Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 13, 2014
'Let me start with the news that I’m excited to share with you. After years of trying to persuade Kara Nortman to become a partner at Upfront Ventures I can officially announce now that she’s joined us effective immediately. I have known Kara for 7 years and knew almost immediately after meeting her that I wanted to work with her one day in some capacity.
Berkonomics
NOVEMBER 13, 2014
'No matter what your size, if you intend to grow your business into more than just a lifestyle workplace, you should create a board of directors. If you take money from knowledgeable investors, you will be required to create a board as a part of the investment process. Boards perform two important types of task. They protect the company by overseeing the expenditure of company money for expansion, acquisitions, purchases of large assets, hiring of senior management and more.
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InfoChachkie
NOVEMBER 10, 2014
'A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. "People have always tended to segregate themselves by age, teenagers hanging around with teenagers, old people with old people.". Tom Wolfe, The Pump House Gang. The secret to feeling young is to avoid age segregation and hang out with people both younger and older than yourself. To this end, I have been partaking in weekly bike rides with three gentlemen, all of whom are a generation older than me.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 10, 2014
'Anaheim-based videogame developer Blizzard announced plans for its next big videogame late Friday, saying its new title, Overwatch , will be a first person shooter revolving around a team of heroes set in an technologically advanced, stylized future earth. Blizzard said it intends to begin beta testing of the game in 2015. Blizzard apparently had a playable version of the game running on a network of 600 PCs at its BlizzCon conference this weekend.
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Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 9, 2014
'We all know that funding markets have changed for startups. The trends are well understood: more angels, more seed funds, more crowdsourcing and so forth. We all can intuit the benefits to founders of these trends so there’s little reason to elaborate. What is less understood are the consequences of these changes. I have blogged about some of the downside consequences of the changes and the private information I have says the consequences are much worse than is reported in the press since
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 9, 2014
'Even entrepreneurs who have built many startups, or sold their last one for millions of dollars, know they make occasional people leadership mistakes. They know leadership is all about managing their own complicated, illogical, and fallible human foibles, as well as the people they depend on. These can trip up even the best, often at the cost of more than a good night’s sleep.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 12, 2014
'What is the secret to a successful crowdfunding effort--and how should you conduct a crowdfunding campaign? We spoke with Chance Barnett , the CEO and founder of Los Angeles-based Crowdfunder (www.crowdfunder.com), to learn more about how to make an equity crowdfunding successful, the importance of celebrity in crowdfunding deals, and more. Explain to us what Crowdfunder does?
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 13, 2014
'San Diego-based Qualcomm has made an investment into a company developing systems-on-a-chips and processors specifically for the wearables market, Ineda Systems. Ineda said that Qualcomm participated in a Series B funding, worth $19M, which was led by Cisco Investments, and also included Samsung Catalyst Fund and Imagination Technologies. Qualcomm apparently had also invested in the company''s Series A funding.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 11, 2014
'Los Angeles-based CurbStand , which develops mobile apps to help user find and pay for valet parking, said today that it has launched a brand new, consumer app. The startup--led by Serge Gojkovich--said the new app includes features for requesting their car, and also connects to a new app it launched for valet operators. New features on the app include ability to find the nearest valet parking location, request a car, ability to pay for a car and tips, and more.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 10, 2014
'Los Angeles-based dog sitting marketplace DogVacay has raised $25M more in a Series B1 funding, the company disclosed this morning, as the competition heats up for the "top dog" in the market. The new round was led by Omers Ventures, and also included GSV Capital, Science Inc., Foundation Capital, Benchmark Capital, First Round Capital, DAG Ventures and Sherpa Ventures.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 10, 2014
'Elon Musk , the technology mogul behind SpaceX and Tesla Motors , is gearing up to develop a new startup, to launch its own constellation of satellites to deliver Internet access. According to the WSJ, the Musk is working with the founder of WorldVu Satellites Ltd. and former Google executive Greg Wyler to help launch around 700 satellites into space to provide Internet access globally, with those satellites being launched into space by Hawthorne-based SpaceX.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 12, 2014
'Culver City-based Beats Electronics has rolled out new, wireless on-ear headphones, the first product to roll out since the company''s acquisition by Apple in July. According to Beats, its new Solo2 Wireless headphones take the same audio quality as its existing Solo2 headphones, but adds Blueooth connectivity. Beats said the new headphones have a battery life of up to 12 hours, and can be used up to 30 feet from your audio device.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 10, 2014
