Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 4, 2010
One of the most influential books of my career is The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clay Christensen. I cannot recommend it enough for people in the technology or media sectors. Many people bandy about the definitions of “disruptive technology&# or “the innovator’s dilemma&# without ever having read the book and almost universally misunderstand the concepts.
SoCal CTO
NOVEMBER 30, 2010
Funny graphic by @shanesnow that captures the difference between web designers vs. web developers: Like the issue of Startup CTO or Developer , often startup founders who are less technical have this same question. Do I need a designer or a developer? I need to come back to this issue and write more in the future – spectrum of what designers vs. developers cover.
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socalTECH
NOVEMBER 1, 2010
Hollywood-based Ranker , the online startup headed by Clark Benson, said today that it is now seeing over 1 million unique monthly visitors to its web site. The site, which allows users to create their own ranked lists of products, movies, video games, and anything else users want to, said it now has over 6 million items that can be dragged and dropped into its lists.
InfoChachkie
NOVEMBER 18, 2010
“You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”. Wayne Gretzky. Imagine how difficult it would be to score in hockey if you were required to rely on someone who is not your teammate to convince another third-party, whom you have not met, to take a shot on your behalf. As crazy as this scenario sounds, it is very similar to the “scoring process” companies engage in when they track Net Promoter Scores.
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.
Berkonomics
NOVEMBER 12, 2010
The CEO position can be a lonely place, especially when the CEO finds himself in a position of not being able to bring an issue directly to the board and not wanting to explore solutions with associates within the company. This sometimes happens when a CEO is unwilling to admit a weakness in an area that is critical, such as analysis of financial statements, or when a CEO is unhappy with the actions of his board or with pay offers by the board’s compensation committee that cannot be resolved am
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 14, 2010
By Joseph A. Bockerstette, Main Street Venture Fund As I outlined last week, trophy angel investors are always looking for trophy entrepreneurs. In many areas, not enough entrepreneurs meet the criteria, so it’s still a buyer’s market. The result is that the Main Street Venture Fund consistently has more money available than good opportunities for investment.
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SoCal CTO
NOVEMBER 1, 2010
I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. We had several emails back and forth where he provided basic details on the concept. And I tried to evaluate the idea and figure out: What did the founder really need here? Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ? Was it a case of needing Homework? Did they really need a Startup CTO or Developer or both?
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 11, 2010
North Carolina-based Dex One , the current owner of Santa Monica-based Business.com , said this week that it is shutting down Business.com, and realigning those operations, merging them into its current business. The shutdown comes three years after Dex One paid $345M for Business.com. Business.com offered up an online directory of local businesses, combined with content and expert commentary.
InfoChachkie
NOVEMBER 18, 2010
“You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”. Wayne Gretzky. Imagine how difficult it would be to score in hockey if you were required to rely on someone who is not your teammate to convince another third-party, whom you have not met, to take a shot on your behalf. As crazy as this scenario sounds, it is very similar to the “scoring process” companies engage in when they track Net Promoter Scores.
Berkonomics
NOVEMBER 29, 2010
Whether you find advisors from family, friends, faculty or fellow managers, great advisors can become an informal resource that rivals that of more formal resources, including board members. You will certainly know when you’ve found such a treasure, almost always through introduction by others and rarely because you have deliberately approached someone to fill a needed hole.
Tech Zulu Event
NOVEMBER 15, 2010
After months of submissions the moment you all have been waiting for is here! For those who still might be wondering what Spotlight: LA Tech is all about, It’s a screening room for new technology homegrown in our region. It’s a gallery of great entrepreneurship. It’s a toast to those who build and innovate. It’s a gathering of friends and tech enthusiasts of all stripes.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 29, 2010
Justyn Howard, founder of Sprout Social has a blog post that he’s written about his experiences of migrating from scrappy tools to more efficient ones (i.e. Using Balsamiq instead of SnagIt, Website Optimizer over just Google Analytics and FTP). It’s a great topic, his post is well written and given that he’s going through it right now in his startup it’s worth reading his point of view on the topic.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 15, 2010
As an entrepreneur, you always need to be on the lookout for ways to expand your current business, and always on the lookout for your next big thing. The competition never stands still, and new opportunities are evolving, based on culture changes in your customers, new technologies, and new problems in the world which need to be solved. Steven Schussler, in his new book “ It’s a Jungle In There ” characterized this well in relation to his own success by recommending to all entrepreneurs that you
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 17, 2010
Santa Monica-based LIVESTRONG.COM , the online health and fitness site joint venture of Demand Media and Lance Armstrong, said this week that it has launched a new, iPhone application geared at helping users quick smoking. Livestrong said its new MyQuit Coach iPhone application--which costs $3.99 in the Apple App store--will provide a customized quitting plan, track daily tobacco use and allowance, provide quitting facts and motivational information, plus allow users to earn badges and rewards.
