Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 21, 2010

This is part of my ongoing series on Startup Advice. Large companies can be strange sometimes. As startup entrepreneurs we all want to work with them because having their name as reference clients makes it so much easier for marketing, PR, selling to other customers, fund raising and even recruiting. Plus, we’re all allured by the false sense that our contract with BigCo is going to “make us&# because once they start using us it will spread like wildfire and the revenue will flow i

Startup 298

Startup Sales Slides Metrics 298

socalTECH

MARCH 24, 2010

Van Nuys-based Audiolife (www.audiolife.com), a new startup focused on providing e-commerce tools to musicians, recently raised $1M in angel funding. For today's interview, we spoke with Brandon Hance, the firm's founder, about how his startup is helping musicians to sell both digital and physical merchandise on the web. What's the idea behind Audiolife?

Tech Coast Angels 191

Tech Coast Angels Van Nuys Startup Web 191

Berkonomics

MARCH 24, 2010

First customers are critical. Greatly exceed expectations at all costs. There is so much history behind this insight, and so many stories that illustrate this point. Your first customers for any product or service form your reference base, the important group of allies that your marketing and sales people rely upon when attempting to create buzz and make a mass market for a new product.

Customer 149

Customer Custom Resource Sales 149

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 26, 2010

Thursday, April 1, 2010 -- CommNexus Presents: CTIA 2010 Recap The Industry Insider vs. Consumer Perspectives. Think you heard it all by reading the blogs? There is a lot more going on behind the scenes. Get the inside scoop on CTIA 2010 from Tech and Consumer guru Andy Abramson, CEO, Communicano and television personality and tech enthusiast Sam "The Cooking Guy" Zien.

Blogging 100

Blogging Product 100

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

Tech Coast Venture Network

MARCH 23, 2010

Manal Richa A crucial part of crafting and putting together your marketing message resides in the work that you do prior to working on your content. Researching and getting to know your target market projects a light on how your approach should be. Be very clear and detailed on who your customers are or would be. Define their pain/problem and be clear on how your products/services bring THE solution to their problem.

Marketing 100

Marketing Research Study Competition 100

socalTECH

MARCH 24, 2010

In a new report released today by the UCLA Anderson Forecast released a report today saying that the economy is in a "bipolar" condition, where the economy is growing, but where unemployment continues to stay in the double digits. The forecasting effort said it is seeing slow-but-sure growth in the national gross domestic product, but predicts an unemployment rate to remain in double digits until 2012.

UCLA 190

UCLA Report Product 190

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 26, 2010

Thursday, April 1, 2010 -- How Small Businesses Can Compete Against Fortune 100 Companies. OCTANe. oin us to learn how your small business can use human capital to decrease costs, increase revenues, and reduce risk. We'll discuss performance managment, employee development, recruiting top talent, and risk reduction. This program is a critical component of OCTANe Foundation for Innovation's (OFI) "Building Blocks" series - a six month development program to help entrepreneurs hone the skills need

OCTANE 100

OCTANE Company Companies Entrepreneur 100

Tech Coast Venture Network

MARCH 22, 2010

Frumi Barr A WHO is anyone who is willing and able to get you closer to your desired outcomes. If people can be successful doing things they don’t really care about, then they should be wildly successful at something that actually matters to them. And if they are wildly successful, your company will be too, which means big profits and big successes all the way around.

Writing 100

Writing Invest Funding Marketing 100

socalTECH

MARCH 22, 2010

Virgin Galactic , the commercial spaceflight firm of Sir Richard Branson and Burt Rutan, announced today that it has completed the inaugural captive carry flight of the firm's combination spacecraft and mothership. Virgin Galactic said the flight, at the Mojave Air and Spaceport, is the first in a test program that will continue through 2010 and 2011.

190

190

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 26, 2010

Approximately $9,000 was raised for charity by Los Angeles and Orange County tweeps last night at The Roxy Theater as part of a global event known as Twestival , said Paula Gould, a PR rep for the event. The event, which took place in 175 cities, raised a grand total of $311,256 for charity Concern Worldwide, known among tweeps for its Twitter fundraising efforts.

Orange County 74

Orange County Causecast WITI Social Media 74

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 25, 2010

Monday, March 29, 2010 -- San Diego Founder Institute Open Community Session. New and experienced entrepreneurs, future founders and co-founders, and all those passionate about startups are invited to a special Open Community Session of the Founder Institute. See [link] (more).

San Diego 100

San Diego Entrepreneur Startup 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 26, 2010

Every time I see a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. The founder explains that the product is so “buzz-worthy” that usage will spread rapidly through word-of-mouth only, meaning people loving it and recommending it to their friends. First of all, Seth Godin pointed out a couple of years ago that viral marketing does not equal word-of-mouth.

