Sat.Aug 29, 2015 - Fri.Sep 04, 2015

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Fighting Back Against Mobile Phones in the Bedroom

Both Sides of the Table

Technology. It has been a hobby of mine since 1981 when I fell in love with programming, applications and online games. My brain is wired for logic and for problem solving and computers have always helped me fill this compulsion. And since I was 13 years old I have been accustomed to the debate about the limitations of technology or rather the downsides of being overly obsessed with gadgets, devices, software or applications.

Mobile 278
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Exit timing and price: WHEN to sell? How long does it take?

Berkonomics

We are pleased to host Basil Peters, perhaps the best known name in the world of early stage company exits. His groundbreaking book, “Early Exits” has become a textbook for angel groups and entrepreneurs throughout the world. His Strategic Exits Corporation provides M&A advisory services, and he is much in demand as a speaker at angel and entrepreneur events worldwide. – Dave.

Pricing 200
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Super League Gaming Plans Minecraft Event In Los Angeles

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based Super League Gaming , the newly funded startup which aims to bring videogames into movie theaters, says it is launching its first Super League National Championship, starting with a premier in Los Angeles on September 16th. The startup--which says it saw over 10,000 players and Minecraft fans over the summer in its pre-launch tour--says it will run a six week league, which will tour 30 cities.

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No Doubt About It: You Need Video Ads for Your Company

Tech.Co

There’s just no getting around it: part of building any strong startup means cultivating a robust online presence that reaches directly to today’s tech savvy market. In that light, video advertisements are actually widely considered to be one of the most valuable digital marketing strategies that you can use to engage with that demographic.

Company 109
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Can You Ask for Office Rent Relief? How to Manage Your Lease During COVID-19

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.

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How To Pick The Best Idea For Your Next Business

Startup Professionals Musings

A common request I hear from aspiring entrepreneurs is for an assessment of their latest idea. I don’t even try to assess things at the idea level, since I can’t read minds. I can assess execution plans, if you have any. Yet I believe that business success is more a function of the person than the idea or the plan, so the best idea is one that is a best fit for you, and only you can assess that.

Ideas 108
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REACH NeXT Announces Keynote Speaker Greg Mertz of Warner Bros. Records

Tech Zulu Event

Having a man on the inside and rooting for new initiatives is a win-win for all parties involved. That brings us to Greg Mertz, Lead Advisor for Technology Initiatives at Warner Bros. Records (WBR). In his role at WBR, he helps to steer the leadership into promising technology investments and partnerships. Greg has led Series A investments in tech-based enterprises.

More Trending

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Meet Our Startup of the Year Competition Semifinalists: Picking Duck

Tech.Co

From apps to hardware, to KickStarter successes and international startups, we’re inching closer to finding out who will take home the title of Startup of the Year at our annual Tech.Co Celebrate Conference in October. Among the participants that applied for the online competitions, only a progressed into the semi-finals. Climbing the ranks for our Western Region, Picking Duck was one of two semi-final winners.

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6 Reasons To Reconsider Your Planned Corporate Escape

Startup Professionals Musings

The grass is always greener on the other side. It seems that everyone I know who works in a corporate environment dreams of escaping to become an entrepreneur, and every entrepreneur wishes he or she had the security of a regular paycheck. As someone who has experience on both sides of this fence, I’m convinced that the move from employee to entrepreneur is far more risky.

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3 Signs Your Financial Projections Are Off

Tech Zulu Event

One question everyone asks is what investors look for when deciding whether or not to fund a startup. Having a high-caliber team with a good track record and a clear value proposition are givens. But the bottom line is that it comes down to the numbers. VCs are looking to make investments that pay off big. That means you need to develop credible financial projections that demonstrate the viability and future potential of your target market and clearly spell out how investing in your business wil

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Shift Technologies Gets $50M More

socalTECH

Shift Technologies , the online marketplace for used cars which has major operations in Los Angeles, has raised $50M in new funding for the startup, the company said today. The funding was led by Goldman Sachs Investment Partners (GSIP), and also included Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and Highland Capital Partners. GSIP's Ian Friedman joins the company's board with the funding.

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Pro Athletes Are the Best Marketing Tools You Can Get

Tech.Co

I can honestly that, without a doubt, my favorite technologies are ones that get people up, out, and interacting with the real world. It could be an augmented reality platform that takes people to new parts of their city, or a superb set of element-proof, Bluetooth speakers built for the outdoors. There are few market verticals where this mindset is more applicable than the world of sports technology.

