Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2014

'A few years ago I started calling the local tech ecosystem down here #LATech. I had an agenda. We graduate more engineers in our greater region than anywhere else in the US. We have top 25 engineering schools than anywhere else, too. I never wanted to be a derivative of Silicon Valley. I have the utmost respect for the tech produced by our northern colleagues and acknowledge it is the tech capital of the world and that won’t change.

Startup 318

Startup Santa Monica Yahoo Snapchat 318

InfoChachkie

MARCH 10, 2014

'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. In the Fall of 1990, H. Jackson Brown sat at his kitchen table, pulled out a pad of paper and began writing advice to his son, who had just entered college. Mr. Brown''s aphorisms eventually evolve into twenty one books, including four New York Times bestsellers. With Life''s Little Instruction Book , Mr.

Competition 274

Competition Mentor Entrepreneur Startup 274

Berkonomics

MARCH 13, 2014

'By David Steakley. If you are a screenplay writer, you are familiar with the dogma of the inciting incident. In a movie, the inciting incident is the event at the beginning of the story which causes the hero’s life to be completely transformed and irrevocably changed, and which makes the whole story unfold. Companies also need an inciting incident, because, more often than not, you often will depend upon selling your story to someone.

Invest 237

Invest Examples Networking Writing 237

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2014

'A report released this week at SXSW says that Launchpad LA and MuckerLab are among the top accelerators in the United States, based on the valuation of their portfolio companies, exits, number of companies still in operation, and other factors. According to the ranking--made by Professor Yael Hochberg of the MIT Sloan School of Management and Professor Susan Cohen of the University of Richmond--ranked Launchpad LA as number four in the nation, and MuckerLab as number five in the nation, behind

Report 198

Report Angel Startup Company 198

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.

Company

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2014

'By definition, most entrepreneurs are thought leaders. They have the ability to recognize a market need, the skills to design and implement a solution, and the drive to start a business from that solution. It all comes from within themselves. A business leader does the same thing and more through the people around them. Most entrepreneurs are not both.

Startup 113

Startup Entrepreneur Competition Training 113

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 14, 2014

'Organizers at SXSW and the ACLU scheduled a rare and relevant live interview with privacy advocate Edward Snowden, live streamed from an undisclosed location to a very interested audience. This was a key political moment in the festival’s history with thousands of attendees packing multiple rooms on site and millions more around the world watching online.

Google 104

Google Organization News Platform 104

socalTECH

MARCH 10, 2014

'Los Angeles-based ParkMe , which offers up an online service and mobile apps to help drivers find nearby parking spaces, has rolled out a new, improved web mapping interface. The company has updated its web service with ability to save reservations, find open spots faster, pay for parking, and more. The company said the updates are part of a number of updates it has been working on for its products and services.

Web 187

Web Mobile Los Angeles Services 187

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2014

'If I had a dollar for every time someone has said to me, “One of these days, I’m going to start my own company,” I’d be rich. If this day ever comes for all these people, we will be overrun by startups. Yet I don’t lose any sleep over either of these possibilities. Most people procrastinate from time to time, but I suspect that the challenge here is somewhat deeper than that.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Organization 102

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 13, 2014

'When AT&T first loaned me this device for review, I’ll be honest. I thought it was a wifi/bluetooth camera that would sync with my phone. Then I turned it on and realized, OH! This thing IS a smartphone! Immediate thoughts were, “Oh no, that’s way too big and bulky. And with such a camera? Must be too fragile to keep in my pocket.” Having played with it for the past two months though, it’s a very sturdy phone and the 16mp extended camera with 10x optical zoom o

Press 103

Press Journal Advertising Mobile 103

socalTECH

MARCH 10, 2014

'A new, Los Angeles-based venture capital firm-- TYLT Lab --said Monday that it has raised $20M in an initial close towards its early stage, seed investment fund. According to the new venture firm, it is focused on early stage, seed to A-round investments, with a focus on Southern California companies, and specifically Silicon Beach. The venture capital fund was founded by Rami Rostami and Gerard Casale.

Southern California 185

Southern California Invest Santa Monica SoCal 185

socalTECH

MARCH 11, 2014

'Is this the new Bejeweled? Los Angeles-based game developer SGN announced Monday that it has launched a new, fast-action puzzle game called Cookie Jam. The title--initially available only for iOS--revolves around a panda in a French bakery. According to SGN, it is hoping to take a clue from titles like Bejeweled and Candy Crush with the new game. SGN said it will release versions of Cookie Jam on Google Play and Facebook later this month.

Google 183

Google Content Los Angeles Angel 183

socalTECH

MARCH 14, 2014

'Pasadena-based advanced chemistry technology developer Materia has raised $14.9M in the first part of what looks to be a $50.0M fundraising effort, according to a regulatory filing this week. Details on the funding have yet to be announced by the company. Materia develops Nobel prize winning technology for the production of small, medium, and large molecules, called metathesis, which was developed at Caltech.

