socalTECH

MARCH 10, 2020

Los Angeles-based short-form streaming media startup Quibi , founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, has sued a competitor--Interlude US Inc, which runs the interactive multimedia entertainment service Eko , saying that it has "embarked on a campaign of threats and harassment to coerce money or a licensing deal from Quibi".

Patents 113

Patents Entertainment Media Los Angeles 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2020

Thus I often recommend that before you kick off your own business, you join another startup or existing business to see how things really work. It starts with documenting and communicating a real purpose and mission in terms everyone can get excited about. Even the best college degree is not a substitute. Neither is good.

Entrepreneur 173

Entrepreneur Patents Startup Technical Review 173

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and angel investor, I still see too many strategies leading to failure that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. I certainly agree that starting a business is fraught with risk, and none of us get it all right the first time.

Startup 174

Startup Writing Entrepreneur Ideas 174

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

APRIL 27, 2020

If you want to make a great first impression on a startup investor or an advisor like me, don’t try to convince me or show me how busy you are. I’m sure you all know someone who always seems to be overworked, but often comes up short on the delivery side. As an entrepreneur starting a new business, you have a lot to learn.

Product 123

Product Startup Tips Entrepreneur 123

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

This raises a big red flag with potential investors, who conclude that no competitors means no market, or you haven’t looked, and the new startup is likely not investable. First to market, for example, is not normally a sustainable advantage for startups. Here are some of the key ones: Patent protection in place as a barrier to entry.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

socalTECH

AUGUST 22, 2013

A new, Los Angeles area startup launched this morning, hoping to use the power of the crowd to help take ideas to launch. The startup--headed by Dirk Ahlborn--has created a system which lets the crowd provide feedback, ideas, and even crowdfunding to take ideas and research to market. READ MORE>>.

Research 193

Research El Segundo Incubator Startup 193

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

The average length of a funding pitch to angel investors is ten 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. Don’t forget to ask for the order.

Startup 118

Startup Slides Technical Review Research 118

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 12, 2009

Los Angeles-based Stamps.com , which operates an Internet-based postage service, has scored a new patent, covering the firm's cryptography systems. The patent, number 7,490,065, was granted to Craig L. The patent was granted Tuesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, according to the patent filing.

Patents 100

Patents Los Angeles Software Services 100

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

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

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 5, 2023

Fixed overhead for salaries, rent, equipment leases and more make up the majority of the “burn rate” (monthly expenses) for most companies. Yes, there were other issues such as a protracted patent rights fight that drained cash, but the largest problem, inefficient use of R&D time burning fixed overhead, led to the demise of the company.

Venture Capital 296

Venture Capital Product Marketing Resource 296

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 11, 2020

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’m always surprised by the fact that some never seem to be able to that first startup going, while many others never seem to stop, starting their second or third initiative before the first one is fully hatched. You can’t win a race that you never start.

Entrepreneur 131

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Software Review 131

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2023

The average length of a funding pitch to angel investors is ten 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. Don’t forget to ask for the order.

Slides 147

Slides Funding Technical Review Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2022

Every investor knows how vulnerable a new startup is to competitors, so investors always ask about your sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. Neither speaks well for you or your startup. The problem is that startups have limited resources to keep them ahead of big companies. Don’t bash the competition.

Competition 133

Competition Patents Resource Invest 133

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 6, 2014

Typo , the Los Angeles startup backed by Ryan Seacrest which is developing a BlackBerry-like keyboard for the iPhone, has struck back against the patent lawsuit filed against the firm by BlackBerry. typo angeles startup patent infringement lawsuit blackberry keyboard legal intellectual property court'

Patents 147

Patents Los Angeles Report Sales 147

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

Los Angeles-based transportation technology developer HyperLoop One continues to fall deeper into the rabbit hole, out of its carefully crafted image of reality and into the alternative reality of back-and-forth legal proceedings against its former CTO and co-founder, Brogan BamBrogan. READ MORE>>.

Patents 124

Patents News Startup Los Angeles 124

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 14, 2020

After many years of working with angel investors seriously trying to find new ventures worthy of their hard-earned money, I find their frustration often exceeds that of entrepreneurs sincerely looking for financial help. For seed stage funding, entrepreneurs should be looking to friends and family, crowd funding, and relevant institutions.

