TechCrunch LA

MARCH 22, 2018

Founded by Steve Poizner last year to accelerate the growth of a startup entrepreneurial ecosystem in Southern California, The Alliance is building a network of investors, entrepreneurs and universities to provide ballast in the south to the dominance of the Northern California tech industry.

Southern California 224

Southern California Dollar Shave Club SoCal Develop 224

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

This is part of my series with Advice on Raising Venture Capital. I recently wrote a post on how to Deal with your Elephants in the Room during your VC meetings. Elephants being big issues that the VC will be thinking whether you bring it to his/her attention or not. Why shouldn’t you tell them up front?

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Examples 311

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2023

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a cofounder or two. The default answer, to keep peace in the family, is to split everything equally, but that’s a terrible answer, since now no one is in control, and startups need a clear leader. Now comes the reality check.

Equity 99

Equity Patents CTO Hire Startup 99

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 27, 2014

I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. This patent holding company has charged infringement and demanded royalties from every app developer for the iPhone and Android, for a feature most agree has been in apps for many years.

Patents 100

Patents Software Review Software Technical Advisors 100

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2023

Thus, based on my experience as an entrepreneur as well as a startup investor, there are indeed situations where a non-disclosure is highly recommended, and others where the potential good far outweighs the risk. Disclosures relative to patents. Product details in the public domain can never be patented. Sharing trade secrets.

Technical Review 101

Technical Review Patents Ideas Sample 101

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

As a startup advisor and investor, living in an area with several local universities, I’m continually surprised by how little many entrepreneurs know about the resources available from these institutions. Other project and research reports in their library are a rich source of new ideas, if you are still looking for a place to start.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Class Startup Resource 110

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 29, 2020

Even if you have booked an hour with a VC, you should plan to talk only for the first fifteen minutes. The biggest complaint I hear from fellow investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point.

Startup 118

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 118

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2023

Even if you have booked an hour with a VC, you should plan to talk only for the first fifteen minutes. The biggest complaint I hear from fellow investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point.

Slides 147

Slides Funding Technical Review Startup 147

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Too Techie - Tone down emphasis on the technology underlying your venture; an interested investor will perform tech diligence at the appropriate time. No VC Fit - Match your venture with appropriate funding source. Patents and Trademarks. Capitalization. Competition. Management Team. Photo Source: photosteve101.

Venture Capital 211

Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

Some great content around the intersection of startups and being a Startup CTO in June this year. This continues my series of posts: Top 29 Startup Posts May 2010 Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March There was some really great content in June. It shows a lack of interest.

Startup 175

Startup Venture Capital Slides Blogging 175

SoCal CTO

MAY 18, 2010

Continuing my series of posts that I’ve been collecting that live at the intersection of Startups, Startup Development and being a Startup CTO. Here are a couple of the other collections: 16 Great Startup Posts from March , Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April.

Startup 150

Startup SaaS Metrics Patents 150

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 25, 2009

Fantastic post by Christian Gammill - Startup Delta Force… From a competitive perspective (e.g. Now, given our current economic crisis and VC ‘challenges’, the barriers to funding have gone up significantly as well.

Startup 150

Startup SEM IP SEO 150

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 6, 2017

What’s your role in the Coachella Valley area startup ecosystem? What makes the Coachella Valley an ideal place to start a company? Hank: The Coachella Valley has been the ideal location to start our business because it has five separate water agencies serving a population of over 300,000.

Startup 119

Startup Technical Review Patents Services 119

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2013

I like the work just published by Bob Rice in “ The Alternative Answer ,” which does a great job of summarizing the investment universe, starting with the “conventional” stocks, bonds, and real estate, but moving on through more esoteric alternatives, including hedge funds, private equity, real assets, managed futures, and finally venture funding.

Invest 107

Invest Startup Venture Capital Ideas 107

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 6, 2017

What’s your role in the Coachella Valley area startup ecosystem? What makes the Coachella Valley an ideal place to start a company? Hank: The Coachella Valley has been the ideal location to start our business because it has five separate water agencies serving a population of over 300,000.

Startup 105

Startup Technical Review Patents Services 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 7, 2011

I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. The bad news is that patent trolls can squeeze the lifeblood out of innocent and unsuspecting entrepreneurs, as exemplified by the current mess around Lodsys patent No.

Patents 91

Patents Software Technical Advisors Innocal 91

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2020

As a startup advisor and investor, living in an area with several local universities, I’m continually surprised by how little many entrepreneurs know about the resources available from these institutions. Other project and research reports in their library are a rich source of new ideas, if you are still looking for a place to start.

Class 124

Class Startup Resource Mentor 124

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 17, 2019

The program is open to entrepreneurs that are starting companies in areas that are likely to draw venture capital investment. Saturday, June 22, 2019 -- LAVA First Time Entrepreneur Workshop. LAVA is extremely pleased to announce its next First Time Entrepreneur training program. The program is not open to service providers.

LAVA 100

LAVA Entrepreneur Screening Patents 100

Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2017

Fixed overhead for salaries, rent, equipment leases and more make up the majority of the “burn rate” (monthly expenses) for most companies. Every one of us on the board expressed our concern that the time to make these product changes and position for the new, broader market, would eat away all of the company’s capital.

