Both Sides of the Table
JULY 23, 2013
'I have long advised startup companies that if you don’t control your messaging somebody else will and your potential customers will form impressions of you shaped by somebody else or by nobody at all. It’s why it’s important to establish a brand, know what your key messages are and communicate them often and simply. I have published many of these PR Tips before.
socalTECH
JULY 22, 2013
'Encinitas-based ForwardMetrics has just taken $1M in a seed funding round, to help companies better conduct their strategic planning. The startup said that the new funding round brings its total raised to $1.75M. ForwardMetrics, which is headed by Ozzie DiVinere, said its cloud-based software helps organizations create and track their strategic plans, helping to track the progress of employees towards business results--rather than just activity.
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InfoChachkie
JULY 22, 2013
'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. In their new book Startup Life , serial entrepreneur and venture investor Brad Feld, along with his wife Amy Batchelor, describe what has, and has not, worked for them during their 22-year relationship. Brad is in the midst of writing a series of startup-oriented books. Startup Life is the follow-up to Startup Communities , which I reviewed HERE.
Berkonomics
JULY 25, 2013
'We all know that the world of marketing has turned upside down these past years through the power of the Internet. College professors teaching marketing must be having a real challenge keeping up with the new channels of communication, the relative values of advertising buys in this new world, and explaining how to make the most out of these cheaper and more powerful channels.
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.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 21, 2013
'To be an entrepreneur, you have to be navigate lots of unknowns, and the path is fraught with risk. Once you are past a certain mental age, you know too many of the things that can go wrong, so you never start. Sort of like the old saying that if we didn’t have young men to fight our wars, we could achieve world peace in no time. People who are young, or young at heart, don’t know all the negatives, or don’t worry about them.
socalTECH
JULY 23, 2013
'What''s one of the hottest, fastest growing mobile apps out there out of a Southern California startup? No, not Snapchat--it''s Tinder --a mobile app and service which lets users rate people nearby them, and if the feeling is mutual, connect them. The app has been extremely popular for dating, but co-founder and CMO Justin Mateen says it''s more than dating, it''s about meeting all sorts of new people.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Tech Zulu Event
JULY 25, 2013
'Did you know that Los Angeles was ranked as the second best startup city in the U.S. by the Startup Genome’s Startup Ecosystem world report? Did you even know there was such a thing as the Startup Genome’s Startup Ecosystem world report? Well, it was and there is, which goes to show that while Silicon Valley (ranked #1) gets most of the press, LA is no slouch when it comes to tech.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 20, 2013
'After working with dozens of startup founders, I’m still amazed that some seem to be able to do the job easily and effectively, always in control, while others always seem to be struggling, out-of-control, and fighting the latest crisis. I am more and more convinced that it is the right founder behavior that leads to success, rather than some exceptional intelligence or training.
socalTECH
JULY 26, 2013
'Camarillo-based FaceFirst , a startup which is developing facial recognition technology aimed at the business security, public safety, and law enforcement markets, said today that it has added David Donell as its Chief Financial Officer. Donell was previously the CFO at the X PRIZE Foundation, the nonprofit foundation which focuses on running prizes to encourage the development of technology to solve the world''s life science, energy, environment, and exploration challenges.
Frank Addante
JULY 26, 2013
'Exercise helps you think and work better. And that’s why I’ve been trying to do as many “walking meetings” as possible. If there isn’t a presentation or material to look at during a meeting, I try to encourage a “walking meeting.” I purchased a Jawbone UP for “self measurement” – and it tracks everything from my sleep to the number of steps I take during the day.
Tech Zulu Event
JULY 25, 2013
'Water has long been the Achilles’ Heel of technology. A few commonly recognized scenarios: Phone slips out of your hand and accidentally drops in the toilet, “friends” may decide to throw you in the pool at a party or just plain getting caught in a downpour. These are all scenarios that can happen to any of us. In some cases, insurance plans will cover liquid damage, while others won’t.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 25, 2013
'At some point in their life, hopefully everyone strives to be the best in their chosen profession. Most people think that being the best requires more intelligence, more training, and more experience. In reality, in business or even in sports, the evidence is conclusive that it is as much about how you think, as what you do. I saw this illustrated a while back in a sports excellence book called “ Training Camp: What the Best Do Better Than Everyone Else ”, by Jon Gordon.
socalTECH
JULY 22, 2013
'Once upon a time, when the desktop PC was king, there were two kingdoms in the world of customer relationship management: ACT! , created by Pat Sullivan, and Goldmine , created by Jon Ferrara. If you were in sales, you either ran ACT!, or your ran Goldmine, and the two companies competed head to head in managing every salesperson''s contact list. However, somewhere in the intervening years--as the Internet grew--both ACT!
