Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 25, 2013

'We all get a lot of email. And we send off scores of them, too. For important emails we hope for replies or action. If you do the math on the number of inbound emails you get multiplied by the time it would take to read them all and respond to those that expect a reply you would be astounded. It is simply unmanageable. Yet some simple techniques can help massively improve your ability to get people to take action on your important emails.

Email 415

Email Writing Software Review Startup 415

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 26, 2013

'A version of this article previously appeared in The Wall Street Journal. A startup''s marketing launch strategy should resemble an inverse funnel. As the launch proceeds, the degree of influence of the parties exposed to your solution should commensurately grow. This approach allows your venture to "fail in the small" and make course corrections before spending significant marketing resources.

Marketing 247

Marketing Entrepreneur Media Journal 247

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2013

'Santa Monica-based Hulu , the online television streaming site, has inked a deal to co-produce a new original series with Lionsgate , the two said today. The two said they will product a 10-episode, half-hour series called "Deadbeat", which will be the first, co-production effort between the two companies. The new series is a comedy, centered around ghosts in New York.

Hulu 196

Hulu Product Santa Monica Hollywood 196

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 29, 2013

'I was just down at Demo Day for the USC Incubator. They had some pretty high quality companies presenting. I just found out about a great award opportunity for people connected to USC (or who can figure out a connection in time). I also have a discount code below for the event. USC’s Marshall School of Business will host the second annual Silicon Beach Awards (SBAs), a $50,000 venture competition focused on innovation in technology & entertainment.

USC 159

USC Cornerstone OnDemand Startup Conference 159

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

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 29, 2013

'I have lived (England, France, Italy, Spain, Japan & the US) and worked (Ireland, Germany, India) around the world. I adore accents. I listen not only for the country but the region. I became engrossed with the origins of both accents and phrases. One of most fascinating & enjoyable books on the topic is Bill Bryson’s “ Made in America ,” which demystifies the origins of the English language and why Americans speak more traditional English than the English do.

Startup 391

Startup Hollywood Class Study 391

Berkonomics

AUGUST 29, 2013

'Sometimes the end game or sale of the company is not a happy event. Especially when outside investors, venture capitalists, or angels, have put in substantial money and the sales price is less than the value of their investment. Most all experienced VC and angel investors have found themselves in such a situation, since it is the unfortunate truth that half of their investments fail, on average, within the first several years of the investment.

Sales 166

Sales Venture Capital Invest Guide 166

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2013

'Every startup founder feels the pressure of the thousands of things that need to get done, all seemingly at the same time. There is just not enough time! The real solution is better productivity and less procrastination, to put you back in control of your business. You need to spend time on important things, as well as the urgent. Many entrepreneurs waste too much time on low-priority administrative tasks, procrastinating on higher priority but tougher tasks, resulting in last minute crises, an

Product 108

Product Entrepreneur Email Custom 108

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 27, 2013

'Advertising your brand utilizing YouTube could increase revenue by millions in under a year. Billion dollar brands like GoPro built their empire marketing with video, but we don’t all have a sea of extreme sports athletes to upload thrilling footage. So here are the top 8 tips from 2 successful brands on what we can do to create engaging content and market our brands using YouTube as our platform.

Dollar Shave Club 106

Dollar Shave Club Tips Marketing Sales 106

socalTECH

AUGUST 30, 2013

'Los Angeles appears to become the hot market for launching your mobile, social startup into the national scene--with dozens of startups recently starting up operations here, including Flywheel, Lyft, H.Bloom, Belly, Delivery.com, and many others. The latest company to make LA the startup of a national expansion is Gratafy , a social gifting startup which lets people buy items from restaurants, including food, drinks, desserts, and more, and send those to friends as gifts.

Startup 190

Startup Los Angeles Marketing Mobile 190

socalTECH

AUGUST 29, 2013

'Los Angeles-based Retention Science , the big data-focused analytics firm led by Jerry Jao, said this morning that it has raised $750,000 in a new funding round. The funding came from Forerunner Ventures, and comes on top of an earlier, $1.3 million seed funding from Baroda Ventures. Retention Science said the new funds will go towards expanding its product development and sales teams.

