Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 11, 2010
This is part of my ongoing series on Raising Venture Capital. Recently I’ve been debating with a number of young startup companies that are raising money in the next few months, “what is the right about of capital to raise at a startup?&#. It’s a tricky question with no clear answer. There are trade offs. And it obviously depends on the kind of business you’re building.
socalTECH
MARCH 10, 2010
One of the more successful serial entrepreneurs here in Southern California has been Robin D. Richards , who most recently sold The NTI Group to Blackboard, and previously also was CEO of Vivendi Universal Net USA, the founding president and COO of MP3.com, and managing director at Tickets.com. Robin's latest startup is Internships.com (www.internships.com), an online site focused on aggregating internship opportunities and providing resources to potential interns.
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Eric Greenspan
MARCH 11, 2010
Rob Lowe's first tweet. Long time Make It Work customer and Santa Barbara resident Rob Lowe joined Twitter today. His profile is @robloweprofile. I’ve known Rob for years, both as a customer and a fellow parent at local schools. We did a couple of fundraisers together a few years back and our kids went to school together. I spoke to Rob today guiding him to his very first tweet which he successfully sent about an hour ago.
SoCal CTO
MARCH 11, 2010
Tim Berry has a great post on Why I Hate Those Huge Market Numbers tells us that he doesn’t like to see business plans with multi-billion market numbers used as the basis for projections. It’s the old – 5% of massive market gives us a big number. I agree completely: If it makes you feel better to give me that number in passing, okay, go ahead, but don’t put any emphasis on it.
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.
Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 6, 2010
One of the questions I’m most often asked is, “what’s it like being a VC?&# I’ve been a VC for nearly 3 years now. Since I answer this all the time anyway I thought it might make an interesting blog post. I always start my answer to this question with, “you’d have to be a pretty big baby to complain about being a VC.&# That’s true.
socalTECH
MARCH 10, 2010
eNom , the domain name registration arm of Santa Monica-based Demand Media , the Internet publishing empire run by Richard Rosenblatt, is hoping to cash in on a new, top level domain,CO, which is slated to come onto the market this year, the firm said today. eNom said it has been selected as one of ten exclusive registrars for.co domain names, which was previously the country code extension for Columbia. eNom said it will be helping to relaunch the.co domain through both eNom.com and BulkRegiste
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
SoCal CTO
MARCH 10, 2010
Steve Blank wrote a great post recently entitled Perfection By Subtraction – The Minimum Feature Set where he explains the real goals around defining a minimum viable product: Founders act like the “minimum” part is the goal. Or worse, that every potential customer should want it. In the real world not every customer is going to get overly excited about your minimum feature set.
Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 10, 2010
File this under entrepreneurial advice. I know that this will sound like a random post topic for startup advice but I promise it’s relevant. You actually need to give advice to nearly every employee whom you offer a job to on how to best quit their job. This is important to improve conversion rates of accepted offers / joiners, shorten the time-to-join ratio and the improve the ability of that employee to maintaing good relations with their former employer.
socalTECH
MARCH 9, 2010
Los Angeles-based social networking site MySpace reported Tuesday that the firm is now the top, social application on the Android platform, and is the third most popular downloaded application overall on the Android Market. MySpace trails T-Mobile's account information app and The Weather Channel's app in the store. However, competitor Facebook is not far away, at number five in the Android Market rankings, according to site AndroidStats.
Berkonomics
MARCH 10, 2010
Your customers know what they want more than you do. Find one to teach you. This insight came from personal experience and from a good friend who advanced the notion of the “teacher-customer” years ago. I internalized this phrase, recalling the many times I had partnered with customers to design new feature-functionality into my hotel computer system back when such systems were brand new to the industry. .
SoCal CTO
MARCH 9, 2010
In my post, Technology Roles in Startups , I described some of the different ways I engage with startup companies such as CTO Founder , CTO , Part-Time CTO , Acting CTO , Consultant, Advisor and Advisory Board Member. The last two categories are quite variable on their own and there’s quite a bit to those kinds of engagements as they often are not as well defined.
Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 8, 2010
I guess let’s file this under sales & marketing advice. I recently wrote a piece for Mashable on how to create a company blog. Since it’s already written (and since I promised not to republish on my blog other than a summary) if you’re interested please have a read over there. I have a very detailed article that covers stuff I won’t cover in detail in this post.
socalTECH
MARCH 11, 2010
Los Angeles-based Ayax Systems, the developer of decision making site LetSimonDecide.com , said this week that it has launched an Apple iPhone version of its software. According to Ayax Systems, the app --which retails for 99 cents on the App store--helps users make difficult personal decisions, such as selecting a college, changing careers, or even whether or not to get a divorce.
Eric Greenspan
MARCH 11, 2010
Last night, we had the pleasure of hosting Gary Vaynerchuk on Jeremy’s Desktop , part of Make It Work Radio. Gary was, well, Gary. He was honest, caring, energetic and straight to the point. I can’t help but like this guy. Crush It, Gary’s “best selling&# book, is one of my favorites. Now, there is one thing we must discuss here Gary and that is this Jets fascination…nevermind, we’ll do that over a beer some day.
SoCal Tech Calendar
MARCH 12, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010 -- Lean-Agile: Using the Right Vision to Manage Transition. All executives want a software development organization that delivers high quality products with low cost in a timely manner. Unfortunately, while we want productivity, quality and low cost, trying to achieve these directly often has the opposite effect of what we want.
Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 8, 2010
I’ve been enjoying using Plancast over the past month or so. I’m not an investor and though I wouldn’t rule it out in the future I’m not currently looking at the company. Just wanted to get that out of the way up front so I won’t look like a vested-interest fanboy. In fact, for the research of this post I just noticed that they announced funding today – congrats.
socalTECH
MARCH 8, 2010
Santa Monica-based US Renewables Group , a private equity firm focused on renewable power, biofuels, and clean technology, said this morning it has created a new company, Westerly Wind LLC , to provide capital and expertise to developers of wind power systems. The firm said the new company will be headed by Joe Cofelice, who has previously served as President of Catamount Energy Corporate and CEO of American National Power, Inc.
Tech Coast Venture Network
MARCH 12, 2010
Jeff Blanton Shortly after I began skippering my first sailboat, I was taught a big lesson on the psychology of winning. I had a very novice crew and typically at the end of a regatta we found ourselves in the back of the pack. One race we managed to be the first boat around the weather mark. As exciting as this moment was, a quick look over my shoulder brought back reality.
SoCal Tech Calendar
MARCH 12, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010 -- Planning for Financial Success. OCTANe. Financial success: the cornerstone of any business. This program is for entrepreneurs who want to understand the components of profitability that contribute to your financial goals. You'll learn about sales projections, inventory, and expenses and get "back to the basics" with refreshers on financial statements and ratios.
Eric Greenspan
MARCH 7, 2010
Here’s a few favorites from my blog: Who Do you Complain to About the Better Business Bureau? Eric Greenspan, not Eric Greenspan (or Eric Greenspan). Once Upon a Time in Jorts. Be sure to check me out on Facebook and Twitter too. Tags: Eric Greenspan better business bureau blog computer repair eric greenspan favorite foundry greatest hits grilled cheese jean shorts jorts lawyer Make It Work.
socalTECH
MARCH 10, 2010
Los Angeles-based Meetrix , a developer of an online virtual conference room service, said today that it has granted a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. The patent, number 7,664,056, was issued February 16th, and covers "Media based collaboration using mixed-mode PSTN and Internet networks". According to the USPTO, the patent covers a technique to allow standard telephone users to audio conference with video conferencing participants over IP networks.
Tech Coast Venture Network
MARCH 6, 2010
Manal Richa With the large diversity of online resources, one can get lost not knowing where and how to get started. You also want to make sure that you are aware of who is saying what about you and keep it all under control. Googling yourself would be a good place to start. Find out what kind of information is out there about you and what people can find out about you when looking you up.
SoCal Tech Calendar
MARCH 12, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010 -- "How to Persuade People" Startups Uncensored #15. This months session will be run solo by Jason Nazar, as he gives a presentation on How to Persuade People. It will cover the skills and techniques leaders use to influence others and will be geared towards startups and entrepreneurs who want to learn and review the skills that will help them raise money, hire great talent, and land partnerships.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 6, 2010
The common feedback from investors is that startups must expect a continued squeeze on new funding during the economic recovery. I subscribe to the "glass is half full" wisdom which says that startups with the right stuff can win big in these tough times. The big question is, "What is the right stuff?" Here are some key elements that will always get their attention: Play where you are the expert.
socalTECH
MARCH 10, 2010
Beverly Hills-based cost-per-action (CPA) advertising network Hydra announced today that the firm has cut over 15,000 of its active publishers, as a part of a bid to increase the quality of its network. The firm said it is looking to better serve the needs of its premium advertisers. The move brings the company's network from 17,000 publishers to just 2,000 of its best performing and highest quality web partners.
