Berkonomics
AUGUST 21, 2014
'Sean Ellis, the marketing guru behind DropBox and other successes, advises clients that “The most important question on a survey is, ‘How would you feel if you could no longer use this product?’” He goes on to quantify the response. If more than forty percent of the respondents say they would be “very disappointed,” the product should go viral and be a great success.
socalTECH
AUGUST 22, 2014
'For our profile today, we had a chat with Jonathan David , the CEO of Los Angeles-based Tapstone (www.tapstone.com), a company providing media buying and optimization. We spoke with Jonathan about the company and where it fits into the advertising market. What is Tapstone all about? Jonathan David: We''re essentially a media buying and optimization platform.
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InfoChachkie
AUGUST 18, 2014
'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Bill Grundfest, Founder of the Comedy Cellar, Golden Globe winner and three time Emmy nominee, recently spoke to an audience of entrepreneurial students as part of UC Santa Barbara''s Distinguished Lecture Series. Mr. Grundfest has a nose for comedic talent, discovering and the launching the career of many notable comedians, including Steven Wright, Bill Maher, Ray Romano and Jon Stewart.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 16, 2014
'Technology is so key to every business these days that experienced business-smart but non-tech entrepreneurs are falling deeper and deeper in the hole. Even if they realize that they need real technical strength at the top, they are not sure how to attract and select the talent and expertise they really need. Should they go after high-tech nerds for partners, or professional technologists?
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.
Tech Zulu Event
AUGUST 21, 2014
'The word, “Hacker” automatically instills a sense of fear and mistrust in most people. You might imagine some dark, shadowy nefarious character in a black hat, trenchcoat and possibly donning a Guy Fawkes mask. Or there’s always the popular mid-90s flick featuring phreaks on roller-blades rampaging through metropolitan New York. Whatever your perception may be, an estimated 15,000 attendees showed up for this year’s DefCon 22 , an annual event with talks, contests, vendo
socalTECH
AUGUST 19, 2014
'Flywheel , the venture backed startup offering up an Uber-like experience for users--except via licensed taxi and transportation services--is rolling out advanced booking to Los Angeles users this week. According to Flywheel, the new service lets customers pre-book a ride to the airport, via either its iOS or Android apps. The company had been offering up pre-booking over the last month for the San Francisco area.
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
AUGUST 18, 2014
'Most technical entrepreneurs I know demand the discipline of a product specification or plan, and then assume that their great product will drive a great business. Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan. Is it any wonder why so few entrepreneurs ever find the professional investors they seek?
Tech Zulu Event
AUGUST 22, 2014
'GoPro brought the world a simple unique first person point of view videos to YouTube and other online video sites. The smartphone brought a lot of Instagram and Vine feeds to the world of social media. Videos are obviously in the hands of the everyday person, but the tech that they use put a limit on what can be done. VSN Mobil presents photographers and videographers a new way to capture images and videos with the V.360, a camera that captures 360-degrees.
socalTECH
AUGUST 20, 2014
'Does the entertainment industry need its own social networking site? Los Angeles-based Stage 32 thinks so--and so far, has 325,000 members for its online social networking site, which it says ties together film, television, and theater creatives. According to the site, it has been around since 2011, and can be described as "Lynda meets Linkedin" for creatives.
Both Sides of the Table
AUGUST 17, 2014
'Just back from vacation and also some work travel and want to get back to blogging so expect a few posts over the next couple weeks. During my absence I posted a couple new episodes of Bothsides TV recently. I’ll try to get write-ups shortly but for now here is an overview of my interview with Nanea Reeves – President and COO of textPlus.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 21, 2014
'It’s popular these days for startup founders to operate in stealth mode, meaning no details about the idea or progress are shared with anyone until the big reveal and rollout. The common reason given is that this prevents any competitor from stealing their idea and beating them to market. In my view, this paranoid approach costs them much more than the risk of being open.
