Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 29, 2014
'One of the hardest things for most entrepreneurs to know is how hard to push in situations where people tell you “no.” But then again most entrepreneurs fail. There is that rare breed that doesn’t accept “no” for an answer. It is impossible advice to give because there is such a fine line between being persistent and being annoying and it’s something you probably can’t teach.
InfoChachkie
MARCH 10, 2014
'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. In the Fall of 1990, H. Jackson Brown sat at his kitchen table, pulled out a pad of paper and began writing advice to his son, who had just entered college. Mr. Brown''s aphorisms eventually evolve into twenty one books, including four New York Times bestsellers. With Life''s Little Instruction Book , Mr.
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socalTECH
MARCH 5, 2014
'In another sign that Southern California--and particularly, Santa Monica--is gaining further credibility as a recognized technology center: Philz Coffee , a coffee chain which is synonymous with being at the tech epicenters of Silicon Valley and San Francisco, is getting set to open up a new location in Santa Monica. According to representatives of the venture-backed coffee chain--which has set up a temporary outpost at the Oasis Conference at the Fairmont Miramar this week--it is planning its
Berkonomics
MARCH 13, 2014
'By David Steakley. If you are a screenplay writer, you are familiar with the dogma of the inciting incident. In a movie, the inciting incident is the event at the beginning of the story which causes the hero’s life to be completely transformed and irrevocably changed, and which makes the whole story unfold. Companies also need an inciting incident, because, more often than not, you often will depend upon selling your story to someone.
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.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 8, 2014
'By definition, most entrepreneurs are thought leaders. They have the ability to recognize a market need, the skills to design and implement a solution, and the drive to start a business from that solution. It all comes from within themselves. A business leader does the same thing and more through the people around them. Most entrepreneurs are not both.
Tech Zulu Event
MARCH 21, 2014
'Coming hot off the tail-end of a much involved SXSW week (where the talk of the town was wearables, alternate-communication apps, and the internet of things); I was excited to immediately find myself in the heart of Silicon Valley, discussing a personal subject of my own curiosity: Bitcoin. Introducing Bitcoinference | A Decentralized Conference , hosted by illustrious startup accelerator, 500 Startups.
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InfoChachkie
MARCH 31, 2014
'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Note: This is Part III of a series exploring the power of mentorships. Access Part I HERE and Part II HERE. My relationship with my friend and mentor, Bob Wood, has matured over time. When we first connected, I was in listening mode most of the time, much like a dutiful student. However, as we established mutual trust, the balance of our exchanges shifted to the point that I am now a respectful but outspoken contributor to our friendshi
socalTECH
MARCH 31, 2014
'In today''s electronic world, there is an immense number of data sources creating millions of data points that companies are hoping to make sense of. That data--if you could just find the right piece--could be useful in a number of areas, particularly in the financial markets. Bitvore (www.bitvore.com) has created a system which takes thousands of sources of data, and extracts intelligence out of it to create actionable information out of that vast stream of real time data.
Berkonomics
MARCH 6, 2014
'Most innovations come from responding to a customer’s needs, or finding a niche where products need improvement or extension. It is rare to innovate using a blank sheet of paper in a room with bare walls and no other contributors. Imagine the room in which several graduate business school student groups have gathered, tasked with coming up with an idea for a business plan competition.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 1, 2014
'When you have been on the startup firing line, you quickly learn that any insight from experts and entrepreneurs who have been there before you can make the difference between failure and success. Yet, many new entrepreneurs brazenly assume they are bulletproof, and march blindly into the fray. The result is that half or more of startups fail in the first two years.
Tech Zulu Event
MARCH 14, 2014
'Organizers at SXSW and the ACLU scheduled a rare and relevant live interview with privacy advocate Edward Snowden, live streamed from an undisclosed location to a very interested audience. This was a key political moment in the festival’s history with thousands of attendees packing multiple rooms on site and millions more around the world watching online.
Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 23, 2014
'We all intuitively know how important human connections are in business but for many people it’s like exercise or eating well – one of those things you keep meaning to get around to. It reminds me of a line my wife and I often jokingly say to each other after seeing the awesome film “ Notorious ” about the life of Biggie Smalls. “I know mothafuckas who know mothafuckas.” Please just take 8 seconds to listen to this clip on YouTube – it’s priceless
InfoChachkie
MARCH 31, 2014
'A version of this article previously appeared on Inc. Bob Wood has been a mentor to dozens of professionals during his long career in public service. Despite retiring several years ago, he continues to provide guidance to young (and not so young) professionals. As noted in You''re Never Too Old (Or Too Successful) For A Mentor , Bob has become not only my mentor, but also my friend.
socalTECH
MARCH 19, 2014
'Redland-based Esri , which provides geographical information systems and mapping software, said today that it is backing the White House Climate Change Data Initiative, and will help communities develop practical methods and approaches that use its GIS technology. Esri said it will publish maps and apps specifically developed around the initiative, as part of the effort to help communities confront the impacts of climate change.
