November, 2013

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How to Deal with Pure Recruiting Mistakes

Both Sides of the Table

'One of the unavoidable realities of building a startup is having to fire people. In a normal business you can often sweep bad performers under the rug and not deal with them. When you have millions or billions of dollars of revenue you can suffer a few bad performers or bad apples. You can miss a quarter’s target and not cull the inefficiencies.

Startup 338
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Announcing The Socaltech 50: Southern California's Up-and-Comers

socalTECH

'We''re proud to announce the Socaltech 50 , our list of the 50, up-and-coming people in Southern California''s technology ecosystem. Getting to this list was not easy: we received over 700 nominations for people to be considered on the list, and it took a lot of work by our selection committee to whittle down the list to the finalists. Our selection committee -- which included Marc Averitt (Okapi Venture Capital), Barbara Bry (Blackbird Ventures, founder of Proflowers), Amanda Coolong (TechZulu

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You Are Never Too Old (or Too Successful) For A Mentor

InfoChachkie

'Despite what you might think, you are never too old to benefit from the helpful guidance of a mentor. At 51 years old, I am proof that even someone with decades of entrepreneurial success (and failure) can become more effective personally and professionally with the assistance of someone who has already walked their path. If you haven''t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly JohnGreathouse.com articles!

Mentor 263
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Plans? Humbug! Show me what you’re made of.

Berkonomics

'By David Steakley. Our guest insight this week comes from David Steakley, a past President of the Houston Angel Network, and a reformed management consultant. He is an active angel investor, and he manages several angel funds in Texas. Hang on, David tells it like he sees it! – DB. Business plans are interesting. But, as a famous field marshal (1) said, no battle plan survives contact with the enemy.

Invest 228
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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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The Holstee Manifesto

Eric Greenspan

'Holstee Manifesto. This is your life. Do what you love, and do it often. If you don’t like something, change it. If you don’t like your job, quit. If you don’t have enough time, stop watching TV. If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love. Stop over-analyzing, life is simple.

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TONIGHT: “Internet of Things” Hackathon & Accelerator Series, sponsored by AT&T and Intel.

Technology Council

'We’d like to invite you to participate in the fourth hackathon of The “Internet of Things” Hackathon and Accelerator Series, sponsored by AT&T and Intel. This year’s series will focus on gaming and artificial intelligence. This free LA event will be held on November 15 – 16 at ROC Santa Monica (604 Arizona Ave, Santa […].

More Trending

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CapLinked Adds $1M, New Investors In Funding Round

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based CapLinked , the developer of business transaction and deal management software-as-a-service, said today that it has raised $1M in an expansion round for the company. The new funding came from Subtraction Capital, FF Angel, 500 Startups, and other investors. The startup--which is led by PayPal veteran Erik M. Jackson--said the funding is an expansion on its Series A funding it announced in the first quarter of the year.

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This Entrepreneur Fought America’s Toughest VCs… And Won

InfoChachkie

'A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. Adeo Ressi is a serial entrepreneur turned investor and entrepreneur advocate. Adeo Co-Founded the entrepreneur-friendly website The Funded and he is the Founder and CEO of The Founder Institute , whose goal is to create and foster local startup ecosystems across the globe. If you haven''t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly JohnGreathouse.com articles!

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Big corporations are just slow to act.

Berkonomics

'By David Steakley. This week, David Steakley returns for another bite at the corporate apple, with just the right amount of tart comments that will keep this document legal for now. Read on! - DB. How do you judge a company’s prospects, if a corporate business-to-business sale has to be your game? If your company’s market is huge corporations, how do you convince investors you can crack the market, and how do you deliver?

Startup 214
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Restarting – an Entrepreneur’s Journey

Eric Greenspan

'I’ve had an interesting run this past year and I’ve dealt with restarting…more than once. After my latest company collapsed in June of 2012, I went into a bit of a depression. I’m no longer afraid to admit it and quite frankly, it made me stronger…much stronger. I was full of emotion, mostly anger, the rest sad. This company I started with my own money and in my third bedroom, had grown and served its customers and employees well for over 11 years.