Tech Zulu Event
AUGUST 18, 2014
'There are a multitude of wearable devices on the market. Health trackers, location devices, smartwatches, etc., etc. However, many of these devices are made for individuals and nothing stands out as a family device. Sync Smartband wants to add another device to the wearable market, but with an emphasis on family, safety, and health. “Sync Smartband is an all-in-one activity, location safety, and health tracker device.
socalTECH
AUGUST 19, 2014
'In a move which brings two of the hottest online, peer-to-peer marketplaces in the area together, ride service Uber and dog boarding marketplace DogVacay said today that Uber will donate $5 for every ride to help animal shelters on National Dog Day--August 26th--for riders who use DOGVACAY as the promo code for their ride. DogVacay said that the $5 for each ride--taken in Los Angeles, Orange County, and Central LA--will go towards the nonprofit group STARTrescue.
socalTECH
AUGUST 18, 2014
'A new startup, Algorithmia , which was co-founded by a USC PhD student, said today that it has raised $2.4M in a seed funding round, to go towards its online marketplace for computer software algorithms. The startup--which was co-founded by Kenny Daniel, who was recently pursuing a PhD in Artificial Intelligence at USC--says that it has created an online platform to let software engineers find different algorithms for us.
socalTECH
AUGUST 21, 2014
'San Diego-based Nervana System has raised $3.3M for its hardware-based, machine learning tools, according to the company. Nervana said the Series A funding was led by DFJ, and also included Allen & Co., AME Cloud Ventures, and Fuel Capital. As part of the funding, Steve Jurvetson of DFJ will join the company''s board of directors. Nervana is developing machine learning technology--including software and hardware--which is being targeted at a wide range of areas.
socalTECH
AUGUST 20, 2014
'Looking for the best credit card for you? Pasadena-based Wallaby Financial , the developer of technology to help users optimize the use of their credit cards, says it has created the industry''s largest database of credit cards, which it is making available to consumers. The company said that its new database has more than 2,000 credit cards, which it is providing to consumers free of charge, covering 450 banks and hundreds of rewards programs.
socalTECH
AUGUST 19, 2014
'Financial software developer Intuit is cutting 120 employees in Woodland Hills, according to a state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, part of a larger cut involving locatoins in Illinois, Virginia, and Arizona. The layoffs--first uncovered by the San Fernando Business Journal--apparently are due to a shift at the company towards more cloud-based services.
socalTECH
AUGUST 21, 2014
'In today''s mobile phone driven world, most consumers now take texting for granted. However, businesses have been notoriously behind the curve when it comes to using the communications medium for their customer outreach and marketing. In an effort to make it easier for businesses to tap into the popularity of texting, Ez Texting --part of Santa Monica-based CallFire--said this week that it has launched a free product which lets businesses send out everything from coupons, appointment reminders,
socalTECH
AUGUST 21, 2014
'Los Angeles-based online advertising technology provider Rubicon Project has signed up publisher the Business Insider , the company said yesterday, to power a private advertising exchange for the publication. Financial details of the win were not announced. According to Rubicon Project, it will provide advertising automation technology to power an advertising exchange for the Business Insider''s premium desktop, mobile, and high impact ad inventory.
socalTECH
AUGUST 19, 2014
'A new report this morning says that Hawthorne-based spaceship and rocket developer Space Exploration Technologies is in the midst of raising a new round of investment, which values the company at around $10 billion. Amount of funding, and the investors involved, have not been disclosed. The report came from TechCrunch. If true, the valuation of SpaceX near the $10 billion mark would about double its last known valuation of roughly $4.8 billion.
socalTECH
AUGUST 21, 2014
'Irvine-based home automation and control technology provider INSTEON has rolled out its products at RadioShack''s newly remodeled stores, the company reported this morning, as well as on RadioShack''s online store. INSTEON said its home automation offerings are rolling out at all of RadioShack''s 85 new "Interactive" remodeled stores, which feature a wall dedicated to home automation.
socalTECH
AUGUST 21, 2014
'Today''s Insights and Opinions article comes from longtime socalTECH reader Frank Addante --who recently took Rubicon Project public. He talks about his strategy for how to build a company: the ''find out'' and the ''roll out''. When you''re looking to disrupt any industryadvertising, yogurt, VoIP technology, or whateverbegin with learning everything you can.
socalTECH
AUGUST 21, 2014
'Carlsbad-based satellite and wireless technology and services developer ViaSat is rolling out its satellite Internet service in Alaska, Hawaii, and Florida, the firm said yesterday, in an expansion of the company''s Exede high speed satellite service. According to ViaSat, its "virtually unlimited" satellite Internet service provides at least 150 GBs of monthly data, and is aimed at rural and remote areas that have limited Internet options.
socalTECH
AUGUST 19, 2014
'Los Angeles-based 3BLACKDOT --founded by Machina Vets Angelo Pullen, Luke Stepleton, Adam Montoya, and Tom Cassell--said Tuesday that it has snagged another Machinima vet, Marwan Abderrazzaq, to head up game development at the company. Abderrazzaq was previously Director of Franchise at Machinima. The company said that he worked with Warner Bros. and Microsoft on premium content efforts tied with Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, Mortal Kombat: Legacy II and Street Fighter: Assassins Fist.
