socalTECH

DECEMBER 26, 2014

Our first post over the holidays is from Howard Marks --who co-founded Activision--and recently founded startup accelerator StartEngine, and who has been very active in encouraging the technology industry in Los Angeles. After investing in 60 startups, we realized that the biggest pain point was to help them raise the first $1M in financing.

Activision 100

Activision Southern California Los Angeles Capital 100

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 8, 2014

Associates often shadow partners at board meetings so that they can help follow up with the company on important initiatives between board meetings. Most associates need some entrepreneurial experience before actually making investments. a top-down view on HR challenges at startups; and, obviously: a great network. And so forth.

Help 365

Help Invest Venture Capital Technical Review 365

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. Let’s set up a framework. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 1, 2014

Today, with the help of the aptly named JOBS act (Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act) and companies like SeedInvest , it has never been easier for companies to gain exposure and enter the investment solicitation process. The investment environment at large in light of the JOBS Act. From Finance to Crowd-Investing.

Invest 100

Invest Startup Technical Review Software Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2015

Since the recession, and at least partially sparked by it, I’m seeing a real resurgence of entrepreneurial spirit, and more startup activity than ever before. The rate of new entrepreneurs increased about 10 percent, from 280 out of 100,000 adults in the 2014 Startup Activity Index, to 310 out of 100,000 adults in the 2015 Index.

Startup 108

Startup Social Media Entrepreneur Satisfaction 108

socalTECH

JANUARY 28, 2015

The Walt Disney Company said Tuesday that it is running another, startup accelerator class, as part of the Disney Accelerator program in Burbank, and is now accepting applications for a class of another, ten startups for the program. Disney said that so far, of its prior 2014 class, one company--SnowShoe--raised $2.2M

Class 100

Class Startup Burbank Venture Capital 100

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 12, 2018

seems like an unlikely place to grow one of the next billion-dollar startups in the booming Los Angeles tech ecosystem. But it’s here in the (other) Valley’s southernmost edge that investors have found a startup they consider to be the next potential billion-dollar “unicorn” that will come out of Los Angeles.

Glendale 271

Glendale Los Angeles Startup Technical Review 271

socalTECH

OCTOBER 11, 2018

We sat down with Kelly ahead of the announcement to chat about the new fund, why they think military veterans are particularly well suited as startup entrepreneurs, why the two went from organizing individual deals for funding to a formal fund, and more. We deployed a little over $10 million from the syndicate since 2014.

Capital 164

Capital Funding Startup Venture Capital 164

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

At the time I pointed out: “If I had realized exits almost certainly it would be because I invested in a company that failed. Working with early-stage teams : coaching, mentoring, setting strategy, rolling up sleeves: 9/10. I have done 6 VC investments – all within the past 20 months. ” Still. Since then?

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2019

If you want the whole deck you can find it on SlideShare but I’ve written up a short summary with commentary below. Yes, VC / Startup Funding is up Massively If you look at how much VC firms have raised from Limited Partners (LPs) over the past 2 decades you’ll see that we’ve returned to a level that we haven’t seen since 1999.

Venture Capital 292

Venture Capital Capital Startup Funding 292

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2015

Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). Rose, according to his recent book, “ Angel Investing.” billion collected in 2014.

Startup 106

Startup Angel .Net Entrepreneur 106

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 21, 2014

Introducing Bitcoinference | A Decentralized Conference , hosted by illustrious startup accelerator, 500 Startups. Bitcoin has had a rough start to the year (to say the least) – with a never-ending news feed consisting of massive bankruptcy , scandal stories, and car chase media fiascos. Getting Things Started.

Startup 104

Startup Venture Capital Draper Invest 104

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

The speaks to the continued confidence in the venture capital markets and as I had predicted some time ago the VC markets right now are a great place to invest – especially relative to other places to put one’s money. Our last fund we raised was in 2012 and we began investing it in April of 2012. But that’s it.

Venture Capital 396

Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

It’s the first EIR that we’ve had in the years that I’ve been with the firm and I hope will be the start of our investment in this program. We’re excited to continue to grow our investment professional staff and will continue to do so over the course of 2013 & 2014 with our new fund.

Startup 372

Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

Tech.Co

MAY 25, 2018

Fortunately, the Startup of the Year program aims to make it easier for founders to connect with resources. In 2006, a passion to help startups grew into Tech Cocktail , a company whose mission was to showcased burgeoning companies in bars around the country. The Case Foundation invests in people and ideas that can change the world.

Startup 141

Startup Technical Review Competition Software Review 141

Tech.Co

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Mega startup campuses, the latest trend in coworking, are spreading their wings in Europe. As the founding head of Campus London , Google’s first physical hub for startups and now home to over 80,000 registered members, I thought it would be interesting to share the latest developments in this space from my perspective.

Startup 70

Startup Google Venture Capital Outsource Development 70

Tech Zulu Event

MARCH 25, 2014

Tons of great conversations about new startups, hardware, and the entrepreneurs building them. To cap off our 6th year at SXSW and follow up on last year’s amazingly successful Trend Lounge , we knew this year had to be bigger, better, more engaging, and of course, even more fun. Hustle hard, ride in comfort.

Entertainment 99

Entertainment Google Entrepreneur Course 99

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 18, 2013

TechZulu is excited to invite you to the 2014 Startup and Entrepreneurial Forecast taking place on Tuesday Jan. We will have a line up of amazing panelist who will share their insights and forecast for startup trends in 2014. 28 from 7pm-10pm in Santa Monica. There will be plenty of FREE food and drinks!

Startup 111

Startup Entertainment Media Santa Barbara 111

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2013

Since the recent recession, and at least partially sparked by it, I’m seeing a real resurgence of entrepreneurial spirit, and more startup activity than ever before. It still adds up to over 20 million non-employer businesses out there today, with more starting every day. No wonder 90% of the successful startups still bootstrap.

