Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 31, 2018

Just ask former big brand companies, like Blockbuster, Kodak, Lehman Brothers, and Sears, what happened to them. For example, Facebook added WhatsApp as a cross-platform messaging and Voice over IP (VoIP) service to enhance the self-sustaining growth their social media platform before any downturn.

Examples 99

Examples IP Acquisition Social Media 99

socalTECH

JULY 18, 2018

We caught up with Shiraz to learn more about the company's origins from within Dreamworks Animation, and what it's hoping to bring to a location near you soon. We have an expert team, marrying world-class IP from Hollywood, and videogames and bringing that into this new format. We're an entertainment company. In the U.S.,

Entertainment 180

Entertainment Santa Monica IP Startup 180

InfoChachkie

MAY 19, 2011

As noted in parts I and II of this series, agreements with Big Dumb Companies (BDCs) can be alluring and potentially fatal. This series describes how entrepreneurs can craft company-changing agreements with BDCs, while avoiding Kiss of Death contract provisions. This is generally a straightforward and uncontested provision.

Outsource Development 193

Outsource Development IP Technical Review Entrepreneur 193

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

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

We spoke with Jim Franklin , the firm's CEO, to hear more about how the company went from an accelerator startup at TechStars just a few years ago, to now more than 100 employees spread across offices in Boulder; Colorado, Anaheim, California; Frankfurt; London, and elsewhere, to tackle the problems of transactional email. What is Sendgrid?

Email 157

Email Startup IP Newsletter 157

socalTECH

APRIL 30, 2018

For those who aren't familiar with HG Data, what does the company do? Elizabeth Cholawsky: HG Data is actually a seven year old company. The company has grown very rapidly and well for a startup, but we're now at the point where sales is the name of the game. We distill that information with very high accuracy.

Santa Barbara 113

Santa Barbara High Tech Outsource Development Startup 113

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

What you will convey in your conversations What protections you will place on those communications For example, you might decide that portions of your concept will be controlled more closely (a secret algorithm). This is going to be fairly specific to the company. This will only be disclosed when there is an NDA in place.

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

What you will convey in your conversations What protections you will place on those communications For example, you might decide that portions of your concept will be controlled more closely (a secret algorithm). This is going to be fairly specific to the company. This will only be disclosed when there is an NDA in place.

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

Tech.Co

NOVEMBER 27, 2017

Questions of IP. In general, the way it works is that individual inventors are named as inventors on the patents, and then the IP would be licensed back by spin-off companies to further develop the technology, according to Monti. This is just the recent example of Maine Medical Center’s interest in supporting innovation.

IP 70

IP Patents Ideas Research 70

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 25, 2011

It’s nearly impossible to get a services company financed by VCs. And stop effing around trying to create a product company.&#. If you really want to do a product business then hire a professional manager for your services company, quit that job and focus 100% on your product company. You own the IP you create.

Services 332

Services Venture Capital IP Startup 332

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 21, 2012

Steve Jillings has a long track record of running successful startups in Southern California, ranging from such companies as FrontBridge Technologies (sold to Microsoft in 2005 for over $200M) and Vantage Media (acquired in 2007). Telesign provides authentication services for the largest web companies in the world.

Marina Del Rey 238

Marina Del Rey Startup IP Examples 238

socalTECH

JULY 9, 2012

What goes into the thought processes of companies when they're acquiring startups and other firms? We thought it would be insightful for our readerswho are usually looking to get acquired by other companieson what the thought process of those large companies making those acquisitions are.

Acquisition 173

Acquisition IP Networking Marketing 173

socalTECH

JULY 28, 2017

We spoke with SecureAuth's CEO, Jeff Kukowski , to learn more about what the problems are with cybersecurity, and how the company is attacking the problem. In 2015, for example, 60 percent plus of attacks were somehow surrounding the root cause of misuse of stolen credentials. Our company is all about going beyond second factor.

