SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 10, 2012

It was like having a bunch of mini- Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions all in one room. But what was interesting to me was that I found myself recommending that each of them should have a technical adviser. Review the code being built. Strategic Technical Advisor. I was very worried for several startup in the room.

Technical Advisors 332

Technical Advisors CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 332

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 28, 2012

This is a hot topic I’ve been asked a lot about recently. I have seen some entrepreneurs go into first meetings willing to share almost anything about their company. I have seen others who seem guarded and cloaked about what they’re working on. Don’t mention that you have strategic initiatives that you can’t talk about.

Technical Review 316

Technical Review Venture Capital Custom Customer 316

TechCrunch LA

MAY 20, 2021

One startup that aims to help make the process simpler, cheaper and less stressful by helping people manage the home renovation process has raised $6 million to help it grow even faster. Construction tech startups are poised to shake up a $1.3-trillion-dollar trillion-dollar industry.

Technical Review 185

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital Software Review 185

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. ” Climate resiliency .

Startup 229

Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. Should SaaS companies trade at a 24x Enterprise Value (EV) to Next Twelve Month (NTM) Revenue multiple as they did in November 2021? Please follow him & welcome him to Upfront!! <==

Venture Capital 416

Venture Capital Marketing Technical Review Seed Funding 416

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2012

This is the dreaded “due diligence” process. In my view, understanding due diligence can only improve information flow, and leads to a better long-term partnership with your investor. In my view, understanding due diligence can only improve information flow, and leads to a better long-term partnership with your investor.

Technical Review 94

Technical Review Startup Writing Competition 94

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 11, 2021

As the vaccination campaign to counter COVID-19 gets underway (albeit with a rocky start), a number of companies are attempting to support its rollout in a variety of ways. Carbon Health raises $100 million with plans to expand pop-up clinics ahead of COVID-19 vaccination programs. “We look and feel like Instagram.

Technical Review 201

Technical Review Software Review Startup Los Angeles 201

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2010

This is the dreaded “due diligence” process. In my view, understanding due diligence can only improve information flow, and leads to a better long-term partnership with your investor. In my view, understanding due diligence can only improve information flow, and leads to a better long-term partnership with your investor.

Technical Review 90

Technical Review Writing Competition Tips 90

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

Hello friends, and welcome back to Week in Review ! Last week, we talked about about the “de-stonkifying” of the market. The company’s stock tanked by more than 26 percent, representing a $230 billion reduction in market cap and a $31 billion drop in Zuckerberg’s personal net worth.

Marketing 246

Marketing Newsletter Technical Review News 246

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? Nobody cared about our valuations any more.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 4, 2013

I recommend you read Fred Wilson’s recent blog post about the need for a well articulated business strategy before pushing a particular business model. Put simply – you need enough users in a segment who care about what you’re doing to dictate investing further in the product or in sales & marketing resources.

Startup 401

Startup Custom Customer Technical Review 401

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 20, 2020

For starters Uber itself has had to lay off 27% of its workforce due to the pandemic and has been severely impacted financially from the crisis with no immediate respite in sight. Even more likely is eventual technology disruption where drones deliver foods and make it hard for existing car delivery services to compete.

SaaS 242

SaaS Custom Customer Technical Review 242

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

There’s an article making the rounds in tech circles titled “ Growth Hacking is Bull ” written by Muhammad Saleem. I actually really enjoyed many of the points Muhammad made about marketing in general and I found myself nodding through the entirety of the article except for it’s core premise.

Technical Review 384

Technical Review SEM SEO Marketing 384

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 9, 2012

Who are the top tech companies to work for in Los Angeles? Despite a huge number of companies, we found there are a number which. Despite a huge number of companies, we found there are a number which. Demand Media consistently popped up near number one in the list of "companies to work for" from our readers.

Technical Review 279

Technical Review Company Companies Southern California 279

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 8, 2019

Responding to Elizabeth Warren’s call to regulate and break up some of the nation’s largest technology companies, the venture capitalists that invest in technology companies are advising the presidential hopeful to move slowly and not break anything. This too shall pass.” — Balaji S.

Technical Review 144

Technical Review Startup Chief Technology Officer Social Media 144

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Join a startup incubator. It always reduces risk to plan your business first.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Tech.Co

JULY 13, 2023

Despite a packed schedule of obnoxious tweeting, lawsuits, and organizing a cage match with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk has found time to launch a new AI company called xAI. Subscribe xAI: What We Know so far xAI, as the company’s website states, has been set up to “understand the true nature of the Universe”.

Artificial Inteligence 115

Artificial Inteligence ChatGPT Generative AI Technical Review 115

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2007

I generally am working as an acting CTO for about 3-4 start-ups or other companies at any one time. I also found this interesting graphic of the changing needs around the CTO role in different size/type companies that somewhat echoes my experience. Great question. Then, we come to an agreement on terms.

Startup 231

Startup CTO Hire Technical Advisors Technical Review 231

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2020

Every startup founder loves to prompt for questions from investors and potential key team members about their vision, and the huge opportunity that can be had with their disruptive technology. Early stage burn rates over $50K per month, or a runway of less than six months may indicate an inefficient or desperate startup.

Technical Review 174

Technical Review Startup Invest Patents 174

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 24, 2020

Divergent, the Los Angeles-based startup aiming to revolutionize vehicle manufacturing, has cut about one-third of its staff amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has upended startups and major corporations alike. However, he did confirm to TechCrunch that he had to reduce staff due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Startup 251

Startup Technical Review Outsource Development Platform 251

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. But what IS the right amount of burn for a company?

