January, 2023

article thumbnail

Recurring revenues: Oil or glue?

Berkonomics

Some types of businesses generate more and more recurring revenues over time, often growing to a size where recurring revenues pay all of the overhead of the company – an enviable position. The surprising recurring revenue trap. There is a phenomenon I have observed time after time with mature companies receiving over 75% of their revenues from recurring sources.

Sales 296
article thumbnail

Hackers claim ransomware attack on Los Angeles housing authority

TechCrunch LA

The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, or HACLA, has confirmed it is investigating a cybersecurity incident shortly after the LockBit ransomware gang claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on the agency. HACLA, which provides affordable housing to more than 19,000 low-income families across Los Angeles, was added to LockBit’s dark web leak site on December 31.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Personal.ai Raises $7.8M

socalTECH

La Jolla-based Personal AI, which is developing artificial intelligence software to help users draft personal messages, retain, and recall personal information, has raised $7.8M in a seed funding round. The funding came from Supernode Global, Differential Ventures, BBG Ventures, Beni VC, Village Global, Keshif Ventures, and Good Friends (founders of Warby Parker, Harry's, and Allbirds).

article thumbnail

10 Ways To Make Your Funding Pitch More Hard-Hitting

Startup Professionals Musings

The average length of a funding pitch to angel investors is ten minutes. Even if you have booked an hour with a VC, you should plan to talk only for the first fifteen minutes. The biggest complaint I hear from fellow investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation.

Slides 147
article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

Building Bridges with the Tijuana & San Diego Startup Community

Startup San Diego

The post Building Bridges with the Tijuana & San Diego Startup Community appeared first on Startup San Diego.

article thumbnail

Can you get to the right person when you need to?

Berkonomics

Can your contact solve real-world issues? I recently experienced an amazing effort of outreach by a vice president of a large national customer asking for a meeting with the product development team of a critical supplier, one of “my” companies. The goal, the VP stated, was to “see if these guys are battle hardened veterans that have dealt with the real-world product and delivery problems” of a nationally important customer.

Customer 156

More Trending

article thumbnail

Looking to be acquired? Think the 10/40 or 20/20 rules.

Berkonomics

Public companies looking to acquire your growing enterprise usually have a few financial measures that help them weed out those candidates that will be too expensive in terms of effort or of too little financial attractiveness. The first rule: 10/40: One of my company CEOs recently described his rule for acquisition success, and it resonated with me as a great goal for planning during acquisition exercises.

.Net 156
article thumbnail

CARI Health Connects With $2.3M

socalTECH

San Diego-based CARI Health, which is developing a wearable, real-time mediation monitor, said on Tuesday that it has raised $2.3M in a seed funding round. The funding came from the San Diego Angel Conference, NuFund Venture Group, Cove Fund, Chemical Angel Fund, Medical Devices of Tomorrow, along with other individual investors. The company said the funding will go towards in-patient clinical studies.

San Diego 133
article thumbnail

5 Pitfalls to Avoid When Transforming Your Business

Startup Professionals Musings

No matter how well your business seems to have worked for you up to this point, you can be certain that it will need to be heavily transformed for tomorrow’s new world-wide economy and no industry sector boundaries. New digital technologies, business models, and regulatory rulings are forcing all of us to think outside of our silos and rethink what it means to operate effectively.

article thumbnail

10 Tips To Ensure That Your New Venture Is Investable

Startup Professionals Musings

Investors will tell you that they love to put money into startups that are scalable, and ready to become the next unicorn. But what does that really mean? Simply stated, it means that your business has the potential to multiply revenue with minimal incremental cost. Ready to scale is when you have a proven product and a proven business model, about to expand to new geographies and markets.

Tips 135
article thumbnail

Virgin Orbit Mission Fails

socalTECH

Mojave, California-based Virgin Orbit reported on Monday that its first attempted launch of a payload from the United Kingdom "fell short of reaching its target orbit". The company, which launched the rocket from its customized 747, the Cosmic Girl, said that at some point after launching its rocket, the "system experienced an anomaly", "ending the mission prematurely".

Report 113
article thumbnail

4 Initiatives To Escape The Perils Of Linear Thinking

Startup Professionals Musings

Why do a few entrepreneurs, like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, seem to come up with all the real innovations, while the majority of business leaders seem stuck in the rut of linear thinking? I have always wondered if innovation required some rare gene mutation, or whether I might be missing a simple formula for unlocking the ability in any intelligent business person to innovate.

