socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2018

Our investment in PlayVS and the subsequent launch of their Season Zero high school e-sports platform was very exciting. His exits in 2016 alone included Science portfolio companies HelloSociety (acquired by New York Times), FameBit (acquired by Google) and Dollar Shave Club (acquired by Unilever).

Dollar Shave Club 113

Dollar Shave Club Tsavo Userplane Malibu 113

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2016

Now these principles are complicated by the worldwide instant access to many competitive alternatives, indirect social and environment impacts, and the velocity of change enabled by the pervasive market move to digital. These principles include the following: Free and ultra-low cost may no longer be competitive.

Customer 101

Customer Custom Competition Netflix 101

LATechDigest

JUNE 13, 2016

@crosscutvc and a few other VCs talk investment opportunity and challenges in the video space #stream16 pic.twitter.com/L92fjfDEjk. LATech Digest (@LATechDigest) June 6, 2016. LATech Digest (@LATechDigest) June 6, 2016. LATech Digest (@LATechDigest) June 6, 2016. LATech Digest (@LATechDigest) June 6, 2016.

Snapchat 40

Snapchat SpaceX Santa Monica Journal 40

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 5, 2016

Offer incentives or competition. There is nothing like friendly competition or an attractive reward to bring out a new base of un-edited ideas. I find that startups rarely think of customers as investors, even though major customers might see ROI as a positive reason to invest in future growth, and chose to pay for equity.

Ideas 103

Ideas Competition Customer Custom 103

LATechDigest

MAY 23, 2016

Taiwan-US Investment. **. — Audrey Bellis (@audreybellis) May 19, 2016. NFTE Hosted Their Annual Entrepreneur Competition. — Scott Perry (@scottperry) May 18, 2016. — John Gutierrez (@johngutierrez) May 19, 2016. — John Gutierrez (@johngutierrez) May 19, 2016. Thursday May 26.

Snapchat 45

Snapchat Class Santa Monica Venice 45

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 3, 2016

While firms define platforms differently, let’s just say they are the services that a VC offers outside of investment capital and partner time on boards or providing intros. As a starting point you have to realize that investment firms (which a VC is) have management needs.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Platform Startup Resource 150

Tech.Co

OCTOBER 26, 2017

In August 2016, Hyperloop One broke ground on Development Loop (DevLoop), which became the world’s first full-scale Hyperloop test track. On October 12, 2017, Hyperloop One announced that Richard Branson and Virgin Group had invested into Hyperloop One. The suit was subsequently settled out of court, and BamBrogan then founded Arrivo.

SpaceX 100

SpaceX Design Technology Competition 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

In these cases, you need testimonials, usage details, and return-on-investment examples. Every customer has a sense of what a solution should cost, based on competition, and the cost of doing nothing. A good tack is to sell exclusivity, or provide case studies to show return on investment and productivity.

Product 95

Product Case Study Customer Custom 95

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2016

As a business advisor, I certainly recognize the need for talking to make an investment case, close a sale, or communicate with your team. Responsible, effective communication will give you a sustainable competitive advantage over both your peers and your competitors, by allowing you to get more done in less time.

Activity 104

Activity Resource Email Competition 104

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2016

My first suggestion is that entrepreneurs need to forget the old myth that all they need to do is sketch an idea on a napkin, and investors will line up to invest. The most investable ventures stem from painful needs by customers who have money to spend. Investors invest in people, often more so than in the product.

Entrepreneur 57

Entrepreneur Invest Funding Patents 57

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

At any rate, here is my own list of red flags, from my years of experience advising and investing in aspiring entrepreneurs, which cause me to lose interest and start looking for a way out the door: Omit the facts on key management team experience and skills. The average valuation for Angel investments is about $2.5

Funding 98

Funding Startup Innocal Entrepreneur 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

People are even talking about “decacorns" -- investable companies with net worth now exceeding $10 billion -- like Dropbox and Pinterest. Seed-round investment. This term refers to an initial venture-capital investment, often wrongly sought to seed early product development. Prime examples include Uber, Airbnb and Snapchat.

Startup 57

Startup Software Review Equity Invest 57

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2016

These often lead to angel investors and venture capital investments later, or connections to local company venture funds for selected focus and technology areas. These also get used for guest lectures in business classes, judges for business plan competition, and introductions to accredited investors.

Entrepreneur 55

Entrepreneur Capital Class Startup 55

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 29, 2016

I believe that the resourcefulness to turn constraints into competitive differentiators and new opportunities is a trait that separates the great entrepreneurs from the “wannabes.” Startups funded by large venture-capital investments rarely think about productivity. Marty Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 02/19/2016.

Startup 57

Startup Resource Entrepreneur Outsource 57

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2016

According to the Angel Capital Association , at least 300,000 people have made angel investments in the last two years, totaling $24 billion in the U.S. It takes more than one person, no matter how passionate, to grow an investible business. Marty Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 03/02/2016.

Angel 65

Angel Startup Technical Review Social Media 65

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 18, 2016

I see it happen often in my angel investment group, and you can see it happen almost every week on the Shark Tank TV show. 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

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2016

Another example is Facebook , maintaining motivation with food, stock options, collaborative office space, an on-site laundry, and a competitive atmosphere that fosters personal growth and learning with great benefits. Investors have long agreed that you invest in the team, more than the product. Start today.

Startup 58

Startup Examples Mentor Activity 58

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 3, 2016

Y Combinator was able to groom so many successful startups that they could virtually assure later venture capital investments to their graduates. The process is often competitive and very difficult. But the application process can be very competitive, and expensive in terms of equity and cash.

