InfoChachkie
FEBRUARY 2, 2015
'A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. Underdogs have a romantic appeal. Western societies relish fables which celebrate the victories of those who were expected to lose. Sophisticated entrepreneurs harness the power of their venture''s underdog status, driving their teams to be unabashedly passionate risk takers who refuse to acknowledge failure as an option.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2015
'Online dining ordering service GrubHub has acquired Aliso Viejo-based Restaurants On The Run , the provider of restaurant delivery services which serves Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, San Diego, Houston, Seattle, Las Vegas and Tulsa Oklahoma. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. The acquisition was announced on Thursday, as part of a major strategic shift by GrubHub to not only enable to-go orders for restaurants, but a shift where GrubHub itself will deiver those orders.
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Berkonomics
FEBRUARY 5, 2015
'Ever had a manager above you who said one thing and did another? At least once? Or in a pattern of repeats? Well, you’re not alone. Did you think less of that person for it? Would you follow that manager to the ends of the earth? Well, almost everyone has had multiple such experiences with a senior manager. And most people think less of that person than before.
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 2, 2015
'Intuitively, many entrepreneurs and businesses believe that the key to faster growth and success is more products, features, and markets. Since we all have limited resources, and can’t add more hours to the day, the result is usually more things done poorly, rather than a few key things done better than anyone else. The message here is focus , reiterated by every advisor and investor.
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Tech Zulu Event
FEBRUARY 4, 2015
'Photo courtesy of James Theophane via Flickr. We all want to make things easier. That’s what the Internet does. And apparently, that’s what mobile applications do better – just ask the fast-growing number of app users. This is the consequence of the switch from desktop and laptops to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. A recent study by Nielsen showed that an average American adult spend some 34 hours per month using mobile internet on smartphones compared to 27 hours via persona
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 2, 2015
'Los Angeles-based Ebyline , which had operated an online marketplace for freelance writers, has been acquired by IZEA. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. IZEA is an online social content and sponsorship services. Ebyline said it plans to slowly move its technology over to IZEA''s platform, and would continue to offer its services.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Startup Professionals Musings
JANUARY 31, 2015
'If you sold your last startup for $800 million, you probably already know how to build a business, and even conservative investors won’t worry about the quality of your next business plan. But, for the rest of us, don’t believe the Silicon Valley myth that all you have to do is sketch your million-dollar idea on the back of a napkin, and investors will line up to give you money.
Tech Zulu Event
FEBRUARY 2, 2015
'A quick web search of items before their time will provide a long list of gadgets and machines rejected by our predecessors which are now shaping our future. For example, Apple’s Newton was considered a flop when released in 1993, but upon close inspection it strongly resembles the highly popular iPads of today. . There are a number of reasons an innovative product might fail.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 2, 2015
'If you are like us, a huge number of the conference calls you participate in are enabled by a company called FreeConferenceCall.com , which has enabled free conference calls for millions of startups and large businesses alike. But, how can the company offer up free conference calling services, and what''s the story behind the service? FreeConferenceCall.com is a Long Beach company which was founded by David Erickson.
Both Sides of the Table
JANUARY 31, 2015
'Not everybody likes the NY Times. I happen to be a long-time fan and paid subscriber. I mostly read the op eds and have for years. I count amongst my favorite people to read from the left & the right as David Brooks, Thomas Friedman & Paul Krugman (and was a big fan of the late William Saffire). I also read almost every Maureen Dowd post even though I don’t always agree with her politics or viewpoints I find it interesting to get other perspectives than my own.
