Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 21, 2014
'Startups are hard. You’ve heard that a million times. Those that we survive with become family. It’s something you can’t know unless you’ve ever been in the trenches. Working hard together at a big company just isn’t the same. The truth is you really don’t know how your teammates or your bosses will perform in good times and bad.
InfoChachkie
JUNE 23, 2014
'A version of this article previously appeared in The Wall Street Journal. It has never been easier to network with really busy thought leaders who can have a huge impact on your career. Ironically, the same tools that facilitate connecting with people beyond your current network, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Quora and Facebook, also make it more difficult for highly networked individuals to sort through their inbound messages and determine which are meaningful and which should be ignored.
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Berkonomics
JUNE 26, 2014
'Angel investors, particularly those in organized angel groups, are typically former entrepreneurs who have had successful liquidity events in their pasts, or executives of companies who’ve retired with the funds from their stock options. Occasionally, an angel is a member of a wealthy family, having little experience managing a business. But most often these angels are skilled at growing companies, calling on their past experience to evaluate and then help entrepreneurs in their early s
socalTECH
JUNE 24, 2014
'Los Angeles-based drivers for on-demand ride service Uber --with the help of the Teamsters--are looking to organize, according to a report from KPCC. According to the report, around 500 drivers for Uber are holding a demonstration this morning in Santa Monica, in front of Uber''s offices here, to protest Uber''s treatment of drivers. A spokesperson for those drivers told KPCC that Uber is "not a very good partner" and often gives drivers the "short end of the stick".
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Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 24, 2014
'For 2 years I interviewed VCs & founders for a show called This Week in VC. If you want to see any back interviews you can click on that link. I’ve been promising to relaunch a new show for the past 18 months but needed to find somebody to help me with cameras, filming, editing, distribution, etc. Luckily the supremely talented Kyle Taylor joined Upfront Ventures and has helped kick me in the arse to get the show going again.
Startup Professionals Musings
JUNE 25, 2014
'Don’t bash the competition. Every investor knows how vulnerable a new startup is to competitors, so investors always ask about your sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. How an entrepreneur answers this question speaks volumes about their knowledge of business realities, customers, confidence, and their ability to handle investor funding.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
socalTECH
JUNE 27, 2014
'A new, Los Angeles startup has its eyes on Uber and Lyft, saying that is it looking to "one up" those ride sharing apps with its own transportation app. Opoli said its new app lets license, commercially insured professional drivers bid for your ride, letting users select the driver they prefer and get upfront pricing on a ride. The service--which is initially launching in Los Angeles County--said it avoids the issues with surge pricing, final fare surprises, and safety.
socalTECH
JUNE 27, 2014
'Santa Monica-based Spanish language media company Entravision Communications --which owns television, radio, and online media focused on the Latino market--said earlier this week that it has acquired online advertising company Pulpo Media. The deal was worth a total of $18M, made up of $15M in an initial payment and up to $3M in earn out. Pulpo Media is an online, digital advertising products and technology company focused on Hispanics in the U.S. and Latin America.
socalTECH
JUNE 24, 2014
'Carpinteria-based Procore Technologies , which develops cloud-based construction management software, said today that it has launched a new set of free applications for iOS and Android. According to Procore, its new CurrentSet app allows construction teams to collaborate on project drawings, letting teams pull the latest drawings for a job site from their iPads, iPhones, Android devices, and laptop or desktop computers.
socalTECH
JUNE 26, 2014
'Santa Monica-based Tastemade , a publisher of food focused, video content led by Larry Fitzgibbon, said this morning that it has raised $25M in a Series C funding round. The funding was led by Scripps Networks Interactive, and also included Liberty Media, Redpoint Ventures, Raine Ventures and Comcast Ventures. Tastmade provides online videos of food and related apps.
socalTECH
JUNE 26, 2014
'Los Angeles-based Wi-Fi and wireless infrastructure provider Boingo Wireless said today that it has linked up with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing , the IndyCar racing team co-owned by late night talk show host David Letterman, as part of the Verizon IndyCar Series. As part of the deal, Boingo Wireless said it will start offering up a 20 percent discount to Army National Guard members who sign up for Boingo''s Wi-Fi access plans.
socalTECH
JUNE 24, 2014
'Los Angeles-based startup studio and incubator Science Inc. is backing YouTube influence marketplace FameBit , as part of a seed funding round. Famebit--which is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada--said it raised a total of $1.5M in funding from Science, as well as 500Startups and DeNA. The startup was founded by David Kierzkowski and Agnes Kozera. The company has been part of 500 Startups'' latest San Francisco acclerator class since earlier this year.
