June, 2020

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Anthos Capital and NBA All-Star Baron Davis back LA-based college tuition savings service, UNest

TechCrunch LA

UNest , a Los Angeles provider of financial planning and savings tools for parents including college savings plans and other beneficial investment vehicles for various life events, has raised $9 million in a new round of funding, the company said. . Its round will be used to speed up its growth through strategic hires and partnerships, according to UNest.

Services 235
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8minute Solar to Build Plant

L.A. Business Journal

Mid-Wilshire-based 8minute Solar Energy has signed a contract to develop a 250-megawatt solar energy and storage project in Kern County.

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ClickUp Collects $35M

socalTECH

San Diego-based ClickUp , a startup which develops "remote work" software aimed at helping organizations collaborate on projects, has raised $35M in a Series A funding round. The funding was led by Craft Ventures, and also included Georgian Partners. As part of the funding, David Sacks has joined the board. According to ClickUp, its customers included Google, Nike, Uber, Airbnb, Netflix, and Ubisoft, where it helps replace or integrate workplace applications for employees.

Netflix 203
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How to measure your power in the Internet marketplace.

Berkonomics

There are several key performance indicators that help new generation company management see more clearly their progress and corporate health. The old measures, including return on investment, percentage of profit against revenue or employee count, and more, obviously are still relevant. But businesses that expose their story to tens of millions of potential customers through the Internet need additional tools.

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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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5 Stages Of The Market Lifecycle Gate Startup Success

Startup Professionals Musings

As a frequent advisor to new entrepreneurs and startups, I often hear your frustration with being treated differently from other startups by investors, on expectations for valuation , traction, and market size. Of course, it could be your level of experience, or the quality of your team, but the difference is often more related to the lifecycle stage of the market you are trying to enter.

Marketing 174
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Reneo Readies for Global Test of Drug for Rare Mitochondrial Disease

Xconomy

Reneo Pharmaceuticals has encouraging results from an early trial of a compound it is advancing for rare diseases characterized by impaired mitochondria—our cells’ energy generators—and the company says it is now designing a large global study of its drug candidate. Headed by president and CEO Niall O’Donnell (pictured), the San Diego-based company launched last year with $50 million and an investigational small molecule drug it licensed from High Point, NC-based vTv Therapeutics (NA

San Diego 127

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Arch Shifts VFX Work to the Cloud

L.A. Business Journal

The coronavirus pandemic has slowed the visual effects industry, but Hollywood-based Arch Platform Technologies Inc. is helping to bring VFX artists back to their workstations, virtually.

Hollywood 214
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Bhavuk Kaul, How Gift a Plate Is Trying To Help Local Restaurants, Hungry

socalTECH

Recently, A new, nonprofit organization, Gift A Plate (www.giftaplate,org), launched effrts in Los Angeles, to allow people to donate to help both restaurants and families in need. The organization said it is looking to help aid restaurants and families who have been greatly impacted by COVID-19 in LA. The new nonprofit is was created by software company PlateIQ (www.plateiq.com), and is led by Bhavuk Kaul, who who chatted with about the new effort.

Help 173
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Economics 101: If water flows downhill, then why fight it?

Berkonomics

You’ll get the importance of this in a moment. Hang in there. Substitute the word “money” for “water” and we have an explanation for most all the reasons why successful products move from concept through early adopters through mass market. How money flows through the system. Money flows to the cheapest effective solution to a problem. Fighting this fact will just extend the misery of accepting a result with as product or marketing failure in the marketplace.

Examples 156
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7 Ways Your Day-To-Day Routine Drives Startup Success

Startup Professionals Musings

Most of the young entrepreneurs I know are classic proof of the old adage that people tend to overestimate what they can do in a short period, and underestimate what they can do over a long period. They become frustrated when they are unable to build their startup over a weekend, and give up way too soon when the path to real success seems to be interminable.

Startup 173
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Virtual Tech Happy Hour

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, June 25, 2020 -- Startup Coil Tech Happy Hour. Welcome to Virtual Tech Happy Hour. After brief announcements and updates from community leaders, we'll break up the community into smaller breakout groups and reshuffle every 10-20 minutes with different discussion topics.

Startup 100
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HBCUvc founder Hadiyah Mujhid on one way investors can advance racial equity

TechCrunch LA

In response to VCs’ sudden rush to invest in more Black founders , Black venture capitalists and entrepreneurs have penned a bunch of advice on the best way to tap into talent. Among the strategies? 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.