Frank Addante
JULY 26, 2013
'Innovation requires many inputs, not just a “list” of feedback from customers and your sales team. It’s easy to fall into that trap, because customers represent a critical channel for feedback – yet they shouldn’t be the only one. Yes, they understand their pain, but engineers need more information to create true innovation in order to alleviate that pain.
Tech Zulu Event
JULY 24, 2013
'The testing phase of developing our iPhone app, flik , has lead to enormous strides in honing our product. We’d like to think the successful testing was a result of diligence in our communication and persistence with our test users, but in reality we were just lucky to have the perfect test group. How was the group assembled? To loosely quote Vinny Gambini, did we “voir dire” potential test users to a point we were “more than satisfied”?
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 23, 2013
'Founders almost always cite lack of money as the reason for failure, but if you look deeper, I believe the reason is more often about dysfunctional people and leadership. Sometimes it comes right back to the founder, in terms of a malaise often called “Founder’s Syndrome.” A few years ago I was intimately involved with a promising startup that taught me about this issue.
socalTECH
JULY 25, 2013
'Los Angeles-based Oversee.net announced this morning that it has named a new General Manager of its Consumer Finance Group. The company--which owns a portfolio of consumer focused, lead generation and other online marketing websites--said that McFarland will head up its consumer finance websites such as CreditCards.org. McFarland was previously VP, Product Management at AT&T Interactive, and also had served at Green Dot and WeddingChannel.com.
Frank Addante
JULY 26, 2013
'It seems that people are fearful that advertising automation is going to replace human jobs. Not true. If you look at any other major industry or market where automation has come into play, there’s been growth and even more job creation. Good examples include finance and NASDAQ, and real estate and the MLS. This is the same uncertainty that existed when IBM put the first computers on people’s desks a generation ago.
Tech Zulu Event
JULY 26, 2013
'Squabbler, a video engagement platform for web and mobile publishers has launched new features and the next generation of its video engagement platform in a move that will power engagement for sports, entertainment and news publishers a like. Customized content. The firm’s latest launch places management of the platform into the hands of publishers.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 26, 2013
'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.
socalTECH
JULY 25, 2013
'Wish you could earn some extra dollars on the side? No, we''re not talking "stuffing envelopes at home". There are now a large number of legitimate startups who are looking to help you make money in your spare time (or with your spare stuff), opening up a whole new world of ways to finding some spare change. Here are some of the peer to peer marketplaces who are active across Southern California (Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, and beyond) trying to bring their. peer to peer marketplaces
Daradiction
JULY 22, 2013
'In 2008 I met Kris Krug. We share several auspiciously random overlapping networks, and since 2008 our friendship has blossomed into a deep personal friendship and working collaboration. Kris is professional photographer / photo journalist and he has some fantastic clients including TED.com, United Nations, National Geographic, and the company that I'm working for, Esri.
Frank Addante
JULY 26, 2013
'I have fundamental belief that increasing automation throughout our industry benefits everyone. We believe those benefits will be magnified as we extend automation from unsold inventory into direct sold campaigns. The benefits that come from extending automation to direct sold campaigns provide publishers with great revenue opportunities at lower support costs – and who doesn’t like improved margins?
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 24, 2013
'I’ve noticed a great tendency among startup founders to ignore the essentials of business accounting in the early stages of their startup. Just because you are not profitable yet, doesn’t mean you can skip the record keeping. In fact, just the opposite is true. When you anticipate losses for the first year or two, it is more important to properly document all expenses, including tricky ones like business travel, business meals, and your home office.
socalTECH
JULY 26, 2013
'For our Friday afternoon, we thought we''d share this advice article from Ben Belser , who is head of recruiting at Pasadena-based Spokeo , in our Insights and Opinions section. Ben tels us all about recruiting tips for the LA tech scene. I received one of the best tips in recruiting early on in my career. It was a simple line that still rings true today:"wait for great.
