socalTECH

MAY 21, 2014

'Are you a content creator for the web? It turns out, nowadays, creating the content is only a small part of your job description The most successful YouTubers, studios, brands and agencies today are intensely focused on using social media to engage with fans, get that content out there, and grow their audience. Los Angeles-based Epoxy (www.epoxy.tv) launched yesterday to help content creators do just that.

Downey 215

Downey Content Help Startup 215

Berkonomics

MAY 22, 2014

'By Bill Payne. Bill Payne has been actively involved in angel investing since 1980, funding over 50 companies and mentoring over 100 more. He is the recipient of the coveted “Hans Severiens Award form the Angel Capital Association, its highest honor. . The sale of equity in private companies is regulated by the Securities Act of 1933, which requires that the company either register with the SEC or meet one of several exemptions (Regulation D).

Writing 199

Writing Entrepreneur Invest Equity 199

InfoChachkie

MAY 19, 2014

'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Quick - name a phone company. AT&T? Verizon? Maybe you said Apple or even Google, but I bet Facebook didn''t come to mind. Yet, that’s exactly who the Atlantic called out in an article last week (along with Apple), and they’re right. According to the author, 60% of Facebook’s revenue comes from mobile ads, double that of the prior year.

Company 200

Company Companies Mobile Advertising 200

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2014

'Every culture and community puts pressure on its members to follow the norms. Even young people who start out wanting to be different are called “freaks,” and most are slowly bent back into the norm by the time they “grow up.” Maybe that’s why so many entrepreneurs struggle with building a disruptive new business, where breaks from the norm are the key to success.

Entrepreneur 109

Entrepreneur Framework Startup Ideas 109

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

socalTECH

MAY 20, 2014

'Venice, California-basd Epoxy --which was built by former executive from Team Downey--has launched a brand new set of tools aimed at helping online video creators use social media, and also disclosed a funding round. The startup, which is funded by Upfront Ventures, Greycroft Partners, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Downey Ventures, Advancit Capital and angels, said that it is aiming its tools at everyone from individual online video creators to studios, brands, and agencies.

Downey 207

Downey Tool Bertelsmann Help 207

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 22, 2014

'You have probably already absorbed many obvious caveats about setting up your own startup; don’t blow money you don’t have on fancy equipment or splash out on expensive rental space. But what about expenses you’re tempted to cut, but shouldn’t? While not investing in certain areas may seem like a good idea in the short-term, not spending enough on key elements could shortchange your business, leading not only to headaches but requiring expensive fixes down the road.

Startup 97

Startup Outsource Development Software Review Sales 97

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2014

'As a mentor to startups and new entrepreneurs, I continue to hear the refrain that business plans are no longer required for a new startup, since investors never read them anyway. People cite sources like this BusinessWeek story last year “ Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Write Business Plans ,” or even my own article a while back, “ 10 Reasons Not To Write A Business Plan First.

Entrepreneur 108

Entrepreneur Startup Writing Slides 108

socalTECH

MAY 19, 2014

'Los Angeles-based Whisper , which develops mobile apps for anonymously sharing confessions, has raised another $36M in funding. The funding came from Tencent, Shasta Ventures, Thrive Capital, Lightspeed Ventures, and Sequoia Capital. The funding brings the company''s total raised to around $60M. Whisper''s site pairs confessional-style statements from people paired with photos, which can be browsed by other users but are not attributed--or traceable--to any person.

Mobile 202

Mobile Los Angeles Capital Sites 202

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 20, 2014

'TechZulu recently sat down with east coast transplant Olenka Polak to talk about startup life in Los Angeles. myLINGO is the first product of her company Oladas, Inc., her joint effort with her co-founder and brother, Adam Polak. Just 20 years old and a recent Harvard University dropout, Olenka provided insight into her transition to Los Angeles, life as an entrepreneur, and how she’s passionate about helping non-English speakers see American movies in their own native language.