socalTECH
JUNE 24, 2014
'Los Angeles-based Epoxy said this morning that it has raised $6.5M in a Series A funding round, for the company''s social-focused, video tools. According to the company, the investment came from Upfront Ventures and Time Warner Investments, along with prior investors, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Advancit Capital, Greycroft Partners and Robert Downey Jr.
socalTECH
JUNE 26, 2014
'Newport Beach-based Fitwall , a fitness center operator which focuses on using technology like Bluetooth heart rate monitors and iPads to improve fitness, said this morning that it has raised additional funding for the company. The amount of funding was not announced. Fitwall said the investment was led by angel investor Jake Silverstein, who is the founder of investment company E''lir Capital.
socalTECH
JUNE 25, 2014
'Moviepilot , the online film review and publishing site led by Tobias Bauckhage, has sold off its German website, moviepilot.de , to French publisher Webedia. The move puts the company''s focused squarely on its Los Angeles operations. The sale netted the company $20M, which it will use to fund its U.S. efforts. Moviepilot''s web site focuses on film recommendations, film discovery, and the company also helps studios with social media campaigns.
socalTECH
JUNE 26, 2014
'Venice, California-based online flower delivery service TheBouqs said this morning that it has raised $6M in a Series A financing, to go towards expansion of its team, delivery outside the US, and scaling of its technology and infrastructure. The funding was led by Azure Capital Partners, and also included KEC Ventures, Quest Venture Partners, SG-VC, and Siemer Ventures.
socalTECH
JUNE 26, 2014
'Action sports camera maker GoPro priced its IPO at $24.00 per share, and will start trading today on the NASDAQ Global Market as GPRO. The company--although based in San Mateo--has a number of Southern California ties, including founder Nicholas Woodman, who founded the company at UC San Diego, operations in San Diego (thanks to the acquisition of Cineform), and investors via Steamboat Ventures (the venture arm of Walt Disney).
socalTECH
JUNE 25, 2014
'Los Angeles-based business messaging app developer Glip said today that it has added integration with applications Jira, Harvest, and Github, as a new effort to integrate its tools with other products. Glip said the integrations also include a new product called Glip Webhooks, which will allow anyone to connect their service into Glip. Glip''s tools are aimed at the enterprise, and are used for team communications, integrating calendars, video conferencing, file sharing, task management, and mo
socalTECH
JUNE 24, 2014
'Los Angeles-based mobile video advertising firm AdColony has been acquird by Silicon Valley mobile ad company Opera , the two said Tuesday. The deal is worth up to $350M. AdColony is led by Will Kassoy. Kassoy becomes Chief Marketing Officer of Opera Mediaworks with the buy. AdColony was venture backed by Insight Venture Partners. AdColony had formerly been part of Jirbo.
socalTECH
JUNE 24, 2014
'Irvine-based, cloud storage software developer Zadara Storage has scored a big win with a provider of property information for the mortgage and insurance industry, the company said today. According to Zadara, it has teamed up with managed services provider RightBrain Networks to move over 800,000,000 image files to Amazon Web Services using its technology, for Realty Data Company, which provides land surveys, titles, and other documents for the real estate industry.
socalTECH
JUNE 23, 2014
'Hawthorne-based SpaceX said Monday that it is delaying its ORBCOMM OG2 mission to sometime in July, after it scrubbed its launch over the weekend of its latest mission. ApaceX said it identified a potential issue while conducting pre-flight checkouts for the launch, and decided to "stand down" on its next launch window on Tuesday. The company said it is now targeting the first week of July for the mission, which is aimed at sending six OG2 satellites to an elliptical 750 x 615. km low-Earth orb
socalTECH
JUNE 23, 2014
'San Diego-based TakeLessona , the online marketplace for finding tutors, music teachers, language lessons, and more, has launched a new scholarship program specifically aimed at college and university students. According to TakeLessons, it will offer up scholarships to three students, worth $1,000, $2,000, and $5,000, driven by online, public voting.
socalTECH
JUNE 23, 2014
'Los Angeles-based music service Earbits --which shut down suddenly two weeks ago --is back up, after the company announced a mysterious strategic partner has provided the company funding to keep the service going indefinitely. According to founder and CEO Joey Flores, the company has immediately relaunched both its web service and mobile apps. Earbits said it will share more details as soon as it can.
socalTECH
JUNE 27, 2014
'Los Angeles-based mobile game developer TapZen disclosed this week that it has raised $8M in a funding round from Tencent Holdings Ltd. The company recently launched its first title, "This Means War!". TapZen was founded by Mike Verdu and Amir Rahimi. This Means War! runs on iOS, and allows game players to control their own army of tanks, troops, helicopters and bombers.
