December, 2013

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Framework Benchmarks Round 8

TechEmpower

'Merry Christmas web framework performance aficionados! What better way to celebrate the holidays than by cheering on your favorites as they race through a variety of application fundamentals in the biggest web platform grudge match of the season? We certainly can''t think of anything more festive. Now at 90 frameworks and 230 permutations (variations on configuration), Round 8 has something for everyone.

Framework 534
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How to Shorten Your Sales Cycle and Avoid Wasting Time

Both Sides of the Table

'One of the questions I’m most often asked by CEOs is how to hire sales people. I’ve written a lot about recruiting and hiring at startups including my controversial post on whom not to hire and my rapid response to the flame war. I’ve also written extensively on sales and on which sales execs to hire and how to think about the different kinds of sales leaders.

Sales 375
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How Card.com Is Helping To Power The Branchless Banking Revolution

socalTECH

'Is the age of the brick-and-mortar bank branch over? With the advent of the smart phone, it looks like it might just be. One of the startups looking to help power the "branchless banking revolution" is Los Angeles-based Card.com. The startup--which offers up a wide range of branded, Visa cards--is one of a growing number of finance related technology startups in Southern California.

Help 262
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Competition Is A Lie – Tracy DiNunzio Explains Why

InfoChachkie

'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Tracy DiNunzio, Founder and CEO of Tradesy , recently shared her insights regarding the best approach for entrepreneurs to address competition. Tracy''s frank, pragmatic and somewhat controversial comments were presented as part of UC Santa Barbara''s Distinguished Lecture Series. (Note: I am an investor in Tradesy via Rincon Venture Partners.).

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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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Accurate assumptions lead to defendable plans

Berkonomics

'The biggest error in planning may not be spreadsheet calculation error. Or cost estimation. It is most often missed assumptions about the market, the competition, the speed of adoption, or other critical metrics you’ve researched, or selected, or even just guessed at to create your plan. Where did you get the data to drive your assumptions of market size or market share?

Metrics 239
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Motivation Babble 12-23-13

Eric Greenspan

'Today, I wake with a feeling of happiness and pride. I remember all that I’ve accomplished. I have disciplined my mind to never dwell on my mistakes but keep them in mind only to remind me never to make the same mistakes again. I’m focused on my goals for the day, this year and my life. I’ve written them down and I pasted them in various spots throughout my home.

More Trending

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How DogVacay Literally Saved my Thanksgiving

Both Sides of the Table

'Without DogVacay my Thanksgiving would have been ruined. That’s a fact. And I’m not an investor. I just had to tell this story. It’s a great one about entrepreneurship, friendship and the collaborative economy that is helping families in need across the world. The Background. Every year my family meets in San Diego for Thanksgiving.

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CARD.com Raises $3M For Prepaid Debit Cards

socalTECH

'Los Angeles continues to be a hotbed for new, finance-related startups this morning, as Santa Monica-based CARD.com announced it has raised $3M in a Series A funding. According to CARD.com, it is offering up prepaid debit cards aimed at providing a mobile alternative to traditional banking. The Series A funding was led by QED Investors, and also included Resolute Ventures, Anthem Ventures, and angels such as Adam Press and Greg Steiner (BeachMint, eHarmony).

Anthem 256
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Don’t Do Tequila Shots With Your Mentor

InfoChachkie

'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Note: This is part II of a series exploring the power of mentorships. Access part I HERE. Mentor relationships are not immune to the laws of human interactions. They require judicious and consistent nurturing to be sustained. Without active management on the part of the protégé, the meetings with their mentor will become less frequent and less impactful, ultimately accelerating the end of the relationship.

CTO Coach 241
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TechZulu Presents: The Annual Startup Forecast

Tech Zulu Event

'TechZulu is excited to invite you to the 2014 Startup and Entrepreneurial Forecast taking place on Tuesday Jan. 28 from 7pm-10pm in Santa Monica. We will have a line up of amazing panelist who will share their insights and forecast for startup trends in 2014. Topics of discussion will be Wearables Technology, Bitcoin, SaaS, Cloud, Mobile, Gaming, Social Markets, what surprises are coming for 2014, creating value with your company, hiring problem solvers, and building a sensible businesses.

Startup 111
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Motivation Babble 12-20-13

Eric Greenspan

'I am a machine filled with passion and gratitude. I will exceed my goals and achieve greatness. I will earn great respect from others. I will finish what I start. I will make many friends along the way. I will do, create and make many things out of nothing. I am unstoppable. I believe. I am full of desire, strong will and love. I cannot be stopped.

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10 Top Marketing Content Sources For Your Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

'These days every new entrepreneur understands that an innovative product or service is necessary, but not sufficient, to start a business. You have to build a web presence with marketing content to get visibility above the 51 million other new websites created last year, and attract the customers you need. But most entrepreneurs don’t know where to start.

