Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2014

'I was having dinner with a friend last night and we were chatting about venture capital and a bit about what I’ve learned. I started in 2007 with a thesis that my primary investment decision would be about the team (70%) and only afterward about the market opportunity (30%). I was telling him that it was much easier when I started because there were fewer deals, life was less public and somehow the world seemed to be spinning more slowly.

Venture Capital 374

Venture Capital Invest Press Startup 374

socalTECH

APRIL 29, 2014

'Remember the the Star Trek Tricorder--that handheld, sci-fi device which could be waved over someone and instantly figure out what was wrong with their health? A number of teams have recently been looking to turn that vision into reality, as a result of the Qualcomm Tricorder Prize , a $10M competition being run by the X Prize Foundation to create a real life Tricorder.

Startup 262

Startup Competition Software Review UCLA 262

Berkonomics

MAY 1, 2014

'Let me tell you the story of how I raised $100,000 to fill a gap needed to purchase a new home for my young family years ago. I had located a beautiful home that would be a stretch to finance, and had arranged for a first mortgage from the bank, and a second from the seller. Home values were rising so fast that I knew I had to move quickly. So I went to visit a number of customer CEOs, told them my story, and asked them to advance some amount against their future billing from me.

Funding 204

Funding Outsource Development Equity Custom 204

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2014

'Entrepreneurship is more about building a business than inventing a product. It’s more about the quality of the execution, rather than the quality of the idea. Most importantly, it’s more about being a proactive leader who connects to customers and the team deeply, rather than a bright light that struggles to be seen amidst the glare of a million other bright lights.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Tips Coach Product 107

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 Zulu Event

MAY 1, 2014

'AssetAvenue, a new and exciting real estate crowdfunding company, has acquired a new asset, Adam Chapnick. If you already heard of the name, then you already know why the acquisition is such a big deal. If Adam Chapnick does not ring a bell, then his work at Indiegogo will say it all. The importance of Adam in Indiegogo was invaluable. Adam is the very mind behind many of the business developments and the growth of Indiegogo into one of the most premier crowdfunding platforms.

Platform 110

Platform News Startup Invest 110

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2014

'In a bid to boost the Los Angeles economy and create new jobs in the city, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Friday that he has created a new "Entrepreneur-in-Residence" program, which will help the city in developing initiatives and policies aimed at growing, assisting and sustaining entrepreneurs in Los Angeles. The effort--which is being sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP--will allow two entrepreneurs to spend a year helping the city with its efforts to create jobs.

Entrepreneur 232

Entrepreneur USC Los Angeles Mentor 232

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2014

'Many entrepreneurs fantasize about days longer than 24 hours, convinced that their new venture could change the world, if they just had more time. They don’t realize that a more viable solution is to get more done per existing hour, rather than creating more hours. We all know at least one person who is always “very busy” and works plenty of hours, but generates few significant results.

Entrepreneur 105

Entrepreneur Technical Review Email Social Media 105

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 30, 2014

'The University of Southern California is home to many innovative students and companies. In order to support all of these teams, there are several on-campus startup competitions every year, from the Silicon Beach USC competition to the New Venture Seed Competition, with prize funds to help build the companies. One team, a travel company that has built a discovery and planning tool that will make it easy and fun for travelers to find and book trips, was a winner of not just the New Venture Seed

Competition 104

Competition Startup USC Southern California 104

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2014

'It''s a brave new world in the domain name marketplace, with a lot of changes due to the sudden proliferation of new, top level domains (gTLDs). To get some insight into how those names are changing--we caught up with Steve Banfield , SVP and GM of Registrar Services over at Rightside (www.rightside.co) -- which is in the midst of spinning out from Santa Monica-based Demand Media.

Demand 231

Demand HTML Web Media 231

SoCal CTO

APRIL 28, 2014

'There was a lot of passion in the room last week when I presented Working with Developers at the Stubbs Precellerator. I guess it should not be a surprise that Founders have lots of challenges working with developers. So I promised that I would provide a follow-up after the session. This is that follow-up and hopefully it’s useful to people outside of the session as well.

