August, 2019

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Report: Using E-scooters Not So Green, Especially If You'd Be Walking Instead

socalTECH

The rise in on-demand, e-scooter companies--such as those from Bird , Wheels , Lime , and many others--has been heralded by companies as being good for the planet and cleaner than other options. However, a newly published study by researchers finds that greenhouse gas emissions associated with e-scooter use is actually higher in 65 percent of simulated cases, than the suites of modes of transportation those scooters are displacing--namely, things like walking, bicycling, and skateboarding to you

Study 113
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Robocalls Crowd Out Real Business Calls. This Startup Has an Answer.

Xconomy

The ways in which robocallers try to dupe us are becoming almost as plentiful as the frequency of the calls. An unknown phone number was once all scammers needed to trick the average person into picking up the call. Now, new hoaxes are making it increasingly difficult to avoid fraud, such as the “one ring” ploy (they hang up quickly to entice you to call back) or a riff on a years-old ruse of pretending to be the Internal Revenue Service, in which fraudsters “ spoof ” an actual phone number of a

Startup 98
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Earbuds lets audiences stream the playlists of athletes, entertainers and each other

TechCrunch LA

Earbuds , a new startup from Austin founded by former Detroit Lions lineman Jason Fox, wants to bring the power of social media to your eardrums. The company is one of a growing number of startups trying to rejuvenate the music streaming market by combining it with social networking so that audiences can listen to the playlists of their favorite athletes and entertainers… and their friends.

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Postmates is Arriving at Dodger Stadium

L.A. Business Journal

The Los Angeles Dodgers named San Francisco-based mobile app Postmates Inc. as a concessions partner - bringing the ease of food pickup into the stadium.

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Can You Ask for Office Rent Relief? How to Manage Your Lease During COVID-19

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.

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The best things about your company board

Berkonomics

For weeks, we’ve highlighted both good and bad things about boards of directors for your company (or non-profit.) This week, let’s focus upon number one – aside from the requirements of boards to protect the company itself (not the shareholders.). Normal functions of boards. Boards of directors fulfill numerous important functions, both legal and structural.

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Fractional CTO

SoCal CTO

CTO Hire 238

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Game Dev Make n' Mingle

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, August 29, 2019 -- GET YOUR GAME ON! NYFA is not just a great place to learn about making games, it's a great place to make games! Come to NYFA to work on your game projects and make new friends! We'll supply the workspace, the pizza, the wifi and the mentorship. Bring your LAPTOP and your game projects and get ready to work (and have fun)!

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Shell’s first electric vehicle fast charger lands in Singapore

TechCrunch LA

Royal Dutch Shell, the energy giant known for its fossil fuel production and hundreds of Shell gas stations, is creeping into the electric vehicle-power business. The company’s first DC fast charger launched Monday at a Shell gas station in Singapore. Greenlots, an EV charging startup acquired by Shell in January, installed the charger. This is the first of 10 DC fast chargers that Greenlots plans to bring to Shell service stations in Singapore over the next several months.

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Loot Crate Files Bankruptcy, Plans to Sell Assets

L.A. Business Journal

Loot Crate Inc., which sells subscription boxes of pop culture apparel and collectibles, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday.

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Let your board help with “what” and “why” – but rarely “how.”

Berkonomics

I am sure you can argue with this one. Sometimes a board member is valuable in teaching the “how” to get things done inside the company. But experience reinforces the usual fact that a board member telling the CEO or founder “how” to perform a function crosses a line and can diminish the CEO’s confidence and denigrates his or her ability, often in front of the board itself.

Help 120
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Ford’s Autonomic Connects EV Maker Ayro to Its Mobility Cloud

Xconomy

Ford subsidiary Autonomic today announced a step forward in its drive to expand the online mobility hub it built to manage digital interactions among cars, drivers, fleets, service providers, and auto manufacturers—including Ford’s rivals. Palo Alto, CA-based Autonomic signed up Ayro , an electric vehicle startup, as a paying customer of its Transportation Mobility Cloud (TMC), in Autonomic’s first partnership with a vehicle manufacturer other than Dearborn, MI-based Ford (NYSE: F ).

Mobile 104
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Lynda.com Move To LinkedIn Learning Spurs Complaints Over Privacy Issues

socalTECH

In what looks to be a rough transition for users of Lynda.com , library users of Lynda.com's wide range of educational topics and courses are finding they are running into major privacy issues through LinkedIn's new, forced move of users from Lynda.com to LinkedIn Learning. Accoding to ZDNet , LinkedIn is forcing public library patrons to create a LinkedIn profile in order to access content on the LinkedIn Learning/Lynda.com service, which raises major privacy issues for library patrons.

