Sat.Aug 13, 2011 - Fri.Aug 19, 2011

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Why You Need to Take 50 Coffee Meetings

Both Sides of the Table

50 coffee meetings. It should stick in your head as a metaphor for networking. For getting outside of your comfort zone. For starting relationships today that won’t pay off for a year. It’s the entrepreneur’s equivalent of “ 10,000 hours.&#. Anybody who has spent any time with me in person will be tired of this advice because I give it so frequently.

Startup 410
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ImageCollect.com Grows Celebrity Photo Library

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based AudioMicro , which operates a network of online content licensing marketplaces for audio, photos, and more, is announcing today that it has grown its library of pictures on site ImageCollect to 1.5 million photos. ImageCollect is focused on celebrity photos, offered up using the microstock photo model. AudioMicro said ImageCollect is adding around 25,000 images per day.

Sites 235
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Parenting Tips From Zappo’s Founder Tony Hsieh’s Mom And Dad - Startup Kids – Part V

InfoChachkie

Note: This is part V of a five part series. Access the first installment HERE , part II HERE , part III HERE , and part IV HERE. What do Warren Buffet, Martin Luther King, John Wayne, Walt Disney, Harry Truman, Wayne Gretzky and Tony Hsieh all have in common? In addition to all of them reaching the pinnacle of their chosen professions, they also all started their careers performing the same job.

Tips 214
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Develop the “What if” question chain method.

Berkonomics

One of the most valuable tools in an executive’s arsenal is the use of the question chain in planning meetings or to analyze scenarios that might result from an action. The powerful words are “What if…” followed by an ever-deeper question that follows the possible results of an action, or a decision based upon the last “What if” question. The beauty of this method is that it causes the person proposing the solution to think much more deeply than during the development process, unveiling many po

Develop 191
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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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What Startups Can Learn About PR and Crisis Management

Both Sides of the Table

I was recently approached by Fast Company to comment on “crisis management&# at startups in the wake of the Airbnb “ranksackgate&# story. I agreed to do the interview because the story was about what other companies can learn rather than about airbnb in particular. What are the teachable moments? The short article in Fast Company is here if you’d like to read it.

Startup 329
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TCA Funds PharmaSecure

socalTECH

The Tech Coast Angels , Southern California's biggest and most active angel investing group, appears to be backing a developer of prescription drug validation systems, based in Lebanon, N.H. According to a regulatory filing from PharmaSecure , it has raised $2.5M out of a $6M funding round, currently in progress. The firm lists the Tech Coast Angels, Gray Ghost Ventures, Life Science Angels, Angeli Parvi, and Echoing Green as investors; the TCA's Jay Kunin sits on PharmaSecure's board of directo

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Intellectual Property Workshop Series

SoCal Tech Calendar

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 -- Trademarking Your Company or Brand Name: Is It Worth the Trouble? LABTC. Attend our trademark and branding presentation and find out about the different types of trademark protection available to your business. Infringement risk will be discussed at length. You will leave this presentation knowing whether your existing trademark protection is sufficient to protect your rights, or whether you have the potential to lose some of those rights at some point during your bus

Email 124
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Ten Tenets To Live By When Starting a Business

Startup Professionals Musings

If you expect to succeed in the thrill-a-minute, roller coaster ride of a startup, let me assure you it takes more than a good idea, a rich uncle, and luck. In fact, the idea is often the least important part of the equation. Investors tell me that they look at the people first, the business plan second, and only then at the idea. If you want some tips to beat the insurmountable odds, take a look at the following concepts, adapted from Richard C.

Startup 106
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Facebook Competitor Altly Becomes Anybeat

socalTECH

Altly , the startup headed by Dmitry Shapiro which is developing an alternative to Facebook, said Monday that it has renamed the firm to AnyBeat.com. The new name was not a surprise, as Shapiro had said the company would be renaming itself before launch. In addition to the new name, AnyBeat outlined a number of principles behind the social network. The firm said it will look to help people meet others who they would not naturally meet in their day-to-day life; help people gauge the reputation of

Veoh 213
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Los Angeles Startup Weekend Live! | Get Your Dose of Startup Awesome

Tech Zulu Event

That’s right folks, we are now just a day away from Los Angeles Startup Weekend held at Coloft in Santa Monica. The February Startup Weekend was stated to “The Best Los Angeles Startup Weekend (LASW)&# ever, now I have a hunch that this upcoming LASW will surpass it in awesome. Based on the fact that this Startup Weekend was SOLD OUT in a just a few hours.

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Biz2Beach

SoCal Tech Calendar

Friday, August 19, 2011 -- Biz2Beach. The format of Biz2Beach is unlike most lectures and conferencesyou might even call it an unconference. Our featured speakers, who range in marketing and business expertise, will lead four intimate breakout discussions. Attendees can choose their own track based on personal interest, and because seats are limited, are assured quality networking with other C-level executives.