Seed Funding 187

Seed Funding Venture Capital Commerce Los Angeles 187

socalTECH

AUGUST 28, 2013

'Los Angeles-based online and mobile movie ticket service Fandango announced this morning that it is acquiring the business of Quantum Loyalty Solutions , a provider of movie ticket promotions. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. Quantum Loyalty Solutions runs movie loyalty points program Hollywood MOvie Money. Fandango said the deal will accelerate its promotional movie ticket and gift card business.

Fandango 187

Fandango Hollywood Acquisition Content 187

socalTECH

AUGUST 29, 2013

'Where are consumers most likely to take, and share Instagram photos? According to Los Angeles-based MomentFeed , the lead location where consumers are taking photos at retailers is Starbucks, which the company found had the most number of photos taken and posted on Instagram. MomentFeed--which develops software used by those retailers to match up social activity to their retail locations--said that it has published a report which shows that Starbucks led in Instagram engagement in Q2 of 2013, w

Social Media 185

Social Media Los Angeles Media Activity 185

socalTECH

AUGUST 26, 2013

'Santa Monica-based DocStoc , the online small business information and document site headed by Jason Nazar, has acquired a New York company called BestVendor , the two announced today. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. BestVendor provides a tool to help small businesses help find software services, providing recommendations on the best software tools for their company.

Santa Monica 185

Santa Monica Acquisition Resource Tool 185

socalTECH

AUGUST 30, 2013

'There was a lot of hype earlier this month over the introduction of the idea for Hyperloop--a system for getting people to and from the Bay Area in only minutes , using 800 mile per hour aluminum pods. However, Hyperloop is just that--only an idea--and Musk isn''t planning to take it to market, just yet. To change that, a local startup, El Segundo-based JumpStartFund , says it is using its platform to try to make Musks''s idea come to life.

El Segundo 178

El Segundo Ideas Platform Sites 178

socalTECH

AUGUST 29, 2013

'Long Beach-based mobile games developer Cie Games said today that it has laucnhed a new mobile game, called Racing Rivals , a social game which lets users race their friends with virtual drag racers. The company--which makes the game "Car Town"--said the new title is sponsored by Nitto Tire. Cie Games has taken a unique approach with its mobile and social games, which are sponsored by a number of major partners, including Sony Pictures, Walmart, NASCAR, GEneral MOtors, and others.

Long Beach 178

Long Beach Mobile Content Develop 178

socalTECH

AUGUST 29, 2013

'Can tapping the power of the crowd not only help you find customers and help fund your project, but also help you shape your startup idea and find funding? A new, Los Angeles area startup, JumpStartFund (www.jumpstartfund.com) recently launched, offering up a combination of crowdfunding and crowd-advice for entrepreneurial ideas. We spoke with Dirk Ahlborn , the companies CEO and founder, to learn more on how JumpStartFund wants to not only help companies raise money for their projects, but als

Ideas 178

Ideas Patents Funding Startup 178

socalTECH

AUGUST 28, 2013

'If you''re a business with a big database of email contacts, Santa Barbara-based Service Objects has a new product for you. According to the company, it has launched a new email validation product, DOTS Email Validation 3, which helps companies identify fraudulent and invalid email addresses in their databases. The company said its tool uses approximately 50 proprietary tests to identify bogus email addresses for companies.

Email 173

Email Services Santa Barbara Pricing 173

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2013

'Anaheim-based Fisker Automotive , the highly troubled electric car maker, spent over $1.4 billion in capital to bring its automobiles to market. But it appears, the company is possibly being acquired for just $25M , by a group of German investors. Fisker--which has laid off most of its staff, is being sued by supppliers, and has stopped selling cars--has yet to declare bankruptcy, but has been looking for a buyer since May, after laying off nearly all of its employees.

Report 164

Report Acquisition Capital Marketing 164

socalTECH

AUGUST 29, 2013

'Irvine-based online real estate marketplace operator Auction.com is expanding its operations, saying this week that it has opened up a new office in Austin, Texas. Auction.com said it is expecting to hire up to 40 employees in its new location in AUstin, which has 7,000 square feet. Auction.com has over 1,000 full time employees spread across the US and Europe; it offers an online real estate marketplace for all kinds of property, ranging from residential, foreclosure, commercial, land, and mor

Orange County 162

Orange County 162

socalTECH

AUGUST 29, 2013

'The Huffington Post is abandoning its video effort, HuffPo Live , in Los Angeles, according to a report today, and is laying off around 20 staffers from its office here. HuffPo Live was launched about a year to, to provide live-streaming, video coverage to the Huffington Post site. The move apparently came as HuffingtonPOst is shifting its HuffPo Live focus to international markets.