Develop 280

Develop Development CTO Coach CTO Hire 280

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2014

'It’s your startup, so you can give early partners any title you want, but be aware of potential investor and peer implications. VCs and Angel investors like to see a startup that is running lean and mean, with no more than three or four of the conventional C-level or VP titles. More executives, or other more creative titles are seen as a big red flag.

CTO Hire 100

CTO Hire Funding Cloud Computing CIO 100

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 30, 2014

'What is a wearable? If you said wrist worn pedometer, you’d be correct, but only partially. Wearables are in fact much more than that, and the category is rapidly expanding thanks to the likes of big Fortune 500 companies, as well as small time startups and crowdfunded projects on Indiegogo. Checkout some of our past events: REACH Connected Future: Home Recap.

Santa Monica 101

Santa Monica Entertainment Design Research 101

socalTECH

APRIL 29, 2014

'Los Angeles-based TeleSign , the developer of security and identification technology headed by serial entrepreneur Steve Jillings, has raised $40M in a Series B funding round, the company announced this morning. According to the company, the funding was led by Adams Street Partners, and also included March Capital Partners and Summit Partners. TeleSign said that it will use the funds for its growth strategy, as well as "aggressive" hiring of its product development and engineering teams.

Los Angeles 217

Los Angeles Capital Funding Services 217

TechEmpower

MAY 1, 2014

'The latest round of our ongoing Framework Benchmarks project is now available! Round 9 updates several test implementations and introduces a new test environment using modern server hardware. Since the first round, we have known that the highest-performance frameworks and platforms have been network-limited by our gigabit Ethernet. For Round 9, Peak Hosting has provided a high-performance environment equipped with 10-gigabit Ethernet at one of their data centers.

Framework 546

Framework TechEmpower Examples Web 546

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2014

'Most startups are happy to find any customer, and will hang on for dear life to every one. Only later do they realize that some of these cost more than they are worth, or lead into commitments they can’t sustain, but no business wants to violate the golden rule that every customer needs to be treated as if they were the only customer. In reality, the real world is full of pragmatics.

Customer 95

Customer Custom Entrepreneur Pricing 95

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 1, 2014

'TZ Tech Crawl is back!!! So is the amazing weather :) Come take a tour of some of the hottest LA Tech companies located in Santa Monica. Why not stop by for a quick beer, game, snack or just say hi at one of the many Silicon Beach tech companies from 6pm to 11pm? Have a free beer or beverage, drop off a resume, see the office space or just kick back.

Santa Monica 99

Santa Monica Email Networking Entrepreneur 99

socalTECH

MAY 1, 2014

'Los Angeles-based streaming music service Beats Music said Thursday that it has released an iPad version of its music app to users. The music service had previously allows users to use the iPad, but using the less optimized, small-screen iPhone app. According to Beats, the new app is optimized for the larger tablet screen on the iPad, and works in both portrait or landscape mode.

Screening 197

Screening Content Los Angeles Mobile 197

socalTECH

MAY 1, 2014

'On-demand grocery delivery service Instacart has expanded in Los Angeles, saying recently that it is now covering downtown Los Angeles and Culver City, and will deliver groceries from Ralphs and Costco. The company--which launched earlier in April in Los Angeles--offers up personal shopping services driven by crowdsourcing. The company joins other similar, peer-to-peer marketplace companies like Uber, Handybook, DogVacay, TakeLessons, and Homehero, all of whom have made Los Angeles a major focu

Marina Del Rey 193

Marina Del Rey Los Angeles Culver City West Hollywood 193

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2014

'Santa Paula-based Calavo Growers --best known for the growing and marketing of avocados--announced Thursday that its subsidiary, FreshRealm , has raised $10M in funding for a new, food distribution technology. The funding came from Impermanence, LLC. According to Calavo, FreshRealm is developing a temperature-controlled, resuable shipping vessel and cloud-based software aimed at improving food distribution and reducing food waste.

