Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

'Today is a day I’ve waited patiently for for 5 years but more earnestly for more than 1 year. I am thrilled to announce that we have added Hamet Watt as a Partner at Upfront Ventures. Now that he’s become a VC he’s promising me he’ll provide way more public information and discourse so please welcome him by following him on Twitter and better yet welcoming him with a Tweet of your own linking to his Twitter handle or this post.

Invest 340

Invest Venture Capital Startup News 340

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

'Venture and angel investing has long been considered a man''s world--with domination of the industry, executives, financiers, and others by men, with only a few exceptions. In a bid to change that, there are a few groups working on helping women entrepreneurs, investors, and others, including the Pipeline Fellowship (www.pipelinefellowship.com), which recently launched itself into the Los Angeles market.

Angel 276

Angel Invest Mentor Technical Review 276

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Don Charlton’s heroic journey began with him growing up on government assistance and culminated in his founding The Resumator , one of America''s fastest growing startups. Don''s perseverance and chronically positive attitude is inspiring. The Resumator''s intuitive recruiting and applicant tracking solution has been used by over 12,000 companies, which have processed more than 4 million resumes and filled 36,000 jobs.

Startup 250

Startup Entrepreneur Design Santa Barbara 250

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

'When we start a business, we are optimistic that we will succeed and dream of riches to follow when the company is sold or even participating in an IPO. Some of us build our businesses to be lifestyle creations, destined to provide for our families but not necessarily as creators of great equity upon an eventual sale. But most of us dream of selling the business someday for lots of money and building our wealth upon that event.

Sales 191

Sales Startup Equity Resource 191

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

SEPTEMBER 7, 2013

'Gabe Rivera wrote a post on why TechMeme is now using its editors to curate titles that appear on its site. Gabe’s post appears first on TechMeme’s website, which must mean Gabe has paid off some TechMeme editors to get his story to rise to the top. I never saw it go out with a “tip @techmeme” on Twitter. Did you? Well. His article is well worth reading anyways.

Writing 326

Writing Buzzfeed Social Media Blogging 326

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

'The latest company to expand into Silicon Beach? Technology giant Microsoft , which opened up a new technology center in Playa Vista last week, which it says will house around 130 Microsoft employees. Microsoft''s efforts in Los Angeles are headed by Mark Kornegay, General Manager of Microsoft, Southern California. The employees at the new Microsoft office are supporting a number of customers in the LA area.

Southern California 217

Southern California Los Angeles Software Customer 217

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

'The U.S. Senate on May 6 passed the third version of Senate Bill 743, otherwise known as the Marketplace Fairness Act, which requires consumers to pay sales tax on all Internet purchases. How does this affect the growing crowdfunding industry? Initially, it affects reward-based crowdfunding because the moment anyone takes money in exchange for an item, the transaction becomes subject to sales tax.

Sales 102

Sales Course .Net Capital 102

Steve Reich

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

'The Pasadena Angels have redesigned our site with a new focus on Entrepreneurs and LA Basin tech resources. We took a lesson from successful companies we have funded–we talked to the market first. We started by surveying a group of local entrepreneurs and our own members to find out what they wanted in a site. The message that came back was very clear–both groups wanted a site that showed that: 1) the PA are actively funding companies, 2) are engaged with the local tech community,

Pasadena Angels 55

Pasadena Angels Pasadena Sites Angel 55

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

'XPRIZE , the nonprofit organization which has been using large dollar prize competitions to spur innovation in a wide range of areas, has booted up a brand new, $2M prize around ocean health, the group said this week. According to the Los Angeles-based organization, its newest price is the $2 million Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE , which will challenge teams to develop accurate and affordable ocean pH sensors, to help address the issues with ocean acidification due to the rise in atmospheri

Southern California 204

Southern California Technical Review Competition Organization 204

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

'There is no substitute for diving into the key details of a new startup. Executives from large companies have sometimes long forgotten how to do this (“My people will contact your people to work out the details.”). Others hire consultants, or outsource much of the real work. These executives won’t survive long in a startup environment. An obvious reason is limited funds, but a more important reason is the need to know and intimately understand what is really going on in the business and the mar

Startup 103

Startup Entrepreneur Template Outsource Development 103

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

'Last night, I was knocking a couple back with a friend at The Waterfront (San Diego’s oldest continually operating pub). This buddy of mine, Jordan, is a long time iPhone user. He hopped on iPhone, iPhone 3Gs, and the iPhone 4s. He was waiting to upgrade to the new iPhone this year, since the iPhone 5 was overlapping his contract, and so forth… the usual. “I dunno, man, I just don’t see how it’s better.” I brought up the 64-bit processor, and his response was

Competition 99

Competition Google Marketing San Diego 99

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

'Los Angeles-based Spreeify , the developer of social marketing software headed by Ruben Dua, is launching a new social marketing product it calls Social Swag this week. According to the company, the new product helps brands engage socially with people, by helping them run promotional giveaway campaigns on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram.

