Both Sides of the Table
JULY 15, 2011
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch (this version is slightly different). Most web publishers measure where their traffic is coming from using an analytics package such as Google Analytics, Omniture or Core Metrics. These were good packages in the pre social media world at helping figure out who was driving your traffic. Today they’re wrong.
socalTECH
JULY 13, 2011
Today's interview is with Los Angeles-based Miso Media , a developer of iPad-based music education software, which uses note detection to help users learn guitar, ukulele, and banjo. The firm is backed by Google Ventures, as well as a number of well known angels. We caught up with founder Aviv Grill to dig deeper into what the firm is doing. First off, let's talk a little bit about your software.
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InfoChachkie
JULY 11, 2011
Startup blogger and venture capitalist extraordinaire Fred Wilson recently published a great article on Venture Debt, which I strongly suggest you review HERE. Go ahead, I will wait…. …welcome back. As Fred points out, many entrepreneurs hear the word “debt” and promptly run the other direction. In the past, venture debt was often viewed as a funding vehicle of last resort.
Berkonomics
JULY 9, 2011
What a powerful set of three questions. These are so succinct, so well defined, so precise that everyone in sales and everyone involved in marketing must be able to answer these three questions without pause, and convincingly. Turning these into statements instead of questions provides a framework for the sales presentation from the highest levels of collateral materials and marketing support, to the salesperson on the front line.
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.
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 12, 2011
Chris Dixon is one of my favorite people in tech and writes one of the few blogs I read religiously. If you don’t read it and you care about tech & entrepreneurship, you should. He’s thoughtful about markets, investors, products and is always very well reasoned in his arguments. I’ve also found him to not be dogmatic either. He and I once took different sides of an debate about whether “VC signaling&# in early-stage deals is a serious problem or not.
socalTECH
JULY 15, 2011
The organizers of Social Media Week Los Angeles said today that they have kicked off plans to feature more than 50, free, public events across LA during Social Media Week, September 19-23rd. The local events--part of a broader, global Social Media Week effort--will include keynotes and meetings, breakfasts, and parties. Social Media Week is focused on tracking trends in social media, and bills itself as a "distributed conference".
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
SoCal CTO
JULY 13, 2011
Today I join Ben Yoskovitz , Vinicius Vacanti , Jill Hubbard Bowman and Steve Blank and others in announcing the launch of StartupRoar. This site aggregates and filters content from thought leaders who talk about topics such as Marketing , Sales , Design , Revenue , Hiring , Social Media , Business Models , Metrics , PR , Venture Capital , Angel Investors , Bootstrapping , Incubators , Agile and many others.
Tech Coast Venture Network
JULY 15, 2011
'There is no question that the group buying space has exploded onto the scene and is one of the fastest growing segments of interactive media and marketing today. The question is, is it here to stay? Is this a bubble? What is the landscape going to look like in a year or two? I’ll be attending this year’s BIA/Kelsey Conference “Deals 3D: The New Local Value Chain” to find out.
socalTECH
JULY 12, 2011
Santa Monica-based BetterWorks , the employee fringe benefits services provider headed by Paige Craig, has tapped LA technology advocate Nicole Jordan as its head of Communications. BetterWorks said Tuesday afternoon that Jordan will serve as Director of Communications at the company, heading up public relations, corporate communications, and thought leadership.
SoCal Tech Calendar
JULY 10, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011 -- API Hack Day LA. API Hack Day brings developers together for an all-day coding fest focused on building apps and mashups with APIs. Developers of all experience levels can share ideas, collaborate on existing projects, start new ventures, and find out about great tools and new APIs to play with. Free admission, food and drink provided!
Tech Zulu Event
JULY 15, 2011
I decide to start off these series of interviews highlighting some of the female founders and CEOs from around the country with Los Angeles’s own Cameron Kashani Rasouli ( @CamRasouli ) of CoLoft. I’ve had the honor of knowing Cameron for quite sometime now and she’s a wonderful person. She’s also half of the team that built the ever growing Coloft in Santa Monica, CA.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 15, 2011
If you have had some success in a business, I’m sure you bristle just like I do when someone says “You were just lucky…” I’m a strong believer that we all make our own luck, which means that the harder we work, the luckier we get. In reality, “hard work” is just a catch-all term for a list of principles that good entrepreneurs follow, allowing them to work smarter and improve their odds of success.
socalTECH
JULY 15, 2011
Los Angeles-based Scopely , the stealth-mode startup which announced a funding round this week, has a unique pitch to potential employees: the firm is offering up $11,000 wrapped in Bacon, an oil painting of the new employee, Cuban cigars, a year's supply of beer, and more prizes to new employees or people who refer friends to work at the startup. In the tongue-in-cheek recruiting effort--which it says is aimed at hiring the Most Interesting Engineers In The World --is a takeoff of the Dos Equis
SoCal Tech Calendar
JULY 10, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011 -- TEDxSoCal. Thriving is more than just surviving; it's growing, prospering, and flourishing. This day-long event explores how communities, organizations, and individuals can thrive mentally, physically, and artistically. Attendees will have opportunities to hear and discuss "ideas worth spreading" from innovators in well-being, creative cultures, sustainability and lifelong learning.
