May, 2014

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To My Wife, On Mother’s Day

Both Sides of the Table

'Mother’s Day. The one day a year where we recognize this all important figure in our lives who shapes our childhood providing unconditional love through our successes and failures with encouragement and support through our struggles. I’ve written about my own mom before and the role she played in shaping my life but of course you never quite appreciate the full contributions of Mom until you’re much older.

Course 323
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Latest Oculus Rift Idea: The Matrix, But For Chickens

socalTECH

'Irvine-based Oculus VR , the virtual reality technology developer which was just picked up by Facebook for $2 billion--has a lot of developers with great virtual reality game and simulation ideas and software in the works. However, the latest idea to make the rounds is an original one: to use the hardware to create what would essentially be "The Matrix", for chickens.

Ideas 266
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What Startup Advisors Do I Need?

SoCal CTO

'Bob Dorf just published a post Where are the Hackers? Solving the Founder-Tech Gap that came out of some fun conversations that Bob and I have been having. A large part of this conversation is what kinds of advisors startups should be looking for. A little while ago, I suggested that Every Web/Mobile Startup Should Have a Technical Advisor. The conversation with Bob was about what the composition of advisors should look like.

CTO Coach 241
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Both sides must be fair in a term sheet negotiation.

Berkonomics

'By Basil Peters. After being an active angel investor for about fifteen years, I realized that many of the discussions I was involved in were virtually identical to ones I’d had many times before. A good example was during the negotiation of a term sheet. These usually involve a handful of angel investors, and a few entrepreneurs, who all want to build the very best term sheet for their exciting nascent enterprise.

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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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How GoToMyPC Kicked pcAnywhere’s A$$

InfoChachkie

'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Noted American architect Frank Lloyd Wright famously cautioned his design disciples that form should not compromise function. However, for many online startups, form should drive the design process. I hesitate to write about design, as I have never considered myself to be a "color or font" person.

Symantec 227
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8 Deadly Wastes That Every Entrepreneur Must Avoid

Startup Professionals Musings

'Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring and coaching activities, I see it happening all too often. Waste in a startup is any activity that absorbs resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers.

More Trending

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Russia Cuts Off Rockets, Threatens ISS Due To Ukraine

socalTECH

'In a move which looks to bolster technology mogul Elon Musk ''s efforts to help ferry astronauts--and military cargo--to space for the United States, Russia has banned the use of Russian-made rocket engines for launching military satellites, and has threatened cutting off access to the International Space Station, in retaliation for a plan in Washington to deny export licenses for items which could help the Russian military.

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Batch 8 500 Startups Demo Day | Our Top Ten

Tech Zulu Event

'Amphitheater seating, hundreds of investors. Stage lights above four months of hustling behind you. X marks the spot. You have three minutes. As our first time covering a 500 Startups demo day , we could only imagine the stratospheric levels of stress our Batch 8 founders must have gone through to get on stage and present their progress from their last four months of startup bootcamp.

Startup 111
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And don’t forget creative fund raising.

Berkonomics

'Let me tell you the story of how I raised $100,000 to fill a gap needed to purchase a new home for my young family years ago. I had located a beautiful home that would be a stretch to finance, and had arranged for a first mortgage from the bank, and a second from the seller. Home values were rising so fast that I knew I had to move quickly. So I went to visit a number of customer CEOs, told them my story, and asked them to advance some amount against their future billing from me.

Funding 204
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How To Snag Lunch With A High-Profile Entrepreneur

InfoChachkie

'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. I recently received an email from a former student in which he described how he was able to secure a lunch meeting with a high-profile entrepreneur who is operating multiple ventures in parallel. Benedikt Scholz is an exceptional student whom I had the pleasure of instructing when he recently studied at UC Santa Barbara.

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The Correct Answers to 'How Will You Use My Money?'

Startup Professionals Musings

'Entrepreneurs looking for investor funding often fail to realize that all money comes with strings. For example, if you have watched the Shark Tank TV series, you probably noticed that the Sharks always ask the entrepreneurs for their intended “use of funds.” Those who respond with one of the wrong answers, such as “I want to pay myself a salary,” usually go home empty-handed.

Startup 114
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What Would Happen if you Built the Reverse of Amazon? It Might Look Something Like This …

Both Sides of the Table

'Amazon. It’s the company that evokes fear into more startups and venture capitalists looking to fund eCommerce businesses than any other potential competitor. Every pitch I’ve ever seen has led to the, “Would Amazon eventually do this? And could we then compete?” type questions. But what if you could do the reverse of Amazon?

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First Bitcoin Plumber? LA Plumber Starts Accepting Bitcoin

socalTECH

'A Los Angeles plumbing and water heater repair and installation company, Ritz Plumbing & Heating , said this morning that it has started accepting Bitcoin for purchases of its service, effective immediately. The company--which says it specializes in emergency plumbing services, drain and sewer repair, and water heater repair & installation--said it will accept Bitcoin from any of its customers, and will not require any special membership or login credentials to pay using Bitcoin.