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

My friend Michael Broukhim, founder & co-CEO of FabFitFun and I recently had a catch-up meeting for 3-miles on the Santa Monica “Bird Trail” No company has ever elicited so many questions by friends, colleagues, entrepreneurs, fellow VCs and journalists as has Bird, the company that pioneered the electronic scooter as a service market.

Santa Monica 256

Santa Monica Funding Startup Course 256

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 1, 2013

The final episode of Bravo’s Start-ups: Silicon Valley aired recently, wrapping up an 8-episode run of what could be considered the most bizarre depiction of entrepreneurs and start-ups to date. They sound serious about start-ups, however actions speak louder than words. What was that ?

Startup 90

Startup Technical Review Software Review Outsource Development 90

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

During the holiday season, our tradition over the last few years has been to post reflections on the past year and some predictions for 2019 from Southern California's technology industry. My biggest takeaway this year was truly understanding the strength and cohesion of the Los Angeles startup community.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 18, 2019

The Truth About the Scooter Economy?—?An The company started the year with no revenue and at it’s peak had a run rate well in excessive of $100 million / year. Pause to think about how remarkable that truly is. No, the scooter companies were not incredibly well prepared for just how steep the drop would be.

Santa Monica 250

Santa Monica Venice Competition Software Review 250

TechCrunch LA

JUNE 10, 2020

Team up with Black firms already doing the work. Some firms have said that they’re going to turn to HBCUvc , a nonprofit organization that helps students from historically Black colleges and universities enter venture and tech. Just two weeks ago, HBCUVc was struggling to keep staff on deck due to the financial impact of COVID-19.

Equity 220

Equity Technical Review Venture Capital Blogging 220

SoCal CTO

MARCH 4, 2010

I’ve worked with 30+ early-stage companies in all sorts of capacities (and spoken to many, many more), so I thought it might be worthwhile trying to classify the various ways that I’ve engaged in different technology roles in startups. Later he posted about his experience in Challenges of Startups.

Technical Review 170

Technical Review Technical Advisors CTO Coach Startup 170

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 5, 2020

Companies that have leveraged technology to make the procurement and delivery of food more accessible to more people have been seeing a big surge of business this year, as millions of consumers are encouraged (or outright mandated, due to Covid-19) to socially distance or want to avoid the crowds of physical shopping and eating excursions.

Technical Review 343

Technical Review Startup Marketing San Diego 343

socalTECH

APRIL 13, 2021

For today's interview, we spoke to Dave Eastman, the Director of the Viterbi Startup Garage, a startup incubator that is run by the University of Southern California, out of its location in Marina Del Rey. What is Viterbi Startup Garage? The Startup Garage is located physically in Marina Del Rey, in the twin tower on Admiralty.

Marina Del Rey 150

Marina Del Rey Startup USC Incubator 150

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2013

One of the largest concentrations of technical talent in Los Angeles is in Glendale, at YP -- staffed with a surprising number of Los Angeles startup vets. What''s your background and how did you end up at YP? We were quite surprised to learn about the extent of your operations here. How big is YP? Louis and Atlanta.

Technical Review 223

Technical Review Glendale Advertising Google 223

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Every tech or major news journal in the country is preparing to write their Snap, Inc (creators of Snapchat, Spectacles, etc) stories and many of them seem to want a “How does it feel to have missed this investment story.” We did know about Snapchat as early as anybody. Of course that was a wrong narrative for both companies.

Snapchat 214

Snapchat Invest Technical Review Dollar Shave Club 214

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Last week a company we enthusiastically backed, uBeam , led by a very special entrepreneur, 25-year-old Meredith Perry , announced a $10 million round of financing. uBeam’s tech does work and I have safely seen it demo’d in the real life many times. They are driven more by the journey than they are about the destination.

Technical Review 417

Technical Review Startup Software Review Course 417

socalTECH

MAY 21, 2013

One of the largest concentrations of technical talent in Los Angeles is in Glendale, at YP (www.yp.com) -- staffed with a surprising number of Los Angeles startup vets. What''s your background and how did you end up at YP.com? We were quite surprised to learn about the extent of your operations here. How big is YP.com?

Technical Review 211

Technical Review Glendale Advertising Google 211

SoCal CTO

MARCH 9, 2010

In my post, Technology Roles in Startups , I described some of the different ways I engage with startup companies such as CTO Founder , CTO , Part-Time CTO , Acting CTO , Consultant, Advisor and Advisory Board Member. Now, most often technical advisors are part of a broader advisory board.

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Technical Review Technology CTO Hire 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011

It’s very common for startup companies to have COO’s. But … Startups don’t need – shouldn’t have – COOs. I have this conversation with every startup that comes to see me and has a CEO & a COO. I think usually a COO title at a startup is an ego thing.

Startup 325

Startup Technical Review Sales Report 325

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

FedEx Small Business Grant For: Small businesses Amount: Up to $50,000 Grantor: FedEx FedEx's Small Business Grant is a grant contest run by delivery company FedEx. Up to 100 businesses will receive honorary mentions and get $300 in My FedEx Rewards vouchers. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Technical Review 193

Technical Review Software Review Startup Competition 193

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Round sizes of > $100 million or more now account for 47% of all VC dollars (62% if you count rounds > $50 million) This has made venture capital significantly more valuable for VCs and LPs who invest in the best companies As part of our study we noticed a trend many have spotted but few have explained?—?why

Venture Capital 328

Venture Capital Invest Seed Funding Startup 328