socalTECH

MAY 11, 2010

Last week, Los Angeles-based EcoMom (www.ecomom.com) launched its "green" parenting site, with backing from Dave McClure. We have almost a thousand bloggers who are writing reviews about the products we offer, and we also review them from our own point of view, to help support parents decisions and learning about products in the real world.

Software Review 200

Software Review Commerce Startup Sites 200

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2010

We also discussed how to deal with pricing in angel rounds and a strategy I advocated in my “social proof&# blog post , which is to price your initial angel round really low and get in the best possible angels as a way to get momentum in the company. Angels have a much lower threshold for returns than do VCs.

Venture Capital 282

Venture Capital Capital Startup Pricing 282

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 11, 2011

I recommend you first review Dharmesh’s article and then listen to Naval’s thoughts. These days, thanks to code and community, we can productize almost any process done by humans. Late last year, there were more high-quality, seed-stage startups in New York than there was an Angel community to support them.”.

Startup 273

Startup Software Review Summary Technical Review 273

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 5, 2010

I’ve been meaning to write this post since September of last year when Brad Feld first wrote about the The Founders Visa Movement. I commented briefly on his blog and made a mental note to write a blog post. At the time he granted me permission to write about his story. We then moved our Chief Software Architect over.

Technical Review 282

Technical Review Startup High Tech Software Review 282

socalTECH

OCTOBER 28, 2010

Not too many people are aware of the success and story of Lynda.com (www.lynda.com), started by Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin , and how the firm's now grown to a double-digit, multimillion dollar business which is known as THE source for online training on such things as web design, graphics software, animation, video editing, and much more.

Startup 242

Startup Web Design Writing Web 242

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

This is why investors really like SaaS software companies where you have recurring revenue and your largest customer accounts for < 5% of your revenue and your renewals rates are > 90%. Many software companies have > 80% gross margins which is why they are more valuable than say traditional retailers or consumer product companies.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2016

When you raise larger rounds there is more “due diligence,” which includes: calling customers, looking at financial metrics, doing cohort analysis (looking for trends like changes in churn rates), evaluating competitor positioning and understanding more of the competency of your executive team.

Startup 150

Startup Capital Funding Invest 150

socalTECH

MAY 18, 2010

As of the last four months, we've had about 200,000 plus downloads, a bunch of great write ups, and a lot of mom bloggers who have been reviewing the app and writing stories on it. How did you end up in the mobile market from last running an enterprise software firm? Al Eisaian: It's been angel funded so far.

Mobile 168

Mobile .Net Pasadena Software Review 168

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

Baghdasarian was co-founder of Monterey Networks, which was sold to Cisco Systems back in 1999, has been an active angel investor in Southern California. We've basically taken advantage of all the new technology out there--especially, the web-based service model. Zareh Baghdasarian is the CEO of 15desks (www.15desks.com),

Education 124

Education Startup Course Tool 124

socalTECH

DECEMBER 17, 2018

Richard Wolpert is a well known investor in the Los Angeles technology community, through his own fund, Chance Technologies; as a Venture Partner at Amplify.LA Only six to nine months later, Apple was coming out with the iMac, and Disney was about to release a subscription service. It was a big deal.

Startup 147

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Software Review 147

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 25, 2016

It says that selling an airplane ticket for $500 and getting paid a $5 fees by the airlines (1% gross margin) is not the same thing as selling $500 of software that you built (>90% gross margin). The questions that a VC mulls before writing a check are precisely the questions you should be asking yourself. Market Size.

Startup 150

Startup Marketing Study SEO 150

SoCal CTO

MARCH 22, 2007

I regularly do wine tastings here in Los Angeles with some interesting folks I know. I am in the middle of writing up some of my thoughts on this and will post about it and let you know. We have been using LinkedIn for both sourcing recruits and reviewing backgrounds for recruits. Open Source Business Models, speakers for Web 2.0

Blogging 150

Blogging CTO Coach CTO Hire Southern California 150

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 28, 2012

Partners provided products and services including: Uber, Here on Biz, ParkMe, Simply Petals, Triptrotting, Bloodhound, Planana, Pop-Up Pantry, EventSorbet, ROC, Startup Car, Pulsoviral, TrueCar, PopChips, ONE Coconut water, Gamer Food, Zevia. Code Monkey Hackathon song (VIDEO ABOVE). Demo Day / Angel Pitch. Geeks Unite.

Hollywood 67

Hollywood Technical Review Startup Rustic Canyon 67

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 1, 2011

We were invited to play with double Grammy winners Arrested Development and got great reviews, but when it came to marketing our shows and our album, we found that the tools out there for artists were a disaster. I was the second employee at a startup affiliate network called Affiliate Fuel here in Los Angeles, handling business development.

Startup 80

Startup Design Advertising Search Engine Optimization 80

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. The United States is now a debtor nation to China and that the bill is about to come due. But I didn’t write it for you; I wrote it for myself.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

In Los Angeles we don’t have “patron technology companies&# that are big enough to matter – we’re still hoping to see them emerge. Consider just how much exposure the Austin community gets every year due to SXSW. I don’t write about LA but I write from LA. It’s awesome.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

Many people will write the history on why Ring became an enormously successful company and why it became a real-world unicorn in a world when many startups are anointed that merely on paper. Jamie Siminoff is not only one of the single best true entrepreneurs in Los Angeles, he’s amongst the best we’ve worked with in the country.

Startup 247

Startup Pricing Product Marketing 247

SoCal CTO

AUGUST 3, 2010

5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches - A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks , July 11, 2010 I just reviewed several hundred startup pitches for Capital Factory. Between this blog and reviewing applications to Capital Factory I see hundreds of pitches a year. Angel vs VC? - Not that I blame you! We have the most features.

Startup 217

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Software Review 217