Startup 167
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No Startup Founder Was Born With All Skills Needed

Startup Professionals Musings

'I have met several young people in business recently who believe that they are natural born entrepreneurs, and actually seem to feel that traditional training and experience may be a detriment to their success in this new world. I concede that some natural born skills do exist, but more often I tend to agree with Peter Drucker , who said “It’s not magic, it’s not mysterious, and it has nothing to do with genes.

Startup 112
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What am I Thankful for This Year?

Both Sides of the Table

'2013 has proved to be a wild year. Companies being created has continued to go up dramatically making managing dealflow nearly impossible. Thank you to Tasha for helping to keep me sane by managing the onslaught of meeting requests, board meetings and constant change. You’ve had a few difficult years outside of work – I feel confident 2014 is going to be a great one!

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Backdoor's 14-year Old Founder Gets $200,000 For Social Messaging App

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based Backdoor , a startup founded by 14-year old Daniel Singer, announced this morning that it has raised $200,000 towards further development of its anonymous messaging app. The company said the funding came from ArpexCapital, and will help it launch into new markets. ArpexCapital is a Brazilian investment firm. Backdoor''s software currently runs on iOS, and revolves around anonymous chats with your friends, and trying to have them guess who is messaging them based on "clues" abo

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Brian Coryat, ValueClick Founder And Internet Pioneer: Startups Should Wing It

InfoChachkie

'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Brian Coryat, Founder and CEO of Local Market Launch and former Founder and CEO of ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) recently winged his talk at UC Santa Barbara''s Distinguished Lecture Series. Despite winging it, his talk was both informative and delightful. He shared a number of witty entrepreneurial insights, including: "Startups are like high school.

Startup 223
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Project cash flow – not just profit – during start-up.

Berkonomics

'Cash is everything to a new business. How many times do we have to say this? The days of being able to trust that there will be an investor or lender on the other end of a call or email whenever needed ended with the 2000 and 2008 bursts of those respective bubbles. It’s entirely possible that Amazon could not be created and funded today with its planned seven years until profitability.

Startup 209
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Facebook Blocks Me From Adding Friends Every 30 Days

Eric Greenspan

'Years ago, I decided to invite all my customers to join me on Facebook. My thought was to give them direct access to me, the CEO of their tech services company, so to provide the highest level of customer service possible. I used the Facebook add friends feature and invited 20,000 of our clients. Many joined right away. Others would accept my invitation over time.

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How To Begin Using Social Media In Your Business

Startup Professionals Musings

'When my friend’s small business was struggling a while back, I suggested he add some social media marketing initiatives, and his answer was that he was “too busy.” His business has since closed, but his mindset is still out there. According to a study of 1700 CEOs last year, only 60% of companies today use social media for marketing, and only 12% of those feel that they are using it effectively.

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Silicon Beach Fest Hollywood, LA Tech Summit, and Idea to Screen | Why You Need to Attend Any or All

Tech Zulu Event

'Hard to believe another Digital LA Silicon Beach Fest Hollywood is happening this week back-to-back with the new LA Tech Summit produced by Cornerstone. Time sure flies when you’re having fun, or building a startup. The theme for Silicon Beach Fest Hollywood is startups and Hollywood, featuring leaders from movie studios, music labels, agencies, and startups in entertainment – how Hollywood studios are investing and working with startups, and how Silicon Beach startups are making e

Hollywood 100
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Rivalry Games Adds College Teams

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based fantasy football app developer Rivalry Games , which develops fantasy football games for iOS and Android, has added NCAA college teams to its app, the company said this week. According to the company, the teams have been added to its mobile app, Rivalry Fantasy Football, lettings users keep up with both pro and college football teams.

