socalTECH

OCTOBER 23, 2017

Los Angeles-based Fair , the automotive startup led by serial entrepreneur Scott Painter, has raised nearly $1 billion in a strategic funding, led by BMW i Ventures, along with Penske Automotive Group, Sherpa Capital, and others. The funding also included other, un-named strategic investors.

Truecar 100

Truecar Funding Los Angeles Capital 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

One of the things I discuss the most with the portfolio companies I’m involved with is that “you manage what you measure.”. It’s a very important concept for me because in a startup you are constantly under pressure and have way too many distractions. Commitment & urgency are key drivers of success in startup businesses.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup SEO Customer 346

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

In case you didn’t know, many VCs target a 3-year investment horizon for a fund and after that the fund mostly does only follow-on investments in companies in that portfolio. Our investment strategy has always been to do predominantly Series Seed & A round deals, which makes up > 85% of our first investments.

Venture Capital 396

Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

socalTECH

DECEMBER 12, 2012

The Los Angeles Mayor's Council on Innovation and Industry (LAMCII) has been meeting since March, to help identify the top issues facing growth companies in the region, and to propose activity to spur additional entrepreneurial activity and innovation, according to the group.

Los Angeles 242

Los Angeles Technology Culver City Angel 242

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2013

I researched the pricing of the car at TrueCar – not because we’re an investor – but because it gives you complete price transparency over what other people in your area paid for a car. It’s taking company resources – usually funded by angels or VCs – for personal gain. As many air bags as possible.

Conference 398

Conference Technical Review Truecar Software Review 398

socalTECH

DECEMBER 23, 2019

Every year, at the end of the year, we share some reflections on the past year from our readers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, sponsors, and others in the local technology community. What was the biggest news for you/your company this year? What was the biggest news for you/your company this year? Since 2010, $6.3B

Capital 100

Capital Technical Review Truecar Venture Capital 100

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2014

I recently returned from a 5-day visit to Ireland, my first time back in 10 years and the start of what I hope will be a more regular travel schedule there. Between 1995-2002 I visited often – especially since I founded my first company there. I thought by now he would have given up on me as a flake. It will not.

Conference 392

Conference Startup Web Truecar 392

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

He had joined a young startup in LA called HauteLook and was interested in getting to know the local tech community. He shared tons of information about how how they were using marketing to quantitatively make marketing decisions at HauteLook and acquire customers for prices that were far cheaper than similar companies.

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 10, 2012

In recent months, a dozen accelerators and incubators have emerged in the Southern California area, looking to help take the new generation of technology startups to funding and beyond. which programs are--and aren't--worth looking at has become very difficult, if not impossible, for startup entrepreneurs. Funding: Yes.

Southern California 145

Southern California Incubator Guide Truecar 145

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

I love cars--I grew up in SoCal, and my father was really into cars, and didn't have sons. How long has the site been around, and when did it start? Tara Weingarten: We're starting our third week. Tara Weingarten: We had no metrics when we started, and even now, we had a big week with 1900 uniques on one day.

Truecar 204

Truecar Writing Edmunds Sites 204

Xconomy

JUNE 16, 2016

What does it take to build a startup in today’s market? Put a half-dozen entry-level tech entrepreneurs together anywhere outside of the Bay Area, and it won’t take long before they start listing the local market deficiencies. To Suster, founding a tech startup is a lot like mounting an expedition.

Venture Capital 49

Venture Capital San Diego Truecar Web 49

socalTECH

AUGUST 4, 2011

Every so often--particularly in Southern California--you run into a serial entrepreneur, with multiple successes and great track record-- yet, who very few people are aware of. Suddenly, we've created transparency to how things are really working, so that you can start spending money on those things and get customers others haven't gotten.

Startup 210

Startup Marketing Customer Custom 210

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

For those who may be unfamiliar Techweek hosts a 7-day series of events with a 2-day technology conference and expo to bring together a mixture of entrepreneurs, visionaries, and thought leaders. SCOTT PAINTERCEO, TrueCar. It’s like a bar crawl but featuring tech companies instead of bars! CHRIS DEWOLFECEO, SGN.

Santa Monica 92

Santa Monica Commerce Conference Truecar 92

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 28, 2012

The first-ever Silicon Beach Fest attracted more than 2,000 attendees from LA, San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Barbara, New York, Toronto, and London to celebrate LA startups and entertainment with panels, parties, pitch fests, hackathon, and beach games: volleyball, basketball and surfing lessons in Santa Monica and Venice on June 21-23, 2012.

Hollywood 67

Hollywood Technical Review Startup Rustic Canyon 67

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

I have never been more optimistic about the impact that the tech startup community is having on cities in America or about the role that cities outside of San Francisco / Silicon Valley can play in our future. Not all of these products & companies came from Silicon Valley but the overwhelming majority did.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Capital Funding 390

socalTECH

JULY 13, 2009

Mark has also been quite active mentoring entrepreneurs, We caught up with Mark to hear about what kinds of investments GRP is looking at nowadays, his view on the software-as-a-service market, and how best to approach him with a pitch. Mark Suster: Let's start at the 50,000 foot level, then I'll segue into that question.

GRP Partners 157

GRP Partners Southern California Santa Barbara Rustic Canyon 157

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

We were talking about a company, Factual (disclosure my firm is an investor), which was founded by one of LA’s most talented Internet entrepreneurs, Gil Elbaz , who as co-founder of Applied Semantics (purchased by pre-IPO Google for $102 million and now Google AdSense) is responsible for a large portion of the Internet’s monetization.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2012

I’ve raised money as a “hot company” and I’ve raised capital when no one would return my phone calls. I raised money as an entrepreneur, like you, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005 for two different companies. I never suggest that entrepreneurs just randomly pitch VCs. Why buy now? Tell a friend!

Develop 366

Develop Development Funding Venture Capital 366