socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2012

For the last week of the year, we're featuring the thoughts and reflections of some of the movers and shakers of Southern California's high tech community. We launched a Digital LA - Women series with four panels starring female founders, entrepreneurs, developers and PR, which will also continue into the new year.

Dollar Shave Club 272

Dollar Shave Club Technical Review Santa Monica Southern California 272

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. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Your company has outgrown you.

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Technical Review Equity 100

socalTECH

DECEMBER 23, 2020

Every year, we feature the year end reflections of founders, CEOs, investors, and others in Southern California's high tech community. What was the biggest news for you/your company this year? It's been a tough year for many due to the pandemic; how have you or your company adapted to the business environment?

Venture Capital 124

Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Brentwood 124

socalTECH

DECEMBER 28, 2012

For the last week of the year, we're featuring the thoughts and reflections of some of the movers and shakers of Southern California's high tech community. At SGN we've seen steady revenue growth and we are a profitable company. Aside from the theoretical stuff, 2012 has been a year of disruption in many areas of technology.

Technical Review 223

Technical Review Southern California Incubator High Tech 223

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2022

Every business owner and entrepreneur I meet in my consulting rounds dreams of finding that “ disruptive ” innovation that will supercharge their business and move it into the ranks of business unicorns (billion-dollar valuations), such as SpaceX and Apple. If you don’t keep it top of mind today, then you are going to be left behind.

Technical Review 101

Technical Review Metrics Resource Software Review 101

socalTECH

DECEMBER 20, 2010

Last week, we announced our end-of-the-year project, which was to collect and share the opinions of some of the top influencers in Southern California's high tech community. Despite the economy, our portfolio revenue, aggregated across 14 companies, grew beyond our projections, more than doubling for the third year in a row.

Southern California 193

Southern California Technical Review High Tech News 193

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2020

Every year, we feature the year end reflections of founders, CEOs, investors, and others in Southern California's high tech community. What was the biggest news for you/your company this year?  It's been a tough year for many due to the pandemic; how have you or your company adapted to the business environment?

Southern California 113

Southern California Technical Review Santa Monica Invest 113

socalTECH

DECEMBER 22, 2010

For the next couple of weeks, we are sharing the opinions of some of the top influencers in Southern California's high tech community. We asked the same five questions of a variety of top technology entrepreneurs, investors, and others, to hear what they're thinking about, and are sharing it here over the next two weeks.

GRP Partners 170

GRP Partners Southern California Technical Review High Tech 170

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

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. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Your company has outgrown you.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Technical Review Startup Equity 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2013

Due to the struggling economy as well, traditional individual Angel investors haven’t been able to fill the gap. New “up-and-comer” VCs focus on early-stage companies. Technology costs are plummeting, meaning you can do more with less. Great companies are made, not born. That model doesn’t seem to work any more.

Angel 92

Angel Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup 92

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 5, 2010

Two weeks after Brad’s post I was at the 140 Conference in LA and I held open office hours for any entrepreneur who wanted to spend 15 minutes talking with a VC about their business. But it turns out I met a bunch of really interesting entrepreneurs. But TWTFelipe is an entrepreneur. Felipe grew up in Brazil.

Technical Review 282

Technical Review Startup High Tech Software Review 282

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2020

In my role as an advisor to entrepreneurs, I often see struggling businesses trying to be too many things for too many people, resulting in customer confusion, initiatives executed poorly, and high costs, few customers, and slow growth all around. Don’t attempt this model without high automation and a big investment up front.

Customer 123

Customer Custom Technical Review Examples 123

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Guy’s latest book, Enchantment , was released in March of 2011, to overwhelmingly upbeat reviews. Of the 225 customer reviews currently posted on Amazon, over 90% are highly positive. I enjoyed the book as well, as evidenced by the review I wrote at the time of its release, which you can read HERE. It wasn’t the Guy fan base.

Santa Barbara 262

Santa Barbara Technical Review Social Media Startup 262

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 10, 2010

However, to a Big Dumb Company (BDC), a startup’s IP is a thing of beauty. As such, they are hesitant to acquire a company which has not sought formal protection of their IP for two reasons. One is obvious, without protection, such IP might prove to be of little worth, as other companies can mimic the technology without recourse.

IP 256

IP Patents Company Companies 256

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

Entrepreneurs seeking funding should emulate Addie''s efficient and focused pursuit of perfection. When securing funding, entrepreneurs must balance the desire for perfection with the urgent need to ensure the process is efficient. Google x Facebook x Amazon) + (Universal Reviews). One-liners. AngelList Differentiation.

Product 208

Product Yammer Technical Review Google 208

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2010

All this week, we are sharing the opinions of some of the top influencers in Southern California's high tech community. We asked the same five questions of a variety of top technology entrepreneurs, investors, and others, to hear what they're thinking about, and are sharing it here over the next two weeks. 1) Mobile web.

Technical Review 160

Technical Review Southern California Cloud Computing Venture Capital 160

socalTECH

JULY 16, 2013

As much as the idea of "Silicon Beach" wants to represent the whole of the local technology industry in Los Angeles, there are -- as one would expect in such a large metropolitan area -- many different neighborhoods and communities spread across the region, all with their own individual identities, companies, and technology focuses.

Pasadena 242

Pasadena Santa Monica CalTech Technical Review 242

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

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. In fact, most of the rich entrepreneurs you know actively turned away early equity proposals. Your company has outgrown you.