Venture Capital 243

Venture Capital Product Resource Marketing 243

Xconomy

MARCH 22, 2018

Bose’s Steve Romine says that’s still an important focus for the Framingham, MA-based company, which has been awarded hundreds of patents for advances in technologies such as noise-canceling headphones. But in the past few years, Bose has also started to look outside its walls for other sources of innovation.

Venture Capital 70

Venture Capital Patents Research Invest 70

socalTECH

JULY 26, 2021

A new, Los Angeles-based startup, SPINN, developing a fully automated, mobile- or voice-controlled coffee maker which grinds beans, heats water, and brews coffee for users, said on Monday that it has raised $20M in a funding round. The funding was led by Spark Capital, and also included Amazon's Alexa Fund, Bar 9 Ventures and others.

Patents 113

Patents Los Angeles Mobile Funding 113

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2016

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. The default answer, to keep peace in the family, is to split everything equally, but that’s a terrible answer, since now no one is in control, and startups need a clear leader. Now comes the reality check.

Equity 62

Equity Startup Patents CTO Hire 62

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

A friend recently asked me to give his startup-minded daughter some advice to help her vet undergraduate entrepreneurial programs. I have also interacted with a number of excellent startup programs, most notably those Cal Poly’s Center For Innovation And Entrepreneurship and SDSU’s Lavin Entrepreneurship Center.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Technical Review Class Patents 100

socalTECH

OCTOBER 7, 2010

A new report released today by Next 10 , a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy group, says that Southern California--and California, as a whole--leads the green innovation, cleantech venture capital, and energy market. billion invested in cleantech venture capital in the state since 2006.

Southern California 165

Southern California Report Orange County Patents 165

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

Today I’m handing her the largest A-round check I’ve ever written as a VC as we lead her $10 million A-Round at uBeam. As I’ve written about recently, at Upfront Ventures we started talking a couple of years ago about wanting to fund stuff with more meaning. That was three months ago this week.

Technical Review 418

Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 2, 2022

I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. A target market is the group of customers that the startup plans to attract through marketing and sales their product or service. Target market. Sales/Marketing.

Sales 102

Sales Custom Customer Outsource 102

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 28, 2013

a crowd-powered platform that gives accredited investors access to exclusive deal flow and technology transfer opportunities has launched in beta its crowd-powered portal for startups, JumpStartFund. Members submit ideas and patents, the JumpStartFund community members and the JumpStartFund team vets them. Social network for investors.

El Segundo 76

El Segundo Social Network Startup Patents 76

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

Indio, California-based Helicoid Idustries , a startup developing advanced composite materials for use in the wind turbine, aerospace, sporting goods, auto parts, defense, and industrial market, has raised $2.4M--the first part of what looks like an ongoing $5M investment round. Helicoid is a spinout of the University of California Riverside.

Riverside 124

Riverside SoCalTech Patents Invest 124

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. The default answer, to keep peace in the family, is to split everything equally, but that’s a terrible answer, since now no one is in control, and startups need a clear leader. Now comes the reality check.

Equity 95

Equity Patents CTO Hire Startup 95

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

We were super excited by their offering – they had patented technology in a field that we believe will continue to grow massively. Perhaps VC isn’t the vest route for this individual. So consider integrity on my personal list of attributes required to raise money from a reputable, early-stage VC.

Technical Review 284

Technical Review Entrepreneur Startup Funding 284

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2014

There seems to a perpetual shortage of local venture capital investors in the region, despite the huge growth in startup activity here, particularly along Silicon Beach. How did you guys end up working together on investments? A few years back, I started looking at angel investing.

Seed Funding 220

Seed Funding Santa Monica Funding Startup 220

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2016

As an entrepreneur looking for professional investors, one of the quickest ways to lose credibility and get rejected is to start with a ridiculously high pre-money valuation. Patents filed, even provisional, as well as trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets count as barriers to entry and sustainable competitive advantages.

Startup 71

Startup Patents Invest Blogging 71

Xconomy

MAY 30, 2016

Lita Nelsen has seen it up close—and played a part in its evolution—from her studies there in the 1960s, to her business-school fellowship in the late 1970s, to her 30 years working in MIT’s Technology Licensing Office. And so that’s what Stanford did, so it was set up in that model. Then it got acquired by Millipore.

Startup 67

Startup Compton Research Technology 67

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 20, 2011

As you all know TechZulu is a huge supporter of Startup Weekend, and when we had the chance to be part of the very first Orange County (my home town) Startup Weekend we jumped on board. Tonights Startup Weekend presentations are being judged by the following: Maneesh Goyal. in venture capital and publicly launched in May 2011.

Orange County 106

Orange County Miramar Startup Tech Coast Angels 106

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

Even if you have booked an hour with a VC, you should plan to talk only for the first fifteen minutes. The biggest complaint I hear from investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. If you start by pitching your extended life story, that’s the wrong point.

Startup 64

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 64

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

As a startup mentor, I’m always amazed that some entrepreneurs seem to be an immediate hit with investors, while others struggle to get any attention at all. Finally I realized that venture capital and angel investors are actually humans, despite some views to the contrary. Registered patents and other intellectual property.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

As the authors make clear in the book’s preface, their goal is to create a “definitive guide to venture capital deals” and “demystify the venture capital financing process.” They are both former entrepreneurs and current Partners at Foundry Group , a highly successful, early stage venture firm. No Often Means No.

Venture Capital 205

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Writing Guide 205