Startup 128
article thumbnail

6 Mistakes Often Made By Entrepreneurs Due To Passion

Startup Professionals Musings

As an entrepreneur mentor and startup investor, I see with sadness the 50 to 90 percent that fail. If you ask them for a reason, most will insist that they couldn’t get funding, or they ran out of money too early. But I’m not convinced that it’s as simple as that. Many are just not facing the reality that their passion had a critical business flaw. As I was contemplating a classic book “ Dead Companies Walking ,” by Scott Fearon, who runs a hedge fund that profits from businesses headed toward b

article thumbnail

10 Obstacles To Creative Responses For Market Growth

Startup Professionals Musings

Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who think the most creatively, not only in their initial product or service, but more importantly all through the stages of growth from startup to maturity. But even the best of them can easily slip into some bad decision habits that limit or hurt their business, due to natural human tendencies and the pressures of business challenges.

Marketing 119
article thumbnail

10 Keys To More Satisfaction In Your Business In 2023

Startup Professionals Musings

Welcome to another challenging new year ahead! You’ve probably already made your resolutions for 2023, 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

article thumbnail

Stratolaunch Completes New Test Flight

socalTECH

Mojave-based Stratolaunch, the aerospace development firm which originally was founded by late Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen, said late last week that it has completed its second "captive carry" flight with a test vehicle. The company--which is now under new ownership, and focusing its efforts on hypersonic flight testing rather than space launch--said its completed its second captive carry flight with the Talon-A separation test vehicle, TA-0, the ninth flight for its massive Roc launch ve

Develop 100
article thumbnail

Semtech Completes Sierra Wireless Buy

socalTECH

Camarillo-based Semtech said late Thursday afternoon that it has completed its acquisition of Vancouver, British Columbia-based Sierra Wireless. The deal was worth approximately $1.2 billion, and was an all-cash transaction. According to Semtech, the deal is expected to add approximately $100M of high-margin IoT cloud services to its recurring revenues.

article thumbnail

EVgo Plans Charging Station Revamp

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based electric vehicle charging network operator EVgo said this week that it is launching a program to "replace, upgrade" and even "retire" hundreds of its stations. According to the company, the move will go to enhance its charger availability and will help with "building range confidence" for EV drivers. EVgo said said it has been installing its charging stations fore more than a decade.

article thumbnail

Crypto.com Cuts 20 Percent

socalTECH

Singapore-based Crypto.com--the cryptocurrency company which owns the naming rights to the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles--has cut 20 percent of its staff, citing "economic headwinds" and "unforeseeable" events in the crypto industry. The cuts. reportedly impacted more than 2,000 people. Crypto.com blamed the collapse of FTX. Crypto.com bought the naming rights to what was the Staples Center, the home of the Lakers and the Sparks, back in 2021; the company agreed to pay $700M in that naming rig

article thumbnail

COSM Acquires C360

socalTECH

Los Angeles-base Cosm, which develops immersive media, said on Thursday that it has acquired C360, a developer of immersive video products based in Pittsburgh, PA. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. According to Cosm, C360's client included sports media companies and leagues, plus various governmental agencies. Cosm said it was the lead investor in an early 2022 round of investment in C360.

article thumbnail

Telesair Picks Up $22M

socalTECH

Irvine-based Telesair, a medical equipment developing developing a mobile medical respirator that the company says helps get patients out of the hospital sooner, has raised $22M in a Series A funding round. The funding was led by Pasaca Capital and also included Honeywell, ZhenCheng Capital, Shangbay Capital, Device of Tomorrow Capital, Berkeley Catalyst Fund and Ultrastar Ventures LLC.

Capital 100
article thumbnail

CRISPR Gets $1.6M

socalTECH

San Diego-based CRISPR QC, a startup developing data and analytics tools for the gene editing market, announced on Tuesday afternoon that it has raised $1.6M in a seed funding round. The funding was led by Serra Ventures, and also included CaerusX Ventures, the investment company of George Bonaros. CRISPR is led by CEO Ross Bundy.

article thumbnail

National Resilience Gets Investments From Mubadala

socalTECH

San Diego-based National Resilience, a provider of biopharmaceuticals manufacturing, said on Tuesday that it has received an equity investment from adala Investment Company PJSC (Mubadala), one of Abu Dhabi's sovereign investment funds. Financial details of the investment were not announced. National Resilience said it will construct a new manufacturing facility in Abu Dhabi, UAE, as a result of the investment.

Invest 100
article thumbnail

Lone View Capital Backs Trend Health Partners

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based private equity investor Lone View Capital said this morning that it has made an investment in Trend Health Partners, a developer of products in the credit balance management and payment accuracy market. Fnancial details of that investment were not announced.

Capital 100
article thumbnail

Virgin Orbit Plans UK Launch For Today

socalTECH

Mojave-based space launch provider Virgin Orbit is planning its very first launch in the United Kingdom--the first space launch in that country--using its Boeing 747 aircraft, the Cosmic Girl. According to Virgin Orbit, the launch window for its Start Me Up mission opens on Monday, 9 January at 22:16 UTC with additional back-up dates continuing into mid and late January.