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 4, 2015
'Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. After celebrating success at that level, they often find themselves ill-prepared to move to the next stage, for scaling their business into a high-performing enterprise. That’s where I see too much entrepreneur burnout, growth plateaus, and founders being replaced, to their chagrin.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2015
'Goleta-based Transphorm , which develops Gallium Nitride (GaN) power conversion technology, reported today that Japanese customer Yaskawa Electric Company has gone into mass production on a product that uses its devices. Transphorm says that Yaskawa has shipped a 4.5 kW, indoor photovoltaic (PV) inverter, which uses the company''s platform. The company is expected annual production of 34,000 of thse systems, which are used to convert photovoltaic, solar energy into AC power.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 3, 2015
'Los Angeles-based survey and sampling provider uSamp said this morning that it has renamed the company to Instantly. The company said the move is part of an effort to provide a single entity for its many tools, as well as help in continued growth. Instantly is led by Alan Gould. The company develops a sample service which connect researchers and marketers with consumers for consumer surveys, in addition to related tools.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 4, 2015
'The FAA said Monday that it has granted eight more regulatory exemptions for commercial use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), nearly all of them to a set of linked companies in Van Nuys which film for Hollywood. According to the FAA, it issued UAS exemptions to Total Safety US inc., Slugwear Inc., as well as Team 5, LLC, Shotover Camera Systems LP, Helinet Aviation Services LLC, and Alan D.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 2, 2015
'For today''s Insights and Opinions section, where we feature contributions from our readers and others in the community, we have Peter Cowen , a veteran of the technology and venture capital industry at Clear Capital Advisors. He is also the organizer of the upcoming Recurring Revenue Conference. Today, thanks to the Cloud, it is literally possible to have an idea for a new business one morning, and have that business up and running the next day.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 6, 2015
'It looks like a lot of high speed Internet customers in Southern California are about to get a new ISP, after Verizon and Frontier Communications said late Thursday that Verizon has agreed to sell off its wireline operations in California, Florida, and Texas to Frontier. According to the two, Frontier wil pay $10.54 billion in cash from the Verizon properties, which include 3.7 million voice connections, 2.2 million broadband connections, and 1.2 million FiOS video connections.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 2, 2015
'Thousand Oaks-based Teledyne said Monday that it has acquired Bowtech Products Limited , an Aberdeen, Scotland maker of underwater vision systems. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Bowtech''s cameras are used in remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and other harsh underwater systems, and was founded in 1989. Teledyne said the buy helps fill a product gap in its marine technology portfolio.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 2, 2015
'Camarillo-based Vitesse has rolled out a new set of semiconductors aimed at the secure Ethernet market, the company said today. Vitesse said its newest, physical layer transceivers, the VSC8256, VSC8257 and VSC8258 are aimed at the 10/40G Ethernet market, and enable 256-bit FIPS-197 certified encryption. The chips are aimed at use in network interface cards for the mobile, enterprise, and industrial markets.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 6, 2015
'Irvine-based Newport Corporation has acquired FEMTOLASERS Produktions GmbH , an Austrian manufacturer and developer of laser systems for the scientific and biomedical research area, the company said Thursday. Financial terms of the buy were not announced. Newport Corporation said that it expects FEMTOLASERS sales to be in the range of $8M to $12M in the first 12 months after the acquisition closes.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2015
'Sir Richard Branson detailed the next moves over at Mojave-based Virgin Galactic on Thursday, releasing a video and more details on the company''s second, SpaceShipTwo. Branson said in a blog post that Virgin Galactic is "not just about taking people up to space, but also about connecting space to Earth" and "solving our planet''s greatest challenges.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2015
'Santa Monica-based MGID , which provides native advertising, says its move from New York to Los Angeles earlier this year helped drive "dramatic growth" at the company. MGID said it saw a 21.7 percent increase in its revenues in the fourth quarter of 2014, which it attributed to new products, as well as better access to the large entertainment and lifestyle customers in Los Angeles.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 4, 2015
'In the latest, "Uber-for-X" startup to emerge in the Los Angeles market, online marketplace Zingy said Wednesday that it has officially launched its on-demand, dog walking service. The startup--led by Tobi Skovron--said its service allows owners to request and book a trained and educated dog walker, to walk their dogs on demand. The startup--which soft launched in January --said it separates itself from other pet care services, through personalization, attention to detail, and transparency in i
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 6, 2015
'Santa Monica-based CARD.com , the startup led by Ben Katz which has been offering up a wide range of co-branded payment cards, has added new characters from The Jim Henson Company to its lineup of cards. The company said this week that it has added characters from Fraggle Rock, Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and Farscape to its selection of cards. Financial details of the licensing agreement were not disclosed.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 4, 2015
'Sony released much--but not all--of its quarterly results information today, delaying its overall earnings report for its Q3 FY2014, due to the devastating cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment in November. According to Sony, the attack so far has cost the company $15M in investigation and remediation costs. Sony said it has filed an application to extend the deadline for submission of its quarterly securities report due to the hacking, which came due to "The Interview".