Equity 220
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QR Codes Facilitate Contactless Ordering

L.A. Business Journal

Diners might soon find QR codes popping up on tables as local restaurants reopen under new health and safety guidelines designed to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Design 189
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Dimer In Deal With Partnership For Airplane Disinfection

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Dimer LLC , the maker of the "GermFalcon" germicidal lighting, has entered into a strategic partnership with Honeywell to the aviation market, the company said on Wednesday. According to Dimer, Honeywell will sell the GermFalcon as the Honeywell UV Cabin System for "airline recovery". Dimer's system uses ultraviolet light for disinfection of surfaces, something which has been used in the healthcare industry for years.

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How much is that one additional unit worth?

Berkonomics

Most college econ courses teach marginal economics. So, not to scare those who didn’t take econ, here is a simple explanation. Let’s use breakeven as our test. Let’s say that your company is exactly at breakeven. Here’s the importance of that event and how it affects every productive move you make after that moment. There is amazing leverage in high gross profit margins once a company is past breakeven.

.Net 156
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5 Strategies For Balancing Revenue Versus User Growth

Startup Professionals Musings

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Both have worked. Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. Twitter showed no focus on revenue in the first five years, but was able to parlay 500M users into a $35B public company, and now growing revenue.

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Inclusive Startup Pitch Competition

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, June 25, 2020 -- Inclusive Startup Pitch Competition by Startup Coil. Entrepreneurs and Seed Stage Startups pitch live to a panel of investor judges. We all get the future we build together. Entrepreneurs can have outsize impact on how societies and economies develop and evolve. Startup Coil is committed to supporting equity and inclusivity in search of a future that's brighter for all us.

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Relativity Space gains new customer in Iridium and new launch site at Vandenberg

TechCrunch LA

Relativity Space has a new customer for its 3D-printed rockets: Established satellite maker and operator Iridium, which has picked the company for launches in 2023. To accomplish those, and other launches like them, the company is also setting up a new launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. “It’s obviously pretty huge news for us,” Relativity co-founder and CEO Tim Ellis told TechCrunch. “Not only do we have a second launch site, but we have an anchor cus

Sites 181
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Women’s Clubs Find a Way

L.A. Business Journal

Chief, a private executive organization designed to help women network their way into positions of power, had big plans to open a 13,000-square-foot, multiuse clubhouse on La Cienega Boulevard near Melrose Avenue this spring.

Design 179
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Slingshot Aerospace Creates Online Mapping Tool For Food Help

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Slingshot Aerospace , a startup which normally develops situational intelligence software, is helping to address some of the major issues to emerge out of the global COVID-19 pandemic, by helping to create an online mapping tool for finding food help. The company said it has partnered with 211 Los Angeles County, the official information and referral source for health and human services in LA County, to launch an online mapping tool helping LA county residents in need locate ov

Tool 138
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Traditional marketing vs. social engagement

Berkonomics

Woe to those teaching yesterday’s methods. We all know that the world of marketing has turned upside down these past years through the power of the Internet. College professors teaching marketing must be having a real challenge keeping up with the new channels of communication, the relative values of advertising buys in this new world and explaining how to make the most out of these cheaper and more powerful channels.

Marketing 120
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9 Different Approaches For Motivating A Startup Team

Startup Professionals Musings

Entrepreneurs inherently understand that they have to be the initial leader of their startup, but often they don’t have the experience or the training to know where their leadership competencies lie, or how to build a leadership team. For new entrepreneurs, leadership development efforts may be more valuable for achieving startup success than business skills development.

Startup 173
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TechFire x DLA Piper: Bessemer Venture Partners' Ethan Kurzweil

SoCal Tech Calendar

Wednesday, June 24, 2020 -- TechFire x DLA Piper: Bessemer Venture Partners' Ethan Kurzweil, Join TechFire, and presenting sponsor DLA Piper to hear from a top Silicon Valley VC, Ethan Kurzweil of Bessemer Venture Partners!

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Cities are wrestling with a potential new exodus in the COVID-19 era, but Urban-X still believes in their future

TechCrunch LA

Embodying the tensions that cities across the world face as they wrestle with controlling a pandemic in dense, urban environments, Urban-X , the accelerator for technology startups focused on the problems cities face, has launched its eighth, fully remote, cohort. While the accelerator program backed by the BMW-owned Mini Cooper automaker and the venture capital firm Urban Us is based in Brooklyn, it’s conducting its latest program virtually, with participating startups coming from Atlanta

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Headspace Adds $48 Million to Series C

L.A. Business Journal

Headspace Inc., the Santa Monica-based meditation app developer, has raised an additional $47.7 million in equity from 10 investors for its Series C funding round.