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4 Strategies That Must Be Part of Customer Marketing

Startup Professionals Musings

With the advent of social media and the pervasive move to smartphones, even customers who still prefer to purchase in brick-and-mortar stores have dramatically changed their shopping habits. Many people don’t post about their experiences, but still routinely check first to see what others are saying about the brand and the product online. This new customer paradigm is no longer a homogeneous group driven by traditional media, but a network of unique individuals who interact with each other to de

Customer 103
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IBM’s Watson Analyzes Kanye West’s VMA Speech for Character Defects

Tech Zulu Event

Kanye West and Taylor Swift at the MTV VMAs. Who is Kanye West really? A man who every year has come to upstage most acts at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) with some crazy rant. Everyone has an opinion, but only IBM’s cognitive computer Watson has a Personality Insights analyzer. Your social media feed was probably filled this morning with information about the 13-minute speech Kanye West made during the 2015 VMA broadcast, but only the objective big data behind Watson can really break it dow

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Dollar Shave Club: 2.2M Members, New Commercials

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based Dollar Shave Club , the membership-based razor delivery service led by Michael Dubin, says the firm is up to 2.2 million members, and has just launched a new ad campaign which taps into TV commercials, outdoor media, radio, social, and online. The company said its new ad campaign, "The Crusty Razor", was co-written by Michael Dubin and creative director Alec Brownstein.

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Meet LA’s Fastest Growing Startups [ LOS ANGELES ]

Tech.Co

The Los Angeles tech scene is bustling and now is your chance to meet some of the companies that are putting LA tech on the map. We’ve invited 15 of the area’s top startups to showcase their culture, tell you more about their open positions, and give you the opportunity to discover what makes them unique. Come join us for a social evening featuring the top hiring startups in LA.

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4 Customer Decision Moments And How To React To Each

Startup Professionals Musings

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Almost instantly, via the Internet or on their smartphone in the store, they can find the lowest price alternative or their favorite features, without waiting for push marketing or listening to your best sales person.

Customer 101
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IBM’s Watson Analyzes Kanye West’s VMA Speech for Character Defects

Tech Zulu Event

Kanye West and Taylor Swift at VMAs. Who is Kanye West really? A man who every year has come to upstage most acts at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) with some crazy rant. Everyone has an opinion, but only IBM’s cognitive computer Watson has a Personality Insights analyzer. Your social media feed was probably filled this morning with information about the 13-minute speech Kanye West made during the 2015 VMA broadcast, but only the objective big data behind Watson can really break it down scient

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Qualcomm Adds Mobile Malware Detection To Snapdragon

socalTECH

San Diego-based Qualcomm announced this morning that it has launched a new, anti-malware technology, embedded into its Snapdragon processors. According to Qualcomm, it has launched a new technology called Qualcomm Snapdragon Smart Protect, which uses on-device machine learning to detect zero-day, malware threats. The company said the feature is aimed at use by OEMs and mobible, anti-malware application providers.

Mobile 143
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Interview with Youtuber Adorian Deck, On Making A Living On YouTube

socalTECH

It's a fascinating new world out there in entertainment and media, where YouTube stars are now as popular--or maybe, more popular--than traditional celebrities. In fact, there are many Youtubers who are making a living just being themselves and posting their personal thoughts and opinions to the world. We thought we'd take a look at the trend, so we recently talked with Adorian Deck (https://www.youtube.com/user/AdorianDeck), an up and coming 22-year old Youtuber, who told us his story about how

Startup 140
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CytomX Therapeutics, Founded At UCSB, Queues Up For IPO

socalTECH

CytomX Therapeutics , a biotech startup which was founded by UC Santa Barbara professor Patrick Daugherty, and which has a significant number of Southern California angel investors, filed for an IPO last week, saying that it is looking to raise $100M on the NASDAQ Global Market. The company hopes to trade under the symbol CTMX. The IPO is being underwritten by BofA Merrill Lynch, Jefferies, Cowen and Company, and Oppenheimer & Co.

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Saucey Raises $4.5M For On-Demand Alcohol Delivery App

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Saucey , a provider of an on-demand, alcohol delivery app said it has raised $4.5M in a seed funding round. The funding came from Blumberg Capital, Structure Capital, Altpoint Ventures, T5 Capital, HashtagOne, as well as individual angels. The company was founded by Chris Vaughn, Daniel Leeb and Andrew Zeck, who were all previously at TextPlus.

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Super League Scores Funding To Bring Minecraft To A Theater Near You

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based Super League , a startup which is running Minecraft tournaments at movie theaters, said today that it has raised a Series B funding round. Size of the funding round was not disclosed. The funding came from Cinemark Theatres, Softbank, and overseas investors, along with Quadrant Management. Super League was co-founded by John Miller, the company's Chief Visionary Officer, and is led by Ann Hand, the company's CEO.

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Rubicon Project Extends To Out-of-Home Advertising

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based advertising optimization and automation technology developer Rubicon Project is taking its technology into the out-of-home advertising market, the company said late Thursday. According to Rubicon Project, its automation technology is being used in automation of ads in the UK, as part of a deal with outdoor media company BITPOSTER. Rubcion Project said BITPOSTER has access to over 300,000 digital and out-of-home billboards, and will use Rubicon Project's technology to enable aut

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Ceres Expands Seed Evaluations In Puerto Rico

socalTECH

Thousand Oaks-based agricultural biotechnology developer Ceres said today that it is expanding its commercial evaluation of its seeds in Puerto Rico. According to the company, growers and dairies in Puerto Rico are currently in commercial-scale evaluation of its seed products, as part of an effort to diversify the island's supply of feed and forage.