Marketing 56

Marketing SEM Blogging Design 56

socalTECH

MARCH 25, 2010

Scripped , the developer of online screenwriting software headed by Sunil Rajaraman, has merged with Zhura.com , another online provider of screenwriting software, the firms announced to their users today. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, although the firm said the merger is in the "seven-figure range." Zhura.com is based in Boston; Scripped was based in Los Angeles, but is moving to San Francisco to become part of a technology incubator called I/O ventures.

Break.com 190

Break.com Incubator Software Acquisition 190

Daradiction

MARCH 21, 2010

Amazing how video can tell stories in such a powerful way. The medium truly is the message. Click here to view the embedded video. Tags: Cultural Anthropology Culture Ethics and Social Justice Humanities (Music/art/dance/&film).

49

49

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 25, 2010

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 -- VC in the OC and OCTANe Innovation Showcase 2010 Deadline. VC in the OC will focus on the Orange County venture capital ecosystem with opportunities to meet VCs from throughout California and see investment presentations from some of the most promising OC start-ups. Deadline to apply is March 31st. See [link] (more).

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Orange County OCTANE Startup 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2010

A few years ago I was intimately involved with a promising startup that ultimately failed, in my opinion due to a clear case of Founder’s Syndrome. I’ll be short on specifics here, to protect the guilty, but I hope you get the idea. It’s not a disease, but it can kill your startup You can find a more complete discussion of Founder’s Syndrome on Wikipedia , but here are a few of the “symptoms” I observed in the Founder and CEO in this case: Reacts defensively and talks constantly.

Startup 52

Startup Technical Review Ideas Organization 52

socalTECH

MARCH 25, 2010

Santa Ana-based ICanBuy , which develops online tools for helping consumers determine what they can afford on their mortgage, said this week that it has raised a Series A funding round. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. The firm said the funding came from high tech execs Vahid Manian and Massoud Dabir. Manian was most recently SVP Global Manufacturing Operations at Broadcom; Dabir is President/CEO of semiconductor firm DTEC.

Funding 171

Funding High Tech Venture Capital Pricing 171

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 23, 2010

Sprint announced today that they are bringing 4G to seven new WiMAX markets one of which is LA. SXSW in Austin, TX has just ended and almost our entire LA Tech community attended, and I hope most had a chance to experience 4G WiMAX availability. Going from 3G's 600 kbps to 4G's 6 Mbps is absolutely eye opening on what is going to be possible within the Mobile space.

Marketing 40

Marketing Mobile IP Los Angeles 40

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 24, 2010

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 -- MOTM : Digital Revenue. Special guest: Vince Thompson, former head of sales, Facebook. We're super excited about our next MOTM guest Vince Thompson. As former head of sales for Facebook, Vince has an eye for transformational opportunities, an ability to create business models and a success story of leading teams to scale. Vince's company, Middleshift, is a boutique consultancy dedicated to elevating the relationship between digital content producers, marketers and cons

Sales 100

Sales Content Marketing Company 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2010

I’m sure you have all been frustrated at least once at not being able to get the Internet domain name you want for your company. Who owns all of these names, and should you ever buy one for a premium? The simple answer is that if you want to be found and remembered on the Web, a great domain name will be well worth several thousand dollars. Snagging an unclaimed great one is almost impossible these days because domain "squatters" gobbled up a lot of the catchy real estate years ago.

Pricing 49

Pricing Software Review Web .Net 49

socalTECH

MARCH 25, 2010

Los Angeles-based Taltopia , an angel backed, online social networking site focused on Hollywood, said today that it has launched both Apple iPhone and Google Android applications. According to the firm, the application allows users to apply for casting calls on the site, and also view real time feeds of jobs and auditions on the service. In related news, the firm said it now has over 400,000 registered members on the site, and is getting around 30,000 new members per month.

Funding 165

Funding Hollywood Social Network Venture Capital 165

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 22, 2010

Do your part on making the world a better place by attending the Twestvial here in Los Angeles. For this Twestival 175 cities from around the world will come together this Thursday March 25th to raise money for Concern Worldwide. This Charity is an international humanitarian organization that is dedicated to transforming the lives of the World's most marginalized children through access to education.

WITI 40

WITI Causecast Social Media Organization 40

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 24, 2010

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 -- SCVN Professional Monthly Mixer. The Southern California Venture Networks (SCVN.org) invites you to meet, mix and mingle with other like-mined entrepreneurs at the next professional mixer in the Irvine Spectrum. See [link] (more).

Southern California 100

Southern California Networking Entrepreneur 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 24, 2010

You are an aspiring entrepreneur, eager to dump the corporate grind, and work to the beat of your own drummer, but you can’t come up with that killer idea to save the world. What are the alternatives that will give you the independence you crave, and challenge your business acumen? Technically, I believe an entrepreneur is anyone who manages his own profit and loss, and doesn’t meet the government tax definition of an employee.