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 10, 2011
Today I’m announcing that GRP Partners is doubling down on the Twitter ecosystem by investing in DataSift , a company who provides a real-time data platform and tools to third-party developers and corporations. Our goal is to make the enormous volume of real-time information more manageable for the 99% of companies that lack the infrastructure to process these volumes in real time.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 9, 2011
I have a friend who runs a nationwide “traditional” business, and business has been down, like it has been for most people. I suggested that he add some social network marketing initiatives, and his answer was he is “too busy.” He is not alone, according to a recent study , which concludes that only 47% of companies use social media today for marketing, despite the fact that 78% of executives polled feel it’s critical for success.
socalTECH
JULY 13, 2011
Los Angeles-based Scopely , a stealth mode firm headed by former Applied Semantics co-founder Eytan Elbaz , has raised a round of seed funding. The funding came from Terry Semel , Lerer Ventures , Howard Lindzon (StockTwits), Gil Elbaz (Factual), David Cohen (TechStars), Dave Tisch (TechStars), the Collaborative Fund , Evan Rifkin ( Burstly ), and Clark Landry (GraphEffect).
SoCal Tech Calendar
JULY 9, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011 -- Philanthro CONNECT 2011. Philanthro is proud to present CONNECT2011: INNOVATION CONTRIBUTES. CONNECT2011 is about bringing together the non-profit community and the technology world in an interactive atmosphere where both can engage in each others ideas and come up with ways where each can benefit from each other.
socalTECH
JULY 12, 2011
A new, Santa Monica-based startup, PointHub , is getting set to launch a service to help travelers decipher travel rewards and points programs. The service is aimed at helping travelers figure out if it's better to use their points or pay cash for travel. The startup--headed by Justin Byers--has created a "Cash vs. Points Recommendation Engine" which compares pricing factors, redemption fees, loyalty program restrictions, and more to help travelers figure out how to book their flights and travel
socalTECH
JULY 11, 2011
Los Angeles-based Break Media , the online digital video site run by Keith Richman, and Scripped.com , the online screenwriting site headed by Sunil Rajaraman, have named a winner in a contest sponsored by the two companies. According to the two, it has named a Boston comedian, Evan Kaufman, as the winnner of a screenwriting contest by the two, which resulted in the production of a video based on that script by Break's production arm, Creative Lab.
socalTECH
JULY 13, 2011
Hawthorne-based SpaceX , the commercial spaceflight and rocket developer headed by tech mogul Elon Musk, is getting set today to break ground on a new launchpad at Vandenberg Air Force Base. SpaceX says it is investing $30M in a new launch pad at the base, north of Santa Barbara, as a place to launch its upcoming Falcon Heavy rocket. Vandenberg is a common location for rocket launches from NASA and the U.S. military.
socalTECH
JULY 14, 2011
Users of the Twitter micro-blogging service snapped up a special, JetBlue promotional offer yesterday offering up $4 flights between Long Beach Airport and Burbank's Bob Hope Airport Saturday, selling out the special flight offer in less than 4 hours. JetBlue--in a marketing promotion--added two special, nonstop flights, promoted via Twitter around 12:30 yesterday, which quickly sold out after a storm of Twitter messages and retweets.
socalTECH
JULY 14, 2011
Los Angeles-based Namesake , the real time discussion and conversations web site created by serial entrepreneurs Brian Norgard and Dan Gould, has just swizzled its conversation discovery tools on the site. The firm said it has launched a new Discover tool which visually shows the images and conversations going on at the site, categorized by tags and topics.
socalTECH
JULY 15, 2011
Los Angeles- and Austin-based GameSalad , the developer of iPhone game creation software, has just updated its software, and launched a new "GameSalad Marketplace" which allows users to buy and sell artwork, audio, templates and other project assets to other users. GameSalad's software makes it easy for non-programmers to develop iPhone games, by tapping into templates and game actions.
socalTECH
JULY 11, 2011
Los Angeles-based Social Rewards , the operator of social, loyalty, and affiliate marketing services headed by Joseph Morin, has scored some angel funding, socalTECH has learned. The firm's advisors include Paige Craig, CEO of BetterWorks and well known angel investor; attorney Antone Johnson; Nathan Beckord on VentureArchetypes.com; Dan Boberg; and Brian Clark, according to the firm's profile on AngelList.
