SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Saturday, February 17, 2007 About this Blog Ive been thinking about doing a blog with my thoughts on technology and whats happening in the Los Angeles area technology scene for a while, but it was Ben Kuos recent start of a blog that inspired me to actually go ahead and do it. Thanks Ben.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

emerge and are there any lessons to be gained about the future? Listening to young people talk about social networking as a new phenomenon is a bit like hearing people talk about a remake of a famous song from my youth as though it was the original version. At it’s peak AOL had about 27 million US subscribers.

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Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 20, 2020

I’m not talking here about a small pivot. I’m talking about the kind of change that moved Apple from personal computers to music distribution to consumer electronics, and Amazon from books to e-Commerce to cloud computing services. Prices begin to decline quickly. Customer acquisition gets harder and more expensive.

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Pricing Cloud Computing Custom Customer 123

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 17, 2007

skip to main | skip to sidebar SoCal CTO Saturday, February 17, 2007 Finding Good Developers in Los Angeles? About 18 months ago, the entire group began to mention that they were having more difficulty finding good developers. Technology Advisor Technology Roles in Startups Pricing Customer Acquisition Sunk Costs and More -.

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TechCrunch LA

MAY 3, 2022

A hairstylist can help a woman feel better about themselves. All of the stylists are independent contractors and set their own pricing. The price a consumer pays depends on the stylist chosen. There is a $30 monthly subscription fee that stylists pay in addition to a transaction fee for purchases.

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Tool Custom Customer Marketing 179

Xconomy

OCTOBER 27, 2016

Prices for agricultural commodities such as corn, soy, and wheat are at their lowest levels in years, but investment in agricultural technology has never been better. The increase in dollars flowing to agtech comes despite commodity prices that are down 65 percent from their 2013 peak, the report says. They also queried 15 VC firms.

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Venture Capital Pricing Invest Report 40

socalTECH

MARCH 6, 2017

We caught up with co-founder Clark Landry to chat about his new startup, which he co-founded with Michael Ritter. What we're trying to positions ourselves as, and it might sound touchy-feely, is a friend to app developers and app owners who have mobile applications. What was appealing to you about the mobile app area?

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Media Mobile Startup Acquisition 153

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Most board meetings are administrative updates that accomplish very little other than inform board members about the performance of the company since the last board meeting. No board member will truly read and be thoughtful about the entire deck and no team can get through the entire presentation in the meeting.

Startup 226

Startup Slides Metrics News 226

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2021

It provided an industry-leading graphic development interface, but was not so strong on modeling and simulation. As a result, we shared in capturing a new high-end market, without major new marketing or development. Good strategic partnerships often lead to strategic investments, or great acquisition relationships.

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Startup Outsource Development Examples Custom 173

Xconomy

AUGUST 11, 2020

The larger company agreed to pay $12 per share for Pfenex (NYSE American: PFNX )—a 57 percent premium to its closing price Monday. San Diego-based Ligand (NASDAQ: LGND ) generates revenue from licensing deals and royalties paid by pharmaceutical companies that use technologies it develops or acquires for their own drug research.

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San Diego Technology Research Pricing 98

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

There has been a lot of public debate over the past several weeks about whether it’s a good thing to be “gross margin positive” or not and commentary always reminds me that some people at startups don’t quite understand financial metrics or even how to think about which ones are healthy. Customer acquisition cost. End of story.

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Metrics Startup SaaS Course 150

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 1, 2015

I’m not talking here about a small pivot. I’m talking about the kind of change that moved Apple from personal computers to music distribution to consumer electronics, and Amazon from books to e-Commerce to cloud computing services. Prices begin to decline quickly. Customer acquisition gets harder and more expensive.

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Startup Pricing Cloud Computing Custom 116

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

In it I talked about how I believe that Netflix has a very strong lead in the battle for the “head end&# of the digital living room. It’s the most profound book I’ve read on thinking about how the Internet is changing business. So it wouldn’t be a surprise to see price increases in Qwikster in the future.

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Netflix Evite Pricing Hulu 329

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 3, 2010

You know, they get so excited about doing deals all the time instead of doing the hard work of figuring out their businesses. A close friend of mine in LA who is 3 years into his startup called me about 2.5 I can save tons of development time and I think I can buy it for all equity. 500k had come through the last acquisition.

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Technical Review Startup Press Pricing 276

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

There is excitement about the possibilities of real change and an infectious “naive optimism” about how everything is possible. As companies get this initial customer feedback on their product they start to have to ask harder questions about unit economics: How much does it cost us to acquire a new customer?

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Startup Technical Review Custom Customer 286

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 6, 2020

The punchline is, I'm pretty excited about this story. We're really focused on the consumer getting the right car at the right price. Fair made its name early on subscriptions, can you talk a bit about the reason for the shift away from that? That really made us an extended rental car company, if you think about it.

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Startup Pricing Platform Study 124

socalTECH

JANUARY 28, 2013

How do you go about trying to completely disrupt the entire telecom industry? No fly by night startup -- the company is backed by the founders of Skype -- we talked with COO Stephen Sesar about how FreedomPop can provide free wireless Internet, the firm's expansion plans, and how the company hopes to turn the telecom industry on its head.

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Startup IP Networking Encino 245

TechCrunch LA

MAY 25, 2019

Last week, I wrote about an alternative to venture capital called revenue-based financing and before that, I jotted down some notes on one of VCs’ favorite spaces: cannabis tech. Before I tell you about a few other up-and-coming beverage makers, I must beg the question: Does the beverage industry need disrupting? Fundraising.

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Startup Venture Capital Newsletter Tips 223

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2021

I recommend a trial run with an experiment or MVP (minimum viable product), at full price and cost, before the big bang launch, risking your investment money and a major time commitment. I once met with an entrepreneur who had developed a new algae strain to cure world hunger and make him rich. Needed help can be your biggest burden.