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10 Top Content Marketing Tips for Your Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

These days every new entrepreneur understands that an innovative product or service is necessary, but not sufficient, to start a business. You have to build a web presence with marketing content to get visibility above the 50 million other new websites created every year, and attract the customers you need. But most entrepreneurs don’t know where to start.

Content 102
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Interview with Graham Farrar, iStoryTime

socalTECH

Earlier this month, Santa Barbara-based zuuka Group , the publisher behind the iStoryTime (www.istorytimeapp.com) line of children's books on the iPhone, announced a first round of funding. We thought it would be interesting to hear from co-founder Graham Farrar, to hear about how the business of books-as-iPhone apps works, what the firm is doing with the funding, and what's next.

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Biz2Beach To Stream Live Here On TechZulu

Tech Zulu Event

TechZulu is pleased to announce that we will be streaming live from the Biz2Beach conference presented by CallFire this Friday August 19 at 2pm PST. For those who may be unfamiliar with the Biz2Beach conference, its a networking conference of thought leaders, innovators, and trendsetters for a day of exchanging ideas. Their featured speakers, who range in marketing and business expertise, will lead four intimate breakout discussions.

SEO 85
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TechAmerica Senior Finance Executive Roundtable Series

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, August 25, 2011 -- TechAmerica Senior Finance Executive Roundtable Series. Carolyn Casavan is the President of the San Fernando Valley Green Team and an independent consultant in energy efficiency and sustainability. She is a Registered Chemical Engineer in the state of California and managed an environmental consulting and engineering firm in Ventura County for over 20 years prior to her present position.

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Driving Your Startup to Profitability is Job One

Startup Professionals Musings

A question that I often hear debated these days is whether a new startup should focus on growth or profits. First of all, the glory days of “dot.coms” are gone, when investors “didn’t care” about profitability, and all the money went to growth. In the long run, everyone wants both profitability and growth, but the question is still which comes first.

Startup 97
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SpaceX Plans Trip To ISS

socalTECH

Hawthorne-based SpaceX said Monday that it has been given a November 30, 2011 launch date for a trip to the International Space Station. The privately held rocket firm, which is headed by tech mogul Elon Musk, said the mission is designed to demonstrate that a privately-developed space transportation system can deliver cargo to and from the International Space Station.

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It is satisfying, but rarely profitable, serving early adopters.

Berkonomics

I am a gadget freak, often purchasing new technologies in their first release. And my closet is full of such gadgets, from early pen-based computers to early brick-sized cell phones to an electronic handwriting recognition pad received as a gift to test. These early dives into new technologies serve a purpose for me. They keep me at the leading edge of new development as it is productized, even before mass production.

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Orange County Product Managers presents John Mansour

SoCal Tech Calendar

Wednesday, August 24, 2011 -- Orange County Product Managers presents John Mansour. Orange County Product Product Managers presents nationally-recognized product management educator John Mansour who will teach us Five Things Product Managers Need to do Better Than Everyone Else.

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How to Get Over Mourning Your Startup Demise

Startup Professionals Musings

Your startup is gone, it’s never coming back, and you are in mourning. An entrepreneur whose business fails grieves similarly to anyone who has lost a loved one. The pain of losing a business is not only about a significant loss of income, but can send an entire identity into turmoil. Most entrepreneurs define themselves by their business projects. They calibrate self-worth by what they accomplish or do not accomplish.

Startup 93
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Atari Boosts Team in Los Angeles

socalTECH

Atari , the interactive entertainment and licensing firm which owns the rights to the various Atari games developed over the years, said this week that it has bolstered its executive staff in Los Angeles. The firm said it has named Robert Mattes as Chief Financial Officer, Owais Farooqui as Senior Vice President, Digital Publishing, and Maria Pacheco as Vice President, Mobile.

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GraphEffect Launches Facebook Targeting System

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based GraphEffect , the Facebook marketing and advertising technology firm headed by James Borow, said this morning that it has launched its Facebook targeting system from beta. GraphEffect is venture backed by CrossCut Ventures, Rincon Venture Partners, Founder Collective, Baroda Ventures, Lerer Ventures, Thrive Capital, and angel investors Matt Coffin and Stephano Kim.

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Sonos Adds Board Member, Sees $250M In Revenues This Year

socalTECH

Santa Barbara-based Sonos , the maker of the user-friendly, multi-room music systems, has named former Microsoft Xbox executive Robbie Bach to its board, and is set to hit $250M in revenues this year. Bach was most recently President of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, in charge of the Microsoft Xbox. The appointment and revenue numbers came from an interview with John Macfarlane, CEO of Sonos, in the WSJ Tuesday.

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Boingo Powers Sports Center

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based Boingo Wireless said today that it is operating a new Wi-Fi service at The Pettit National Ice Center, an indoor speed skating oval in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. According to Boingo, it will offer access to the service to subscribers of its unlimited plan, as well as to others visitors for $1.99 per hour. Pettit is the location of the National Speed Skating Museum and Hall of Fame.