Startup 109

Startup Entrepreneur Social Media Satisfaction 109

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2014

Venture capitalists (VCs) have long been seen as the top of the pyramid for startup funding sources, but in fact angel investors now fund over 60 times as many companies, according the Center for Venture Research. Individual angel investors have been filling the gap, and now match VCs in total amount invested.

Angel 104

Angel Funding Startup Venture Capital 104

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2014

One of the most frequent questions I get as a mentor to entrepreneurs is “How do I find the money to start my business?” On the other hand, there are many additional creative options available for starting a business that you might not find for buying a car, home, or other major consumer item. Trade equity or services for startup help.

Startup 113

Startup Entrepreneur Funding Equity 113

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

We started March Capital in late 2013. We did our first close in the summer of 2014, and over the first nine months we raised our fund and started investing. Fund I was fully deployed by June 30th of 2017, and we went out to raised Fund II, which was a wet close, where you invest as you close.

Funding 160

Funding Capital Artificial Inteligence Startup 160

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2017

The top 10 companies only make up 45 percent of the entire space. In the last few years, we've seen a spurt of activity where technology has started to penetrate the industry, and has started to change it. Scott Cannon: We started in 2012, when it was basically a couple of people on a telephone and the yellow pages.

Startup 174

Startup Metrics Customer Custom 174

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

The Annual TechZulu Startup Forecast is one of our most anticipated events. This year’s TZ #startupforecast (Jan 28, 2014) was no exception. Speakers listed: Brock Pierce – Digital currency pioneer investing in Bitcoin, games, and online gambling businesses; Clearstone Global Gaming Fund. Summary of Topics.

Startup 95

Startup Google Education Venture Capital 95

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2017

Ridesharing service Uber is looking to acquire the technical team behind Luxe , the luxury car parking startup backed by LA's Upfront Ventures, according to the WSJ. Upfront made its investment in Luxe in 2014. The WSJ said the "acqhire" is focused on part of Luxe's engineering team, rather than the whole company.

Redpoint 113

Redpoint Report Google Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 4, 2014

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Congratulations!

Startup 93

Startup Funding Venture Capital Ideas 93

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

When convertible debt first started being introduced as a “faster, cheaper way to get startups funded” they didn’t have pricing built into them. In fact, most early investor work hard to help their startups get to the next level so it makes no sense for the angel investor and founders to be at odds.

Startup 354

Startup Pricing Equity Venture Capital 354

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

But with online delivery services, a whole city’s worth of restaurant options opened up to consumers (as long as they were in your delivery area). Eaze, the biggest startup in the online delivery space, has raised at least $37 million to tackle the growing market for legal cannabis delivery since its launch in 2014.

Services 259

Services Venture Capital Startup Los Angeles 259

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

I often advise startup companies not to try and pin all of your brand equity into an announcement. It’s something you must earn over time by living up to the name you define. We are trying hard to live up to the guidelines we laid out for our investors, our portfolio companies and our community. It would be out of sync.

Venture Capital 324

Venture Capital Startup Blogging Platform 324

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

Lower costs to start a business (95% reduction), many more companies created & funded by angels / seed. Limited Partners or LPs (the people who invest into VC funds) have taken notice as 2014 is by all accounts the busiest year for LPs since the Great Recession began. and the bigger funds can’t get in directly.

Venture Capital 398

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2019

We caught up with Pluto TV's co-founder and Chief Growth Officer, Ilya Pozin , to hear about how the company started, and its path to acquisitionas well as to get some tips on startup success. Ilya also founded Coplex, a startup development studio. What's your story and how did you end up founding Pluto TV?

Startup 124

Startup Content Demand Netflix 124

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

We spoke with CEO and co-founder Dan LeBlanc , a veteran of ProFlowers and FTD, on how he started the company and he problem the startup is solving for direct to consumer brands. What does your startup do? What's your background, and how did the startup come about? Dan LeBlanc: Daasity is about two years old.,

Startup 113

Startup Platform Commerce San Diego 113

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

” I hear it when I visit LPs (the people who invest in VCs) all across the country, “Yeah, I haven’t been out there for a few years but I keep hearing that something is going on there.” Given how efficient markets are when a large market like LA starts to blossom it attracts capital pretty quickly.

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2018

Los Angeles-based AppOnboard , the startup developing mobile app demo and analytics software, has raised $15M more in a funding round, the company said on Tuesday morning. Zweig is a serial entrepreneur , and was the founding CEO and President of AdColony (which sold to Opera for $350 Million in June of 2014). READ MORE>>.

Mobile 113

Mobile Los Angeles Tool Funding 113

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2015

I was out to raise my first seed money in my second startup of $500,000. Neither did Y Combinator, 500 Startups, TechStars, Amplify, Mucker and countless others. And importantly they play an important role in helping to introduce you to the right A-round VC based on your startup type. It is, of course, a very recent phenomenon.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Startup Invest Cloud Computing 150

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2014

Contrary to popular opinion, viral marketing has not eliminated the need for old-fashioned lead generation to bring customers to a startup. His professional background includes having held marketing-executive roles at big companies as well as startups. One of these experts, David T. Social-media advertising. Cold calling.

Startup 99

Startup Social Media SEM Advertising 99

Tech.Co

MARCH 8, 2018

Getting face time with VCs or people of influence is an ongoing challenge for startup founders, and it may take layers of introductions to get to the right person. Lisha is a member of Pipeline Angels , a social impact angel investing group focused on women and non-binary femmes, and serves as the Deal Flow lead.

Technical Review 70

Technical Review Startup Software Review Entrepreneur 70