Startup 91

Startup Entertainment CTO Coach Screening 91

socalTECH

MAY 20, 2014

'Los Angeles-based matchamking and dating site Three Day Rule , which is led by Talia Goldstein, said today thta it has entered into a strategic partnership with Match.com. According to Three Day Rule, Match will use Three Day Rule to provide matchmaking services, and will support an expansion of Three Day Rule''s team and markets covered. Financial details of the strategic partnership were not announced.

Los Angeles 200

Los Angeles Sites Services Marketing 200

socalTECH

MAY 19, 2014

'Action sports camera maker GoPro , which has a few Southern California connections, has filed for an IPO, saying Monday in a regulatory filing that it is looking to raise $100M on the NASDAQ Global Select Market as GPRO. The firm''s founder, Nicholas Woodman, is a graduate of UC San Diego, and came up with the idea for the company while surfing off of San Diego; the company''s investors also include Steamboat Ventures--the venture arm of Walt Disney--which looks to own something around 3 percen

Southern California 196

Southern California Steamboat Ventures SoCal San Diego 196

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2014

'Los Angeles-based startup Invisible Text is hoping the attractiveness of disappearing messages--made popular by Snapchat--might rub off on its new software, saying Wednesday that it is launching a new set of apps for the iPhone to let users send disappearing email and to make secure phone calls that do not leave a footprint. The startup--led by Dez White--said it already offers up secure texting apps.

Email 180

Email Snapchat IP Los Angeles 180

socalTECH

MAY 22, 2014

'Flywheel , one of a number of mobile app developers offering up smartphone-driven, transportation-on-demand in Southern California, said this week that it has now expanded to Orange County. The company--which launched its Uber-style, mobile app in Los Angeles in August of last year--said it now offers up service in Irvine, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa, among others.

Orange County 174

Orange County Southern California Mobile Demand 174

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2014

'Los Angeles-based Boingo has signed on another sporting venue for its services, saying Wednesday that it has signed up the Atlanta Hawks Philips Arena as a new partner. Boingo said that it will provide wireless services -- including both cellular and Wi-Fi networks--within the areana for fans, ahead of the next NBA season. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed.

Advertising 174

Advertising Los Angeles Design Networking 174

socalTECH

MAY 20, 2014

'Los Angeles-based OpenX launched a new software development kit for the mobile video advertising market today, aimed at helping iOS and Android developers to add video ads to their apps. OpenX said the SDK offers up "plug-and-play" video advertising to help mobile app publishers and developers monetize their inventory. The new kit supports pre-, mid-, and post-roll video, click-to-play video ads, interstitials, and more.

OpenX 174

OpenX Mobile Advertising Software Development 174

socalTECH

MAY 22, 2014

'Irvine-based Zadara Storage , the developer of enterprise, cloud-based storage products led by storage veteran Nelson Nahum, reports a win this morning with distance education and learning company Echo360. Zadara Storage said that Echo360 is rolling out a new, cloud-based infrastructure for its solution, based on Zadara''s cloud storage as a services running over Amazon Web Services.

Company 164

Company Companies Education Web 164

socalTECH

MAY 19, 2014

'Mobile children''s story app developer FarFaria and online parenting and education site Education.com are targeting the Southern California market, with an offer to provide 10,000 local teachers with a year of access to FarFaria''s storytime application. According to the companies, they will give away unlimited access to its apps to teachers if they register on the company''s site.

Southern California 164

Southern California Education Mobile Sites 164

socalTECH

MAY 20, 2014

'In a significant vote of confidence for Santa Monica-based Tradesy , the peer-to-peer marketplace headed by Tracy DiNunzio, has raised a $13M funding round from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sir Richard Branson, Rincon Venture Partners, Bee Partners, Northgate Capital, and others. The company announced the investment on Monday. According to the company, the Series B funding will go towards accelerating its growth and scaling its team.