InfoChachkie
NOVEMBER 9, 2010
In the early 1970s, the Seven-Up Company devised an ingenious plan to market its flagship soda. The campaign was so successful it eventually catapulted 7-Up’s sales to rival that of both Coke and Pepsi, making it the third most popular soft drink in the US. The company hired the Dominican actor Geoffrey Holder, who delivered the commercial’s signature tagline with memorable panache, “ Maaarvelous, absolutely maaarvelous.
Berkonomics
NOVEMBER 22, 2010
Let me tell you the story of the first investment made by a newly organized formal group of angel investors. It was thrilling for these angels to find a young entrepreneur with an idea for a business that seemed so destined for greatness that the angels invested over $1 million on the condition that the group receive two board seats and one observer seat on the start-up’s board.
Tech Zulu Event
NOVEMBER 8, 2010
On Thursday, December 9th, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. PST we have special guest Kamran Pourzanjani CEO of Bestcovery and former CEO and Co-Founder of Pricegrabber on TechZulu Live. Visit TechZulu for full story. Tags: Entrepreneurship Startup TechZulu Live Bestcovery Kamran Pourzanjani Pricegrabber.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 25, 2010
This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . I HATE LOSING. I hate it. I really, really, really hate it. It chaps my hide. It rips at my core. I don’t get over it easily. I lose sleep. I fucking hate losing. It’s not so much the actual outcome that I hate – it’s the process.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 10, 2010
I often recommend business networking as the most effective way for a startup founder to find investors, advisors, and even key executive candidates. But what if you are an introvert, or new to this game, and don’t know where or how to start? I have learned over the years that there is an etiquette to this process, just like there is for social networking.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 17, 2010
Last night, Amazon.com jumped into the movie business, with its own, online film submission site, Amazon Studios , backed by the help of a number of notable USC Film School advisors. Amazon is not the only company looking to make a business out of online film submissions: We dug up some of the other local competition in this space, mined from our database of startups , with brief details below: Amazon Studios.
InfoChachkie
NOVEMBER 9, 2010
In the early 1970s, the Seven-Up Company devised an ingenious plan to market its flagship soda. The campaign was so successful it eventually catapulted 7-Up’s sales to rival that of both Coke and Pepsi, making it the third most popular soft drink in the US. The company hired the Dominican actor Geoffrey Holder, who delivered the commercial’s signature tagline with memorable panache, “ Maaarvelous, absolutely maaarvelous.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 22, 2010
I recently wrote about my philosophy of minimalism that “ less is more &# with the mantra “when in doubt, leave it out.&#. I’ve had a long-standing rule of thumb in product design, which I call “design for the novice, configure for the pro.&# I started saying this back in 2001/02, long before the era of Web 2.0, lean startups or even the advent of AJAX.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 28, 2010
Recently I wrote a blog post about how I hated losing, but I embrace it as a way to learn, improve and increase my win rates. One of the things I learned from my “post-game analysis&# is that you’re most vulnerable right after you’ve won the deal. I know it sounds counter-intuitive but my experience tells me it’s true. At the moment you pop the champagne cork and let down your guard is when you’re easiest to attack.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 14, 2010
It’s really hard to zig when the whole world seems to be zagging. One of my favorite quotes I learned in high school was: “Nonconformity is the Highest Form of Social Attainment&#. It was written as the yearbook quote of the smartest seniors as I was finishing my freshman year. It has always stood with me. I have had a low bullshit meter.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 3, 2010
There is a transition in every company from a “seat of the pants&# kind of entrepreneurial company to a “process driven&# mechanized one. Many people who are successful in the former fare less well in the latter. Frankly, I’m much more of the former kind of guy and I tire of the routine process & politics required to succeed in a big company.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 2, 2010
