH

Aliso Viejo-based Microsemi , the supplier of semiconductor products, said today that it has acquired the timing, synchronization, and synthesis business from Maxim Integrated Products. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Microsemi said the acquisition will further provide its customers with critical synchronization components. The components lines that Microsemi are buying are used by electronic designers for clock distribution across electronic systems.

Product 145
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Image Metrics Spins Off Product Line

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based Image Metrics is announcing today that it is spinning off its FACEWARE product line to a new company, Faceware Technologies Inc. According to the firm, the spinout will enable each of the firms to focus on separate products and services to different markets. Financial details of the spinout were not disclosed. The companies said that Faceware Technologies will be led by Ron Ryder, currently the CFO and COO of Image Metrics, during the transition.

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Insights and Opinions: 5 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make While Raising Capital

socalTECH

What are some of the more common mistakes entrepreneurs make when raising capital? Eric M. Jackson , the CEO and co-founder of Manhattan Beach-based CapLinked , shares his top five for our Insights and Opinions section. Raising capital can be a challenging process, especially in an economic environment marked by so much uncertainty and risk. But entrepreneurs often make the process harder on themselves by committing several common mistakes.