Steve Reich
JULY 20, 2013
'Overwrought headline? Hardly. New SEC regs will destroy your ability to raise capital. In a nutshell, new SEC rules will REQUIRE entrepreneurs to register with the SEC BEFORE approaching investors. Worse yet, Angels will no longer be able to “self certify” as accredited investors–we will have to show W2′s or proof of our net worth, and most of us will never be willing to share such personal information.
socalTECH
JULY 22, 2013
'Santa Monica-based mobile app monetization and testing developer Burstly has snagged away an executive from high profile mobile games maker Rovio. According to Burstly, Jarkko Rajamaki has joined the company as its new Vice President of Business Development, a new role at the company. Rajamaki was previously head of advertising for Rovio Entertainment''s Angry Birds franchise, serving as Vice President of Advertising Operations.
socalTECH
JULY 25, 2013
'Los Angeles-based online ticket marketplace ScoreBig.com is bolstering its executive team today, saying it has named two new VPs to help drive growth at the company. According to ScoreBig, it has named David Marcus as Senior Vice President, Partnerships, and Eric Wilson as Vice President, Technology and Product. According to ScoreBig, it saw 600 percent revenue growth in 2012, and the expansion will help grow the company further.
socalTECH
JULY 26, 2013
'San Diego-based enterprise tag management software provider Tealium said this week that it has partnred with Splunk , a developer of IT log monitoring software. According to Tealium, the move helps Splunk Enterprise customers pull visitor interaction data from websites, mobile web, and native mobile applications into Splunk''s log analysis tools. Splunk previously had relied on server log data only for collecting visitor information.
socalTECH
JULY 25, 2013
'Wish you could earn some extra dollars on the side? No, we''re not talking "stuffing envelopes at home". There are now a large number of legitimate startups who are looking to help you make money in your spare time (or with your spare stuff), opening up a whole new world of ways to finding some spare change. Here are some of the peer to peer marketplaces who are active across Southern California (Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, and beyond) trying to bring their. peer to peer marketplaces
socalTECH
JULY 23, 2013
'Santa Monica-based Panjo , which develops online marketplaces for automotive, sports, and hobby enthusiasts, announced it has raised $1.6M in a funding round this morning, led by Spark Capital. The funding also included Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Lerer Ventures and Mesa. Panjo, which was founded by Chad Billmyer, Juan Vasconez, and Tom Gerken, was part of the MuckerLab accelerator.
socalTECH
JULY 23, 2013
'Online publisher Resignation Media , the publisher of the humor site TheChive is leaving Los Angeles, and is moving its operations to Austin, according to a report Tuesday. The publisher, which also runs a number of other, is moving 35 employees to Austin, which it says it was attracted to due to its lower cost of living and better business climate, according to the Austin American Statesman.
socalTECH
JULY 26, 2013
'In a complex deal, Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard said last night that it has reached a deal with Vivendi , where it will acquire approximately 429 million shares of the company, in exchange for $5.83 billion in cash. In addition, an investor group--led by Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and co-chairman Brian Kelly--will purchase an additional $2.34 billion in shares from Vivendi, for $13.60 per share.
socalTECH
JULY 24, 2013
'Two of LA''s growing online and mobile advertising advertising firms, SHIFT , and Gradient X , have tied together in a partnership, the companies said Wednesday. SHIFT, which operates a real-time advertising platform aimed at agencies and brands, and Gradient X, which offers up programmatic advertising tools for mobile, said they have integrated Gradient X''s product within SHIFT''s Open Marketing Cloud.
socalTECH
JULY 24, 2013
'San Diego-based biotech equipment provider Illumina has acquired Advanced Liquid Logic , a provider of liquid handling solutions, the firm said yesterday. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Advanced Liquid Logic (ALL) develops microfluidics technology, which precisely manipulates small droplets within a sealed disposable cartridge to perform complex laboratory protocols.
socalTECH
JULY 23, 2013
'Think that the only metric that matters nowdays is the number of users you have or downloads of your mobile app? Mark Suster , venture capitalist at Upfront Ventures, and a widely followed blogger, disagrees, in our latest Insights and Opinions post--where he argues that you still need to make money as a startup. I work with a lot of startups. I start to notice when bad behavior creeps into the system as a whole.
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