CalTech 178

CalTech Pasadena Venture Capital Capital 178

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2014

'Santa Monica-based Nimble , the developer of cloud-based, contact and relationship tracking software, said this morning that it has launched a new feature to provide a "smart summary" feature providing a detailed background summary on any contact. Nimble''s new feature pulls in publicly available information--such as biographies, company information, educational background, investments, and more--for any contact, to help users gain better insights into their contacts.

Summary 178

Summary Santa Monica Education Sales 178

socalTECH

MARCH 11, 2014

'Santa Monica-based CampaignEQ , the developer of marketing tracking tools, said today that it has launched a new product for affiliate and customer referral tracking for e-commerce providers Shopify, Magento, Big Commerce, and Business Catalyst. According to CampaignEQ, the new tool lets companies manage and optimize incoming traffic, including CPC, CPL, CPA, affiliate networks, and other advertising.

Tool 178

Tool CPC Santa Monica Commerce 178

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2014

'Los Angeles-based Glip , the developer of productivity and team management tools, said today that it has begun accepting Bitcoin payments for subscriptions to its service. According to Glip, it has begun accepting Bitcoin payments for subscriptions to its platform, which start at $5 per user per year. Glip target sits service towards businesses and small teams, providing document sharing, shared calendars, task management, and other features.

Los Angeles 173

Los Angeles Tool Platform Software 173

socalTECH

MARCH 14, 2014

'How do you bring an outside perspective and a startup''s nimble perspective to your products, if you''re a big, established company? Are developers willing to invest their time and energy in building solutions around your products, company, or organization? One local company-- Edmunds.com (www.edmunds.com)--has been very active looking to tap into the innovative spirit in the community through its own hackathons -- days-long, endurance events where teams come together to quickly built and proto

Edmunds 172

Edmunds Southern California Ideas Startup 172

socalTECH

MARCH 11, 2014

'San Diego-based cloud communications service provider Voxox said today that it has signed a deal with PC maker Lenovo , on a pre-load deal, which will feature Voxox''s icon and embedded link on Lenovo''s consumer laptops. Financial details of the deal were not announced. The deal will provide an icon and embedded link on Lenovo''s U530, Y510, and Flex 15 models.

IP 171

IP San Diego Services Software 171

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2014

'Santa Monica-based Beats Music , the subscription-based, music streaming service, has raised between $60M to $100M in new, equity financing, according to reports. Bloomberg, citing three people with knowledge of the deal, said that the funding is part of an effort to challenge Spotify for exclusive music rights. Beats Music has not yet announced details of the funding.

Santa Monica 170

Santa Monica Funding Equity Report 170

socalTECH

MARCH 10, 2014

'Los Angeles-based streaming music service Beats Music has extended out its reach, and will show up on Chevy models, via a deal with General Motors. The two announced at SXSW over the weekend that Beats Music will show up as an app in Chevy Corvette, Impala, Malibu, Volt and other 2015 models which has OnStar 4G LTE capabilities. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Malibu 168

Malibu Los Angeles Services Angel 168

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2014

'Anyone who has been in the technology industry for awhile has heard that oft repeated myth , that most startup founders in Silicon Valley are from Stanford. There''s also a similar argument, that if Southern California could only attract more of the students who go to school in the region''s many top universities , we''d have more of our share of the next generation of technology startups.

Southern California 165

Southern California Startup UCLA UCSD 165

socalTECH

MARCH 13, 2014

'Irvine-based INSTEON , a developer of electronically connected, home automation products, said today that it has connected its smartphone controlled home automation hub to the popular Nest Learning Thermostat. Nest--now owned by Google--develops high tech thermostats which automatically adjust to optimize a home''s temperature for users, and can also be remotely monitored and adjusted.

IP 164

IP High Tech Google Product 164

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2014

'Los Angeles-based TAPP , a new startup co-founded by Jeff Gaspin, the former Chairman of NBC Universal Television, and Jon Klein, former president of CNN/U.S., said this morning that it has scored funding from a number of high profile investors. TAPP said that its investors include Discovery Communications, Demarest Films, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, as well as Ken Moelis, Peter Ezersky and Michael Huber.

Funding 164

Funding Venture Capital Entertainment Google 164

socalTECH

MARCH 10, 2014

'Ever wonder where the Internet was born? It was born here in Los Angeles, at a nondescript room at the University of California, Los Angeles. In an in-depth tour , Gizmodo takes a a tour today through 3420 Boelter Hall to get a look at where the first, ARPANET node was installed, and talks to Dr. Leonard Kleinrock, who was a key member of the team which essentially invented the Internet.

UCLA 164

UCLA Los Angeles Angel 164

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2014

'San Diego-based TaxJar , a developer of online software which helps manage sales tax payments for online retailers, said this morning that it has raised $600,000 from angel investors. TaxJar said that the angels involved in the seed funding included Dan Rose (VP Partnerships, Facebook), Harris Barton (H Barton Asset Management), Roy Rubin (Co-founder, Magento), as well as others.

