Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2020

Every entrepreneur I know finds it a challenge to balance the joys of entrepreneurship against a set of frustrations they never anticipated. You expected the difficulty of finding funding, but you never expected it to go so fast into unanticipated expenses, inventory, support, and marketing.

Entrepreneur 122

Entrepreneur Startup Course Examples 122

socalTECH

DECEMBER 10, 2010

Thanks to all of our sponsors and advertisers, who make our coverage of Southern. venture funding and business deals, technology develops, and more from Santa Barbara. venture funding and business deals, technology develops, and more from Santa Barbara. Thanks this week to our sponsors and advertisers, which include Clearstone.

SoCalTech 127

SoCalTech Advertising Rustic Canyon Glendale 127

socalTECH

AUGUST 14, 2014

Vadio , the developer of a platform which helps match music videos and ads with streaming music , said Thursday that it has raised $2M in a seed funding round, which included Mucker Capital, Amplify.LA, as well as other LA investors. READ MORE>>.

Capital 138

Capital Funding Seed Funding Incubator 138

InfoChachkie

JULY 5, 2012

Coull Entrepreneurs Get More Customers. Coull Offers Advertisers Video Skimlinks. <JG <JG change the link in first sentence to the infoChachkie post> As noted in YouTube Scores A Solid Return On Its Video Development Fund , many YouTube personalities are sensitive to the nature of the ads associated with their content.

Customer 133

Customer Custom Entrepreneur Advertising 133

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 25, 2014

Ventura-based The Trade Desk , the real time, demand-side advertising platform developer led by Jeff Green, has raised $20M in a Series B funding, the company said today. According to The Trade Desk, Alex Kayyal of Hermes will join the company''s board as part of the funding. READ MORE>>.

Ventura 190

Ventura Advertising Demand Platform 190

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

While the market isn't short of spritely, innovative entrepreneurs, harsh economic headwinds combined with a pullback in investor spending have made it harder than ever for budding businesses to break through. Source: runwayml.com In June, Runway raised $141 million in funding, nudging its market valuation to an envy-inducing $1.5

Startup 207

Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 207

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

There has been much discussion about VCs doing seed funding in the past year. I’ve written about it myself (Is VC Seed Funding Dead?) and (Is There Really a Signaling Problem with VC Seed Funding?). Many firms do it in a way that can be more detrimental to entrepreneurs. Short summary of my posts: 1.

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Seed Funding Funding Venture Capital GRP Partners 298

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Mogul Millennial — this Dallas-based company is a digital media platform for black entrepreneurs and corporate leaders. — hailing from Mexico City, this startup makes mini games in augmented reality for brands and advertisers. Hardworkers — a Cambridge, Mass.-based

Artificial Inteligence 331

Artificial Inteligence Social Network Los Angeles Snapchat 331

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 28, 2014

Irvine-based Adaptive Medias , the developer of programmatic advertising technology which acquired StartEngine''s Ember back in December, said Thursday that it has named Bryan Nguyen as its Chief Technology Officer. One of Adaptive Medias'' largest shareholders is Ben Padnos, the Internet entrepreneur behind such companies as DONE!

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Media Chief Technology Officer Advertising Entrepreneur 153

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2023

In the aftermath of the recent pandemic, which caused many businesses to close, a new raft of business workers and entrepreneurs are deciding to pursue their own dreams of being a new business owner, and controlling your own destiny. The remainder use outside funding, including crowdfunding, friends and family, banks, and investors.

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Social Media Metrics Media Tool 98

socalTECH

JANUARY 18, 2011

This morning, Pasadena-based Perfect Market (www.perfectmarket.com) announced a new, $9M round of funding for the firm's technology, which is used to help publishers monetize their content. Congrats on funding. On page performance of advertising on a page is linked to the context and intent of a user. That's what we are finding.

