socalTECH

DECEMBER 15, 2017

SpaceX has successfully launched a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) this morning, the Commercial Resupply Services 13 (CRS-13) mission, in the first time the rocket and spacecraft developer has used a previously launched Falcon 9 first stage, as well as previously used Dragon spacecraft for NASA. SpaceX also successfully landed the first stage of its Falcon 9 at "Landing Zone 1", which it said is its 20th successful recovery of a first stage booster.

SpaceX 147

SpaceX Services Develop Development 147

L.A. Business Journal

DECEMBER 15, 2017

California New Car Dealers Association announced on Thursday that it settled its lawsuit against TrueCar Inc.

Truecar 174

Truecar 174

socalTECH

DECEMBER 15, 2017

Los Angeles-based Villiger , a startup developing a mobile app to help parents book tutors, baby sitters, and other services, has raised a seed round of funding, the company said this week. Size of that funding round was not announced. The company said the funding came from Mangrove Capital, Nir Zohar (President and COO, WIX), and Stephen Stokols (CEO, FreedomPop).

Seed Funding 127

Seed Funding Funding Social Network Resource 127

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 15, 2017

If you are thinking “Should I build an office out of my garage, Apple or Hewlett-Packard style?”, read on. “The garage didn’t serve much purpose, except it was something for us to feel was our home,” Steve Wozniak told The Guardian , clarifying the real role of Steve Jobs’ parents’ garage in the creation of the first Apple computers. It is up to you to accept this pragmatic view or stick to the romanticized version.

Entrepreneur 123

Entrepreneur Startup Course Commerce 123

Advertiser: Aggregage

Office leases are one of companies’ largest expenses, and if your whole team is working from home with no clear end in sight, you may be wondering what to do about your lease.

Company

socalTECH

DECEMBER 15, 2017

Santa Monica-based Brighter , the dental healthcare startup led and co-founded by technology veteran Jake Winebaum and co-founder Jason Szczuka, has been acquired by Cigna. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. Brighter was venture backed by Mayfield Fund, Benchmark, Tenaya Capital and General Catalyst. Brighter's service had allowed consumers to shop for local dentists, and also had a deal with insurers to integrate local dentists into their service directories.

Southern California 124

Southern California Santa Monica Acquisition Startup 124

L.A. Business Journal

DECEMBER 15, 2017

SpaceX launches Dragon on used Falcon 9; Cigna acquires Brighter for undisclosed amount; and TrueCar settles lawsuit with car dealer association.

SpaceX 100

SpaceX Truecar Report 100

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 15, 2017

Coworking has exploded globally over the past two years. According to one study, there were over 835,000 people working out of coworking spaces last year. The number of coworking spaces alone is expected to jump from 11,300 in 2016 to 13,800 by the end of this year. The largest VC backed companies in this space have raised several hundreds of millions in funding to help expand their global footprint.

Technical Review 91

Technical Review Study Web Design Startup 91

socalTECH

DECEMBER 15, 2017

Venice, California-based Snap said on Thurday that it has rolled out a new tool, which lets designers create and build augmented reality lenses for Snapchat. The new tool, Lens Studio , allows users to build and launch immersive Lenses--such as your own dancing hot dog, or rainbow barfing unicorn--and publish them to Snapchat. The company said the tool is not just built for developers, but also creatives, students, and brands.

Snapchat 113

Snapchat Venice Tool Design 113

Xconomy

DECEMBER 15, 2017

1. Emotion A.I. will increase our humanity and empathy for each other. In recent years, the smartphones, bots, and devices we spend so much of our time with could be accused of contributing to the desensitization of our society. When a fight breaks out, some teens’ first reaction is to pull out their phones and take a video, rather than call for help.

Examples 105

Examples Help Artificial Inteligence San Diego 105

socalTECH

DECEMBER 15, 2017

Hawthorne-based SpaceX is getting set to launch a mission to the International Space Station this morning, at 7:36 a.m. PST, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX is launching a resupply mission to the ISS, the Commercial Resupply Services 13 (CRS-13) mission, in what it hopes will be the first time it will be sending a previously launched Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft for NASA.

SpaceX 79

SpaceX Hawthorne Services 79

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2017

Have you ever noticed that some of your business owner friends get all the bad customers, and yours all seem fairly reasonable? Or is it the other way around? I’m always amazed that, in my role as a business advisor, bad customers somehow seem to gang up on certain businesses. I long ago learned that the customer is not always right, but you can turn most around to be great.

Customer 89

Customer Custom Demand Pricing 89