Both Sides of the Table
APRIL 28, 2012
When you work inside a startup with lots of clever and motivated staff you’re never short of good ideas that you can implement. It’s tempting to take on new projects, new features, new geographies, new speaking opportunities, whatever. Each one incrementally sounds like a good idea, yet collectively they end up punishing undisciplined teams.
InfoChachkie
APRIL 30, 2012
In his book Enchantment , Guy Kawasaki encourages entrepreneurs to immerse their audience in their “cause”, in order to enchant them. One of the immersion techniques Guy promotes is to offer a hands-on trial, in which the prospective customer can touch, feel and experience your product before purchasing it. If you care to learn more about the enchantment process, you may want to watch my interview with Guy HERE , in which he provides a number of enchanting tips and tricks.
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socalTECH
MAY 3, 2012
San Diego-based Qualcomm has renewed its investment in Visage , as part of a Series C funding for the enterprise mobility management software provider. According to Visage, the round was led by Motorola Solutions, and also included Palisades Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures and Worldview Technology Partners. Qualcomm was the lead on the February 2010 round for Visage, whose software is used to manage the security and mobile policy for enterprise customers.
Berkonomics
MAY 2, 2012
Some of us remember things better when given a catchy phrase or rhyme. Here’s one to help you with squeezing the most out of your available resources. It reflects the new reality in our business world, one with little room for mistakes and no room for bloat within our companies. The first “P” stands for people. The wrong person in a job causes all below or above that person in the production system, that depend upon that person, to operate at a reduced rate or quality of output.
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.
SoCal Tech Calendar
MAY 4, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012 -- LA Demo Day (featuring 20 new LA startups). Come see the next crop of great LA tech companies demo their startups to the LA community of entrepreneurs, investors and techies as well as a number of esteemed guests. LA Startup Demo Day will showcase the latest batch of up-and-coming LA Startups. Companies will have 5 minutes to present their product which will be followed by feedback from a panel of expert judges.
TechCrunch LA
MAY 3, 2012
You’ve heard of GroundLink before. They offer ground transportation with up-front before-you-ride pricing throughout the U.S., and like Uber, you can book everything from your phone. The service basically puts all the control in the hands of the customer. You can book a reservation way in advance, or on-demand if you’re in NYC. Plus, you can choose what type of car you want,… Read More.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Berkonomics
APRIL 28, 2012
This important variation on “money talks” is an important consideration for entrepreneurs when seeking an investment from professionals such as VC’s. Something like a marriage (and often lasting just as long statistically), your investment partner can be a great cheerleader, coach and resource. But the moment things turn sour, including missed plans, some investors on company boards go into a predictable mode of dictating terms for emergency loans or additional investment.
SoCal Tech Calendar
MAY 3, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 -- Determining Your Company's Value. The first and most important item in any term sheet is a startup's pre-money valuation. This workshop will give participants an overview of how investors look at the value inside your startup and suggest strategies on how to improve valuations during the negotiation phase. Matt Crowley, Crowley Corporate Legal Strategy. email ingrid.goodman@lacdc.org for more information.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 4, 2012
If you can’t solve problems and enjoy it, you won’t make it as an entrepreneur. By definition, an entrepreneur is the first to undertake a given business, and firsts never happen without problems and people frustrations. The toughest problems are people problems, like personnel issues, but there are tough operational problems as well, such as vendor delays.
socalTECH
MAY 4, 2012
Hoping to make it easier for human resources departments to mangae employee recommendations and referrals, a Newport Beach startup, Recmnd.Me , said this week that it has launched a new online social recruiting service. The startup said that its site provides a social recommendation service that allows co-workers to recommend and rate each other, helping HR departments to better locate the "A" players.
Tech Zulu Event
MAY 2, 2012
Its tagline is “enlightened debauchery.” Its been called what would happen, “if TED and Burning Man had a lovechild that went to MIT and became an artist.” Its curator, Doug Campbell, is a Tuxedo Tyrant , a founder of Syyn Labs , and a purveyor of social good. It’s called Mindshare , and it’s taking downtown LA by storm.
SoCal Tech Calendar
MAY 3, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012 -- SpaceCraft Technology Expo. Spacecraft Technology Expo is the first and only exhibition of its kind, bringing together global decision makers, OEMs, supply chain experts, industry executives, suppliers and customers to identify present and future market growth opportunities for the design, manufacture, pre-launch testing and operations of spacecraft, satellites, and space-related technologies.
Startup Professionals Musings
APRIL 28, 2012
I’m convinced that people who have fun at work are more innovative, as well as happier. I don’t have any big scientific studies to prove this, but in my considerable business experience, I haven’t seen many successes come out of a group of fearful pessimists or unhappy people. As I was looking through the literature, I did find evidence that many strong business leaders, like John D.
socalTECH
MAY 2, 2012
Los Angeles business accelerator program upStart.LA , one of numerous startup acceleration and incubation efforts to start in the last year in Southern California, is merging with a startup in Santa Monica, Cross Campus. According to a note to supporters form upStart.LA founder Dan Dato, the accelerator has merged with Cross Campus, a yet-to-be launched startup building a "collaborative workspace and education platform" in Santa Monica.