Content 226
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Return on Productivity (ROP) – How Do You Measure the Success of Your Company Culture?

Frank Addante

'How do you prioritize and budget for culture? The answer is simple. Measure it and set goals that clearly demonstrate value. At Rubicon Project, we manage culture just like a product. As we continue to expand globally (currently operating in 6 countries), scaling our culture will be challenging. Today, we are working on a prototype of a new measurement metric that we call ROP (Return on Productivity).

Product 99
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The most important person on the startup team

Berkonomics

'By David S. Rose. Described by BusinessWeek as a “world conquering. entrepreneur” and by Forbes as “New York’s Archangel”, David is a former Inc. 500 CEO, serial entrepreneur and the founder of New York Angels. He is the. founder and CEO of Gust, the angel financing platform used by over 50,000. accredited investors in 1,000 angel groups and venture capital funds to. collaborate with over 250,000 entrepreneurs in 95 countries.

Startup 189
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Perfect Brisket Recipe

Eric Greenspan

'Ingredients: 4-6 lbs. brisket. 4 cloves of garlic. minced 4 large onions. sliced 2 tbs. oil 4 small cans of tomato sauce. 4 cans of water (tomato sauce cans) 1/2 bottle of red wine. sliced 4-8 carrots. 1 bunch fresh dill. chopped salt & pepper. 3 bay leaves. 3-4 potatoes cut into chunks, if desired. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put roasting pan on stove over two burners.

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7 Key Realities Many Startup Founders Never Learn

Startup Professionals Musings

'When I started mentoring entrepreneurs and startups a few years ago, I anticipated that I would get mostly tough technical questions, but instead I more often hear things like “Where do I start?” I find that the basics are actually the hardest to answer, just like your parents found out when they first tried to fill you in on the “facts of life” a long time ago.

Startup 106
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The Future of Shopping | Vidzey Interactive Videos

Tech Zulu Event

'Imagine it. You’re flipping through Vevo and watching a music video. But first, 30 seconds of commercial. You stare blankly wondering “what’s this a commercial of?” while watching the screen and registering nothing. Ad/Banner blindness, a talent which we’ve developed rather well as a society: The ability to subconsciously block out commercials WHILE physically watching.

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Voxox Drops Calling Rates To The Phillippines In Wake of Disaster

socalTECH

'San Diego-based IP communications application provider VoxOx VoxOx is dropping the rates on its phone calls to the Phillippines, the company said, to help people look to keep in touch with families and friends in the country. The company--which provides both personal cloud communications services for consumers and businesses--said it will charge a penny a minute for its international calling rate to the Philippines until at least January 1st, 2014, to help families affected by the Super Typhoon

IP 225
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Successful Entrepreneurs Ignore The Lion Tamer’s Stool And Avoid The Whip

InfoChachkie

'James Clear, is a prolific and engaging blogger whose work can be found at JamesClear.com. An entrepreneur, weightlifter and travel photographer, James offers his readers advice and insights that help them become better leaders, with an emphasis on improving one''s health in the process. I recently caught up with James to discuss his wellness philosophy.

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14-Year Old's Startup Launches In LA

socalTECH

'Are you the 19-year old founder of a startup? You''re over the hill. Fourteen looks to be the new nineteen, as yet another company founded by a 14-year old launched in LA yesterday at the Techweek conference. Cyborg Industries said yesterday that it has launched a "revolutionary, patented data transfer technology" called the Spectrocable, developed by 14-year old high school sophomore Nicolas Dupont.

Startup 214
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How Sekur.me Wants To Use Cell Phones To Fix Abandoned Shopping Carts

socalTECH

'Is your cell phone the secret to fixing e-commerce''s problem with abandoned shopping carts? Sekur.me , a new Santa Ana-based startup, has come up with a new app and service to use your cell phone for payment, bypassing the complexity of shopping carts. We spoke with CEO and founder Jack Bicer --just back from DEMO--to learn more about the app and why he thinks the company has the solution to e-commerce shopping cart abandonment.