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Marketing Funding Content Writing 232

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 18, 2015

If you think you are the perfect fit for the entrepreneur lifestyle, but you’re not yet sure if you’re ready to start your own, then I recommend that you take a job with an existing startup first to validate the culture realities against your dream. Hang out where entrepreneurs meet. Explore investor websites and conferences.

Sample 101

Sample Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup 101

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 17, 2012

It is a platform that allows anyone who offers a service to advertise it for free – we promote this profile on the most popular social networks such as Twitter , Facebook, Google Plus, Pinterest, Stumbleupon and many more. Where does someone who is starting a hairdressers advertise their business? Any funding yet?

Advertising 79

Advertising Services Social Network Startup 79

socalTECH

JANUARY 31, 2013

Although maybe not all of the startups at the event might go on to get funding, an entire group of potential startup founders in the audience realize that they, too, have a shot at starting something and getting a chance to take it to the next level. Standing room only crowd at StartEngine). Standing room only crowd at StartEngine).

Startup 256

Startup Commerce Santa Monica Mentor 256

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2016

It’s very fashionable these days to declare yourself a social entrepreneur, working for the good of society, the environment and a better life. Most social entrepreneurs don’t like to talk about making money, but often they still ask for help finding investors. Advertising is expensive. Funding is dependent on the economy.

Entrepreneur 53

Entrepreneur Software Review Organization Advertising 53

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2017

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. As an active angel investor, I look for this level of alignment and understanding in every funding presentation I hear. No startup or entrepreneur is an island.

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Funding Startup Activity Customer 57

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2014

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. Perhaps you intend to collect money from advertisers, but this requires a large investment to get the audience you need before monetization can work.

Entrepreneur 110

Entrepreneur Competition Patents Resource 110

socalTECH

JANUARY 14, 2013

Convetro , the online advertising targeting and optimization technology developer headed by serial entrepreneur Jeff Zwelling, has raised $5M in a Series B funding round, the company said this morning. The firm said the funding came from Bessemer Venture Partners and DAG Ventures, and will go towards sales and marketing.

Santa Monica 147

Santa Monica Advertising Equity Entrepreneur 147

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 22, 2014

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype, and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market-research data. On the other hand, spending your entire startup budget on market research won’t improve your odds of success or funding.

Marketing 97

Marketing Entrepreneur Statistics Research 97

socalTECH

AUGUST 2, 2012

Connexity the online advertising startup headed by former Fastclick co-founder Dave Gross, announced this morning that it has raised $3M in a seed funding round. The company uses advertising to recommend products and services to users, based on individual interests and what it is calling "audience graph analysis."

Netflix 124

Netflix Seed Funding Advertising Sales 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 6, 2023

Many entrepreneurs are so enamored with their product vision that they believe their own hype and are convinced that the market for their solution is so huge that no one will ask them for independent market research data. On the other hand, spending your entire startup budget on market research won’t improve your odds of success or funding.

Statistics 120

Statistics Research Report Newsletter 120

socalTECH

JANUARY 29, 2013

Rubicon Project , the online advertising technology firm headed by serial entrepreneur Frank Addante, looks like it may just be the next Southern California company to file for an IPO, based on a number of executive appointments made Tuesday.

Southern California 180

Southern California Chief Technology Officer Legalzoom OpenX 180

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Others, like Guy Kawasaki , have irreverently called some of these “entrepreneur lies,” but I prefer to think of them as innocent enhancements or omissions that can kill your deal. It takes a huge upfront investment to attract users, before advertisers are interested. Entrepreneurs in this category are usually dreamers.

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Funding Startup Innocal Entrepreneur 98

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 16, 2023

Social-media advertising. Social-media advertising relies on popular social media sites (such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter) to generate leads through pay-per-click ads and tweets on sites that target customers in specific demographics. Display advertising.

Marketing 114

Marketing Invest Social Media SEM 114

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2022

How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding. Perhaps you intend to collect money from advertisers, but this requires a large investment to get the audience you need before monetization can work.