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 2, 2015
'Are you one of the folks who watched last night''s Super Bowl as much for the ads as for the football? Wondering which of those many ads on the Super Bowl last night were the most popular? Los Angeles-based streaming television site Hulu has been featuring the ads on the Hulu AdZone and ranking them based on popularity again this year, currently showing Budweiser''s "Lost Dog" followup as the most liked spot.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2015
'Amy Pascal , the co-chair of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Pictures Group , is the latest casualty of the devastating hack of Sony Pictures last year, and is stepping down from her position. Pascal had been under fire for both approving The Interview--which spawned the hack, blamed on North Korea, which devastated Sony Pictures internal IT systems--as well as leaked emails disparaging Angelina Jolie and President Obama.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2015
'Irvine-based Kofax , which provides document handling software, said today that it has scored a $1.4M contract win with a state health and human services agency. Name of the state was not announced. Kofax said the win covers the use of its software for that state''s enrollment and eligibility processes. Kofax said its new customer expects to process more than 60 million images within the next two years using its software.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2015
'Carpinteria-based Procore Technologies , the developer of cloud-based, construction management software let by Tooey Courtemanche, says it more than doubled its headcount in 2014, and also saw record growth in its business. The company did not say how many employees it has now, or provide any details on finances, however, the company''s recent Inc. 5000 rating says the company had 2013 revenues of $9.5M, compared with 2010 revenues of $1.5M.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 4, 2015
'The Los Angeles Clippers are getting into fantasy sports, saying Wednesday afternoon that it has partnered with fantasy sports site DraftKings. According to the two, the Clippers will incorporate DraftKings into its video board, LED Courtside signage, game day reception, digital media, and a Fan Contest hosted on DraftKings.com. DraftKings offers up a wide range of fantasy sports games not just in basketball, but in football, baseball, golf, and many other sports.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 4, 2015
'San Diego-based tag management software developer Tealium said today that it has linked with Sitecore > , a developer of customer interaction and marketing software. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The two said the integration will make it easier for digital marketers to understand their digital marketing stack, A/B testing, personalization, and other efforts.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 3, 2015
'Los Angeles-based Cynvenio Biosystems said yesterday that it has shipped its LiquidBiopsy, genetic testing system for blood samples, with nationwide availability of the product. The company develops a platform which is aimed at doctors and cancer researchers, and performs next-generation sequencing (NGS) on the tumor cells in whole blood, aimed at helping in monitoring cancer and for cancer diagnostics.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 2, 2015
'San Diego-based Sony Online Entertainment , the developer of EverQuest and other massively multiplayer, online games, has been sold to investment management firm Columbus Nova , SOE said this morning. The company said it has been acquird by Columbus Nova, which will rename the company Daybreak Game Company , and will continue to operate as an independent game development studio.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 6, 2015
'Monrovia-based unmanned vehicle maker AeroVironment said late Thursday that it has swapped its CFO, and named Teresa Covington as Interim Chief Financial Officer, as its current CFO, Jikum Kim, has left the company. AeroVironment said Kim left the company to "pursue other opportunities." Kim had been at AeroVironment since 2010. The company said Kim''s departure is unrelated to any issues regarding financial disclosures, accounting or legal matters.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2015
'Los Angeles-based Typo , the startup backed by Ryan Seacrest, has been ordered to pay $860,000 to BlackBerry Ltd , for selling its iPhone case, which had been found likely to infringe on BlackBerry''s patents. The fine came as a result of a ruling on Wednesday in San Francisco in the U.S. District court. BlackBerry had claimed that Typo had continued to sell and market its original, iPhone case--which duplicated the distinctive BlackBerry keyboard--even after a court injunction issued last year
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2015
'Pasadena-based UberMedia , the Idealab-backed developer of mobile apps and other mobile advertising products, said today that it has named Yahoo veteran Eric Aledort as the company''s Chief Business Development Officer. Aledort was most recently VP, head of media for Yahoo''s global partnerships group. Aldeort has previously worked at Dex One, WebMD, Disney Internet Group, Immuno AG, and Sidley & Austin.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 4, 2015
'Camarillo-based Semtech , the developer of analog and mixed signal semiconductors, reported late Monday afternoon that it has certified one of its Systems-on-a-Chip platform with HomePlug interoperability tests. Semtech said its powerline communications SoC--the EV8000 Powerline Communications SoC platform--successfully completed HomePLug Alliance Netricity interoperability testing at an event in Paris.
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