IP 100

IP Artificial Inteligence CIO Startup 100

socalTECH

JUNE 9, 2014

We caught up with Lee Essner , the President of Jukin Media, to learn more about how the company thinks it has figured out how to make a business round viral videos. That''s where the traditional media companies--the morning shows, the news clips shows, the ad agencies--can see what is viral and trending, and can license it directly from us.

Media 235

Media Content Startup IP 235

socalTECH

AUGUST 12, 2019

The Vinetta Project (www.vinettaproject.com), a group which is focused on helping to accelerate the growth of female-led startups, announced a few weeks ago that it is working with P&G Ventures, the internal "startup studio" of Procter and Gamble on an effort to help female-led companies in Los Angeles. What is The Vinetta Project?

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Metrics Los Angeles Help 124

Xconomy

OCTOBER 5, 2016

It’s not yet an ecosystem driver in B2B, although the longer it takes for other business supply companies to catch up, the harder it will be to beat Amazon. This is a good example of the importance of learning how to thrive in a digital ecosystem. Are you a supplier that sells through another company?

Organization 91

Organization Custom Customer Study 91

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2011

Exec Summary: Most companies (98+%) in the world (even tech startups) should be very profit focused. While Google and Facebook will buy “acquihires” (at least as of Dec 2011), many acquirers hate the idea of buying companies that aren’t profitable. ” But they want to do it with leverage.

Startup 418

Startup Venture Capital Sales Technical Review 418

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

To interconnect these computers we needed IP-based telecommunications equipment build by the likes of Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks. Not all of these products & companies came from Silicon Valley but the overwhelming majority did. Open source computing, which reduced costs to start a company by 90%. KickStarter?

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Capital Funding 390

socalTECH

JUNE 25, 2009

It seems that every week, a new, Voice-over-IP provider firm surfaces in the market, either providing PBX services, voicemail, or other similar services. What is your VoIP service all about, and how is this different from what seems to be lots of Voice over IP service providers? Cliff Rees: We're a software as a solutions company.

IP 165

IP Pasadena Angels Pasadena Los Angeles 165

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 4, 2015

An example of that, is I do a lot of running, and I did a video where I ran 100 miles over the month, and documented the process, and that inspired other people to do the same thing. I love running and fitness, and I've used Famebit, where they have had a juice cleanse company come out. For example, the MTV Video awards and Kanye West.

Startup 100

Startup Hollywood Content Examples 100

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 23, 2015

Of course you could start your own company. As I talked about in “ Is it Time to Learn or Time to Earn ” – overwhelmingly the best economics go to those that start successful companies. Of course I’m not suggesting people shouldn’t start a company. For many people that’s the right answer.

Technical Review 150

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital IP 150

socalTECH

JULY 13, 2016

Justin and Dawn Newton , the co-founders of Netki, spoke to us about the company and its solution. Dawn Newton: As an example, when you go to Google.com, it is actually routing to an IP address. Dawn Newton: As an example, when you go to Google.com, it is actually routing to an IP address.

Startup 100

Startup IP CTO Coach Allegis 100

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 18, 2010

For example, my dog eats two cans of dog food a day, if there are ten cans in the pantry, that means five days and he's out. What makes us unique is we've filed a lot of IP on these timed, repetitive searches, and I think that's what is going to give us a unique value proposition. That's what we focus on. Are you funded yet?

Compton 138

Compton Ventura Startup IP 138

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

Pre-money ($8m) + investment ($2m) = Post-money ($10m) and the investors now own 20% of your company $2m / $10m. This was until about 2009 because most the investments in companies came from one, maybe two, sources. If that’s the case I’d only own 18.18%, which wasn’t my expectation when I offered to fund the company.

Venture Capital 150

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Invest 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 29, 2010

Simple example. We were considering funding one of the players in the category – call them Company A. I knew the CEO of one of their competitors – Company B. She brought her key team members and emphasized why their strategy was so much better than Company A and other players in the market. Another example.