Social Media 204

Social Media Media Product Sites 204

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

'San Diego-based security technology developer MicroPower Technologies has rolled out a new product, a new, infrared camera which can wirelessly send its images up to a half mile away. The venture-backed startup--which is backed by Karmel Capital, Motorola and the Tech Coast Angels--said its new Helios IR camera consumes less than 1/10th the power of standard, industry cameras, and is powered by solar energy and a lithium battery.

Tech Coast Angels 190

Tech Coast Angels Technology San Diego Capital 190

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

'Los Angeles-based venture investor Core Innovation Capital is backing mobile payments provider Wipit , in a Series A funding, the companies said this morning. Size of the investment was not announced. As part of the funding, Arjan Schutte, Managing Partner at Core Innovation Capital, will join Wipit''s board of directors. Wipit is also based in Los Angeles.

Capital 178

Capital Mobile Los Angeles Invest 178

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

'Los Angeles-based online ticket marketplace ScoreBig.com said today that it has raised $10M in a new funding round, and hired a new Chief Strategy Officer. ScoreBig.com said the new funding round came from Checketts Partners Investment Fund (CPIF), and is the first close of a Series C round of funding. CPIF adds a board member as part of the investment.

Invest 171

Invest Ticketmaster Entertainment USC 171

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

'Culver City-based Maker Studios confirmed today that it has raised $26M in additional funding in its Series C funding. According to the company, the new round was led by Time Warner Investments, along with Canal+, Astor, Singtel Innov8, Upfront Ventures, Greycroft Partners, and Downey Ventures. The second tranche in its Series C brings the amount raised in that round to $62M.

Culver City 170

Culver City Downey Hollywood Venture Capital 170

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

'Irvine-based Western Digital is making a big acquisition this morning, saying that it is paying approximately $685M in cash to acquire flash storage maker Virident. Western Digital said that server side flash storage maker Virident will be acquired by its subsidiary, HGST. Virident was a developer of server side, PCIe flash solid state disk drives, and was venture backed by Artiman Ventures, Cisco Corp., Globespan Capital Partners, Intel Capital, Mitsui & Co, Seagate, Sequoia Capital, Spans

.Net 166

.Net Acquisition Capital Marketing 166

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

'It looks things are definitely growing at financial software firm Blackline Systems , as the firm clarified that it actually did just over $25M in revenues in 2012, and is on track to have $40M plus in revenues for 2013. A spokesperson for the firm--which just took a big majority investment from private equity firm Silver Lake Sumeru, worth over $200M--clarified the company''s revenues today in an update to our earlier story.

Silver Lake 164

Silver Lake Equity Acquisition Software 164

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

'Los Angeles-basd SourceAudio , which provides music licensing search and distribution tools and services, said Monday that it has raised $1.2M in a seed funding round. The funding was led by Emerson Investment Group. According to SOurce Audio, it has develops a business-to-business, professional music licensing catalog which helps music publishers, ad agency, radio stations, entertainment marketing, and others connect.

Seed Funding 164

Seed Funding Entertainment Los Angeles Tool 164

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

'Los Angeles-based startup The Sugar Lab , which was developing technology to print edible, 3D designs with sugar, has been acquired by 3D Systems. Financial terms of the acquisition wer enot disclosed. The Sugar Lab has been using 3D Systems'' products to print edible, food-safe 3D designs. According to 3D Systems, it will integrate The Sugar Lab''s 3D printing tecnhique into its platforms.

Silver Lake 159

Silver Lake Acquisition Design Los Angeles 159

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

'San Diego-based renewable energy developer EDF Renewable Energy has signed a deal with General Electric , covering the supply of up to 200 megawatts of wind turbine generators from GE. Financial details of the relationship between the two was not announced. According to the two, GE will supply its turbines for a number of U.S. wind projects beginning construction this year.

San Diego 153

San Diego Develop Development 153

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

'Los Angeles-based CHeckAlt , the mobile check deposit startup let by Shai Stern, has scored a win at a Colorado credit union. According to Pikes Peak Credit Union, which serves Colorado Springs, it has tapped into CheckAlt, iParse, and CU Wireless for mobile deposit capture. CheckAlt''s services lets credit union members deposit checks via their mobile devices, via the credit union''s existing mobile application.

Mobile 153

Mobile Los Angeles Software Entrepreneur 153

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

'Mike Macadaan , the designer behind MySpace''s redesign in 2009 , has a new project: a Kickstarter effort to fund the design of a line of electronics accessories to organize your pile of electronic charging and accessory cords. Macadaan--who also is well known for his work at Science, AOL, plus organizing the popular Twiistup technology conference in Los Angeles a few years ago, is in the midst of raising $15,000 through Kickstarter for the project.

Design 149

Design Twiistup Incubator Conference 149

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

'Irvine-based Western Digital said Thursday that it has completed its acquisition of fellow, Orange County technology company sTec. WD, which had announced it acquisition of sTec back in June, said that enterprise solid state disk drive developer sTec will become part of its subsidiary, HGST. WD said the move helps accelerate its participation in the growing area of enterprise SSDs.