Technical Review 95

Technical Review Startup Equity Entrepreneur 95

InfoChachkie

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

The Founder was kind enough to mentor me for several years, allowing me to experience all the roles involved in running a software company, including: sales, marketing, support and product development. Although he is a charismatic leader with rich and insightful experiences, Dr. Robert''s knowledge of the high-tech, startup world is limited.

Mentor 263

Mentor Startup Technical Review Software Review 263

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 23, 2012

Ignorance is not bliss in business, but it does allow entrepreneurs to face the unknown with a measure of confidence. No 19-year old understands business at the level of a seasoned, serial entrepreneur. However, it is important for young entrepreneurs to be adequately self-aware to know what they do not know.

Startup 268

Startup Tips CTO Coach Technical Review 268

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 17, 2012

During my many years as an entrepreneur, I developed the Impact Matrix to help me prioritize such significant, long-term initiatives. At larger companies, the Impact Matrix can be deployed at a departmental level, with each department’s projects eventually rolled up to a macro, company-wide view.

Tool 255

Tool Startup Ideas Resource 255

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 23, 2012

These should all be people who bring credibility and value to your company just by their very association with your company name. They should have deep backgrounds and experience in a relevant domain to your startup, and executive experience in running a company. Even still, you should expect to offer compensation.

Startup 95

Startup Technical Review Software Review High Tech 95

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

I conclude that the genesis of this trend seems to come from several forces, including the following: Less investment capital available due to the recession. Due to the economy as well, traditional individual angel investors haven’t been able to fill the gap. New “up-and-comer” VCs focus on early-stage companies.

Startup 86

Startup Angel Venture Capital Technical Review 86

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 5, 2011

These should all be people who bring credibility and value to your company just by their very association with your company name. They should have deep backgrounds and experience in a relevant domain to your startup, and executive experience in running a company. Even still, you should expect to offer compensation.

Startup 95

Startup Technical Review Software Review High Tech 95

InfoChachkie

APRIL 9, 2012

These entrepreneurs do not risk everything, work outrageous hours and put themselves under extreme pressure because they want to. If it were a decision to be an entrepreneur, then most right-minded individuals would decide to turn back when they encountered the first inevitable startup crises. Entrepreneurs want to matter.

Startup 243

Startup Ideas Entrepreneur Statistics 243

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 10, 2010

If you’re not familiar with the term it’s basically trying to help all of us who are deluged with technology to find ways to cope with the masses of information without having it ruin our lives. years in LA (early 90’s) many of my friends left to start companies in Silicon Valley. I chose a different path.

Startup 295

Startup Email Technical Review Course 295

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

According to a recent Harvard Business Review article , only 60% of companies today use social media for marketing, and only 12% of those feel that they are using it effectively. A business profile starts with a business account using your company logo as your picture (avatar), rather than your photo or a picture of your cat.

Social Media 115

Social Media Media Startup Social Network 115

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 24, 2010

The ability to objectively critique ones creative output is vital to an entrepreneur. Record companies evaluated songs based upon a variety of informal means, such as the Old Gray Whistle Test. Someone must define the universe of ideas to be reviewed at the outset of the process, otherwise the task is impossibly inefficient.

Ideas 187

Ideas Resource Technical Review Startup 187

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 12, 2010

It made me laugh because the technical world has this exact phrase to talk in computing sense about the need to block out interruptions in order to complete a task. In fact, they were recently bought by a publicly traded company called Ditech Networks). Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Start-up Advice Startup Advice.

Product 280

Product Startup Email Technical Review 280

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

NOT because the founder of the company has an established credibility working for both Facebook and MINT when those companies were in infancy. I am a raving fan of AppSumo because the creator of the brand, Noah Kagan , leads his company focusing on community first and sales second. I am a raving fan of AppSumo.com.

Metrics 87

Metrics Email Startup Technical Review 87

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2010

These should all be people who bring credibility and value to your company just by their very association with your company name. They should have deep backgrounds and experience in a relevant domain to your startup, and executive experience in running a company. Even still, you should expect to offer compensation.

Invest 50

Invest Technical Review Software Review High Tech 50

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 27, 2009

We spoke with Dipanshu Sharma, Chairman of the firm, to learn more about the company and its products. That's the case with every other company we know of and who we have talked to. Most companies use Microsoft Project, and although there are a bunch of other projects, Microsoft has the most market share.

Startup 100

Startup Software Review Technical Review Software 100

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. The United States is now a debtor nation to China and that the bill is about to come due. Who better to answer than the company's engineering lead. These are probably the two sites where I've posted the most reviews.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Startup Product Technology 175

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 13, 2011

The $30 billion trade surplus in advanced technology products that America enjoyed just one decade ago has now become a $56 billion deficit. Nothhaft has put together a challenging but small list of things we have to do to revitalize our innovation leadership, and I’m supportive: Liberate entrepreneurs from regulatory shackles.

Help 92

Help Technical Review Patents Startup 92

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 30, 2010

My advice to entrepreneurs was and is “ when the hors d’oeuvres tray is being passed take two ” (e.g. So I agreed to offer my current thinking on the economy and what it portends for the VC industry & fund raising for entrepreneurs. raise money now to weather any storms). Such is the case with advanced batteries.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Technical Review Startup 298