Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2010

Yesterday I wrote about how to talk to investors about your competitors. In short, acknowledge they exist, be transparent about strengths & weaknesses and use your differences to talk about how you want to position yourself in the market. But forget talking about them, how should you actually treat your competitors? Conventional wisdom in most companies is that “the competition is the enemy&# – it’s the rallying cry to dig deeper, get more features out the door, issue pres

Cloud Computing 320

Cloud Computing Competition Press Startup 320

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2010

All this week, we are sharing the opinions of some of the top influencers in Southern California's high tech community. We asked the same five questions of a variety of top technology entrepreneurs, investors, and others, to hear what they're thinking about, and are sharing it here over the next two weeks. We last shared the thoughts of John Babcock at Rustic Canyon Partners.

Venture Capital 234

Venture Capital Capital Rustic Canyon Redpoint 234

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 29, 2010

A friend once told me about a soccer game in which the opposing team deployed a frustratingly effective strategy. Every time they scored, their Captain ran around the field yelling, “tied score, tied score!” He continued to do this, despite the fact that they were beating my friend’s team by several goals. The Captain’s message was clear, “Ignore the score and play as if we are tied.

Entrepreneur 193

Entrepreneur Course Startup Ideas 193

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2010

One of the toughest decisions for a startup is how to price their product or service. The alternatives range from giving it away for free (like Twitter), to pricing based on costs, to charging what the market will bear (premium pricing). The implications of the decision you make are huge, defining your brand image, your funding requirements, and your long-term business viability.

Pricing 98

Pricing Product Startup Competition 98

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

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 26, 2010

Competition. Unless you’re Microsoft selling an OS for a PC you probably have some. And even then Microsoft has substitute products as anyone who has taken Econ 101 will tell you. So if you’re raising money – from angels or VCs – you’re going to have to address the question of whom you’re competing against. And the reality is that if you have no competition it will likely be perceived as a negative, not positive.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Slides Competition Education 313

socalTECH

DECEMBER 28, 2010

This week, we are sharing the opinions of some of the top influencers in Southern California's high tech community. We asked the same five questions of a variety of top technology entrepreneurs, investors, and others, to hear what they're thinking about, and are sharing it here over the next two weeks. Yesterday, we heard from Bruce Hallett of Miramar Venture Partners.

Southern California 178

Southern California High Tech Miramar News 178

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2010

For some great leadership advice, see “ Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows: Learn How to Inspire Others, Achieve Greatness, and Find Success in Any Organization ”, by Charles P. Garcia. He says, “Too often businesses assume that offering more money is the only way to motivate employees. The reality is that employees value having strong leaders, who motivate them to do their best, just as much if not more.

Tips 95

Tips Organization Guide Mentor 95

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 29, 2010

I am a tech enthusiast, early adopter and am fully addicted to my iPhone. The industrial design, the sounds, the feel of the touchscreen. I love that I can be everywhere and nowhere at the same time and with the swipe of a finger can plugin and connect with anyone. Visit TechZulu for full story.

Design 91

Design News Media 91

socalTECH

DECEMBER 29, 2010

Adconian , which operates an Internet advertising network, has moved into new 40,000 square foot offices in Santa Monica, the firm said this week. The firm said it moved out of an 15,000 square foot space on the Third Street Promenade, after outgrowing that space. The firm said it expects "aggressive company growth" in 2011, and has over 100 job openings.

Santa Monica 171

Santa Monica Southern California Advertising Networking 171

socalTECH

DECEMBER 29, 2010

All this week, we are sharing the opinions of some of the top influencers in Southern California's high tech communityk. We asked the same five questions of a variety of top technology entrepreneurs, investors, and others, to hear what they're thinking about, and are sharing it here over the next two weeks. We last talked with Michael Jones, CEO of MySpace.