Startup 48

Startup Course Entrepreneur Patents 48

socalTECH

MARCH 25, 2010

San Diego-based V-Vehicle Company , the stealthy alternative energy auto startup backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and T. Boone Pickens, said Wednesday that the Department of Energy has rejected the firm's bid for $321.1M in federal loans. According to V-Vehicle, the firm was notified yesterday that the funds from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program were not recommended for approval by the Program Office of the U.S.

San Diego 162

San Diego Funding Startup Technology 162

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 21, 2010

DEMO has officially started today and we will be there starting tomorrow. For DEMOfall 2009 we pretty much hit it on the nose for the DEMOgod award winners , let's see if we can nail it again this year. The DEMO conference announced the lineup of 65 companies that will share their products and value propositions to the technology community at DEMO Spring 2010 on March 21-23 in Palm Desert, California.

Cerritos 40

Cerritos Thousand Oaks Santa Barbara Startup 40

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 24, 2010

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 -- CommNexus Presents: Getting Smart About Social Media Learn How to utilize Social Media for Talent Acquisition. Make 2010 THE year to get to know and effectively utilize social media marketing to attract, recruit, and hire employees. Without a specific goal and execution path to success, your social media marketing campaign will not run on all cylinders.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Acquisition Marketing 100

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

File this under both Startup Adivce and Sales & Marketing Advice. I was over at Robert Scoble’s blog Sunday night reading about the “ Death of the Great Startup Launch.&# I’m not 100% sure that I understood his core thesis but I *think* it was that startup events such as Demo force such a zone of secrecy about what you’re working on (with a threat of being kicked out of the event for leaking your story) that they kill the ability for most companies to dazzle people

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307

socalTECH

MARCH 24, 2010

Greg Martin , the partner heading up Redpoint Ventures ' Los Angeles office, has reportedly left the firm, according to a report from the Private Equity Insider. Martin is no longer listed on Redpoint's web site, was not listed in its latest fundraising documents, and declined to comment on the story. Martin had actually disappeared from Redpoint's site in February, when Redpoint announced it had closed its $400M, Redpoint IV early stage venture capital firm.

Redpoint 160

Redpoint Report Venture Capital Equity 160

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 25, 2010

Many entrepreneurs actually refuse to do financial projections beyond the first year, insisting that no one can predict the future. They need to realize that investors ask for projections, not merely as predictions, but more as commitments from the founder and his team. In reality, you need to set these projections as goals for your own use, to convince employees as well as investors that you have a business which is challenging, but achievable.

Startup 60

Startup Statistics Pricing .Net 60

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 22, 2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 -- StartUp LA. tartup LA members are Web 2.0 entrepreneurs, digital media experts, internet evangelists, business angels, VCs and innovators of all kinds. See [link] (more).

Web 2.0 100

Web 2.0 Startup Web Media 100

socalTECH

MARCH 22, 2010

Santa Monica-based Zag , which develops online car buying software, announced Monday that it has hit the 100,000 cars sold mark on its service. The firm said that the brands using its online car buying software--including USAA, AAA, American Express and Overstock--sold over 100,000 new and used vehicles since launching in 2006. Zag, which also says it reached profitability in August 2009, said consumers saved over $350M over MSRP by using its programs.

Zag 160

Zag Santa Monica Software Organization 160

socalTECH

MARCH 22, 2010

Los Angeles-based Invested.in announced today that it is launching today at the DEMO Spring 2010 conference in Palm Desert. The firm, which is self funded, says that it allows individuals, businesses, and nonprofits to raise money for any project, using social media. Invested.in calls itself a "social fundraising platform", and allows users to use Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and other means to promote different projects, handling the collection of funds for those different projects.

Sites 160

Sites Social Media Conference Media 160

socalTECH

MARCH 25, 2010

San Diego-based Cyntellect , a developer of cytometry equipment, has raised $3.0M in a new funding round, according to a regulatory filing from the firm earlier this week. Details on the funding have not been disclosed by the company. Cyntellect's equipment is used for cell analysis and purification. READ MORE>>. Tags: cyntellect cytometry cell processing lifescience biotech venture capital.

San Diego 154

San Diego Venture Capital Capital Funding 154

socalTECH

MARCH 25, 2010

Pasadena-based Materia , which is commercializing olefin metathesis catalyst technology developed by Caltech Nobel Prize winner Robert H. Grubbs, has raised $11.75M in a funding round, according to a regulatory filing by the firm today. Source of the new funding was not disclosed by the company. Materia is headed by Michael Giardello, and has licensing deals with Dow Corning, BASF Technology, and others for various applications of its technology.

CalTech 154

CalTech Pasadena Venture Capital Capital 154

socalTECH

MARCH 24, 2010

Santa Barbara-based Make It Work , the in-home neighborhood computer support firm run by Eric David Greenspan, is expanding its media empire with a new, daily technology video effort. According to Greenspan, the firm has tied with local Santa Barbara community news site Noozhawk, to publish daily videos on consumer technology. The firm said it will publish its "T-3" videos every day on current technology trends.

Santa Barbara 154

Santa Barbara News Technology Sites 154