Content 114
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How to Control Your Board Discussion and Avoid Chaos

Both Sides of the Table

'Recently I wrote the first post in a series on board meetings, entitled, “ Why You’re Not Getting the Most out of Your Board ,” which focused on the need to prepare properly, set good objectives and discuss mostly strategic topics. Even if you follow this game plan meticulously your board meeting can be taken off course by well-intentioned board members who lead you down a rate hole.

Startup 312
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DreamHost Raises $30M

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based hosting company DreamHost is announcing this morning that it has raised $30M in a debt financing round, from Goldman Sachs. According to the company, the funding was structured as a $25M term loan and $5M revolving line, and will go towards buying back the stake of one of the company''s founders, to pay down equipment financing, and to make cash available for growth and working capital.

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Founders Should Pay Themselves As Little As Possible

InfoChachkie

'A version of this article previously appeared in The Wall Street Journal. How much should Founders pay themselves and their senior team? During a company''s early stages, before it has achieved profitability, the answer is, "as little as possible.". Dave Pink, in this popular video, makes it clear that money only modestly motivates knowledge workers.

Journal 231
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Innovation Crush | How Indiegogo Stays at the Forefront of Crowdfunding

Tech Zulu Event

'“Innovation to me is audacity. Having the balls to listen to yourself and say ‘I see something that can be better, and f*ck it, I’m going to do it’.” - Adam Chapnick. The more technology draws us closer to each other, the more we find that the proverbial “American Dream” no longer resides only in America. All around the world, individuals are empowering one another to do the incredible.

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Motivation Babble 12-25-13

Eric Greenspan

'Been reading a lot of Dr. Seuss lately to my toddler. I’ve also been very busy with my business ventures. 2013 was an interesting year. In 2014, I will Think and Grow Rich. I woke up on Christmas morning in typical fashion and this happened: The post Motivation Babble 12-25-13 appeared first on Eric Greenspan.

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10 Clues That An Entrepreneur Is In Over His Head

Startup Professionals Musings

'If an entrepreneur doesn’t find themselves in over their head at least 20% of the time, they are probably not pushing the limits, not taking enough risk, and probably not working on an idea that’s worth doing. The challenge in to know when and how to ask for help, and not let bravado and ego mask anxieties. The best people know when they don’t know, and know how to find the right help.

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Why You’re Not Getting the Most out of Your Board

Both Sides of the Table

'Most board meetings are “update meetings” where management downloads its status to a group of investors. These outside board members spend most of the board meeting trying to reacquaint themselves with the company’s business and critical issues. This is hardly ideal and some simple changes could help management avoid both issues.

Writing 337
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LACMA Gets Backing From Google, SpaceX For Art and Technology Lab

socalTECH

'In an interesting indicator of the growing influence of technology companies on Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Museum Of Art said this week that it has launched a new Art + Technology Initiative , which will give artists grants and lab space to experiment with new technologies. The new venture is being backed by Accenture, DAQRI, and NVIDIA, along with Google and SpaceX.

SpaceX 244
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Happy Customers Make Gender Bias (Nearly) Irrelevant

InfoChachkie

'A version of this article previously appeared on The Wall Street Journal. The empirical evidence highlights the lack of women and minority founders in the startup world. A 2012 Dow Jones'' report entitled Women At The Wheel encompassed 15-years of data on venture-backed startups. During the period studied, only "1.3% of privately held companies had a female founder, 6.5% have a female CEO, and 20% had one or more female C-level executives.".

Customer 185
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From Nothing to Something with Howard Marks & Nanxi Liu

Tech Zulu Event

'Wednesday November 20 th , 2013 was a special day for the technology entrepreneurs at the University of Southern California. The USC Entrepreneur Club and the Kairos Society brought Howard Marks , a successful entrepreneur and founder and CEO of StartEngine , on campus to speak about his past experiences. Event organizers Daniel Gross, Regional President of Southern California for the Kairos Society, and Zachary Goodman, President of the USC Entrepreneur Club, kicked off the event by introducin

Startup 107
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Motivation Babble 12-25-13

Eric Greenspan

'Been reading a lot of Dr. Seuss lately to my toddler. I’ve also been very busy with my business ventures. 2013 was an interesting year. In 2014, I will Think and Grow Rich. I woke up on Christmas morning in typical fashion and this happened: To the moon, Eric Greenspan. Ferocious and relentless entrepreneur. Father. Creator of mind blowing customer experiences.

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Entrepreneur Happiness Is An Elusive Achievement

Startup Professionals Musings

'Building a startup is hard work for low pay, it’s risky, and it requires total responsibility to make it work. Yet, many entrepreneurs are the happiest people I know. On the other hand, I know many unhappy individuals who are always partying, have minimal commitments, and little responsibility. I suspect the real parameters of happiness have eluded these people.