socalTECH
JULY 11, 2011
Santa Monica-based ThisNext , the social shopping and content site run by Matt Edelman, has scored a partnership with Lucky Magazine. According to ThisNext, the two have created a co-branded shopping site, which was launched Friday. The new e-commerce site is aimed at helping women decide what to buy by tapping ThisNext's social shopping features and guides.
socalTECH
JULY 13, 2011
Santa Monica-based Edmunds.com is again warning people about a continuing scam where criminals are using official sounding--but fake--escrow services to swindle people out of money. Escrow services are online services which hold money until a transaction successfully occurs, and are heavily used for online automotive purchases. According to Escrow.com, it has seen 413 reports of escrow scams since March of 2010 which have used the company's name, with at least 35 of those victims losing money.
socalTECH
JULY 11, 2011
Sandwiched between the technology centers of the Bay Area and Southern California, San Luis Obispo is better known for its beaches and tourism than tech startups. However, one startup spawned out of the area, Punchd , has just successfully sold itself to tech powerhouse Google. Founded by a team of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo computer science students, Punchd announced Monday that it has become part of Google Monday afternoon.
socalTECH
JULY 11, 2011
AmazonLocal , the daily deals site run by Amazon.com, has quietly launched in the Los Angeles area, as the firm starts a national expansion of its daily deals effort. According to AmazonLocal's web site, it now is offering deals in Long Beach, Los Angeles, Inland Empire, and on the Westside/South Bay. AmazonLocal launched earlier in June, with Boise, Idaho, as well as Seattle and several of its suburbs.
socalTECH
JULY 15, 2011
Aliso Viejo-based Quest Software has invested in a developer of business intelligence software, as part of a strategic investment. According to San Francisco-based JasperSoft , Quest Software led its latest, $11M funding round as a strategic investor in the company. JasperSoft develops business intelligence software. The round also included prior investors Doll Capital Management , Morgenthaler Ventures , Partech International , Scale Venture Partners , and Adams Street Partners.
socalTECH
JULY 12, 2011
Santa Monica-based MomentFeed , a provider of location-based marketing software and services, said today that it has raised $1.2M in a Series AA funding round. The round was led by DFJ Frontier, and also included DFJ JAIC, Gold HIll Capital, and angel investors Gil Elbaz (Factual), Auren Hoffman (Rapleaf), and Walter Kortschak (Summit Partners). Other angels included Ken Bane, Ty Danco, Peter Delgrosso, Sanford Ewing (Peninsula Investors), Alex Kazerani, Clark Landry, Jennifer Lefcourt, Location
socalTECH
JULY 13, 2011
San Diego-based Active.com , the sports and fitness site owned by Active Network, is bragging today that it has reached more than one million social media fans. Those fans include both Facebook fans and Twitter followers, as well as other social sites. The firm said it saw a 297 percent increase in its social media fan base over the past year. The site attributed some of the gain to the integration of Badgeville into its site, and the gamification of its services; that integration awards "badges
socalTECH
JULY 14, 2011
Burbank-based Steamboat Ventures , the venture capital arm of Walt Disney, has re-upped its investment in a provider of mobile and Internet usage analytics and measurement tools. According to Seattle, Washington-based Ground Truth , it has raised another $8M in funding, from North Bridge Venture Partners, Steamboat Ventures, Voyager Capital, Emergence Capital, and OPENAIR Equity Partners.
socalTECH
JULY 12, 2011
Los Angeles-based NetDNA , a provider of content delivery network (CDN) serviecs, said Tuesday that it has scored a new funding round. Amount of the funding was not announced. The CDN provider said the funding came from Chelsea Management, Inc. NetDNA said that it will use the new funding to grow its edge network and for product expansion, as well as for expanding its technical team.
socalTECH
JULY 11, 2011
Los Angeles-based Internet Brands said Monday that it has acquired two web sites aimed at women, Weddingbee.com , and JustMommies.com from Pasadena-based eHarmony. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Weddingbee is an online blog focused on the wedding industry, brides, and wedding planning, and was launched in 2006. JustMommies.com offers up an online community aimed at mothers and mothers-to-be, with topics ranging from pregnancy to parenting, and was founded in 2000.
socalTECH
JULY 14, 2011
Los Angeles-based video site Hulu said late Wednesday evening that it has extended rollout of its Hulu Plus Android application to four more smartphones. Hulu said it now supports the HTC Evo 4G, HTC ThunderBolt, HTC myTouch 4G and G2 with the app, on top of existing support for the Nexus One, Nexus S, HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Droid II, Motorola Droid X, and the Motorola Atrix.
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