January, 2020

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Does your company culture encourage employee curiosity?

Berkonomics

It’s more common than you think. Some of the world’s best companies to work for are those that encourage employees to spend time following their own paths of curiosity toward development of new products or services. Google, 3M, Facebook , and Microsoft all allow their employees to take time to explore new ideas they conceive and attempt to develop.

Company 177
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The electric scooter wars of 2019

TechCrunch LA

Throughout 2019, a number of mobility companies launched in additional markets, while many pulled out of areas that no longer served them. Meanwhile, transportation startups continued to raise more money even as they laid off employees, a sign that industry consolidation has officially begun. In October, Bird raised a $275 million Series D round at a $2.5 billion valuation.

Mobile 161
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Caltech Wins $1.1 Billion Patent Verdict Against Apple, Broadcom

L.A. Business Journal

Caltech won a $1.1 billion verdict against Apple and Broadcom for allegedly infringing on the Pasadena university's wireless technology patents.

CalTech 267
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SpaceX reportedly looking to build Starship rockets at Port of LA

TechCrunch LA

SpaceX is said to be in talks with local government officials about setting up a new rocket factory in the Port of Los Angeles, a location that would give it easy access to the ocean for transporting its next-generation Starship and Super Heavy launch vehicles to its coastal launchpad sites in Florida. CNBC reported that these discussions were confirmed by Port of LA officials.

SpaceX 206
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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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As Virus Fears Rise, LA Company Offers Up Germ Killing Robots To Airports

socalTECH

As worries about the spread of a new virus from China--which has resulted in the quarantine of Wuhan, China , a city of 11 million--a Los Angeles company, Dimer UVC Innovations , is offering up its technology to airports and officials, at no cost, to a number of airports. According to Dimer UVC Innovations, its germ-killing robot, the GermFalcon, is designed to use ultraviolet light to kill viruses, bacteria, and superbugs on surfaces and in the air--with a model specifically designed for use in

Company 124
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TikTok inks licensing deal with Merlin to use music from independent labels in videos and new Resso streaming service

TechCrunch LA

TikTok , the fast-growing user-generated video app from China’s Bytedance, has been building a new music streaming service to compete against the likes of Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. And today it’s announcing a deal that helps pave the way for a global launch of it. It has inked a licensing deal with Merlin , the global agency that represents tens of thousands of independent music labels and hundreds of thousands of artists, for music from those labels to be used legally o

Services 182

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7 Key Strategies To Ensure Long-Term Customer Growth

Startup Professionals Musings

In my experience working with entrepreneurs, once they feel they have a winning formula for their business, they are often hesitant to change or update it. They forget that adapting their company and themselves as their customers evolve is the key to long-term survival. Think of Blockbuster and Toys ‘R’ Us , both of whom missed customer changes and the move to online.

Customer 143
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Is AECOM on the Block?

L.A. Business Journal

Century City-based engineering giant AECOM reportedly has been in possible buyout talks with Montreal-based engineering services firm WSP Global Inc.

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BIO Report: More Work Needed to Improve Diversity at Biotech Firms

Xconomy

Some companies that belong to the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), a large industry trade group, convene diverse hiring committees, seek out representation among their suppliers and vendors, and are led by executives that talk regularly about the importance of an inclusive workforce. Others have no women or people of color as employees, gather no data on employee demographics, and have no initiatives in place to support diversity and inclusion.

Report 137
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Acquicent Adds Advisor, Investor

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Acquicent , the startup which is developing a marketplace that allows users to invest in "museum-grade" collectibles such as art and vintage automobiles, is announcing this morning that it has added Kevin Conroy, CEO of ConroyMedia and former director of Sotheby's, as both an advisor and ivnestor. Conroy was on the board of Sotheby's from 2016 to 2019, and also had served as MGM's President of Digital from 2016-2018, Univision's Chief Strategy and Data Officer from 2009-2016, a

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LA tech industry mourns Kobe Bryant

TechCrunch LA

The Los Angeles startup community is joining the rest of the world in mourning the death of NBA superstar, entrepreneur and investor Kobe Bryant who was killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif., shortly before 10 a.m. on Sunday. Reports indicate that Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, and seven other passengers were on board a helicopter traveling to Bryant’s basketball training facility Mamba Academy.

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Can your employees recruit from a customer or supplier?

Berkonomics

The recruitment traps. It has happened to all of us who have been leaders in business long enough. One of your employees is approached by an employee of a customer or of a supplier, stating that “It sure would be great to work in your company.” And without a policy or sometimes without thinking, your employee responds with a “Let me help,” or worse yet, “I have a position open.”.