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Technical Review Case Study Mentor Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

I’m not talking here about a small pivot. I’m talking about the kind of change that moved Apple from personal computers to music distribution to consumer electronics, and Amazon from books to e-Commerce to cloud computing services. Prices begin to decline quickly. Customer acquisition gets harder and more expensive.

Pricing 105

Pricing Cloud Computing Custom Customer 105

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

and the subsequent acquisition sprees of companies like Google, Yahoo!, It has also brought about my favorite new term – Ramen Profitable. So, definition: when I talk about a business plan I’m not talking about a 40-page Word document outlining your market approach. I care about your assumptions going in.

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Web 2.0 Venture Capital Web Technical Review 334

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2018

I’m not talking here about a small pivot. I’m talking about the kind of change that moved Apple from personal computers to music distribution to consumer electronics, and Amazon from books to e-Commerce to cloud computing services. Prices begin to decline quickly. Customer acquisition gets harder and more expensive.

Pricing 52

Pricing Cloud Computing Custom Customer 52

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

TechCrunch is heading to UCLA on October 18 and we’ve assembled some of the AR/VR industry’s most prescient founders, investors and executives to chat about the startups and trends driving virtual and augmented reality in 2018. If anything, the OculusVR acquisition in 2014 signaled that Facebook saw VR as a social final frontier.

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UCLA Startup Snapchat Los Angeles 185

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Andrew Erskine has developed his legal career along with the rise of the tech startup scene in Los Angeles. It’s more of, ‘This is the way that your business works and how I understand it, and these are the rules that are set out for you to follow and you need to think about how to follow them.’”. Because if there are…’ ”.

Technical Review 141

Technical Review Startup Los Angeles Santa Monica 141

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 23, 2013

There are a lot of valuation companies out there, so I know many entrepreneurs are tempted to just shop around until they find the lowest price, but this is a mistake. There should be some sort of guarantee about the accuracy of their valuation and its ability to withstand scrutiny. A valuation is more than just a commodity.

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Company Companies Startup Acquisition 102

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2012

One of the fastest growing startups in Southern California in recent years was Hautelook, which went from just an ideas to a huge, $270M acquisition by Nordstrom only X years later. Tell us a little bit about your background? We sold that about a year and a half ago to Nordstrom, for approximately $270M dollars. What is value?

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Southern California Startup Custom Customer 200

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2015

“the ecommerce company gained fauxmentum by raising artificially high amounts of venture capital and spent lavishly on customer acquisition despite long payback periods and questionable LTV” __. But can sensible management team even do anything about it? __. faux·men·tum. fōˈmen(t)əm,fəˈmen(t)əm/. We live in heady times.

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Startup Marketing Custom Customer 150

Xconomy

JANUARY 4, 2019

In 2018, my Exome colleagues and I published hundreds of stories about health, medicine, the biopharma industry, government policy, and more. Topics ranged from the worries over CRISPR genome editing and Wild West biohacking, to Nobel Prize-fueled drug approvals and the headaches around drug prices (even for drugs meant to cure headaches).

Pricing 69

Pricing Email Networking Silver Lake 69

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2011

After AltaVista, Mike spent a year doing business development for USA Networks ( now IAC – Interactive Corp ). Quigo Lands Overture as Client, Rejects Their Acquisition Offer. So, what Quigo would do is analyze a web page for Overture and tell them what they thought it was about. Lesson Learned From Rejecting Acquisition Offers.

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Google Startup Advertising Acquisition 302

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2015

Yesterday I wrote about the need to “ do fewer things, more often ” in which I described that frenzied world we live in and why the shiny objects and distractions stop us from living up to our true potential. As a board member I’m sometimes a real pain-in-the-ass about this. Opening is easier than closing.

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SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2013

Yesterday, I was talking to a startup founder about their MVP and they said something that finally got me to write this post: "I have a few investors interested but they want to see a product." If you do build the MVP and show it to them, they will ask you about your metrics. They really want metrics, not a product.

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Metrics Venture Capital News Product 264

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

For entrepreneurs who want to learn about how to work with investment banks, how to position yourself to be acquired and what the IPO markets look like this is the episode to watch. They can also help raise larger rounds of capital and often at higher prices. 1 party = low price. This is often in the 5-7% range.

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Venture Capital Mission Ventures Capital Help 242

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” I know this seems obvious but I promise you that even smart people forget this when talking about profitability. Understanding Profits.

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Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Xconomy

JANUARY 26, 2018

The United States has a new Health and Human Services chief who is expected to weigh in on the country’s drug-pricing debate. Xconomy examined its owners’ justification for the price, and why a drug-value watchdog pushed back hard. Read more » Reprints | Share: UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS.

Pricing 49

Pricing News Services San Diego 49

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2020

In the short term you need customers to find you at any price, and in the longer term you need revenue, profit, and return loyalty. In a larger public company, it’s all about making your quarterly numbers, versus investing in strategic growth alternatives that may not pay off until several quarters later.

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Technical Review Layoffs Social Media Metrics 124

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

If a consumer will pay a fixed price for a product or service then the battle over who gets the margin in any sale is between the person who merchandises a product and the person who manufactures it. Many of us learned about substitute products in undergrad economics courses. from Charter’s subscribers. Get Physical!

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Product Course Custom Customer 296

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2010

Now that you’ve gotten the round done I’d love to get together at your convenience and learn more about your business so I’ll be ready well before you’re next fund raising event. And the CEO was very polite and professional about it. If I see your alpha product then I can judge how it develops over time.

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Startup Venture Capital Invest Slides 360