'Santa Barbara-based optical switch developer CALIENT Technoloogies reported a win today, with remote broadcast production company CP Communications. Calient said it has been selected to supply equipment to connect to a new, fiber-optic network supporting 4K ultra high definition television. Calient''s products are being used by CP Communications for a new set of live sports and event broadcast production trucks, which are used at major sporting events for 4K television.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 14, 2014
'Santa Ana-based wireless control technology developer Universal Electronics said this morning that it has settled a patent infringement lawsuit with Peel Technologies. Financial details of the settlement were not disclosed. According to Universal Electronics, Peel has agreed to modify and update its products to avoid its allegations of infringement.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 12, 2014
'Looking for a deal this year on holiday gifts? Los Angeles-based Savings.com said Tuesday that it has pinpointed the best days to buy products, based on data from the last four years gathered on its site from 25,000 retailers, and for monitoring more than 1.5 million deals during the 2009 to 2013 period. According to Savings.com, the best day to purchase electronics are November 1st, 26th and 28th; the best days for toys are November 26, December 8 and 19th; Apparel, December 1, 11, and 18; and
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 13, 2014
'Los Angeles-based Scopely , which is led by Walter Driver, has raised a big, $35M funding round, the company said this morning. The funding was led by Evolution Media Partners, the joint venture created by TPG Growth, Participant Media, and Evolution Media Capital and Highland Capital Partners, and also included Knoll Ventures, Greycroft, The Chernin Group, Sands Capital Ventures and Double M Capital.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 12, 2014
'Los Angeles-based matchmaking service Three Day Rule has expanded its services to the city of Boston, as part of a national expansion for the company. According to Three Day Rule, it now offers its services in Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago. The company--which was recently acquired by Match.com--said the expansion to Boston provides single Bostonians with a "white-glove" approach to dating.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 12, 2014
'Irvine-based Adaptive Medias , which offers programmatic advertising, content syndication, and monetization products for the mobile, video, and online display markets, has teamed up in a joint venture aimed at the pet industry. Adaptive Medias said it is in a letter of intent to complete a joint venture with Vipio , which will receive exclusive rights to the company''s software, for deployment to the pet industry.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 12, 2014
'Santa Barbara-based LogicMonitor , which develops software for IT infrastructure monitoring, said yesterday that it has released a new, free tool to help debug and monitor Java software. The company said the free, JMX Command Line Tools collect real time performance metrics on Java applications, so that software engineer and DevOps teams can debug their Java applications.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 11, 2014
'Fountain Valley-based D-Link said today that it will give away 50 of its Wi-Fi enabled cameras to military families, as part of a promotion related to Veteran''s Day today. According to D-Link, it will give away its Day & Night Wi-Fi Cameras and HD Wi-Fi Baby Cameras via a sweepstakes, which encourages families to submit their story on how they''d use the company''s cameras.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 11, 2014
'Los Angeles-based Machinima said Monday that it has rolled out a new brand identity and tagline, as part of an effort to appeal to the "passion and aspiration" of its audience. According to Machinima, the effort includes and all-new brand identity, including a new tagline, logo, and network ID; a new program aimed at creators joining it network; new technology to help its talent manage their social video businesses; and a new web site.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 11, 2014
'Hawthorne-based SpaceX , the commercial rocket company run by Elon Musk , is indeed working on developing a constellation of micro-satellites to deliver Internet access across the world. According to Elon Musk, in a tweet, SpaceX is still in the "early stages" of developing advanced micro-satellites operating in large formations. Musk said there will be an announcement about the effort in 2 to 3 months.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 14, 2014
'Samsung Electronics is kicking off an effort to make short form, mobile video the center of a new revenue model, according to report, in a new effort headed by John Pleasants. Pleasants--who has served at Walt Disney managing its mobile and gaming services, and also had been CEO of Ticketmaster--apparently joined Samsung in June as Executive Vice President of Media Solutions.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 14, 2014
'La Jolla-based DermTech , a developer of diagnostic, gene-based testing for skin diseases, has withdrawn its IPO, saying in a filing with the SEC that it has determined not to proceed with an offering at this time. No other reason for the withdrawal was given by the company, which had filed for an IPO in May, DermTech had initially only targeted a fundraising of $25.0M on the NASDAQ as DMTK.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 13, 2014