Custom 156
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8 Strategies To Optimize Your Business Pace Of Change

Startup Professionals Musings

Entrepreneurs and startups are big believers in innovation, but sometimes they forget that innovation must be continual to assure long-term success, rather than the one big-bang idea that initiated their journey. By default, innovation in every business decreases over time, and continuous innovation requires ongoing initiatives and measures of customer perceived value.

Startup 138
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Snap Acquires AI Factory for $166 Million

L.A. Business Journal

Santa Monica-based Snap Inc. paid $166 million to acquire AI Factory Inc., a San Francisco-based startup founded by Snap's former director of engineering.

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BioIntelliSense Debuts ”Sticker” Sensor to Capture Patient Data Remotely

Xconomy

Subtle changes can presage a worsening of a chronic condition, but symptoms may not become apparent to a patient until it’s time to call an ambulance. BioIntelliSense, a Denver-based digital health startup, has developed a wearable sensor meant to monitor patients’ vital signs remotely and provide near real-time data that clinicians can use to identify physiological changes indicating a need for intervention.

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OpenX's Tim Cadogan To Take Over At GoFundMe

socalTECH

Tim Cadogan , the current CEO of Pasadena-based OpenX , is set to take over at San Diego-based GoFundMe , according to GoFundMe. Cadogan is taking over for Rob Solomon, who had been CEO of GoFundMe for the last five years. The reason for the shift was not given, however, GoFundMe said that Solomon will stay as Chairman of the company. GoFundMe lets peopel raise money through crowdfunding, for everything from charitable causes to personal needs.

OpenX 160
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For alternative meat manufacturer Beyond Meat, fast food chains giveth and taketh away

TechCrunch LA

Beyond Meat, the publicly traded producer of plant-based protein replacements for meat, is currently giving other companies in the alternative meat space an education in just how finicky appealing to consumer tastes can be. On the same day that the Canadian Tim Horton’s restaurant chain is dropping Beyond Meat products from its menus, the company and fried chicken chain KFC announced the expansion of a pilot run of the company’s chicken replacement products at new stores in Nashville

Yahoo 222
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Do you empower others?

Berkonomics

So, we’ve previously discussed why it is important for you to build consensus in an organization in most every major decision. To do that, you must be able to relinquish some degree of power, overriding decisions made by consensus only with some thought and certainly with an explanation to those involved. Never fear empowering others. If you’re secure in your position, you should never fear empowering direct reports to make decisions that fall within the resources allocated to them and within t

Report 156
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10 Ways For Entrepreneurs To Assure Happiness In 2020

Startup Professionals Musings

Welcome to another challenging new year ahead! You’ve probably already made your resolutions for 2020, but if not, I suggest a renewed commitment to finding happiness and satisfaction in your chosen business lifestyle. After all, most of us spend more hours in this role than any other, and life is too short to spend most of your life unhappy. As a mentor to entrepreneurs and business owners, and seeing their workload and challenges, it would be easy for me to conclude that starting a business is

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Activision Answers ‘Call’

L.A. Business Journal

After shutting down an existing esports league, Activision Blizzard Inc. is betting big on a new league that will begin its inaugural season Jan 24.

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Game Design Showcase 2020

SoCal Tech Calendar

Friday, January 31, 2020 -- Game Design Showcase 2020. Celebrate and play original games created by NYFA's Game Design graduating class! Join the NYFA Game Design graduating class of 2020 as they head off on their next big adventure: the real world! The NYFA Game Design Showcase features drinks, food and original video games and board games created by our MFA and BFA graduate students!

Design 100
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TigerConnect Names New CTO

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based TigerConnect , which develops communications tools for the healthcare and other industries, said on Wednesday that it has named Tim Goodwin as the company's new Chief Technology Officer. Goodwin was most recently CTO at Vacasa, which provide online vacation rental management. Goodwin also served as CIO and Senior Vice President at Fiserv Digital Channels.

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Los Angeles-based CREXi raises $29 million for its online real estate marketplace

TechCrunch LA

Los Angeles is one of the most desirable locations for commercial real estate in the United States, so it’s little wonder that there’s something of a boom in investments in technology companies servicing the market coming from the region. It’s one of the reasons that CREXi , the commercial real estate marketplace, was able to establish a strong presence for its digital marketplace and toolkit for buyers, sellers, and investors.

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The dangerous game: Hiring from a competitor

Berkonomics

Sometimes it is the first thought you or your managers have when in need of skilled talent, especially for sales or product development. It is not hard to find and observe the best employees of a good competitor at work, skillfully moving the competitor forward in a visible way. Two slices of the pie for one price. And it is a tempting slice of pie – two slices for one price – to take a critically needed employee from a competitor, damaging that firm while building yours.