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Adam Chapnick Looks Forward to a New Future with AssetAvenue

Tech Zulu Event

'AssetAvenue, a new and exciting real estate crowdfunding company, has acquired a new asset, Adam Chapnick. If you already heard of the name, then you already know why the acquisition is such a big deal. If Adam Chapnick does not ring a bell, then his work at Indiegogo will say it all. The importance of Adam in Indiegogo was invaluable. Adam is the very mind behind many of the business developments and the growth of Indiegogo into one of the most premier crowdfunding platforms.

Platform 110
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Early stage money: The problem with PPMs

Berkonomics

'By Bill Payne. Bill Payne has been actively involved in angel investing since 1980, funding over 50 companies and mentoring over 100 more. He is the recipient of the coveted “Hans Severiens Award form the Angel Capital Association, its highest honor. . The sale of equity in private companies is regulated by the Securities Act of 1933, which requires that the company either register with the SEC or meet one of several exemptions (Regulation D).

Writing 199
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Ten Step Program For Recovering Victims Of Founderitis

InfoChachkie

'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Founder ? King. Everyone around you knows that you have it, but you are in denial. You say things like, “I am open to giving control to the right person at the right time”. However, the reality is that the “right person” does not exist and the “right time” never arrives. Founderitis, Founder’s Disease, Founder’s Syndrome; by any name, this my way or the highway approach to running a business is the same affliction.

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Crowd Funding Has Not Killed Angel Investing Yet

Startup Professionals Musings

'Entrepreneurs who require funding for their startup have long counted on self-accredited high net worth individuals (“angels”) to fill their needs, after friends and family, and before they qualify for institutional investments (“VCs”). New crowd funding platforms on the Internet, like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo , as well as the Jobs Act of 2012 , are expected by many to ramp up regular people’s ability to fund new opportunities and kill the need for angel groups.

Invest 111
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Why Your Startup is More Likely to Succeed if You’re Authentic and Passionate

Both Sides of the Table

'In my Twitter bio is says that I’m “ looking to invest in passionate entrepreneurs ,” which almost sounds like I was just looking for a cliché soundbite to describe myself. Yet along with “authenticity” they are two of the key attributes I look for when I meet with companies I may consider funding one day. Passion is also the featured heavily in nearly every presentation I give to entrepreneurs or on college campuses or in talks with MBA students.

Startup 419
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Connect6 Aims To Bridge The Web, Real Life Contacts

socalTECH

'A new, Los Angeles-based Connect6 launched this week, with a new, Chrome browser extension which looks to bridge the web--and such sites as Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, and other services--with LinkedIn-like information on potential contacts. The company''s software discovers contacts online, and allows users to click on an icon to pull up important business details, like job title, employer, job skills, email address, phone number, and more.

Web 247
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The First Ever In-Flight Wearable Technology Hackathon

Tech Zulu Event

'Wearable World today announced the addition of several key partners to the wearable technology hackathon to be held on an upcoming American Airlines transcontinental flight. “We’ve got an exciting and innovative group of companies coming together for this event,” Kyle Ellicott, Co-Founder/CTO of Wearable World and the GLAZED Conference said.

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Craft your roadmap. Plan your trip.

Berkonomics

'By JJ Richa. J.J. Richa is a successful entrepreneur and technologist giving back to the entrepreneurial community in many ways, including his weekly Internet TV program on entrepreneurism, and participation in several mentoring programs. . Business planning is a crucial part of a successful business. Business plans are dynamic instruments used on a regular basis to help owners and executives to plan for future growth, and.

Startup 166
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Framework Benchmarks Round 9

TechEmpower

'The latest round of our ongoing Framework Benchmarks project is now available! Round 9 updates several test implementations and introduces a new test environment using modern server hardware. Since the first round, we have known that the highest-performance frameworks and platforms have been network-limited by our gigabit Ethernet. For Round 9, Peak Hosting has provided a high-performance environment equipped with 10-gigabit Ethernet at one of their data centers.

Framework 546
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Don't Let These 7 Excuses Sink Your Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

'When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. Rather than quitting, there are always alternatives, like pivoting the business model or merging with new partners for support. Either could improve the statistic that most startups fail within the first five years.

Startup 110
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Remember The Phone Company? It’s Back And It’s Called Facebook

InfoChachkie

'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Quick - name a phone company. AT&T? Verizon? Maybe you said Apple or even Google, but I bet Facebook didn''t come to mind. Yet, that’s exactly who the Atlantic called out in an article last week (along with Apple), and they’re right. According to the author, 60% of Facebook’s revenue comes from mobile ads, double that of the prior year.