Berkonomics
MARCH 27, 2014
'With help from JJ Richa. There are so many ways to finance a small business. Most of them rely upon some form of debt, often personally guaranteed by the founder(s). So we investigate the most simple of these methods of debt financing first, since most are simple to execute and non-dilutive – that is help you to retain your ownership intact. Here is a list of common loan types: Line of credit – short term working capital.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 22, 2014
'It seems like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and get rich these days. As a business mentor, I sometimes feel besieged by people begging for my view and support of their latest idea. In reality, I like most ideas, but I have to tell them that the real challenge is taking the inspiration from a dream to a business. All the evidence says that over 99% fail to make that leap.
Tech Zulu Event
MARCH 13, 2014
'When AT&T first loaned me this device for review, I’ll be honest. I thought it was a wifi/bluetooth camera that would sync with my phone. Then I turned it on and realized, OH! This thing IS a smartphone! Immediate thoughts were, “Oh no, that’s way too big and bulky. And with such a camera? Must be too fragile to keep in my pocket.” Having played with it for the past two months though, it’s a very sturdy phone and the 16mp extended camera with 10x optical zoom o
Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 15, 2014
'By now you likely know that Marc Andreessen weighed in on anonymous apps in a 12-part Twitter diatribe. Anonymity. As the old joke goes, “on the Internet nobody knows you’re a dog.” I have been weighing in slowly on the topic over the past few weeks on Twitter but have avoided writing a blog post about it until now. This was in part due to a tremendously busy 30-day period for me (in which my overall writing has been down) and in part the inevitability of knowing that weighing
InfoChachkie
MARCH 17, 2014
'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Stop complaining about how difficult it is to encourage well-mannered, highly educated, civilized professionals to work together. Instead, consider how difficult it would be to transform twelve convicted felons, with an affinity for violence and no desire to work together, into a cohesive, effective team.
socalTECH
MARCH 28, 2014
'If you''re a chef of a hot new restaurant in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, where do you go online to network? Sites like LinkedIn are far more business focused, and Facebook is more friends and family. A new, San Diego startup-- Chef''s Roll , thinks it has the answer--a social network specifically aimed at chefs. The site said it has created a place where chefs can promote their talents, their career achievements, and more, whether they are just started up or are a celebrity chef.
TechEmpower
MARCH 4, 2014
'As we and our collaborators prepare Round 9 of our Framework Benchmarks project, we had an epiphany: With high-performance software, a single modern server processes over 1 million HTTP requests per second. Five months ago, Google talked about load-balancing to achieve 1 million requests per second. We understand their excitement is about the performance of their load balancer 1.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 19, 2014
'How is it that only a few business leaders and entrepreneurs seem to drive exceptional results and disruptive innovation in this rapidly changing market economy (marketquake)? These few seem more adept at executing market and technology turns, not just incremental evolution. They consistently take bold steps to stay ahead of the curve, often contrary to conventional wisdom.
Tech Zulu Event
MARCH 19, 2014
'I’m a big fan of language and its evolutionary history. Language is never constant. Instead, it is always evolving to meet modern requirements, which include social needs and tools. Contrary to some grammarians, I believe that creating lingo is a natural evolution of human communication, not something that discredits the English language. The Beginnings.
Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 19, 2014
'This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. There is an old saying in poker that if you don’t know who the sucker at the table is – it’s you. The same can be said of critical decisions in a board meeting or frankly any other meeting where major decisions are ratified. If you’re turning up to important meetings hoping to persuade the critical people who attend of a decision you’re trying to make and having already “counted your votes” you are sub-opt
InfoChachkie
MARCH 3, 2014
'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Ms. August Scott began her Zappos career in their customer support call center. Her positive attitude and willingness to take chances rapidly propelled her to the coveted and influential position of Coach. I met Augusta when I toured Zappos'' headquarters as part of the Downtown Project''s Catalyst Creative Speaker series (you can view my talk here).