Technology 187

Technology Software Funding Capital 187

socalTECH

APRIL 29, 2014

'Los Angeles-based wireless and cellular infrastructure provider Boingo Wireless said today that it has scored another wireless venue win, this time with the University of Houston. Boingo said it has been selected as the exclusive wireless network partner for the new Houston Football Stadium. Financial impact of the win was not announced. Boingo said it will install, manage, and operate its distributed antenna system at the new stadium, providing cellular and data coverage at the venue.

Los Angeles 185

Los Angeles Custom Customer Networking 185

socalTECH

APRIL 29, 2014

'Carlsbad-based NRG Solar , the solar energy arm of NRG Energy, said Tuesday that it has opened what it says is the world''s largest, photovoltaic energy facility in the world in Arizona. NRG said the Agua Caliente Solar Photovoltaic Facility is located midway between Yuma and Phoenix, Arizona, and has a capacity of 290 megawatts. The energy being produced at the plant is being provided to Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), and can power up to 230,000 homes at full capacity.

185

185

socalTECH

APRIL 28, 2014

'Irvine-based Alignment Healthcare , a startup providing continuous care programs that handle clinical care coordination, risk management capabilities, and information technology for healthcare providers, has raised $125M in a funding round. According to Alignment Healthcare, the funding came from private equity firm General Atlantic, and will go towards expanding its operational model and for expansion into new markets nationwide.

Equity 183

Equity Funding Capital Services 183

socalTECH

APRIL 30, 2014

'Los Angeles-based open source storage software developer Inktank , which is behind the Ceph distributed storage system, has been acquired by Red Hat , in a deal worth $175M in cash. Red Hat said it will use the acquisition to bolster its existing storage offerings. Ceph is heavily used in deploying public and private clouds, along with the OpenStack cloud standard.

Acquisition 182

Acquisition Software Development Web Los Angeles 182

socalTECH

APRIL 28, 2014

'Thousand Oaks-based wireless hardware provider Xirrus has raised yet another $10M in funding, according to a regulatory filing from the company Monday. Details on the funding have not yet been announced by the company. The company apparently is targeting a little over $11.0M in the funding round, which so far includes 12 investors. Xirrus develops specialized, Wi-Fi hotspots specifically aimed at high density and high performance installations, such as campuses and public areas.

Thousand Oaks 180

Thousand Oaks Venture Capital Capital Funding 180

socalTECH

MAY 1, 2014

'Los Angeles-based venture investor Upfront Ventures has scored a win at social media analytics and measurement startup Awe.sm this morning. San Francisco-based Unified , a provider of cloud marketing technology, said it has acquired Awe.sm, and will integrate Awe.sm''s social media measurement tools into its products. FInancial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Social Media 178

Social Media Media Acquisition Los Angeles 178

socalTECH

APRIL 30, 2014

'Los Angeles-based AssetAvenue , the real estate crowdfunding site led by David Manshoory, has snagged the first employee out of Indiegogo. According to AssetAvenue, it has hired Adam Chapnick, who was the first employee out of the Indiegogo crowdfunding site back in 2009. Chapnick will serve as Chief Strategy Officer for AssetAvenue, which operates an online crowdfunding site to find investors for commercial and other real estate deals.

Sites 170

Sites Los Angeles Invest Funding 170

socalTECH

APRIL 28, 2014

'Carlsbad-based renewable chemicals technology developer Verdezyne reported this morning that it has scored a new, $48M funding round from a Malaysian multinationaal conglomerate, Sime Darby Berhad. The startup--led by E. William Radany--said the new funding will go towards technology development. BP Alternative Energy Ventures, DSM Venturing B.V., OVP Venture Partners, and Monitor Ventures also participated in the new funding.