Santa Monica 159

Santa Monica Venture Capital Design Invest 159

socalTECH

MAY 23, 2014

'Malauzai Software , a developer mobile banking apps for community financial institutions which has a number of its top executives located in Los Angeles, said this week that it has raised $6.5M in a Series C funding ronud. The funding came from Wellington Capital Management. Malauzai is based in Austin, Texas, but has links to Los Angeles via its executive team, many of whom had worked at Calabasas-based Digital Insight before it was acquired by Intuit.

Software 157

Software Calabasas Venture Capital Mobile 157

socalTECH

MAY 22, 2014

'Santa Monica-based videogame publisher Activision Blizzard announced late Wednesday that Vivendi S.A. is planning to sell 41,499,689 shares of Activision Blizzard common stock, in a public offering. Those shares represent half of Vivendi''s stake in Activision Blizzard, and is worth around $866M. According to Activision Blizzard, the offering is being run by Barclays and Credit Suisse.

Activision 157

Activision Santa Monica Sales Acquisition 157

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2014

'Los Angeles-based Ringo said this morning that it has launched a new, mobile app for iOS, Android, and Windows, specifically for international calling. According to Ringo, the company''s calling service does not require the Internet, Wi-Fi, or data, and instead routes the call using a phone call; the company says is rates are "significantly lower" than traditional carriers, starting at $0.003 per minute.

Mobile 157

Mobile Los Angeles Services Angel 157

socalTECH

MAY 23, 2014

'Los Angeles-based free wireless phone and broadband service provider FreedomPop said Thursday that it has added support for LTE, and now supports the Samsung Galaxy S4, S3, and Samsung Victory. FreedomPop said its new, LTE phones will offer up the same, free service it had been offering via WiMax, with 500MB of free data, 200 voice calls, and 500 text free each month.

S3 153

S3 Los Angeles Services Angel 153

socalTECH

MAY 22, 2014

'San Diego-based Voxox , which supplies cloud-based communications and phone services, reports this morning that it has named Shravan Kumar as its new Vice President of System Engineering. Kumar joins the company from Mavenir Systems, and also has served at Sonus, Motorola, and Telesoft. THe firm said Kumar will lead optimization of systems design and technical solution requirements for the company.

San Diego 153

San Diego Design Report Services 153

socalTECH

MAY 20, 2014

'Los Angeles-based Survios , a developer of virtual reality technology, announced Monday that it has raised $4M in a Series A venture funding round. The round was led by Shasta Ventures, and also included Felicis Ventures and angel investor Gen Isayama (World Innovation Lab). Survios is developing an immersive, 360 degree, virtual reality system. The startup was spawned out of Project Holodeck, a demonstration effort at an Orange County virtual reality conference.

Orange County 153

Orange County Venture Capital Conference Los Angeles 153

socalTECH

MAY 19, 2014

'Incentive Corp , a developer of private, intranet services aimed at small and medium sized business users, said this morning that it has raised $1.8M in a funding round, and set up shop in Los Angeles. The startup--which has headquarters in Malmo, Sweden--said the funding will go towards launching in the United States. The funding came from un-named angel investors.

SaaS 153

SaaS Venture Capital Blogging Los Angeles 153

socalTECH

MAY 20, 2014

'Ever wish you knew which of the thousands of credit cards out there make sense for you? Pasadena-based Wallaby Financial , the mobile- and web-based credit card app developer headed by Matthew Goldman, has tied with online credit card marketplace CreditCards.com to launch a new tool to help consumers sort through the myriad of credit card and offers out there to find the best for their spending habits.

Tool 150

Tool Pasadena Web Mobile 150

socalTECH

MAY 19, 2014

'Los Angeles-based online video guide service OVGuide.com , which is backed by Baroda Ventures, said today that it has launched a new application for Google Glass. According to OVGuide.com, its new app for Google Glass allows users to watch streaming video on Google''s platform. The company said the app allows users to watch movie trailers, TV clips, college sports videos, celebrity news, and other content.

Google 149

Google Guide Content News 149

socalTECH

MAY 22, 2014

'Woodland Hills-based NetZero Wireless , the wireless broadband, which is part of United Online, said this week that it is rolling out a retail effort. NetZero Wireless said it has teamed up with Volante Mobile, a master agent for mobile products and services where NetZero''s mobile and home wireless broadband products will be made available in 1,500 wireless retail locations in Texas, California, and Florida.