Symantec 214
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GoCoin Raises $550,000 For BitCoin Purchases

socalTECH

'Santa Monica-based GoCoin --one of the first BitCoin startups to emerge out of the Silicon Beach technology ecosystem--said today that it has raised $550,000 in a seed funding round, to develop a platform to enable the purchasing of good and services around the world with Bitcoin. The seed funding came from former Facebook exec Owen Van Natta, Ooma founder Andrew Frame, BitAngels, Stephens Investment Management, Mikael Pawlo (Mr Green LTD), Jonathan Congdon (Beachbody), Ruvento Ventures, Ronnie

Beachbody 211
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Report: Snapchat Turns Down $3 Billion Offer From Facebook

socalTECH

'In a very bold move, Venice-based Snapchat has apparently turned down a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook , according to a report today from the Wall Street Journal. According to the WSJ--citing "people briefed on the matter"--Snapchat turned down the offer after Chinese e-commerce firm Tencent offered to lead an investment valuing the company at $4 billion.

Snapchat 210
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Convertro Debuts New Product

socalTECH

'Santa Monica-based Convertro , the developer of marketing attribution software led by serial entrepreneur Jeff Zwelling, has rolled out a new product, which it says helps marketers measure the return on investment from printed catalogs. According to Convertro, the new, catalog-tracking capabilities in its software helps marketers figure out how much more likely a customer is to visit a company''s website if they receive a catalog, which catalogs perform better, the optimal number of catalogs to

Product 205
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Southern California Companies Have Healthy Showing In Deloitte Fast 500

socalTECH

'Southern California had a healthy showing in the latest ranking of the fastest growing companies from Deloitte''s Technology Fast 500 , which was announced last night. Of those 500, there were at least 60 Southern California companies in the rankings. Among the highest ranked in the annual program was OpenX Software , based in Pasadena, which had a 44,075% five year growth rate, which was ranked at number 5 in the nation, based on its fiscal revenue growth rate from 2008 to 2012.

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Nasty Gal Sues New Nasty Over Trademark

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based fashion site Nasty Gal has sued a fellow, Los Angeles fashion e-commerce provider, New Nasty , over it use of the word "Nasty", according to a legal filing by Nasty Gal this week. A lawsuit filed on November 18th in the California Central District Court accuses Charamon Hunter, the owner of New Nasty, of trademark infringement for the use of the name "Nasty".

Commerce 198
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SodaHead Upgrades Polling Software For WordPress

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based SodaHead , the developer of online polling services and software, has just launched a major upgrade to the company''s polling software for WordPress. The company--which been powering the polling software behind such sites as ESPN, ABC News, Fox News, Los Angeles Times, and Warner Bros Television--said the updated poll publishing and management tool adds such features as geographical mapping of polls, ability to split polls by demographic, customize the layout and design of pol

Software 198
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Big Data Demonstrated: Factual Picks Apart New York vs. Chicago Style Pizza

socalTECH

'New York Style or Chicago? In a practical example of why companies are rushing to apply many of the principles of "big data" to their businesses, Los Angeles-based Factual published a quick analysis of its gigantic database in the sky, to analyze where New York style pizza and Chicago style pizza are most popular. Factual--which has been compiling an immense data store of all of the physical locations, hours, menus, and details on all kinds of stores across the country and world--said it was ab

Examples 198
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Cornerstone OnDemand Opens Up Incubator, Investment Fund

socalTECH

'Santa Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand , the developer of talent management and human resources management software, is boosting its efforts to support the Los Angeles technology ecosystem, through the launch of its own incubator and investment fund. According to the company, it has launched the Cornerstone Innovation Fund , which will invest $250,000 to $1M in cloud-based startups, and will also offer up young companies space within its Santa Monica headquarters.