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Beats Music's Ian Rogers Heads To LVMH

socalTECH

Ian Rogers , the former CEO of Beats Music and longtime Southern California startup executive, has been named Chief Digital Officer at luxury brand LVMH Moet Hennessy Luis Vuitton , the company said this morning. Rogers had most recently been at Apple, after he helped sell Beats Music to the company for $3.2 billion. Roers will head up the online retailing efforts for LVMH, according to the company.

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Docstoc To Be Shut Down By Intuit On December 1st

socalTECH

Docstoc , the online document sharing and business documents site which was founded in Santa Monica by Jason Nazar, is being shut down, according to the website. According to a notice posted on the Docstoc site, the site will be closing down effective December 1st. The service said that users can download their public private documents before November 30th.

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Invoca Trumpets Enterprise Growth

socalTECH

Santa Barbara-based Invoca , the developer of call tracking software for the lead generation market, said this week that it has seen what it says is record growth in enterprise customers. The company did not disclose any finances, but said it has seen its enterprise customers grow by 375 percent since 2013. Invoca, which is led by Mark Woodward, said new customers include.

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Hulu Launches Ad-Free Streaming Service For $11.99 A Month

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based streaming television service Hulu said this morning that it has launched a new, ad-free service , which will cost $4 a month more than the company's existing, premium subscription. The $11.99 per month service is the first time Hulu has offered up viewing of the company's streaming content without advertising. Hulu's normal service costs $7.99 a month.

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DTS Buys iBiquity Digital For $120M

socalTECH

Calabasas-based audio processing technology developer DTS has acquireed iBiquity Digital Corporation , in a deal worth $172M, the company said this morning. iBiquity Digital develops an audio and data broadcasting technology called HD Radio. DTS said the deal will be funded via cash on hand and debt. iBiquity's technology is used to convert AM/FM broadcasting from analog to digital format, and it heavily used by automotive OEMs; DTS said that every one of the 36 major auto brands in the U.S. off

Calabasas 131
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Mobcrush Takes $11M For Mobile Game Streaming

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based live game streaming startup Mobcrush has raised $11M in a Series A round, the company said Tuesday. The startup--led by Royce Disini--said the funding round was le dby Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and also included Raine Ventures, First Round Capital, Lowercase, Rincon Venture Partners, Crosscut Ventures and Advancit Capital.

Mobile 131
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Instamotor Launches In San Diego

socalTECH

Online used car buying and selling marketplace Instamotor said Monday that it has launched operations in San Diego. The startup--which already offers up its services in San Francisco and Los Angeles--lets users list, browse, and buy cars all through the company's mobile app. The company says it pre-screens all of the vehicles listed on its service for fraud, and that it also uses reputation features to help buyers better see who they are buying from.

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Sphero's Star Wars BB-8 Droid Sells Out Online

socalTECH

The BB-8 Droid , the robotic droid from Star Wars which was directly created as a result of the local Disney Accelerator , appears to have sold out online, and now has a two week wait, according to multiple online sellers. Amazon.com has the droid listed as temporarily out of stock , and Sphero , the Disney Accelerator startup which created Sphero, says there is a two week expected ship date on new units of the robot.

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Cynvenio Names Chief Medical Officer

socalTECH

Westlake Village-based cancer diagnostics developer Cynvenio Biosystems said Thursday afternoon that it has named Paul Y. Song, M.D., as its new Chief Medical Officer. Song is on the faculty at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, and also is Chief medical Officer at TA-Gen Co. Ltd, and was previously Chief Medical Officer at Berg Health. Cynvenio said that Song will oversee translational and clinical research programs at Cynvenio.

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Aquesys Acquired By Allergan In $300M Deal

socalTECH

Aliso Viejo-based Aquesys , which was developing medical devices for treating glaucoma, has been acquired by Allergan for $300M in cash upfront plus additional payments based on milestones. Aquesys develops ocular implants which reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) associated with glaucoma. Aquesys is venture backed by Accuitive Medical Ventures, The Carlyle Group, Longitude Capital, Rho Ventures, and SV Life Sciences, and was headed by Ron Bache.

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Fuhu Rolls Out Star Wars Themed Tablet

socalTECH

El Segundo-based Fuhu , the Android tablet maker which develops the popular Nabi tablet for kids, said this morning that it has rolled out a new set of Star Wars themed tablets. Fuhu said it has launched two, special edition tablets based on Star Wars, called The Force , available in two versions related the "Dark Side" and "Light Side", which are themed with sound effects and wallpaper, as well as external case colors.

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MACRO Gets Funding For Muticultural Content

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based MACRO , which says it is developing content for the African American, Latino, and multicultural market, says it has raised a initial round of funding. Size of the investment round was not announced. The funding was led by Emerson Collective, and also included MNM Creative, MediaLink, and angels Raymond J. McGuire (Citibank), Justin Yoshimura, and Michael Kane (Caltius Capital).

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