Funding 170

Funding Venture Capital Invest Report 170

socalTECH

APRIL 29, 2014

'Chinese electric auto and bus maker BYD says it has rolled out its first, California-made electric bus, at a ceremony Tuesday with Governor Jerry Brown. BYD said it rolled out an all-electric, long-range, 40-foot rapid transit bus in a ceremony at its factory in Lancaster, where it says it expects to build its clean energy electric buses. BYD says that, so far, it has hired more than 60 people for the location, and expects to have hired 100 by the end of the year, and as many as 200 workers by

Lancaster 166

Lancaster Company Companies 166

socalTECH

APRIL 30, 2014

'Social networking site MovieLaLa --which focuses on upcoming movies--said Tuesday that it has raised an angel investment from Salesforce.com founder Marc Benioff. The startup''s angels include a number of folks from the Silicon Beach content world, including Allen DeBevoise, Jim Moloshok, and others. The company says that it has connections both in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, and is looking to "bridge the gap between Silicon Valley and Silicon Beach.

Social Network 160

Social Network Funding Hollywood Venture Capital 160

socalTECH

MAY 1, 2014

'Santa Monica-based movie and entertainment company Lionsgate said late Wednesday that it is expanding into a new line of business, and has launched a new, interactive and game arm. Lionsgate said that it has named digital media entrepreneur Peter Levin as President of its new Interactive Ventures and Games unit, which will help expand Lionsgate into video games and other interactive ventures.

Media 159

Media Santa Monica Entertainment Venture Capital 159

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2014

'Audience Media , which has offices in Temecula, just outside of San Diego, has been acquired by San Francisco mobile magazine publishing firm Zinio. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Audience Media''s headquarters are in Barcelona, Spain. Zinio said the buy will help expand its footprint in digital publishing services. READ MORE>>.

Media 153

Media San Diego Tool Acquisition 153

socalTECH

MAY 1, 2014

'Venice, California-based social networking wunderkind Snapchat has extended out its application, saying today that it has added a new, video chat ability to its app--part of a move to add "presence" to the company''s popular app. According to Snapchat, the move goes to address what it says an "important part" of a conversation which was missing, which was knowing that you had the full attention of the friend you were chatting with.

Snapchat 153

Snapchat Social Network Venice Networking 153

socalTECH

APRIL 28, 2014

'SendGrid , the provider of email infrastructure for software developers which has major operations in Anaheim, said Monday afternoon that it has linked with IBM via its cloud marketplace. According to SendGrid, its applications are now available to software developers running their infrastructure in IBM''s cloud. Expected financial impact of the deal was not announced--apparently, IBM has another 100 software-as-a-service application available through that marketplace.

IBM 153

IBM IBM SaaS Email 153

socalTECH

APRIL 28, 2014

'San Diego-based Lytx said this morning that it has signed on an insurance company, ARI Insurance, to provide its driver safety management solutions to that company. Financial impact of the win was not announced. Lytx--which until recently was known as DriveCam--develops video-based, driver safety equipment. Lytx said that ARI Insurance will subsidize 50 percent of the monthly program cost for the DriveCam system to its fleet clients.

Company 153

Company Companies San Diego Help 153

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2014

'Los Angeles-based Frequency , the Internet video watching service led by Blair Harrison, has released a new set of APIs to allow device manufacturers and others add Internet video capabilities to their products, the company said Thursday. According to Frequency, the new Frequency Source services are aimed at device manufacturers and platform operators to bring free-to-watch, Internet video to their devices.

Los Angeles 149

Los Angeles Platform Services Product 149

socalTECH

MAY 1, 2014

'Agoura Hills-based TouchCommerce has launched a new product aimed at contact ceners, saying that it has launched a new product called TouchConnect. The startup--led by Bernard Louvat--said the new product helps reduce call volume and increase customer satisfaction, by leading customers off traditional call center calls via online, self-service options.

Agoura Hills 147

Agoura Hills Agoura Satisfaction Customer 147