Company 200
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USC Marshall Snags Elon Musk, Steve Ballmer For Commencement

socalTECH

'The University of Southern California''s Marshall School of Business has lined up two of technology''s biggest names-- Elon Musk and Steve Ballmer --as speakers for commencement, the school said Monday. According to the school, technology mogul Elon Musk, who founded Telsa Motors and SpaceX, will speak at the USC Marshall Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony at the Galen Center on Friday morning, and retired Microsoft CEO Steven A.

USC 239
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Breathometer | The Pocket-Sized Life Saver

Tech Zulu Event

'It was mid week at this year’s SXSW at the TechZulu x Indiegogo tech lounge. The packed schedule of entrepreneurs and founders were coming through at a steady stream, with the perks of great local food and drink (tacos, bbq, and brews of the beer and cold-coffee variety) on hand. The light tunes, conversational tone, and laidback feel created a great environment for our tech innovators and hustlers to come together for great interviews, discussions, and showcasing of some of IndiegogoR

Startup 101
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Can you finance your company with grants?

Berkonomics

'First, here’s a link to my recent TEDx talk, “Smiling at success; laughing at failure.” . I am chairman of a company that, as I write this, is twelve years old and has not yet taken a dollar of outside investment. The company has been funded entirely by grants from the National Institute of Health, amounting to millions of non-dilutive dollars in all.

Company 166
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LA Mayor Garcetti Launches Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program

socalTECH

'In a bid to boost the Los Angeles economy and create new jobs in the city, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Friday that he has created a new "Entrepreneur-in-Residence" program, which will help the city in developing initiatives and policies aimed at growing, assisting and sustaining entrepreneurs in Los Angeles. The effort--which is being sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP--will allow two entrepreneurs to spend a year helping the city with its efforts to create jobs.

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Exploring A Brave New World Of Domain Names, With Rightside

socalTECH

'It''s a brave new world in the domain name marketplace, with a lot of changes due to the sudden proliferation of new, top level domains (gTLDs). To get some insight into how those names are changing--we caught up with Steve Banfield , SVP and GM of Registrar Services over at Rightside (www.rightside.co) -- which is in the midst of spinning out from Santa Monica-based Demand Media.

Demand 231
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Contender.com Launches Ticket Marketplace

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based Contender.com , a new online event ticket marketplace headed by Wes Brodsky and Ken Blaustein, has launched, looking to help buyers and sellers of secondary tickets connect. The startup says it has created an online marketplace which lets ticket buyers and sellers negotiate ticket sales in a "free, fair and flexible" P2P market. The company says it leverages PayPal to make sure that deals will be done in a secure way.

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How Epoxy Is Helping Content Creators Make Their Video More Social

socalTECH

'Are you a content creator for the web? It turns out, nowadays, creating the content is only a small part of your job description The most successful YouTubers, studios, brands and agencies today are intensely focused on using social media to engage with fans, get that content out there, and grow their audience. Los Angeles-based Epoxy (www.epoxy.tv) launched yesterday to help content creators do just that.

Downey 215
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Epoxy Looks To Help Online Video Creators With Social Tools

socalTECH

'Venice, California-basd Epoxy --which was built by former executive from Team Downey--has launched a brand new set of tools aimed at helping online video creators use social media, and also disclosed a funding round. The startup, which is funded by Upfront Ventures, Greycroft Partners, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Downey Ventures, Advancit Capital and angels, said that it is aiming its tools at everyone from individual online video creators to studios, brands, and agencies.

Downey 207
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Esri Pledges To Donate $1 Billion In Software For STEM Efforts

socalTECH

'Redlands-based geographical information systems (GIS) software developer Esri is putting up $1 billion in its software, to help bolster STEM education, as part of a White House initiative, the company said Tuesday. Esri said it will provide a grant to make its advanced, cloud-based mapping software available to more than 100,000 elementary, middle, and high schools in the United States, for free.

Software 205
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Whisper Raises $36M For Secret Sharing

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based Whisper , which develops mobile apps for anonymously sharing confessions, has raised another $36M in funding. The funding came from Tencent, Shasta Ventures, Thrive Capital, Lightspeed Ventures, and Sequoia Capital. The funding brings the company''s total raised to around $60M. Whisper''s site pairs confessional-style statements from people paired with photos, which can be browsed by other users but are not attributed--or traceable--to any person.

Mobile 202
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Three Day Rule Hooks Up With Match.com

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based matchamking and dating site Three Day Rule , which is led by Talia Goldstein, said today thta it has entered into a strategic partnership with Match.com. According to Three Day Rule, Match will use Three Day Rule to provide matchmaking services, and will support an expansion of Three Day Rule''s team and markets covered. Financial details of the strategic partnership were not announced.

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Beats Music Releases iPad App

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based streaming music service Beats Music said Thursday that it has released an iPad version of its music app to users. The music service had previously allows users to use the iPad, but using the less optimized, small-screen iPhone app. According to Beats, the new app is optimized for the larger tablet screen on the iPad, and works in both portrait or landscape mode.

Screening 197