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MTS FASHION TALK @PACIFIC DESIGN CENTER

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, August 22, 2019 -- MTS FASHION TALK @PACIFIC DESIGN CENTER. Join us for a fascinating MTS Fashion Talk bringing together top fashion icons, bloggers and influencers focusing on How Entrepreneurship Is Changing Fashion.

Design 100
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In SF, tech crumbled the American dream — LA can do better

TechCrunch LA

Damian Bradfield. Contributor. Damian Bradfield is the president, CMO and founding partner of WeTransfer , the company that designs tools for the creative process. His upcoming book, The Trust Manifesto, about trust in the era of big data, will be released on October 4th. In the summer of 2018, parts of San Francisco’s public utilities turned gold. Manhole covers, drainpipes and gas line covers were gilded in protest by a pair of street artists, Erick Schmitt and Nick Bushman, and quickly became

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Stamps.com Profit Plunges After Ending Postal Service Partnership

L.A. Business Journal

In its first quarterly earnings report since terminating the agreement, Stamps.com posted a net income of $14 million, down 69% from $45.5 million this time last year.

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Does your board give you good advice?

Berkonomics

This may be news, but boards of directors can offer bad advice. Having served on more than forty boards, I’ve seen such a variety of good and bad advice that my stories could fill a book. (oh, wait. They have…) So, lets delve into board composition, risk of an unbalanced board, and one of those stories…. The composition of your board matters. A typical board is composed of five persons in a company that has received outside funds from professional investors.

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For GW Pharma CEO Justin Gover, The CBD Trend Started 20 Years Ago

Xconomy

Remember the simpler times of the mid-2010s, when you could order a latte or cocktail in California without the option of adding CBD? For Justin Gover, CEO of British drugmaker GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GWPH ), society’s sudden embrace of cannabidiol (CBD), the other active ingredient found in the cannabis plant, is a trip—though CBD won’t make you trip.

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Sony Electronics Launches Competition For Female Filmmakers, Photographers

socalTECH

Sony Electronics , which runs its U.S. operations out of San Diego, says it has launched a contest that will award $21,000 in project budget and up to $5,000 in Sony gear to female photographers and filmmakers. According to the company, its Alpha Female Creator-in-residence Program is aimed at helping advance the careers of female photographers and filmmakers.

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Los Angeles VC Panel and LAVA Annual Membership Meeting

SoCal Tech Calendar

Tuesday, August 20, 2019 -- Los Angeles VC Panel and LAVA Annual Membership Meeting. Come meet three of the most active Venture Capital funds in Los Angeles. Meet the top VCs who are investing in Southern California. Find out what they are looking to invest in. Find out what does it take to secure Venture Capital for your company. Learn about the hottest trends and the mistakes NOT to make.

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PodcastOne is launching LaunchpadDM, a free hosting platform for independent podcasters

TechCrunch LA

PodcastOne , the celebrity podcasting network from the founder of radio powerhouse WestwoodOne, is launching a free hosting platform for podcasters. The Los Angeles-based syndicated podcasting platform, which counts athletes, politicians, talk radio, and reality television stars like Adam Carolla, Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Austin, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Dan Patrick, Spencer and Heidi Pratt, Jim Harbaugh, Ladygang, Dr.

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LiveXLive and Allied Esports Team Up to Produce Gaming Events

L.A. Business Journal

Live event producer LiveXLive Media Inc., based in Beverly Hills, announced today it will partner with Irvine-based Allied Esports Entertainment Inc. to put on live esports events.

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Where’s your team playbook? Hmm?

Berkonomics

This one comes straight from football. From experience and from information about the competition, a coach creates a playbook that contains detailed plans for actions or plays that the entire team must know without question and execute without pause in order to win games and advance toward the playoffs. But you know that of course. Your team playbook.

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6 Myths On Starting A New Business That Can Kill You

Startup Professionals Musings

Starting a new business is fraught with challenges, and none of us has the bandwidth to kill them all. As an advisor to business owners, and an occasional angel investor, my job is to separate the actual challenges from the common misconceptions that distract many promising entrepreneurs while building the leadership team required for your solution, marketing, and finance success.

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Amazon Starts Robot Deliveries In Irvine

socalTECH

For some residents of Irvine, the future is now here--in the form of autonomous, robotic delivery of packages from Amazon. Amazon announced on Tuesday morning that it will begin delivering some packages in Irvine with a "small number" of its robotic, Amazon Scout devices, as it expands testing of its automated robot delivery service for Prime members.