Competition 296

Competition Entrepreneur Startup GRP Partners 296

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 4, 2015

In fact, there are several types of valuations and they come into play at different times in a company’s lifecycle. For example, there are the private company valuation figures that get bandied about: think the numbers people reference for Uber and AirBnB for example. Business valuations = the price of the company.

IP 40

IP Equity Examples Guide 40

socalTECH

JULY 10, 2019

The company has raised $1.9M We spoke with CEO and co-founder Spencer Price to learn more about the company. Spencer Price: Halla is the only software company to dynamically profile human tastes so we can help people make better choices. We're an AI company that works at the intersection of personalization and food.

Pricing 113

Pricing Startup North Hollywood Platform 113

socalTECH

JANUARY 14, 2011

MarketShare recently launched a rebranding effort for the company, and is in the midst of a major hiring and expansion phase. Wes Nichols: MarketShare is an analytics company. You mentioned that you've been growing the company recently, and made a recent acquisition? We've been expanding the company aggressively.

Social Media 235

Social Media Demand Activity Marketing 235

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 10, 2010

Shame they didn’t like his suggested name for the company: DreamWorks SKG-MM. You have to be selected to present and it is typically reserved for companies that have already raised early-stage capital and are well into revenue growth. A bank can help you balance fund raising with running your company. We discussed: 1.

Venture Capital 242

Venture Capital Mission Ventures Capital Help 242

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 25, 2010

He first worked hard to get him to be an advisor to the company. People raised rounds with “a discount to the next round&# or “warrant coverage.&# Yes, these give cheaper prices to early angels but potentially not much of a discount if the company becomes hot. From there Rob decided to make a small investment.&#.

Venture Capital 286

Venture Capital Pricing Technical Review Startup 286

socalTECH

OCTOBER 16, 2013

What do you get when you combine a team with a deep roster of executive talent from such companies as Cisco, Apple, and Nokia, and apply that to the world of "Internet of Things"--connecting your entire home to the cloud? Nate Williams: I joined from Google three months ago, after my last company, 4Home, was purchased by Motorola.

Startup 202

Startup Platform Networking Services 202

socalTECH

OCTOBER 15, 2015

Southern California companies are fundamentally part of e-sports, and both of those companies have become multi-billion dollar companies. This is a way to be a player in that space, and work with everybody�the other team owners, the leagues and publishers, the IP holders, and the e-sports community�to create that.

Riot Games 100

Riot Games Southern California Invest Mobile 100

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 21, 2014

While the new gTLDs are intended to create new online neighborhoods and virtual communities, all this new digital real estate means companies and brands have more to protect. For example, Harley Davidson now has to snap up “harleydavidson.motorcycles” in addition to harleydavidson.com. ” Edwards’ advice?

Conference 77

Conference SEO Software Review IP 77

socalTECH

APRIL 28, 2010

I was one of the early folks there that came on and was there as the company grew. I have been involved with a number of companies that had raised a large amount of money, and one of the things I really wanted to do, was do something that didn't require a large amount of venture capital--something that we could do with a small, lean team.

Email 185

Email Startup Mobile Ideas 185

socalTECH

JULY 12, 2013

Many companies would love to be able to get the benefits of cloud--easy configurability, low cost, scaling, and more--but, due to various reasons, can''t take advantage of public cloud services like Amazon. The company announced a funding round from Canaan Partners, Storm Ventures, and AME Cloud a couple of weeks ago.

CIO 207

CIO Southern California Technical Review Software Review 207

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

It means the “ torso TV ” consumption patterns will be more important than the head or the long tail for the next era of media companies. You should only worry about this if you’re a large, traditional media company with fat margins. I first wanted to invest in this trend by backing a company called Filmaka.

Startup 380

Startup Media Content Platform 380

socalTECH

JULY 15, 2009

Ruan and Patterson tell us a bit about the service and how it was inspired by Twitter, the company's experience spinning out technology from UC Irvine, and what its plans are now. My first company I founded in college as an undergrad, Animebooks.com, and I sold that a few years ago. That was my second startup, a publishing company.

Startup 100

Startup Research UCI Social Network 100