Incubator 58

Incubator Startup Seed Funding Equity 58

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2016

What they don’t realize is that about half the investment deals fail to close at this stage, including mergers and acquisitions , during the due-diligence process. The same is true of Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank investments you see on TV. Undisclosed skill gaps or agendas can stall your investment. Skeletons in the closet.

Technical Review 55

Technical Review Help Innocal Startup 55

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2017

Measuring is all about return-on-investment (ROI). You can fail by not being there at all (see the United Breaks Guitars story ), or making a big mistake (see The 12 Worst Social-Media Fails of 2016 ). Pick the ones that fit your desired outcome. Iteratively execute and measure results. Marty Zwilling.

Social Media 62

Social Media Media Metrics SEO 62

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2016

Examine the marketplace and your competition. Think twice before you invest your precious time, money, and energy, and then go for it! Marty Zwilling First published on Huffington Post on 12/27/2016. Every new business has highs and lows, and plenty of the unexpected.

Startup 71

Startup Statistics Guide Entrepreneur 71

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 25, 2016

If you expect an equity investment from reputable investors for your new startup, you need to know the boundaries that often limit their interest. Secret sauce' or competitive advantage is not clear. Even if you aren’t searching for outside investors, don’t forget that you are making a major investment of yourself into your startup.

Funding 57

Funding Social Media Startup Patents 57

InfoChachkie

MARCH 24, 2016

Unlike sites of the past that were deemed illegal, the current crop of election sites appear to well positioned to exploit the unprecedented focus Americans are applying to the 2016 election cycle. If people are heavily invested in the outcome of an election, they will be more inclined to read the news and become politically active.

Startup 100

Startup Sites Research Santa Barbara 100

Xconomy

JULY 19, 2016

In 2015, Cybersecurity startups saw 332 funding deals with investments hitting the highest ever at $3.8 For 2015, there were 133 information security M&A deals, according to 451 Research’s Tech M&A Outlook 2016. Symantec Forces the Industry to Stay Competitive. billion (235 percent growth over 5 years).

Symantec 40

Symantec IBM IBM Acquisition 40

socalTECH

APRIL 21, 2017

Georg Richter: For the five years before I started the company in January of 2016, I was at Guthy Renker, which is one of the largest and biggest direct marketing companies in the world. At the end, it's all about systems, the knowledge behind the databases, and making smart investment decisions. How did you get into this?

Startup 145

Startup Product Customer Custom 145

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 2, 2016

A common myth these days is that every startup needs an investor, and large investments are better than small ones. Reality check first your sizing of the opportunity, competition, and margins. Marty Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 04/22/2016. Late surprises lead to lawsuits. Don’t give away your business.

Startup 62

Startup Patents Entrepreneur Writing 62

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 20, 2016

Startup leaders have to be relentlessly resourceful in overcoming obstacles and competition. Marty Zwilling First published on Entrepreneur.com on 06/10/2016. Fundable entrepreneurs have to feel comfortable talking and listening to engineers, financial people, marketing and especially customers. Build your dream team early.

Startup 60

Startup Entrepreneur Software Review Technical Review 60

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 24, 2016

million in funding on TechCrunch led by Harmony Partners and Upfront Ventures to double its footprint of 3 cities (New York, Chicago & Washington DC) to 6 in 2016. 80% of our software was “below the surface” and not apparent to the market or competition. Fragmented markets can be a great target for disruption.

Startup 150

Startup Pricing Marketing Product 150

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 2, 2017

We're very excited to be working with them, to help us create a platform for us for future acceleration and growth, and we're working on additional investments down the track. I think we're seeing our growth finally is starting to be exponential, while back in 2015 and 2016 we found we needed to have some patience. versus New Zealand?

Help 100

Help Southern California Startup Technical Review 100

Xconomy

SEPTEMBER 16, 2016

A cybersecurity report by Ponemon Institute, in association with Keeper Security, found that in the 12 months leading up to June 2016, 55 percent of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) experienced a cyber attack, while 50 percent encountered data breaches involving customer and employee information.

Startup 40

Startup Framework Statistics Customer 40

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

What would it take in investments to acquire and retain traffic to support these businesses? After a year in the market, MakeSpace was growing rapidly and our biggest issue was CAC (customer acquisition costs) relative to payback period (when we get our marketing investment back) and relative to LTV (lifetime value). Competition.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

socalTECH

AUGUST 4, 2015

Generally speaking, today there is no good example of a market for energy storage at the building level which would justify the investment in that storage. I think that's really established energy storage as a competitive, reliable resource for utilities. Mike Hopkins: As you know, we've got an energy storage product. READ MORE>>.

Southern California 100

Southern California Technical Review Demand Outsource Development 100

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 11, 2021

Linktree leads the space, securing a recent $45 million Series B raise to build out e-commerce features, but Beacons boasts competitive creator monetization tools with just a $6 million seed round in May. Linktree has been around since 2016 and has more funding than its up-and-coming competitors.

Platform 286

Platform Commerce Startup Tool 286

Xconomy

AUGUST 26, 2016

Critics say Mylan has been emboldened by the recall of EpiPen’s only competition last fall. A Phase 2 trial of the drug, AMX0035, should start in late 2016 or early 2017. Its latest hike has brought the two-pack of injectors to more than $600, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Pricing 40

Pricing Thousand Oaks Startup Research 40

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Valuing any company can be difficult because it requires a degree of forecasting future growth & competition and ultimately the profits of the organization. We write about $40 million of first-checks into new deals / year and about $40 million of follow-on investments. But let me be even more clear.

Startup 150

Startup Company Companies Venture Capital 150