socalTECH
AUGUST 19, 2014
'How do you make online video more interactive--and profitable? Los Angeles-based Sidevision (www.sidevision.com) has developed a set of tools--aimed at content creators, multi-channel networks (MCNs), and others--to help connect online videos with e-commerce. We recently spoke with co-founder and CEO, Justin Wu to learn more about the company, which so far has received a small seed funding from Warner Bros. as part of that company''s Warner Media Camp accelerator.
socalTECH
AUGUST 19, 2014
'Epicor Software , the developer of supply chain management software which has its roots and still has significant operations in Orange County, is off the block, after its private equity investors did not see enough interest--or high enough prices--for the business. According to the WSJ , Apax Partners has decided to retain the company, after testing the market for a sale of Epicor.
socalTECH
AUGUST 18, 2014
'In our Insights and Opinions section this morning, Dave Berkus , an angel investor and private equity investor, asks startup--do you really want to be first to market? Over the years, as I managed my several computer companies as CEO or executive chairman, I made the decision to go to market with a brand new product that had never before been exposed to my customers marketplace.
socalTECH
AUGUST 18, 2014
'Venice-based Radical.FM , the online, add-free music streaming service, has begun accepting Bitcoin. According to Radical.FM, it is using Bitcoin payments provider Bitpay, to let users donate Bitcoin to support its service. Radical.FM is led by Tom McAlvey. The company say sit has access to 25 million songs in its music library. READ MORE>>.
socalTECH
AUGUST 20, 2014
'DataDirect Networks , the data storage systems developer which has significant operations in Chatsworth, reports that it is opening up a new technology center in Paris. The company said the move will help enhance its European technology innovation. The company said the expansion comes as it saw double digit, profitable growth in the first half of 2014, when it said it doubled its revenues in the enterprise Big Data market.
socalTECH
AUGUST 22, 2014
'Sizmek , which provides digital advertising technology and services, says it has named Ray Erickson as Director of Video and Rich Media Sales, Western and South Central Regions, based in Los Angeles. Erickson has been at Sizmek serving as Director of Platform Sales, and previously served at Eyewonder and Katz Media Group. Sizmek has around 40 employees in Los Angeles.
socalTECH
AUGUST 20, 2014
'El Segundo-based International Rectifier , the developer of power conversion semiconductors, has been acquired by Infineon , in a deal worth $3 billion in cash. Infineon said that it will pay $40 in cash per share for publicly held IRF. Infineon said the deal would help bolster its expertise in compound semiconductors and drive greater economies of scale in production.
socalTECH
AUGUST 20, 2014
'Santa Barbara-based Social Intelligence , a developer of software tools which use social media information to uncover compensation and insurance fraud, reported a win with the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. Social Intelligence develops software which helps identify publicly available, online information on people to help fight fraud.
socalTECH
AUGUST 19, 2014
'Thousand Oaks-based Teledyne Technologies has acquired German company Atlas Hydrographic GmbH , a designer and manufacturer of marine sonar systems. Financial terms of the asset buy were not disclosed. According to Teledyne, it will use the buy to strengthen its marine acoustic imaging business. The acquisition was made by Teledyne''s subsidiary, Teledyne RESON GmbH.
socalTECH
AUGUST 18, 2014
'Irvine-based YouMail , which develops enhanced voicemail service and related mobile apps, has rolled out a new update to its iPhone app. According to YouMail, the new app now supports new gestures for accessing voicemail messages quicker, a new navigation drawer, ways to add unwanted callers to its "ditch list", and other enhancements. YouMail offers up both iPhone and Android apps to access its enhanced voicemail services, which features things like voicemail sharing, personalized greetings de
socalTECH
AUGUST 18, 2014
'Irvine-based Allergan said this morning that it has swapped its CFO, naming Jim Hindman as its new Executive Vice President, Finance and Business Development and Chief Financial Officer. Hindman replaces Jeff Edwards, who Allergan said has stepped down due to family commitments. Edwards will remain with Allergan to help transition the role. Edwards had been at Allergan for 21 years, with the last nine years as CFO.
socalTECH
AUGUST 22, 2014
'Calabasas-based network testing equipment and software developer Ixia has named a new President and CEO, saying Thursday afternoon that it has appointed Bethany Mayer to the new position. Mayer was most recently Senior Vice President and General Manager of HP''s Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) business. Mayer also has served at Blue Coat Systems, Cisco Systems, and Apple Computer.
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