Woodland Hills 147

Woodland Hills Commerce Mobile Services 147

socalTECH

MAY 22, 2014

'Los Angeles-based True(X) Media --which was most recently known as SocialVibe--disclosed this week that it has raised $6M in a new funding round. The online advertising technology provider said the funding came from prior backers Jafco Ventures, Pinnacle Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners and Redpoint Ventures. The name change for SocialVibe is at least the fourth rebranding/renaming/refocusing of the company since inception, having swapped its name from Archetype Media to SocialVibe, then swit

Media 147

Media Redpoint Advertising Venture Capital 147

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2014

'San Diego-based Novatel Wireless said late Tuesday that it has lost its CFO, Kenneth Leddon. According to Novatel Wireless, Leddon is leaving the firm to become CFO of another, un-named company. The maker of wireless modules said it is engaging an executive search firm to evaluate candidates for a new Chief Financial Officer. Novatel Wireless is a maker of wireless modems and hotspots, among them the company''s MiFi mobile hotspot product.

San Diego 147

San Diego Mobile Product Company 147

socalTECH

MAY 19, 2014

'San Diego-based Qualcomm Ventures , the venture capital arm of Qualcomm, has scored an exit this morning, at bring-your-own-device (BYOD) software developer Divide. Divide said this morning that it has been acquired by Google, and will go to work on Google''s Android operating system. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. Qualcomm Ventures was an early investor in Divide, back when it was known as Enterproid.

Software 147

Software Google San Diego Mobile 147

socalTECH

MAY 19, 2014

'San Diego-based SweetLabs , the app install platform developer headed by Darrius Thompson, said last week that it has launched a new app install platform aimed at Android devices. SweetLabs said its new App Install Platform is targeted at Android and Windows device manufacturers, to replace their old app, preload model. The new offering includes an app ad server, app ad network, analytics tools, and more.

San Diego 147

San Diego Platform Google Mobile 147

socalTECH

MAY 19, 2014

'Camarillo-based Vitesse Semiconductor , which develops high speed, integrated circuits for the networking market, reported today that it has licensed its Gigabit Ethernet IP cores to Freescale. Vitesse said that Freescale Semiconductor is using its VSC9953-01 Sparx Gigabit Ethernet switch core in two different, communications processors. Financial impact of the licensing win was not disclosed.

IP 147

IP Networking Report Marketing 147

socalTECH

MAY 22, 2014

'ISSC Technologies Corporation , a Taiwanese Bluetooth technology developer which has operations in Torrance, California, has been acquired by semiconductor and microcontroller company Microchip Technology , the two announced today. Microchip said it would pay approximately $328.5M in cash for ISSC, which has customer service and research activities in Torrance, in addition to headquarters in Taiwan and other facilities in Shenzhen, China.

Torrance 138

Torrance Technology Research Acquisition 138

socalTECH

MAY 22, 2014

'Calabasas-based network testing equipent and software developer Ixia reported late Wednesday that it has received yet another warning from the NASDAQ Stock Market, related to its late filing of its quarterly report for the quarter ended March 31, 2014. The warning letter comes as ixia looks to fend off a delisting of the company''s stock. Ixia said it has requested a hearing wih the Nasdaq Listing Qualification Panel on June 12th, to present a plan to regain compliance with the NASDAQ listing r

Calabasas 138

Calabasas Report Networking Software Development 138

socalTECH

MAY 22, 2014

'San Diego-based sports activity registration and software provider ACTIVE Network reported two wins today at YMCA centers. ACTIVE Network said it has signed up the YMCA of the North Shore in Massachusetts and YMCA of the Brandywine Valley in Pennsylvania as customers for the company''s ACTIVE Net cloud platform. That software helps organizations with managing facility booking, memberships, communications, and running community programs.

Activity 138

Activity Networking SaaS San Diego 138