Los Angeles 159

Los Angeles Layoffs Report Angel 159

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2013

'Studio City-based FilmTrack , which develops software-as-a-service for managing rights and content management for the film, video, and television industry, has raised $20M in a funding round. The round came from Insight Venture Partners. According to FilmTrack, the new funding will go towards growth of the company. FilmTrack is led by Jason Kassin, and helps film, video, and television publishers with managing their intellectual property.

Software 159

Software Studio City SaaS Hulu 159

socalTECH

AUGUST 28, 2013

'Los Angeles-based native advertising technology developer Nativo , which is headed by Justin Choi, has landed a new set of premium publishers as customers, the company said today. Nativo said it has been selected by The Street, USA Today Sports Media Group, Source Interlink Media, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Internet Brands, Entrepreneur Media, Investor Place Media, Reader''s Digest, Sandusky Newspapers , as well as others, where it is providing native advertising to those publishers.

Internet Brands 157

Internet Brands Advertising Content Media 157

socalTECH

AUGUST 26, 2013

'Irvine-based storage products provider WD said this morning that it has added two new products to its line of Arkeia backup appliances. WD said its DA1300 and DA2300 appliances are both aimed at the small- and medium-sized business market, and offer all-in-one backup and disaster recovery. The DA1300 uses an Intel Atom dual core processor, and the DA2300 Intel Xeon processors, with the DA1300 aimed at the entry-level market with support for 4TB to 8TB.

Product 157

Product Networking Marketing 157

socalTECH

AUGUST 30, 2013

'Santa Monica-based Lettuce , the online order capture and accounting software developer for online businesses, has expanded its software, saying yesterday that it now supports invoices. The startup--funded by such companies as Crosscut Ventures, 500 Startups, Launchpad LA, Baroda Ventures, Zelkova Ventures, and Double M Capital--said the new feature includes such features as generating multiple invoices within a single order, generating invoices from orders, and more.

Santa Monica 153

Santa Monica SaaS Software Development Software 153

socalTECH

AUGUST 28, 2013

'Los Angeles-based Sole Society , the e-commerce site which provides fashionable shoes, handbags, and accessories, has named a new CEO, the company said Wednesday. According to the company, Andrea Wasserman has been named CEO and has joined the company''s board of directors. Wasserman was most recently National Bridal Director at Nordstrom. She also has served at Merrill lynch and Telsy Advisory Group.

Commerce 153

Commerce Los Angeles Sites Angel 153

socalTECH

AUGUST 28, 2013

'Monrovia-based CODA Energy , the battery developing spinout from CODA Automotive, said this morning that it has scored an energy storage win in the San Francisco Bay Area. CODA Energy said it has tied with Energy Vault and Growing Energy Labs (GELI) on the deployment of an energy storage project, for a solar integrated electric vehicle fast charging station in the Bay Area.

Monrovia 153

Monrovia Technology Develop Development 153

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2013

'San Diego-based battery technology developer PowerGenix reports this morning that its Nickel-Zinc battery technology has been certified by China''s National Laboratory. PowerGenix said the certification means the company''s batteries have been certified for advanced micro-hybrid vehicles in China. PowerGenix is developing an alternative to lithium ion, offering lower weight and higher energy density, as well as better safety; the company has been targeting the use of those batteries in automobi

Technical Review 153

Technical Review San Diego Report Marketing 153

socalTECH

AUGUST 26, 2013

'Thousand Oaks-based biotech giant Amgen announced Sunday that it has acquired San Francisco biopharmaceuticals company Onyx Pharmaceuticals , in a deal worth $10.4 billion. Onyx is a developer of biopharmaceuticals used to help patients with cancer. Amgen said it will pay $125 per share inc ash for Onyx Pharmaceuticals. The deal is worth $9.7 billion net of the estimated cash on hand at Onyx.