Rustic Canyon 164

Rustic Canyon Southern California High Tech Venture Capital 164

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2010

All this week, we are sharing the opinions of some of the top influencers in Southern California's high tech community. We asked the same five questions of a variety of top technology entrepreneurs, investors, and others, to hear what they're thinking about, and are sharing it here over the next two weeks. Earlier today, we talked with Greg Martin at Archer Venture Capital.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Southern California Cloud Computing Venture Capital 160

socalTECH

DECEMBER 29, 2010

The Securities and Exchange Commission is in the midst of a probe of companies which allow the buying and selling of private company shares, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. According to the WSJ, the SEC is looking at trading of private shares of companies--done through such sites as Santa Monica-based SharesPost and New York's SecondMarket --specifically looking at funds which are buying up shares of popular companies like Facebook, Twitter, Zynga, and LinkedIn.

Report 159

Report Santa Monica Journal Sites 159

socalTECH

DECEMBER 29, 2010

Irvine-based Local.com , the operator of local search sites, said this morning that it has appointed Ken Cragun as CFo of the company. Cragun has been serving as interim CFO of the firm since October. Cragun was Vice Presdient of FInance at Local.com since April of 2009, and has also been at ModtechHOldings, MIVA, ImproveNet, and NetCharge.com. READ MORE>>.

Sites 154

Sites Paid Search Company Companies 154

socalTECH

DECEMBER 28, 2010

Santa Monica-based BeachMint said Monday that it has raised $10M in a funding round for its social commerce site. The firm, started by MySpace co-founder Josh Berman and Diego Berdakin, runs jewelry site JewelMint along with Kate Bosworth and celebrity stylist Cher Coulter. BeachMint said the funding round was led by Trinity Ventures, and also included Stanford University, New Enterprise Associates, and Anthem Ventures.

Anthem 153

Anthem Santa Monica Commerce Sites 153

socalTECH

DECEMBER 28, 2010

Monrovia-based AeroVironment said Tuesday that it has received a $46.2M order from the U.S. Army. The developer of unmanned aircraft systems said that the order was for 123, new Raven unamnned aircraft systems, plus another 186 digital retrofit kits for the U.S. marine Corps and 339 digital retrofit kits for the U.S. Army. The Raven is Aerovironment's hand-launched, 4.2 pound unmanned systems used for surveillance, reconnaissance, and situational awareness by the military.

Monrovia 140

Monrovia Develop Development 140

socalTECH

DECEMBER 28, 2010

Irvine-based Broadcom announced Tuesday that it has completed its $75M acquisition of Gigle Networks , a developer of systems-on-a-chip products for home networking over power lines. The deal had originally been announced in November. Broadcom said the deal was all cash, except for equity awards from the firm given for unvested employee stock options.

Networking 140

Networking Equity Acquisition Product 140

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2010

All this week, we are sharing the opinions of some of the top influencers in Southern California's high tech community. We asked the same five questions of a variety of top technology entrepreneurs, investors, and others, to hear what they're thinking about, and are sharing it here over the next two weeks. Last week, we asked with Jim Armstrong of Clearstone Ventures about his opinions, and today, we're featuring the thoughts of Bruce Hallett , a venture capitalist at Miramar Venture Partners. 1

Miramar 140

Miramar Southern California High Tech Clearstone 140

socalTECH

DECEMBER 29, 2010

Carlsbad-based MaxLinear , the developer of radio frequency and mixed signal integrated circuits, said Tuesday that it has named Adam C. Spice as the firm's new Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Spice was most recently at Symwave Corporation, serving as CFO. Prior to Symwave, Spice was at Broadcom Corporation, serving as Vice President of Finance and Corporate Development.

Develop 133

Develop Development 133

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2010

San Diego-based EMN8 , a developer of fast food ordering kiosks for restaurants, has raised $12.2M out of an ongoing, $18.186M funding round, according to a regulatory filing from the firm last week. Source of the new funding was not disclosed. EMN8 has previously raised capital from Allegis Capital, GRP Partners, Sid R. Bass Associates, and Steamboat Ventures.