This is part of a series on sales & marketing. The original post of this article on appeared on GigaOm in a more concise version here. I previously covered how early phase sales teams should be “evangelical&# and consultative in nature. As a tech startup grows it needs to develop more process & management if it is to scale. I call this “arming & aiming&# your salesforce.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 16, 2010
I’m a high-volume person. That doesn’t make me important. It doesn’t mean I’m not accessible. It means simply what I’m stating – high volume. What that means is that in a typical week I might see 10-15 new company pitches. Sometimes more. I speak at conferences where I might meet 75-100 people and have conversations.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 23, 2010
Everybody has some portion of their life that is repetitive. For these cases we want software that is optimized for massive iteration. I recently wrote a post about design simplicity where I encouraged technology design teams to think about “designing for the novice, configuring for the pro&# users. I wrote this post because I feel that too many products let features creep sink into the design under the guise of making the product more powerful but in turn they make their products less u
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 5, 2010
Los Angeles-based Factual , the open data platform startup headed by Google AdSense inventor Gil Elbaz, said last night that it has inked a number of deals to provide and link its local business information data to Facebook, Booyah, Home Junction, and others. According to Factual, it will access and contribute to new local datasets with Home Junction and Booyah, and deliver local data for Facebook Places in the UK and Japan.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 22, 2010
Pasadena-based OnGreen , the online marketplace for green and clean technology businesses, said today that it has launched a new, patent marketplace focused on allowing users to license or sell their intellectual property (IP). According to OnGreen, the new marketplace will provide additional funding avenues for entrepreneurs. OnGreen said the patent exchange will focus on promoting the sale and licensing of green and clean technology patents and other form of IP.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 15, 2010
Los Angeles-based Oversee.net , the operator of a range of domain name and Internet marketing sites, said Monday that it has launched a new, travel planning and hotel booking site, HotelHostess.com. According to Oversee, the new site is aimed at women, to help them find the best travel deals, get vacation ideas, and get other vacation and travel information.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 1, 2010
Los Angeles-based mobile marketing firm Mogreet , which is headed by James Citron, announced this morning that it has inked a deal with Steve Madden , where it will provide rich media mobile marketing as part of Steve Madden's marketing efforts. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The two said that Mogreet will power Steve Madden's efforts to reach consumers directly on their mobile devices, including information about news, sales promotions, exclusive content, and more.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 3, 2010
Santa Monica-based Geodelic , the developer of mobile location information applications headed by Rahul Sonnad, has rolled a new mobile application from Clear Channel. According to Clear Channel Airports, the airport advertising arm of advertising giant Clear Channel, it has launched a new FLYsmart application, a free, mobile application for Android which provides information about airports.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 17, 2010
Carlsbad-based PixelActive , a developer of 3D modeling software used for urban modeling in video games, simulation, and urban planning, has been acquired by map and traffic data provider NAVTEQ. NAVTEQ said the acquisition will support its move to a 3D-based architecture. PixelActive had 16 employees prior to the acquisition by NAVTEQ. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 17, 2010
Last week, Los Angeles-based MOVIECLIPS.COM (www.movieclips.com) announced the firm's Series A funding round, worth $3M, from Shasta Ventures, First Round Capital, and a number of Silicon Valley angels. We caught up with Zach James and Rich Raddon , co-founders of MOVIECLIPS, to learn more about the company and also hear about the firm's funding round.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 17, 2010
Aliso Viejo-based online retailer Buy.com looks to be in the midst of an effort to drive more holiday sales, by boosting payouts to the firm's affiliate marketing partners. Affiliates get a cut of sales driven by their links to products and web sites. According to a note from LinkShare to affiliates, Buy.com has significantly increased its percentage on sales from the site for the month of November.
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