Pricing 156
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8 Key Business Elements Set Startup Investor Interest

Startup Professionals Musings

One of the big questions that every entrepreneur struggles with is how much funding they should request from investors in the first round. They know from forums such as Shark Tank on TV that asking for either too much or too little will derail credibility in the eyes of the investor, and leave the entrepreneur with no money and a struggling startup.

Startup 135
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Wag Wraps Year with More Layoffs

L.A. Business Journal

Dog-walking application developer Wag Labs Inc. closed out a turbulent 2019 with another round of layoffs, according to a filing with the California Employment Development Department.

Layoffs 147
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Growth Capital Conference

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, January 30, 2020 -- Growth Capital Conference. Pitch to and Network with Investors: Angels, VCs, High Net Worths, Strategic Partners and 100 entrepreneurs seeking capital and counsel. DEAL DISPLAYtm showcases growing firms needing capital. View products, videos, online demos. Hot Networking Breakfast at 7:00am sharp! See [link].

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Robb Report's Bill Curtis On Why Podcasting Is The Next Media Frontier

socalTECH

For today's interview, we spoke to Bill Curtis , the founder of Malibu-based CurtCo Media (www.curtco.com). Curtis is the former publisher of the Robb Report, which he sold back in 2015, and has a long history of operating media companies that have published such titles as Home Office Computing, Home Theater, Mobile Computing, Worth, and many others.

Media 150
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Los Angeles-based Luxury Presence raised $5.4 million for its real estate marketing services

TechCrunch LA

Real estate is a big business in the sprawling city of Los Angeles, and new technology tools to target the industry continue to attract investor attention. The latest of these is Luxury Presence , which pitches digital marketing services to real estate agents and has raked in $5.4 million in financing to support the buildout of its services and sales teams to manage clients.

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How to Start a Podcast

Tech.Co

2019 was the year podcasting turned into a major industry. A few high-profile acquisitions put Spotify into the running against Apple, while buzzy new startups like Luminary jumped into the pool as well. Today, major media prognosticators including market research company Forrester and the Interactive Advertising Bureau foresee podcasting as the next billion-dollar media market , with a report from the latter saying that one-billion-dollar mark could be surpassed as soon as 2021. 90 million Amer

RSS 104
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8 New Ways To Focus On Customers For Trust And Profit

Startup Professionals Musings

As an advisor to entrepreneurs, I find that I often have to remind them that the world of customers has changed since they started their last business. Customer expectations of a relationship and personalization are stretching every business today, and pervasive use and confidence in social media by customers can override all your image building and marketing messages.

Customer 133
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TikTok Opens Culver City Office

L.A. Business Journal

Social media company TikTok has opened an office in Culver City's Hayden Tract business park.

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Startup World Cup - SoCal Regional hosted by LAVA and Pepperdine

SoCal Tech Calendar

Tuesday, January 28, 2020 -- Startup World Cup - SoCal Regional hosted by LAVA and Pepperdine. Startup World Cup ("SWC") offers innovation and entrepreneurship opportunities for the startup ecosystem around the world via a global series of startup conferences and competitions that bring together phenomenal startups, VCs, and world-class tech CEOs. Startups worldwide first compete at regional events, and the regional finalists will showcase themselves at the Grand Finale event in San Francisco an

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PayPal Completes $4 Billion Acquisition Of Honey

socalTECH

San Jose-based PayPal Holdings said this morning that it has completed its $4 billion cash acquisition of Los Angeles-based Honey , the developer of a browser plug-in that helps consumers find the best coupons for purchases when they are shopping online. According to PayPal, the deal will "transform the shopping experience for PayPal's consumers while increasing sales and customer engagement for its merchants.

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KPCB has already blown through much of the $600 million it raised last year

TechCrunch LA

Kleiner Perkins , one of the most storied franchises in venture capital, has already invested much of the $600 million it raised last year and is now going back out to the market to raise its 19th fund, according to multiple sources. The firm, which underwent a significant restructuring over the last two years, went on an investment tear over the course of 2019 as new partners went out to build up a new portfolio for the firm — almost of a whole cloth.

IBM 164
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Aimmune Awarded First FDA Approval for a Peanut Allergy Therapy

Xconomy

An Aimmune Therapeutics drug developed to treat peanut allergy won FDA approval late Friday—the first time the agency has approved an oral immunotherapy for a food allergy. The Aimmune (NASDAQ: AIMT ) drug, Palforzia, was developed to desensitize patients to peanuts. The FDA decision covers patients between the ages of 4 and 17 who have a confirmed peanut allergy diagnosis.

Develop 115