Tech Zulu Event
MARCH 10, 2010
The time has come for us to say goodbye SoCal (temporarily of course) and HELLO Austin! We have a jammed packed schedule while we are out there and you will be able to follow along with this special SXSW calender below. A huge thanks goes out to the Social Media ClubHouse (SMCH3) for helping put this all together. Make sure to checkout the updated SMCH3 site as they have tons of great info.
SoCal Tech Calendar
MARCH 12, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010 -- WITI Spring Mixer @ Wokcano. Make new contacts, re-connect with former colleagues, invite clients (and make new ones!). You'll have rare access to a highly diverse group of professionals committed to your success! Men and women are encouraged to attend this smashing seasonal event and we will be inviting many other LA based groups to join us.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 12, 2010
I don’t have an MBA. I used to fear that this would put me at a disadvantage in starting my own company, but now I’m convinced that it may be the other way around. More importantly, as a parent or mentor, what should you advise young potential entrepreneurs about getting an MBA? In some recent surveys, as many as two-thirds of entrepreneurs felt that their entrepreneurial spirit was more ingrained than learned, so maybe the education level is irrelevant.
socalTECH
MARCH 9, 2010
Los Angeles-based MySpace has linked its social networking site into Microsoft Outlook, the firm said this week. According to Mike Jones, co-president of MySpace, the new Outlook plug-in allows users of Microsoft Outlook to view their MySpace user activity and contact information. The new plug-in allows users to see friend activity updates in Outlook, create special contact lists for MySpace friends, and hyperlink to various updates, among other features.
Daradiction
MARCH 11, 2010
Feels like my public speaking career is starting to catch a fire. Yours truly just got invited to speak at TEDxSB–> [link]. What is TEDx? In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is call TEDxSB, an x=independently organized TED event.
SoCal Tech Calendar
MARCH 12, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010 -- Nature Networking Night. SoCalAMA. It is always delightful to recall fond childhood memories of those all-night campouts where we hung out with our pals in the great outdoors. For the event, we'll recreate that sense of adventure in a cozy mountain hideaway when we head up the hills for our very own campout-themed night for Southern California marketing professionals.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 10, 2010
The measure of an entrepreneur used to be the number of real friends claimed, but times have changed. Now the measure is how many hits one has on a Google name search, factored by some formula, like the sum of all positive messages minus 100 for every negative message. That’s the reason every good parent should be coaching their child from birth to avoid posting all the naughty things on social networks that can come back to haunt them later.
socalTECH
MARCH 9, 2010
City of Industry-based e-commerce retailer NewEgg is at the center of a fake processor scandal which cropped up over the last week, as the firm apparently shipped counterfeit parts claiming to be Intel Core i7 920 microprocessors. Apparently, the firm unknowingly shipped fake Intel CPUs, between March 1st and March 4th, to a number of its customers.
Tech Zulu Event
MARCH 6, 2010
For quite some time, Animoto - the quick slideshow service has dominated the "60-second video" scene. Embeddable videos from the site have found themselves spread widely throughout major social platforms and continues its increased growth. The general web user has stayed loyal to the brand regardless of the efforts of other companies such as Stupeflix and ClipGenerator.
SoCal Tech Calendar
MARCH 11, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 -- Faceoff: Social Media versus Paid Search Marketing. Techbizconnection. Which is better for Lead Generation? When? Social media advocates tell you that you need to be active on LinkedIn and become a Blogger. They tell you that your company must have a Facebook fan page and a Twitter following. Others tell you that Search marketing is the best lead generation tool of our time and you need to allocate a large portion of your marketing budget for Google Paid Search adver
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 11, 2010
Starting a business is a lot like starting a marriage. At first, all parties are in dreamland, with a vision of changing the world, having lots of fun, and raking in the profits. But all too soon, reality sets in. Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. In his book Reality Check , Guy Kawasaki summarizes some of the key issues.
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