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Preccelerator Workshop: UX Primer for Entrepreneurs w/ Rich Abronson

SoCal Tech Calendar

Tuesday, August 20, 2019 -- Preccelerator Workshop: UX Primer for Entrepreneurs w/ Rich Abronson. This session will discuss: What UX is (and isn't) and why it's important UX costs and how to incorporate it into your strategy The UX process including brainstorming, feature prioritization, and usability testing.

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Men’s personal care startup Huron raises $1M

TechCrunch LA

Huron founder and CEO Matt Mullenax is hoping to build a big business around body wash. “For us, the broader mission is A+ personal care for guys everywhere — not just guys in New York or guys in the Bay Area or guys in Los Angeles,” he said. The startup has raised $1 million in seed funding from RXBAR founders Peter Rahal and Jared Smith, CXT Investments, and Lean Luxe founder M.

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Fair Secures $100 Million Investment from Ally Financial

L.A. Business Journal

Online car leasing startup Fair announced Aug. 27 it raised a $100 million credit facility led by Ally Financial Services Inc. to help finance its existing business and buy cars for its users.

Invest 173
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New PCSK9 Cholesterol Drug Faces Tough Foe. (Hint: Not Cholesterol.)

Xconomy

Remember when the new wave of expensive cholesterol-lowering drugs—known as PCSK9 inhibitors—were supposed to give the healthcare system a financial heart attack ? Far from it. Four years after approval the two PCSK9 blockers on the market have yet to crack $1 billion in annual sales, combined, thanks to a gloves-off effort by insurers to beat back their use.

Study 102
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7 Emigrant Entrepreneur Traits We All Should Emulate

Startup Professionals Musings

In my experience as a business advisor and angel investor these days, I seem to more frequently hear from entrepreneurs and business owners with “can’t-fail” or “get-rich-quick” ideas. In my view, these are the least likely to succeed, partially because the people behind them have the wrong expectations and traits. The instant gratification approach just doesn’t work in business.

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Ingram Micro Launches Startup Competition

socalTECH

Irvine-based Ingram Micro , a distributor of technology products and provider of cloud and other related services, has launched a new competition aimed at startups, thec ompany said this morning. According to Ingram Micro, its new Comet Competition is aimed at early stage, independent software vendors (ISVs), which will award $5M in money and funding to a total of 60 ISVs, through a series of 16 competitions, which it will conduct internationally.

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Preccelerator Workshop: Priced to Grow - Building for Sustainable Growth

SoCal Tech Calendar

Tuesday, August 13, 2019 -- Preccelerator Workshop: Priced to Grow - Building for Sustainable Growth. Join our session to challenge perceptions of pricing - what it is and is not - and begin laying the groundwork to integrate pricing into your company's growth strategy that drives sustainable business goals.

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Launching from beta, ProGuides is making money ensuring that gamers never play alone

TechCrunch LA

When ProGuides pulled the covers off of its service earlier this year, the young Los Angeles-based startup intended to give gamers a way to train with professional and semi-pro esports players from around the world. But as users signed on to the service, it became clear that they weren’t looking for training necessarily… Instead what players wanted was a ringer. “After we launched the beta, we found some interesting user behavior,” says Sam Wang. “We found that game

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USGS Awards $2.2 Million to Caltech for Earthquake Warning System

L.A. Business Journal

The U.S. Geological Survey has awarded $2.2 million to Caltech for additional development on ShakeAlert, an earthquake early warning system.

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Four New Drugs are Around the Corner. Here’s What You Need to Know.

Xconomy

The Food and Drug Administration approved 59 new drugs last year, a record for the agency which over the years has swung back and forth between tight control and leniency. We are in the midst of perhaps the agency’s most permissive era ever, thanks to its openness to speed up reviews and to greenlight certain drugs with slim evidence, like those for cancer patients who have run through all other options, or for kids with rare diseases and no available treatments.

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5 Tips to Gain From People Who Don’t Think Like You

Startup Professionals Musings

One thing we all have to learn in business is how to work with and lead people that are not like you , and don’t think like you. In my experience as a business advisor, that’s probably the biggest hurdle to success encountered by every new business owner. Your biggest challenge may be members of your own family, some of your best customers, or a key business partner or investor.

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Upfront Ventures Names New Partners

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based venture capital investment firm Upfront Ventures said over the weekend that it has named two new Partners at the firm. The venture investor said it has added Aditi Maliwal as a Partner, and also promoted Michael Carney to Partner. Maliwal was most recently a product manager at Google, and also had served at Crosslink Capital and Deutsche Bank.