Orange County 147

Orange County Acquisition Help Technology 147

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

'Wireless network equipment maker Xirrus reported this week that it has deployed its equipment in Idaho, at Brigham Young University-Idaho, as part of an effort to provide wireless service to 8,000 students in apartment complexes around the university. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. Xirrus said the deployment comes thanks to wireless Internet service provider Optix Media, which has been providing Wi-Fi access across Idaho.

Report 147

Report Media Networking Services 147

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

'Los Angeles-based AEG Digital Media , a provider of online broadcast services, said late last night that it has rolled out a new product which uses Amazon Web Services to provide cloud-based, video transport and ingest. AEG Digital Media said the new product is aimed at live video broadcasts being sent via satellite or private fiber networks, and uses AWS for hosting, encoding, transcoding, and content delivery services.

Media 147

Media Hollywood Content Web 147

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 13, 2013

'Santa Ana-based information technology distributor Ingram Micro has acquired SoftCom , a Canadian provider of domain name management web hosting, and cloud infrastructure services. Ingram Micro did not announced financial details of the deal. SoftCom, which is based in Toronto, was founded in 1997 and owns such brands as myhosting.com and amil2web.com.

Company 147

Company Companies Web Acquisition 147

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

'Los Angeles-based BlackLine Systems , the fast growing developer of financial software for enterprises, looks to be generating between $10M to $30M, based on a recent ranking of the company by an indutsry magazine. BlackLine said it took the No. 4 spot for fastest growing companies in a ranking from Software Magazine, under the category of companies in the $10M to $30M revenue range.

Silver Lake 147

Silver Lake Equity Software Acquisition 147

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

'Spokeo , the people search site co-founded by Mike Daly, Harrison Tang, Ray Chen, and Eric Liang, has revamped its mobile web product, saying today that it has launched a brand new interface which lets users access the site with less typing and tapping. The Pasadena-based company said the update is part of an overall effort to refresh the look and feel of its search product, which lets people find people by name, email, and phone.

Pasadena 147

Pasadena Mobile Sites Email 147

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

'Steve Fambro , the former founder of electric car startup Aptera Motors , has a new mission: use cutting edge technology to grow organic produce, more efficiently, using "farm pods". According to a report this week from GigaOm, Fabro''s latest venture, Famgro Farms, has created stackable "farm units" that use LEDs to optimize the amount of light in hydroponic farms, which can be grown in urban areas.

Organization 147

Organization Report Startup Technology 147

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

'San Diego-based OneRoof Energy , the provider of solar financing for residential solar projects, has rolled out a new mobile app for solar monitoring. The company said its new mORE Power app, which runs on iOS, lets its customer remotely monitor their solar system''s production in real time. The new app is free. OneRoof Energy said it plans to release an Android version on Google Play later in the year.

Mobile 147

Mobile San Diego Google Marketing 147

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

'San Diego-based Covario , the search agency and search marketing technology provider, is bolstering its advisors today, saying it has added Bloomberg TV host and former Kodak CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett to its advisory board. Hayzlett was formerly Chief Marketing Officer at Kodak, and is a contributing editor and guest host on Bloomberg Television, in addition to being a business author.

San Diego 147

San Diego Advertising Marketing Software 147

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

'Are you a fan of E! reality television show "Ice Loves Coco"? If so, the latest addition by Hollywood-based Quarterly is for you. The startup, which delivers quarterly gift packages to subscribers, curated by bloggers, celebrities, and other influencers, said it has added Coco , the star of the E! series, as its latest contributor. Coco is the wife of Ice-T.

Services 147

Services Hollywood Funding Startup 147

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

'An effort to raise an investment fund from Hollywood, to specifically invest in technology companies, looks to have pulled back its effort to court celebrities and actors, according to a report this week. DominateFund , a new venture capital fund created by Mashable blogger Ben Parr, apparently has de-emphasized its outreach to celebrities and Hollywood , apparently because of lack of interest from celebrities in actually investing in the fund, according to Fortune.

Hollywood 147

Hollywood Report Funding Invest 147

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

'Irvine-base security technology provider CrowdStrike announced this morning that it has raised $30M in a Series B funding round, which was led by Accel Partners and also included Warburg PIncus. The security company--founded by serial entrepreneur George Kurtz--said it will use the funding to fund intelligence and go-to-market for its product. Sameer Gandhi of Accel Partners joinst he company''s board with the funding.

Technology 147

Technology Venture Capital Entrepreneur Funding 147

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

'Irvine-based Quality Systems , which develops electronic health records and other related software, has acquired fellow Orange County healthcare information technology company Mirth Corporation. According to Quality Systems, it will use the acquisition to enhance its current offerings. Mirth was based in Costa Mesa, and provided software to help connect a wide range of electronic health records (EHR) systems.

Orange County 147

Orange County SaaS Acquisition Software 147