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Brighter Raises $8M More

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based Brighter , the dental care and referrals business started by Jake Winebaum, the founder of Business.com, has raised $8M more in a Series B funding round, the firm said Monday. The round was led by Benchmark Capital, and also included Mayfield Partners. Mayfield had invested $5M in the firm in January. The firm said the funding will go towards growth at the company.

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Google Buys Motorola Mobility For $12.5 Billion

socalTECH

Search engine giant Google said this morning that it has acquired Motorola Mobility , to bolster its Android efforts. Acccording to Google, it will pay $12.5 billion in cash, or $40.00 per share, for Motorola Mobility. Motorola Mobility has been developing Android technology. Google said it will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business. READ MORE>>.

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Geni Opens Service For Institutions

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Geni , the online family tree and genealogy site, said Thursday that it has launched a new program to allow institutions like public libraries and genealogical societies with full access to the site. The firm said the new offering comes due to its recent switch to limit certain features like merging and site-wide search to only paid users.

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Frontera, Siemer Tie On New Venture Capital Effort

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based investment bank "Siemer & Associates and venture capital investment group Frontera Group said Tuesday afternoon that the two have joined forces, and have created a new venture group called Siemer Ventures. According to Managing Director Eric Manlunas, the two firms decided to combine efforts in their investment efforts, however, will operate completely independently of the Siemer & Associates investment banking operations.

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Insights and Opinions: Waiting for Google

socalTECH

In our Insights and Opinions section this Friday morning, Frank Peters , angel investor and podcaster at the Frank Peters Show , shares his opinions on startups making Google their exit strategy: It's the exit strategy for too many entrepreneurs: "Google's a target exit partner." As an angel investor I've heard this many times, and, who knows? It happens occasionally, so like a rat in a maze, the entrepreneur continues to search for this piece of cheese even though statistically it's rare.

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Serious Business Get Funded For Internet Entertainment

socalTECH

A trio of United Talent Agency execs said Friday that they have launched a new, media company focused on the intersection of Internet and entertainment. According to Serious Business , it has raised a second round of seed funding from Brave New Ventures to fund the effort. Amount of the investment was not disclosed. Serious Business was founded by Jason U.

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Border Stylo Lands $20M

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Border Stylo , the developer of the Glass browser add-on and GlassThis web site for sharing and conversing about web sites, plus the Retrollect mobile app for social sharing, has raised $20M in a funding round, according to a regulatory filing from the firm. Source of the funding and details have not been announced by the company. The filing indicates that the funds came from 24 investors.

Web 153
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Student of Fortune Acquired By Chegg

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Student of Fortune , the online tutorial marketplace and homework help site headed by Sean McCleese, has been acquired by textbook marketplace site Chegg , Chegg said Friday. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The acquisition of Student of Fortune is the second, major acquisition of a Los Angeles-based homework site by Chegg in the last year; Chegg acquired fellow Los Angeles homework help site Cramster in December.

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Namesake Chill Gets Competitor: Google+

socalTECH

In a demonstration of how difficult it is to differentiate yourself in the world of online, social web services, Los Angeles-based Namesake , the social conversations startup headed by Brian Norgard and Dan Gould, has a new competitor for its Chill synchronized video-and-discussion project: Google+. Namesake just launched Chill, a web-based app for Facebook which allows users to launch a synchronized video and discuss it, real time, with friends, at the beginning of the month, allowing users to

Google 150
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Solarflare Boosts Financial Wins With NYSE Euronext

socalTECH

Irvine-based Solarflare , the developer of high speed, low latency 10 Gigabit Ethernet adapters, has bolstered its wins in the financial industry, saying this week that it has been selected by the NYSE Euronext for an install on its trading network. Financial details of the win were not disclosed. Solarflare said that NYSE Euronext has implemented its 10GbE server adapters for its mission-critical, low-latency trading operations.

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Pixoto Raises Seed Funding For Photo Site

socalTECH

Pixoto , a new startup focused on sharing and voting on photographic images which is headed by former Pictage founder Jason Kiefer, has just scored a seed funding worth $360,000, according to a regulatory filing by the firm this week. The firm's founders are Jason Kiefer, Justin Kifer, and Scott Murphy. Kiefer is based in Boulder, Colorado, Kifer is in Los Angeles, and Murphy is in Huntington Beach.

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Del Mar Datatrac Acquired By Ellie Mae

socalTECH

San Diego-based Del Mar Datatrac , a developer of mortgage origination software, has been acquired by Ellie Mae , in a deal worth $25.2M. Ellie Mae said the buy will expand the firm's customer base, and broaden the functionality of its own software. The deal is split between $17.2M in cash at closing, plus future cash payments of $3.0M, $3.0M, and $2.0M over the next three years.

San Diego 150