'Customer loyalty and marketing automation software developer FiveStars said this week that it is "aggressively" expanding in the Los Angeles market, after recently receiving a $26M funding round from Menlo Ventures, Lightspeed, DCM, Rogers and Y-Combinator. According to the company, it is aggressively hiring employees in Los Angeles, as it grows out its sales force.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 13, 2014
'Los Angeles-based comedy website Funny or Die --started by Will Ferrell--is looking for a buyer, according to reports this week from Bloomberg. Funny or Die has hired financial advisor Moelis & Co. to help sell the company, according to the report, saying that the website is seeking $100 million to $300 million in the sale of the company. The move comes as there has been an increasing number of exits and deals in the content space, such as the acquisition last week of LA Youtube network Sty
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 12, 2014
'San Diego-based Pathway Genomics has scored an investment from Google , the two said Wednesday, as part of an investment out of IBM''s Watson Group. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. According to the companies, the investment brings the total invested in Pathway Genomics to more than $80M in the last six years. Pathway Genomics provides commercial genetic testing and healthcare services.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 12, 2014
'Irvine-based Kofax , the developer of business document management software, reported that it has won a $700,000 contract in the Asia Pacific region. The company said a general insurance and asset management provider has awarded it more than $700,000 for its software, to help with insurance claims processing. Name of the customer wass snot announced.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 12, 2014
'Los Angeles-based FreedomPop is in talks to be acquired by Sprint, according to reports this morning, in a deal which values FreedomPop between $250M to $450M. According to the report--from USA Today--Sprint is considering the acquisition to boost its revenue growth and lower cost of acquisition of customers. The report cited "people familiar with the talks" for the report.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 11, 2014
'Santa Monica-based Demand Media said Monday afternoon that it has lost its CFO, Mel Tang, who the company said will depart at the end of the year. Reason for the departure was not given. The announcement was made as Demand Media reported its third quarter 2014 results. Demand Media reported $41.3 in revenues for the third quarter, down from $50.7M in revenues in the third quarter of 2013, or a decline of 19 percent.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 11, 2014
'San Diego-based RF Industries , which designs and manufactures interconnect and cable assemblies for the wireless, medical, and industrial market, said today that it has acquired Comnet Telecom Supply. Financial terms of the cash and stock deal were not disclosed. Comnet is a distributor of telecommunications and data products, including fiber optic cables, patch cord assemblies, data center consoles, and other products.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 11, 2014
'NBCUniversal and Comcast is planning a technology hackathon this weekend in Universal City, in hopes of tapping local technology innovators to apply their technology know-how to the media business. According to the two, their Comcast NBCUniversal Hackathon is organized around the theme "New Forms of Storytelling Driven by Technology", and will award $25,000 in cash and prizes to the winning team.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 10, 2014
'Camarillo-based networking communications chip provider Viitesse announced today that it plans to ramp its Ethernet business, by having its field application engineers certified through an industry program. Vitesse said it intends to have its team of engineerins certified as MEF Carrier Ethernet Certified Professionals (MEF-CECPs) by the end of the year, to help advance its "Ethernet Everywhere" strategy.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 10, 2014
'Los Angeles-based 3D movie projection technology developer RealD is reporting this morning that it has been issued a patent in Europe, for the company''s XL Cinema System. The company said European Patent No. 2067066, Polarization conversion systems for stereoscopic projection" covers the company''s system for creating a brighter image for 3D content in cinemas.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 10, 2014
'Los Angeles-based Fullscreen said this morning that it has acquired Rooster Teeth , an online comedy and gaming community and brand, the companies said this morning. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Rooster Teeth provides content around live-action shorts, serial comedies, animation, podcasts and gameplay videos. Fullscreen said the buy will help it accelerate its expansion, saying the buy will enhance its merchandise and live events initiatives.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 13, 2014
'El Segundo-based Fuhu , the manufacturer of the popular children''s Nabi tablet PC, ranked number 2 nationally in the annual Deloitte Fast 500 list, one of fifty four companies--or over 10 percent--from Southern California. The list ranks companies by five year revenue growth. According to the list, Fuhu had a growth rate of 67627% over five years.
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