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Newegg Aims Sale At Those Stuck Inside

socalTECH

Holiday sales? Summer vacation sales? In a sign of the times, instead of the more traditional sales, Los Angeles-based online electronics retailer Newegg is aiming its next sale at people who are preparing to spend more time stuck at home this summer due to the pandemic, saying it has launched a new "Big Sale for Those Inside". The company said it will run its four day promotion starting June 22nd, with a variety of gaming products.

NewEgg 133
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Biotech Roundup: BIO on Racism, AbbVie Antibodies, IPO Surge & More

Xconomy

At the start of 2020 thousands of biotechies anticipated spending the second week of June in San Diego, hobnobbing at the annual conference hosted by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. Instead, attendees from 64 countries spanning 28 times zones convened online this week for the first-ever virtual BIO International Convention. There, topics once as unanticipated as the remote nature of the meeting shared top billing: COVID-19 and racism.

San Diego 121
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5 Reasons Two Founders As A Team Are Better Than One

Startup Professionals Musings

It seems like every entrepreneur I meet these days is quick to proclaim themselves a visionary, expecting that will give more credibility to their startup idea, and improve their odds with investors. In reality, I’m one of the majority of investors who believe that startup success is more about the execution than the idea. Thus, unless the visionary highlights a cofounder who can take the vision and execute, I assume the worst.

Startup 131
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The Mindset of an Investor Today: A Webinar Series with Minnie Ingersoll, Partner, TenOneTen

SoCal Tech Calendar

Wednesday, June 10, 2020 -- The Mindset of an Investor Today: A Webinar Series with Minnie Ingersoll, Partner, TenOneTen. Join Peter Cowen (Managing Director, Sutton Capital Partners) as we explore what investors are looking for in the current climate. Presented by Sutton Capital Partners and the Recurring Revenue Conference.

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Los Angeles-based childcare and co-working startup Bümo adds more virtual classes for kids at home

TechCrunch LA

When Bümo co-founders Joan Nguyen and Chriselle Lim began planning for the rollout of their business, a combination daycare and co-working space for professional women on the go, they never expected to be offering daycare services virtually. But in the face of a global pandemic, every company has had to improvise and in the few months since its launch in 2019, that’s just what Bümo did.

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AECOM Names New CEO

L.A. Business Journal

Century City-based AECOM has named Troy Rudd to become its new chief executive, replacing longtime CEO Michael Burke.

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Fralock Acquires Career Technologies USA

socalTECH

Valencia-based Fralock , which designs and manufactures specialty components for the aerospace, electronics, industrial life science, medical, satellite, and semiconductor equipment manufacturing industries, has acquired Chatsworth-based Career Technologies USA READ MORE>>.

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Roche Gets FDA OK for Injectable Version of Breast Cancer Drug

Xconomy

A new version of a combination drug marketed by Roche for early-stage and metastatic breast cancer with a specific genetic signature received FDA approval Monday for a formulation that can be delivered in minutes rather than an hour or more. The antibody combo , delivered alongside IV chemotherapy, is intended for women with breast cancer that overexpresses a protein called HER2; each drug—both of which were developed by Roche subsidiary Genentech—is believed to attack tumors differe

Marketing 114
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8 Indications Of A Real Entrepreneur Versus A Hacker

Startup Professionals Musings

As a startup investor, I often see business proposals looking for funding that really look like expensive hobbies looking for donations. I recognize that entrepreneurs tend to substitute vision and passion for formal processes, but using no discipline or process in building something new is a sure way to spend money, rather than see any return and build a self-sustaining business.

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DigiMarCon West 2020 - Digital Marketing Conference and Exhibition

SoCal Tech Calendar

Wednesday, June 10, 2020 -- DigiMarCon West 2020 - Digital Marketing Conference and Exhibition. DigiMarCon West 2020 is your chance to. - Hear from some of the most audacious and thought provoking speakers in the digital marketing industry. - Gain insight into emerging strategies, the latest innovative technologies, and best practices to move your business to the next level. - Network with thought leaders, collaborate with your peers and build your network in a beautiful atmosphere.

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Investors based in San Francisco? That’s so 2019

TechCrunch LA

As coronavirus keeps offices closed, wealthy venture capitalists are moving out of apartments in San Francisco and New York and decamping to other vacation-friendly zip codes. In San Francisco, a city known for high housing costs, rates for a one-bedroom apartment have dropped 9% from a year ago. As one investor said to me the other day: Will Lake Tahoe’s seed ecosystem have a resurgence?

Invest 161