Competition 133

Competition Patents Resource Invest 133

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2014

The concept of free goods and services to get you hooked, financed by deep pockets or advertising, seems marginally ethical to many. First movers in a new space need users more than revenue to maintain market share, so investment pitches need to highlight this priority in requests for funding resources.

Entrepreneur 98

Entrepreneur Organization Invest Customer 98

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 7, 2022

Too many entrepreneurs don’t know what to do at this point, largely accounting for a disappointing 50 percent of startups that fail in the first five years, according to InvoiceTracker. Many entrepreneurs forget that the growth phase may be your tightest squeeze on cash. Increase the pipeline and the conversion rate.

Startup 134

Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media Metrics 134

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

He has a really interesting background as a product manager and now an entrepreneur. On the one hand, an entrepreneur should not be overly paranoid and should know the ropes that VCs and other professional investors generally will not sign NDAs to see the concept or a prototype--and even if they did, it would not provide much protection.

Product 150

Product Entrepreneur Social Media Google 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 10, 2015

While you are doing all this work, of course, you need deep pockets to fund all your efforts, content and growing website hosting fees. When Facebook did it a few years ago, the company used more than $100 million in venture capital funding before it became profitable. It helps to understand how online advertising really works.

Advertising 99

Advertising PPC CPC Sites 99

InfoChachkie

APRIL 28, 2011

Many entrepreneurs encounter a similar dilemma. Thus, entrepreneurs must decide when to stop listening to the Sirens’ song of a quick buck and position their company to take advantage of long-term, sustainable business models. However, in the long run, entrepreneurs always benefit from delivering Maximum Utility for a fair price.

Entrepreneur 225

Entrepreneur SaaS Pricing Cloud Computing 225

InfoChachkie

JULY 9, 2012

Mark Suster , fellow venture capitalist and serial entrepreneur, has written extensively about YouTube’s evolution from dogs-on-skateboards to its current status as an entertainment medium rivaling cable television networks. Other than the occasional NBA game, he consumes his video content via our iPad and Xbox. He is not alone.

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Google Develop Development Funding 133

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2013

Some startups not only ignore this and don’t budget for it, but they actually plan on the free viral marketing to generate enough revenue from click-through advertising to fund operations and future growth. entrepreneur startup marketing budget viral marketing business' That’s a double death wish. Marty Zwilling.

Marketing 99

Marketing Entrepreneur Startup SEM 99

socalTECH

MAY 10, 2012

Los Angeles-based online advertising firm Rubicon Project is significantly boosting its executive ranks today, saying that it has named a new CTO, General Counsel, and SVP of Product Management to the firm. READ MORE>>.

Ticketmaster 133

Ticketmaster Clearstone Yahoo Web 133

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

As that idea grows into a business there may come a time where the need for outside funding in necessary to further grow and scale. Plus it gives something tangible to be shown to potential advertisers, partners, sponsors, etc. While this time for a business can be exciting one must be prepared with the resources to take the next step.

Resource 86

Resource Guide Entrepreneur Examples 86

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2019

New entrepreneurs are always looking for a shortcut in getting their venture story and plan across to investors, and closing on the funding they need. As an active angel investor, I look for this level of alignment and understanding in every funding presentation I hear. No startup or entrepreneur is an island.

Activity 100

Activity Customer Custom Resource 100

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

Los Angeles-based online advertising technology provider Rubicon Project (www.rubiconproject.com) recently had its IPO, making it one of the big success stories of Southern California''s technology startup world. It was a long road to an IPO from your first funding - did you expect that, and should companies just expect that nowadays?

Startup 176

Startup Advertising Los Angeles Southern California 176

socalTECH

MAY 31, 2012

Earthlink founder and Southern California entrepreneur Sky Dayton is leading an angel investment in a new startup out of Stanford, which is developing a service which allows developers to track changes and extract information out of web pages. READ MORE>>.

Southern California 145

Southern California Web Advertising Activity 145