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DataSift Announces Mega-Round. Apple Buys Topsy for $200 Million. Here’s What You Need to Know

Both Sides of the Table

'I’m super proud to announce that DataSift has just completed a $42 million financing round coming at the end of a year where its revenue grew several hundred percent year-over-year. Considering our revenue is SaaS revenue this achievement is even more remarkable. The timing of the announcement of this investment couldn’t have been timed more perfectly if we tried.

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Docstoc Acquired By Intuit

socalTECH

'Santa Monica-based Docstoc , which is led by Jason Nazar, has been acquired by Intuit, the companies said this morning. Financial details of the buy were not announced, however, the buy apparently was worth around $50M, according to various reports and sources. Docstoc was venture backed by Rustic Canyon Partners, Crosscut Ventures, as well as local angel investors like Mike Jones, Scott Walchek, Matt Coffin (LowermyBills), Brett Brewer (Intermix/MySpace), Robin Richards (MP3.com), and others.

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Could you answer these tough investor questions?

Berkonomics

' By: Arthur Lipper. In the process of raising funds to create and develop a business, entrepreneurs make many statements to those they seek to attract as investors. In my years of investing, I’ve developed a set of tough questions that are sure to elicit both information and a vibrant dialog – questions not on the usual checklists of angel groups or investors.

Invest 264
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Pheebo TV | All in One Place

Tech Zulu Event

'Watching video online has never been more accessible than ever. But to get to certain videos, viewers need to find the right website or know some keywords to view it. Pheebo TV does away with all that and places every popular video channel viewers want into one app. Co-founder of Pheebo TV, Arthur Matiossian, created the app because, “I absolutely love Reddit videos.

Startup 106
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And These Are Few Of My Favorite Apps

Eric Greenspan

'We all love great apps. They make our lives easier and more interesting, maybe even a bit more fun. But what apps are the must-haves? Here’s a list of my favorite apps: 1. AnalyticsPro. This app will give you all the data from Google Analytics to track the visitors on your website. I prefer it over the Google interface on my computer. It’s concise, very fast and works in real time. 2.

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5 Keys Steps For Every Startup Roadmap To Revenue

Startup Professionals Musings

'Entrepreneurs always work hard to create an innovative product or service, but often count on standard seller marketing for sales. But the reality is that sellers are no longer in charge of the customer buying process. Reports suggest that 90% of today’s shoppers skip marketing pitches, to research online before they buy, and over 50% check user reviews before making a decision.

Startup 105
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Former Napster COO Dies In Bicycle Crash

socalTECH

'Milton Olin , the former COO of Napster , has died as the result of a bicycle crash early Sunday afternoon involving a police car, according to multiple reports. According to those reports, Olin was struck on Mulholland Highway in Calabasas. Olin served as COO of Napster from 2000 to 2002, and also had previously served at Altschul & Olin LLP, FirstLook.com, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, Polygram, A&M Records, among other companies.

Calabasas 235
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Tubestart: Tapping The Power Of The Crowd To Support Online Video

socalTECH

'Despite the huge surge of content specifically being developed for the web--and for sites like YouTube--making that content profitable and sustainable continues to be an issue for content creators. To try to figure out a better model to support great content, Los Angeles-based Tubestart (www.tubestart.com) recently launched a crowdfunding site, specifically aimed at digital video and YouTube creators.

Content 231
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Saatchi Online Taps Sean Moriarty As CEO

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based online art gallery and e-commerce provider Saatchi Online has tapped one of LA''s technology and business veterans as its new CEO today, tapping Sean Moriarty for the position. Moriarty is an active investor and advisor to many of LA''s startup companies and headed up Ticketmaster Entertainment from 2000 to 2008, including heading up that company''s spinout from IAC/InterActiveCorp and its IPO.

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Demand Media Loses Chief Revenue Officer

socalTECH

'Santa Monica-based Demand Media has lost its Chief Revenue Officer, Jeff Dossett, to startup Porch.com , only eight months after Dossett was named to the position after the loss of former Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer Bradford. According to Porch.com--which operates an online site which helps homeowners explore and get information on remodeling projects, including peeking into their neighbor''s projects and costs--Dossett will join the company in Seattle to head up all its profit and reve

Demand 225
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EdgeCast Acquired By Verizon

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based content delivery network operator EdgeCast has been acquired by Verizon , to help bolster Verizon''s Digital Media Services, Verizon said this morning. Financial terms of the deal were not announced, but the deal is reported to be worth around $390M. Verizon said it will integrate EdgeCasts''a capabilities into its offerings, and will use it to further improve its capabilities.

Content 217
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Oculus VR Raises $75M For Virtual Reality Glasses In Series B

socalTECH

'Irvine-based Oculus VR announced last night that it has raised $75M in a funding round, a giant Series B for the maker of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets. The funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, and also included Spark Capital, Matrix Partners and Formation 8. The round comes only 7 months after the company''s $16M, Series A funding.

Capital 209