Funding 123

Funding Startup Entrepreneur Invest 123

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2016

Angel investors are still the lifeblood of early-stage startups, despite the surge of activity in crowdfunding and an increasing early interest from venture capitalists. 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.

Angel 65

Angel Startup Technical Review Social Media 65

socalTECH

AUGUST 29, 2013

Can tapping the power of the crowd not only help you find customers and help fund your project, but also help you shape your startup idea and find funding? A new, Los Angeles area startup, JumpStartFund (www.jumpstartfund.com) recently launched, offering up a combination of crowdfunding and crowd-advice for entrepreneurial ideas.

Ideas 178

Ideas Patents Funding Startup 178

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2013

The average length of a funding pitch to Angel investors is ten 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. Start with the problem and your solution.

Angel 102

Angel Funding Slides Technical Review 102

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Most of these investors are members of Angel groups that have a rigorous filtering and screening process, to select the top 3% and most fundable proposals. Line up an experienced team.

Angel 104

Angel Screening Summary Startup 104

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

socalTECH

JANUARY 18, 2019

To better understand exactly where EV technology is today, we caught up with Caradoc Ehrenhalt , the CEO and founder of a Los Angeles startup, EV Safe Charge (www.evsafecharge.com), to chat a bit about his view of where EV charging technology today. We started doing residential installations, and then commercial installations.

Startup 243

Startup Customer Custom Entrepreneur 243

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Continuing my series of posts that I’ve been collecting that live at the intersection of Startups and being a Startup CTO : Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March here are the top posts from May 2010. It is to out friend. Enjoyed this post? Disruptive. We get it! I Be specific.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 2, 2015

Every investor knows how vulnerable a new startup is to competitors, so investors always ask about your sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. Neither speaks well for you or your startup. The problem is that startups have limited resources to keep them ahead of big companies. Don’t bash the competition.

Startup 118

Startup Competition Patents Resource 118

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Even bigger is the desire to stick one’s middle finger up at all of the people who doubted you all along. We checked patents. She has never given up despite setbacks. Could you withstand the public scrutiny every day of being a young tech founder and show up every morning filled with enthusiasm? I was not fried.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

socalTECH

DECEMBER 18, 2015

Los Angeles-based subscription razor startup Dollar Shave Club has been sued by razor giant Gillette , which claims that Dollar Shave Club is infringing upon Gillette's patents. Gillette did not specify in its announcement which patents it believes Dollar Shave Club is infringing upon. READ MORE>>.

Dollar Shave Club 100

Dollar Shave Club Patents Los Angeles Invest 100

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2012

One of the first tough decisions that startup founders have to make is how to allocate or split the equity among co-founders. The easy answer of splitting it equally among all co-founders, since there is minimal value at that point, is usually the worst possible answer, and often results in a later startup failure due to an obvious inequity.

Startup 101

Startup Entrepreneur Equity CTO Hire 101

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2013

Initially, you may be able to rely on friends and family to put you on the top of their list, but eventually you will probably need real professional investors (Angels and VCs). Most Angels I know get their payback from helping others, not from making money. Angel investors look for prior domain and startup experience.

Invest 107

Invest Startup Venture Capital Ideas 107

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

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 107

Entrepreneur Angel Social Media Patents 107

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 23, 2013

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. Need expensive resources up front. General startup expenses are beyond your means. bootstrap business entrepreneur startup'

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Technical Review Equity 100

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

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 3, 2016

These things outside your control do happen, but based on my years of experience as a startup advisor and angel investor, I still see too many shortcuts leading to failure that are inside the entrepreneur decision realm. I certainly agree that starting a business is fraught with risk, and none of us get it all right the first time.

Startup 57

Startup Entrepreneur Writing Ideas 57

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee). Line up an experienced team.

Invest 99

Invest Angel Technical Review Summary 99

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2020

As an angel investor, I see plenty of startups focusing on building an innovative product, but I’m looking for the few who are also leading with an exponential growth strategy, to put them in the category of the next Amazon or Google. These can easily start new trends, or capitalize on existing ones.

Marketing 170

Marketing Startup Examples Customer 170