Thousand Oaks 153

Thousand Oaks .Net Acquisition Help 153

socalTECH

AUGUST 30, 2013

'San Diego-based Accumetrics , a developer of life sciences testing equipment, has been acquired by ITC Nexus Holding Company , ITC said this morning. Financial terms of the buy were not announced. Accumetrics develops equipment to assess patient response to antiplatelet therapies, which is used for cardivascular diagnoses. Accumetrics was venture backed by Arnerich Massena, BBT Fund/Apothecary Capital, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, Rivervest and Kaiser Permanente.

San Diego 147

San Diego Acquisition Capital Funding 147

socalTECH

AUGUST 29, 2013

'Frank Slootman , the CEO of San Diego-based ServiceNow , headed up the software developer''s very successful IPO last year. Now, a data storage provider, Pure Storage , is hoping to take advantage of Slootman''s expertise for its own IPO. Pure Storage, which is based in Silicon Valley, announced the addition of Slootman to its board today, along with a huge, $150M funding.

Redpoint 147

Redpoint San Diego Software Development Pricing 147

socalTECH

AUGUST 29, 2013

'Los Angeles-based Wi-Fi network operator Boingo has been selected by a Latin American mobile services company, to power global Wi-Fi roaming, Boingo said this morning. Boingo said that Movile will use the company to provide global, Wi-Fi roaming, using its Free Zome app to access Boingo''s extensive network of hotspots. Financial details of the partnership were not announced.

Mobile 147

Mobile Networking Los Angeles Services 147

socalTECH

AUGUST 29, 2013

'Sony''s massively multiplayer online game division, Sony Online Entertainment , is cutting jobs in San Diego, as part of a cost reduction move, Sony disclosed Wednesday. Size of the layoffs have not been announced. The layoffs, which were first reported by GameSpot, also affected Sony Online Entertainment''s Austin operations. Sony said it made the cuts to refocus its attention on its current MMO portfolio, as well as EverQuest franchise, EverQuest Next Landmark and EverQuest Next.

San Diego 147

San Diego Layoffs Entertainment Report 147

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2013

'Santa Monica-based car buying information provider TrueCar has bolstered its executive staff, saying Monday that it has added Alison Sternberg as its new Vice President of Investor Relations and Administration. Sternberg joins the company from Modular Wind Energy, where she was Chief of Staff to the CEO; she also served at the private wealth arm of Goldman Sachs in Los Angeles, Heidrick & Strugggles, Ares Management, and investment banking at Goldman Sachs in New York.

Truecar 147

Truecar Santa Monica Los Angeles Invest 147

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2013

'San Diego-based Ceregene , a startup developing gene-therapy based products for treating Parkinson''s and Alzheimer''s disease, has been acquired by Richmond, California-based Sangamo BioSciences. Sangamo said it will issue 100,000 shares of its common stock--approximately $1.0M--to acquire Ceregene, plus unspecified earn-out. Ceregene had been venture backed by Alta Partners, California Technology Ventures, Cell Genesys, Hamilton BioVentures, Investor Growth Capital Ltd., and MPM Capital, and

San Diego 147

San Diego Acquisition Capital Funding 147

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2013

'Camarillo-based Cool Planet Energy Systems reports today that it has completed a road test and trial in Ventura County, demonstrating its technology for converting non-food biomass into gasoline, jet fuel, and other products. According to Cool Planet, it ran a joint vehicle road test with the County of Ventura, using a 5 percent blend of the company''s renewable, low carbon gasoline for six weeks.

Ventura 147

Ventura Google Resource Report 147

socalTECH

AUGUST 28, 2013

'Santa Monica-based Edmunds.com , the provider of car shopping and auto information, reported Wednesday that it has settled a lawsuit against Humankind Design Ltd. , which Edmunds.com said had created nearly 2,200 fake member accounts on the site to try to change dealer ratings and reviews. Edmunds.com said Humankind agreed to not register users, submit reviews, or participate in its online community; pay an undisclosed sum towards Edmunds.com''s legal feeds; and provide information on the accou

Edmunds 140

Edmunds CitySearch Santa Monica Yahoo 140