socalTECH
JUNE 25, 2014
'Glendale-based Dreamworks is one of the lead investors in a developer of mobile kids'' apps, Fingerprint , which said Wednesday that it has raised $10.85M in a Series B funding round. According to San Francisco-based Fingerprint, the new funding round is a Series B. Fingerprint operates a series of application networks focused on kids, which includes apps, e-books, and video services.
socalTECH
JUNE 25, 2014
'Los Angeles-based wireless hotspot operator Boingo Wireless is expected to get approval to roll out its services with the New York Port Authority, according to a report. Boingo--which offers up Wi-Fi and cellular service in airports, stadiums, and other locations--apparently would offer free wireles Internet at a number of airports, including Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports.
socalTECH
JUNE 25, 2014
'Los Angeles-based Shotgun Software , a developer of cloud-based production tracking, review, and asset management software for the film, television and games industries, has been acquired by Autodesk , the two said Wednesday. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Shotgun--which was founded in 2006--was co-founded by Don Parker and Isaac Reuben.
socalTECH
JUNE 25, 2014
'Frost Data Capital , the startup incubator firm led by Stuart Frost, has tied with GE to launch a new, startup incubator aimed at industrial Internet startups, the two said Wednesday. The two said they have started Frost I3 , which will provide funding, resources, and expertise aimed at companies focused on industrial technologies. The incubator said it is aiming to create and grow up to 30 new startups over the next three years.
socalTECH
JUNE 25, 2014
'Vessel , a new startup founded by former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar and CTO Richard Tom, has raised a round of funding from Benchmark Capital, Greylock Partners, and Bezos Expeditions. Benchmark''s Bill Gurley and Greylock''s David Sze have both joined the company''s board as part of the funding. Vessel is in stealth mode, and has not said anything about what it is developing.
socalTECH
JUNE 27, 2014
'San Diego-based communications service and app developer Voxox said this week that it has expanded its iOS and Android apps to include new, group media sharing features. Voxox said its new, consumer mobile application now lets users share video, images, and locations with contacts and messaging groups. The new feature also includes an expansion of group messaging functionality, letting users create and manage messaging groups of any size.
socalTECH
JUNE 27, 2014
'The CAA has put its funding behind a new, online content discovery site called Distractify , as part of a Series A funding round announced this week. Distractify--which is based in New York--said it raised $7M in a Series A funding, which was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, and also included Lerer Ventures, Advancit Capital and the CAA. Distractify''s site revolves around "top 10" photo montage lists for consumers (cute gerbils, cats, and kids) and eye-grabbing photos.
socalTECH
JUNE 26, 2014
'Rancho Cucamonga-based Amphastar Pharmaceuticals , a specialty pharmaceuticals company focused on generic and proprietary injectable and inhalable drugs, priced its IPO Wednesday at $7 per share. The company is selling 8 million shares of its stock. The offering raises $56M for the company, which is now trading on the NASDAQ as AMPH. The company closed up 25 percent in its first day of trading on Wednesday, at $8.75 per share.
socalTECH
JUNE 25, 2014
'Irvine-based virtual reality technology developer Oculus VR --now owned by Facebook--said Tuesday that it has acquired the team behind Carbon Design , an industrial design and product engineering team. According to Oculus, the team will become a "key component" of the product engineering group at Oculus, and will operate out of Seattle. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
socalTECH
JUNE 24, 2014
'San Diego-based video-based, driver safety products developer Lytx says it is rolling out a new product specifically aimed at mid-sized, commercial fleets. According to Lytx, the company''s new DC Protect program is aimed at fleets with less than 350 vehicles and limited safety resources. Lytx said the new product is based on its existing DriveCam product and its experience with hundreds of large fleets worldwide.
socalTECH
JUNE 24, 2014
'Santa Barbara-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software maker QAD said today that it has scored a win in china, with automotive supplier Chengdu Huachuan Electric Parts Company (CHCD). Financial details of the win were not disclosed. QAD said that CHCD deployed its software with implementation by service provider TSnT. CHCD manufactures generators, motors, driver assistance systems, and other products for the hybrid vehicle market.
socalTECH
JUNE 23, 2014
'Los Angeles-based Ebyline , which operates an online marketplace for freelance writers, said today that it has begun offering up a seven day, free trial to prospective customers. The startup--which counts a large number of corporations looking for content for marketing and other efforts--said the new offer allows companies to take the service for a "test drive".
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