Startup 100
article thumbnail

PBS Biotech Gets $22M

socalTECH

Camarillo-based PBS Biotech, which is developing single use bioreactors for the biotech industry, said it has raised $22M in a funding round. The funding was led by Avego Management, and also included BroadOak Capital Partners. According to the company, it will use the new funding to improve its product portfolio, expand its process development services capability, and increase customer support.

Funding 100
article thumbnail

Live Data Technologies Snags $5M

socalTECH

Santa Barbara-based Live Data Technologies said this morning that it has raised $5M in a Series A funding round. Source of the funding was not announced. The company says it is developing software to verify B2B contact data for people, tracking people as they move jobs. The company says its database covers 70 million people at 2 million companies, and is tracking over 30,00 daily job changes.

article thumbnail

Verogen Acquired By QIAGEN

socalTECH

San Diego-based Verogen, a developer of next generation sequencing technology for the forensics industry, has been acquired by Netherlands-based QIAGEN, QIAGEN said early this morning. Financial details of the transaction were not announced. Verogen was founded in 2017, and develops tools and services used by forensic science laboratories and criminal investigators in criminal and missing-persons cases.

San Diego 100
article thumbnail

Spotter Expands Partnership With Havas Media Group

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Spotter, which connects creators with funding to develop content for brands and businesses, and media agency Havas Media Group (HMG) North America said today that the two are in a new partnership. Financial details of the deal--which will fund more investments in YouTube creators--were not announced. Spotter says it provides YouTube creators with capital from brands and businesses, allowing those creators to "reinvest those funds however they choose, from hiring a team, to buil

Media 100
article thumbnail

Product Sciences Picks Up $18M For Mobile App Analysis

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Product Science said this week that it has raised $18M in a seed funding round. The funding came from Slow Ventures, Coatue, K5 Global, Mantis Ventures, plus angels Peter Fenton (Benchmark), Jerry Murdock (Insight Partners), and executives at Snap. The company says it is developing software that analyzes pre-product, mobile application code using artificial intelligence, to help improve mobile performance of apps.

article thumbnail

Insights: Tony Greenberg: Three Predictions for 2023

socalTECH

For our Insights and Opinions section today, we have Three Predictions for 2023: Decentralization Now, Post-Speculation, and Surviving Irrational Markets (from Tony Greenberg) The death of decentralization-washing is key to the great decoupling Net cash inflows into the market shift from speculation to revenue -- and determine winners Markets continue to stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent -- so everyone needs help.

.Net 100
article thumbnail

Report: Autonomy Running Out Of Money

socalTECH

A report from Business Insider says that Los Angeles-based electric vehicle subscription company Autonomyis running out of money and in "dire straits". According to the report, the company--which offers up Tesla vehicles on a subscription basis--is in the midst of attempting to find emergency funding. The company appears to have been hit by the same winds that have caused Tesla's stock price to plunge in recent weeks.

Report 100
article thumbnail

Amazon To Cut 18,000, Unclear On Hollywood Impact

socalTECH

Amazon.com said on Wednesday that it is cutting 18,000 people from its work force, including roles in its Devices and Books business, plus People, Experience, and Technology (PXT) organization -- the latest cuts in the technology industry. It's unclear how those cuts might affect the company's efforts in Hollywood, where Amazon has a significant presence.

Hollywood 100
article thumbnail

Ring Opens Preorders For Car Cam

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Ring, now part of Amazon, has opened up pre-orders for its Car Cam, the company's version of a dashboard camera. The product includes two cameras, one for both the exterior and interior, and also includes a microphone and speaker which allows owners to communicate through the device. The product--first announced in 2020--was supposed to ship in 2021.

article thumbnail

Faraday Future Swizzles Board

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based electric vehicle maker Faraday Future said over the holidays that it has appointed two new directors to the company's board. According to Faraday Future, it has appointed Xuefeng ("XF") Chen and Ke Sun to the company's board, as a result of the resignation of two directors, Dr. Carsten Breitfeld and Mr. Edwin Goh. Interestingly enough, in the announcement, Faraday Future thanked Goh for his service on the board -- but not Breitfeld.

article thumbnail

Teledyne Acquires ChartWorld

socalTECH

Thousand Oaks-based Teledyne Technologies said on Tuesday that it has acquired ChartWorld International. Financial terms of the deal were not announced. ChartWorld is based in Headquarters, and develops digital marine navigation hardware and software. The company also has lactions in Hamburg, Singapore, Vancouver and Tokyo.