socalTECH
MARCH 6, 2014
'The inventor of the technology behind Bitcoin -- Satoshi Nakamoto -- has been found living near Los Angeles, near San Bernadino, according to a report in the new Newsweek. Nakamoto has apparently been trying to keep a low profile, denies any connection with Bitcoin, and has apparently left an estimated $400M in Bitcoin he owns untouched. According to the report, Nakamoto -- who actually is named Satoshi Nakamoto, despite widespread reports that the name was a pseudonym of an anonymous Japanese
Berkonomics
MARCH 20, 2014
'Here’s more advice from professional investors for aspiring entrepreneurs. Each of us has a list of things we look for early on when identifying whether we want to go to the next step in analyzing a plan. Come to think of it, these are good for challenging any business plan. First: You must address a big market, large enough to allow a new entrant to have a shot at making a dent with a great product or service, and growing to a size that will make the company valuable at the exit.
Startup Professionals Musings
MARCH 16, 2014
'It’s not uncommon for me to see a startup business plan “mission” to be the “premier brand” for their product, yet their marketing budget in the financials is trivial. This combination will almost certainly get your plan tossed by potential investors, who understand all too well the need and cost for marketing in today’s environment. When questioned, founders usually mention word-of-mouth, viral marketing, and a top quality product.
Tech Zulu Event
MARCH 31, 2014
'It isn’t the biggest secret that the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins aren’t the best of friends, especially on the football field. On Sunday, March 2 nd at USC, these rivals took their battle to a new platform: startups. With the help of co-hosts and partners, including Bruin Entrepreneurs , Start-up UCLA , USC E-Club , Incubatrix, and more, Wowfand was able to put together the first startup rivalry to decide the dominan
Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 11, 2014
'A few years ago I started calling the local tech ecosystem down here #LATech. I had an agenda. We graduate more engineers in our greater region than anywhere else in the US. We have top 25 engineering schools than anywhere else, too. I never wanted to be a derivative of Silicon Valley. I have the utmost respect for the tech produced by our northern colleagues and acknowledge it is the tech capital of the world and that won’t change.
socalTECH
MARCH 18, 2014
'Irvine-based Bitvore , a startup developing big data and intelligence-gathering software which pulls information from both public and private data sources for businesses, said this morning that it has closed a $4.5M, Series A funding round. The funding was led by serial entreprenur Yuri Pikover, as well as $1M from crowdfunding. Bitvore, led by Jeff Curie, said that it has developed a. near real-time automated intelligence gathering systems that scour public and private data sources like websit
socalTECH
MARCH 26, 2014
'Irvine-based virtual reality technology developer Oculus VR has been acquired by Facebook , in a deal worth approximately $2 billion. According to Facebook, the deal includes $400M in cash, plus 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock valued at $1.6 billion. The deal also includes a potential of an additional $300M in earn out. Oculus VR will remain in Irvine, and continue developing its virtual reality product, Oculus Rift.
socalTECH
MARCH 19, 2014
'Do you have a hardware product you''d like to bring to market and scale? A new, cross-border startup accelerator-- HardTech Labs --said yesterday that it has launched a new, startup accelerator aimed at helping hardware companies take their companies to full production. HardTech Labs said that it will provide as much as $150,000 plus, and up to $300,000 or more to startups in the accelerator, which looks to tap the many contract manufacturers with operations in Tijuana, as well as development r
socalTECH
MARCH 5, 2014
'For all of the consumer adoption of the cloud, enterprise users are still not as bought into the vision of cloud computing as one might think they would be. So, how do you help ease enterprise customers into the cloud--or at least, help them use cloud technology to help them with their business goals? Los Angeles-based Unitas Global (www.unitasglobal.com) recently raised a round of funding from MK Capital and Azure Capital for its vision of helping enterprises make that transition to cloud tech
socalTECH
MARCH 18, 2014
'Los Angeles-based LawKick , the online, legal services marketplace founded by Michael Chasin and Aaron George, has launched an updated version of the service, according to the company''s founders. LawKick''s online site lets people answer a few questions about their legal issue, receive custom price quotes from lawyers, and helps them find the best fit for which lawyer to hire.
socalTECH
MARCH 24, 2014
'Culver City-based YouTube network Maker Studios has been acquired by Burbank-based Walt Disney Company , in a deal worth $500M, plus up to $450M in performance earn out. According to The Walt Disney Company, the deal will provide it with "advanced technology and business intelligence" around consumers'' interaction with short form, online videos. Maker operates a network of YouTube content channels--over 55,000--which gets 5.5 billion views per month, according to Disney.
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