Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

I had to be successful at my new software company. My sales tax payments were due in the next few days, and I didn’t have the money. An earthquake struck Los Angeles. In an hour I received a phone call from the friend who was in the office where I was due later that morning. It wasn’t a fall- back position.

Startup 204

Startup Software Review UCLA Sales 204

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

That's the fascinating story behind Los Angeles-based Earbits (www.earbits.com), which offers up a mobile music streaming service focused on discovering both new and talent. Joey Flores: For starters, we're smart enough not to believe anything until it is in writing. So, we decided to shut down the company.

Software Review 100

Software Review Startup Metrics Content 100

socalTECH

OCTOBER 31, 2011

There are lots of knowledgeable people that we find to write these guides--people who grew up there, and who are experts in the area. They came down to Los Angeles, and we brainstormed ideas, and basically--in 24 hours-- we revitalized my original idea, but for the iPhone. That's really empowering. It's working out really well.

Guide 203

Guide Software Review Twiistup Technical Review 203

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 17, 2017

He eventually founded and sold consumer health firm ViSalus to a public company and is now back making investments, in technology companies, as a venture capitalist here at Los Angeles-based HashtagOne (www.hashtagone.com). My CIO had been ex-CIO at Herbalife, and was an EVP of Software for Disney.

Venture Capital 100

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review 100

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Ask for is code samples. arcticempire.ca – mobile app development & code review based in Canada, Ask for Josh. datatv.com – web & interactive mobile web development based in Los Angeles, Ask for Adam. proveit.com – resource to test code, recommended by Janine at Fetch Recruiting.

CTO Hire 81

CTO Hire Outsource Development Develop Development 81

socalTECH

JUNE 11, 2018

For our interview this morning, we caught up with Scot Lawrie , the President and technical Co-founder of Los Angeles-based Coverfly (www.coverfly.com), and John Rhodes , Coverfly's head of Marketing and Business Development, to learn a bit more about the early stage, bootstrapped startup focused on Hollywood script writers. What is Coverfly?

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Hollywood Platform Competition 100

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

There is a battle between entrepreneurs who try to change the world and solve a meaningful problem and those who write take-down pieces with no apparent personal benefit other than attention. Are we right in all of our assumptions and diligence? . “A lie travels around the globe while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

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

socalTECH

OCTOBER 30, 2008

We're always interested in how technology is influencing the business of Hollywood, and recently ran across Los Angeles-based Scripped. to the business of script writing, and is looking to combine a free online tool for writing scripts with matching those scripts with content producers. What's Scripped?

Content 138

Content Writing Software Review Hollywood 138

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The vast majority of those are nowhere up to modern codes. “From the invention of the semiconductor to the creation of the Internet, new engines of economic growth have emerged due to public investments that support research, commercialization, and strong supply chains,” the White House wrote. Sick of your ISP?

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

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

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

Huge thank you to Steve De Long for the write up. A deep dive into the Foundry Group investment philosophy including an interesting discussion of their investing Themes. “… our lens is: Internet Software Companies anywhere in the U.S. If you are outside internet software we are not going to invest. Is that when it became big?

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

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

JANUARY 16, 2010

Writing down your weight from your scale is obviously a manual process and it’s tedious. My favorite new software tool is DailyBurn. Problem is – Weight Watchers software TOTALLY SUCKS. Last week I went to the Inaugural Open Angel Forum run by Jason Calacanis. We’ll see. Enter Withings.

Technical Review 278

Technical Review Software Review Startup SoCal 278

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. What is Your Risk Appetite?

Startup 150

Startup Capital Funding Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

You’ve pitched several angels and VC’s. Traction can simply mean showing that you’re making progress with customers, product development, channel partners, initial revenue as a proof point, attracting well-known angel investors, winning industry awards / recognition. They hire key staff. They make progress.

Venture Capital 309

Venture Capital Guide Startup Technical Review 309

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

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

As an angel investor, I routinely toss business plans that focus too much on today, and don’t talk about tomorrow. I was happy to see a real focus on preparing for tomorrow highlighted in a new book, “ Start a Successful Business ,” by Colleen DeBaise, who has made a career of studying and writing about entrepreneur challenges.

Customer 57

Customer Custom Technical Review Software Review 57

socalTECH

APRIL 25, 2011

Scott Lahman is co-founder of Los Angeles-based GOGII (www.gogii.com), the developer of group text messaging application textPlus. We called the company GOGII--literally, our short text code of 60611, which you can looks a little like GOGII. That was our basis for doing something in text messaging.

Gogii 200

Gogii Mobile Activision Electronic Arts 200

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

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 Steve was trying to show that the Mac was just as much or better software than Windows. It was a big deal.

Startup 147

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Software Review 147

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. If you've taken a course, and need an application to do chemistry or math analysis, there's a store where you can write, share, sell, or buy those applications.

Education 124

Education Startup Course Tool 124

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 27, 2009

We didn't wanted to create new project management software--everyone uses Microsoft Project--but we wanted to make it more collaborative. So, our software takes a Microsoft.mpp file, and allows a whole team to manipulate it. Every company that did try it or buy it gave rave reviews, and said that this was what they wanted.

Startup 100

Startup Software Review Technical Review Software 100

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!” Fast early growth in a market is often eroded when competition gets fierce and prices are forced down due to competition. Not necessarily.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

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

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

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 28, 2012

. “You could feel the energy and excitement from getting everyone together, from the opening party to the inspiring panels; the creative pitches at the hackathon, demo day, angel pitch fest, and student pitch fest; and the good-times bonding from the nightly parties to the beach volleyball court. Demo Day / Angel Pitch.

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