Sales 159

Sales Software SaaS Seed Funding 159

socalTECH

MARCH 11, 2014

'Santa Monica-based Sonos has been remarkably quiet over the years about how the company has been doing financially. However, the company disclosed Monday that it had $535M in revenue in 2013, nearly double the revenues the company had in 2012, making it one of the largest companies on the Central Coast. Sonos develops wireless, whole-home speakers, which can stream music from either a local PC or from across the Internet.

Redpoint 159

Redpoint Santa Monica Acquisition Capital 159

socalTECH

MARCH 11, 2014

'Want to understand the world of YouTube? There''s no better way than post thousands of pieces of content online and see what happens -- and realize that the tools weren''t there to truly figure out what was happening. Venice-based Zefr (www.zefr.com) got its start in the content world--licensing movie clips and posting them online--but soon, figured out there was a whole different opportunity in developing software tools to understand exactly what was happening on YouTube.

Hollywood 159

Hollywood Help Media Content 159

socalTECH

MARCH 13, 2014

'Los Angeles-based high tech education and amusement company Two Bit Circus , which was founded by Brent Bushnell, said it has set the date for its S.T.E.A.M. Carnival , the company''s crowdfunded entertainment event which it has been describing as a varnival reimagined with "lasers, fire, and robots". The event is aimed at inspiring kids to learn about science, technology, engineering, art, and math.

High Tech 157

High Tech Education Los Angeles Entertainment 157

socalTECH

MARCH 13, 2014

'Los Angeles-based mobile advertising firm Airpush --which is reportedly in acquisition talks with Perion--delivered $98M in annual revenues, according to the Forbes 2013 ranking of its most promising companies. Forbes said that Airpush now has 200 employees, saw 96 percent revenue growth between 2012 and 2013--and has yet to raise any outside funding.

Advertising 153

Advertising Mobile Los Angeles Acquisition 153

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2014

'Two, Southern California venture investors have scored another paired exit today, after South San Francisco-based Achaogen debuted on the NASDAQ Global Market as AKAO. Both Domain Associates and Versant Ventures had an exit via another, biotech IPO--> of molecular diagnostic maker Veracyte --just six months ago. Achaogen was trading around $14.17 this afternoon, after debuting at $12.00 per share.

Southern California 153

Southern California Acquisition Pricing Funding 153

socalTECH

MARCH 12, 2014

'Los Angeles-based mobile dating app developer Tinder is looking to clamp down on users creating fake celebrity accounts on the service, by launched a new verification program. According to a report from the Hollywood Reporter, the company is ramping up efforts to make the platform usable by real celebrities, because users widely regard celebrities on the service to be fake.

Hollywood 153

Hollywood Mobile Report Los Angeles 153

socalTECH

MARCH 14, 2014

'Aliso Viejo-based network hardware developer QLogic said late Thursday that it has completed its acquisition of the 10/40/100Gb Ethernet controller assets from Broadcom , as well as cut staff as part of a restructuring effort related to the move. QLogic did not say how many employees were affected by the cuts, which it says is part of a restrcutring plan to consolidate its product roadmap.

Layoffs 149

Layoffs Acquisition Networking Activity 149

socalTECH

MARCH 11, 2014

'Santa Monica-based Demand Media said today that it has linked with Electus Digital , to offload premium ad sales for its Cracked.com website. According to the two, Electus Digital will now offer exclusive premium ad sales representation for Cracked.com, including custom branded content and "high-impact" ad units on the site. Financial details of the deal were not announced.

Demand 149

Demand Sales Media Santa Monica 149

socalTECH

MARCH 14, 2014

'Calabasas-based Ixia , which develops network testing hardware and software, has received another warning from the Nasdaq over issues stemming from the sudden departure of its CEO last year over the discovery he had fabricated his resume. Ixia said that the warning came due to the delay in filing its annual Form 10-K annual report, for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2013.

Software Review 147

Software Review Calabasas Networking Report 147

socalTECH

MARCH 13, 2014

'Santa Barbara-based Zuuka , the parent firm of the kids'' iOS storybook brand iStoryTime , has been acquired by New York-based Cupcake Digital. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. According to Cupcake, the acquisition will expands its entertainment license portfolio. Zuuka--which was founded by Graham Farra and Woody Sears--will join Cupcake Digital as part of the acquisition.

Santa Barbara 147

Santa Barbara Company Companies Acquisition 147

socalTECH

MARCH 13, 2014

'Los Angeles-based online survey and sampling services and technology provider uSamp said Wednesday that it has rolled out a new, fully open Application programming interface (API). The new API is part of its new SampleCORE platform, which it says helps automate sampling for its customers. uSamp''s sampling technology helps marketers conduct polling and sampling of consumers in an automated fashion.

Platform 147

Platform Sample Los Angeles Help 147

socalTECH

MARCH 11, 2014

'Irvine-based Local Corporation said this morning that it has launched a new tool aimed at driving shoppers to local retailers. According to Local Cocporation, it has launched a new "Where-to-Buy" product for manufacturers, which makes it easier for consumers to find and buy products from local retailers. Local Corporation said the new tool is powered by the Krillion local shopping platform, which provides location-based product information at the brand and store-level.

Tool 147

Tool Sales Pricing Platform 147