Allegis 133

Allegis Steamboat Ventures GRP Partners San Diego 133

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2010

Santa Ana-based Iteris , a developer of traffic management software and technology, said today that it is acquiring Meridian Environmental Technology , a developer of traveler information systems and highway maintenance software. Iteris said it paid $4M in cash, plus up to $2M in earn out, for Meridian. Meridian is based in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Technology 133

Technology Software Develop Development 133

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2010

Westlake Village-based Zumbox , which is developing an electronic bill payment service, has raised an additional $9.7M in funding, according to a regulatory filing by the firm. Source of the new funding was not disclosed. The firm previously raised $8.0M in funding in August of 2009. Zumbox, which originally was focused on allowing marketers to send electronic mail to postal addresses, has recently refocused and is now looking to aggregate bill payers and electronic billing statements, under the

Zumbox 127

Zumbox Westlake Village Funding Marketing 127

socalTECH

DECEMBER 29, 2010

Poway-based Cohu , which supplies testing equipment to the semiconductor industry, announced this morning that it has named Luis A. Miller as President of its new Semiconductor Equipment Group. Muller has served at Delta Design, Rasco GmbH, and Teradyne. Cohu said its new Semiconductor Equipment Group includes its subsidiaries Delta Design, Inc. and Rasco GmbH.

Design 124

Design 124

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2010

Los Angeles-based EcoMom , the online e-commerce site selling green products for mothers headed by Jody Sherman, has upped its Series A funding to $2.0M in funding, according to reports. The additional funding reportedly came from Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya and Google's Don Dodge. EcoMom--formerly known as Sprout Baby--initially launched in May with backing from angel investor Dave McClure.

Funding 124

Funding Commerce Google Report 124

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2010

It’s a long way from an entrepreneur’s “idea” to a working product with a real market and paying customers. A necessary intermediate step for proof of concept, credibility with potential investors, and communication with your team, is a working prototype. Building a prototype should be an early and high priority task for every startup. A prototype doesn’t need to look great, or be built to scale, but it better accurately translate your vision into something real and tangible.

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Ideas Design Custom 94

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2010

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.

Startup 92

Startup Statistics Summary Writing 92

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2010

The naïve entrepreneur thinks he can relax, after he finally cashes the check from a professional investor, but in reality that’s when the work and the pressure starts. His first reality reset is that now, maybe for the first time, he really has a boss, or several bosses, and often very demanding ones at that. Angel and venture capital investors rarely just give you the cash, and stand back to wait for you to spend it the way you want.

Entrepreneur 92

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Class 92

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 25, 2010

It’s been a tough business year, but I hope you are all taking some time off this holiday weekend, to celebrate with the family. Even those of you who are not Christian and see Christmas as just another day should still enjoy the holiday spirit, take a break from work, and count your blessings. Yet there will be some entrepreneurs can’t seem to make the decision to take a break.

Entrepreneur 92

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Startup Competition 92

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2010

If your startup is great enough to get a term sheet from angel investors or a venture capitalist, the next step for the investor is to complete the dreaded due diligence process. This is the last step of the process, where surprises in the evaluation of the management team, documentation, and personnel problems can derail the investment. Some startups do nothing to prepare for the due diligence process, assuming the people and business plan documents will speak for themselves.

Technical Review 91

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 91

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 29, 2010

The tagline used by Broadcastr, the new social venture by Andy Hunter and Scott Lindenbaum that sets out to add another layer to the already saturated social market. Visit TechZulu for full story.

Marketing 77

Marketing Social Media Report News 77

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 27, 2010

As I sit in Laguna Beach looking at the Pacific ocean I can’t help but feel sorry for the rest of my family in Connecticut. Right now the North East is getting hit by a Blizzard that could drop as much as 2 feet of snow in some areas. Visit TechZulu for full story.

Sales 73

Sales Help News 73