Tech Zulu Event
MAY 4, 2012
For most the dreams of becoming a guitar shredding god are lost if not playing since your youth. Although you may not be able to become that mega star on stage playing the Hollywood Bowl, you can still become the guitar shredding god of your household. Music Prodigy is changing Music Education through its patent-pending technology and proprietary teaching method that enables any aspiring musician to learn any instrument, at any level of expertise, anywhere an iOS device can reach.
SoCal Tech Calendar
MAY 3, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012 -- Electric Vehicle Symposium. More than 100 exhibitors, 200 presenters, and approximately 3,000 electric drive industry leaders, government representatives and energy officials will participate in the 26th International Electric Vehicle Symposium in Los Angeles. More than 100 global companies will display electric vehicle technologies on the show floor, including: Coda, Coulomb Technologies, Dow Energy Materials, GM, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Southern California Edison, and Toy
Startup Professionals Musings
APRIL 29, 2012
I’m fully convinced that both inspiration and perspiration are always required in a startup. Yet many people seem to be stuck on one end or other of this equation – all perspiration with no dream, or all inspiration with no reality. Success is the right balance of both for fun and profit. Aspiring entrepreneurs ask me why their great idea hasn’t sold; they talk about it endlessly, and they expect others to do the development, finance, and marketing work for them.
socalTECH
MAY 3, 2012
Online video site YouTube said yesterday that it has launched a new set of original shows and channels, including two from Southern California's entertainment talent pool. YouTube said it has launched a new channel around Tribeca Enterprises, the firm behind the Tribeca Film Festival, which will be powered by Maker Studios , and also will launch a Halo-themed live action series from Los Angeles-based Machinima , called "Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn".
Tech Zulu Event
MAY 2, 2012
Its tagline is “enlightened debauchery.” Its been called what would happen, “if TED and Burning Man had a lovechild that went to MIT and became an artist.” Its curator, Doug Campbell, is a Tuxedo Tyrant , a founder of Syyn Labs , and a purveyor of social good. It’s called Mindshare , and it’s taking downtown LA by storm.
SoCal Tech Calendar
MAY 1, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012 -- Electric Vehicle Symposium. More than 100 exhibitors, 200 presenters, and approximately 3,000 electric drive industry leaders, government representatives and energy officials will participate in the 26th International Electric Vehicle Symposium in Los Angeles. More than 100 global companies will display electric vehicle technologies on the show floor, including: Coda, Coulomb Technologies, Dow Energy Materials, GM, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Southern California Edison, and Toyota
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 3, 2012
In my experience, inventors aren’t interested or aren’t very good at building a business, and entrepreneurs aren’t usually good scientists. These people need to find each other, and can jointly make a great team for a new startup. Historically, it’s also not often that a good inventor was also a good entrepreneur. Some now argue that even our entrepreneur heroes, like Thomas Edison, really cheated on the invention side.
socalTECH
MAY 4, 2012
Los Angeles flash sales site LuxeYard , which is headed by Braden Richter, announced Thursday that the firm is expanding into fine art. The company--which has been offering up luxury flash sales of home furnishings--said the expansion includes limited edition fine art, photography, and sculpture. LuxeYard also said that it will allow its members to upload photos of art pieces they want its art buying team to source, similar to how the firm currently allows members to request specific styles of f
Tech Zulu Event
MAY 4, 2012
I’d like to start out with a HUGE virtual hug to our awesome community. Its been 4 amazing years and TechZulu is still going strong because of you. The new TechZulu has also been inspired by community feedback, so we encourage you to tell us what you think so we can keep improving TZ. It has always been our goal to deliver an insightful story of the technology industry by showcasing the very people creating it.
SoCal Tech Calendar
MAY 1, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012 -- Electric Vehicle Symposium 2012. Innovative utility companies will be featured during the 26th International Electric Vehicle Symposium (EVS26) in Los Angeles at the L.A. Convention Center. Theodore F. Craver, Jr., chairman, president and CEO of Edison International, will be speaking at the opening plenary, along with other utility and infrastructure experts throughout the symposium.
Startup Professionals Musings
APRIL 30, 2012
All too many startups are founded simply on the basis of a new and exciting technology invented by an industrious technologist. This is the origin of the “solution looking for a problem” and “if we build it, they will come” syndromes, which result in surprise and frustration waiting for funding, and waiting for customers that don’t materialize. The right approach is to start by solving a problem causing real pain to a large number of customers willing to pay real money for a solution.
socalTECH
MAY 4, 2012
Ojai, California-based Lynda.com , the online education site providing online training on a variety of software, ranging from PhotoShop to AutoCAD and much more which was founded by Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin, is now topping $70M in annual revenues, according to reports. The firm is one of Southern California's best kept secrets, and is one of the rare examples of a very successful company which was bootstrapped with no outside funding by its founders.
Tech Zulu Event
MAY 1, 2012
Google Drive is a cloud-service for files that offers 5GB of space to use however you wish right out of the gate for free. The first question that came to mind, personally, was “How do I get more if I need to?” The simplest answer isn’t “spam your friends on Facebook and Twitter to get’m to use your referral code”, it’s “show me the money” Apparently, Google just piggybacked the Google Drive storage space expansion off the already existing Pi
SoCal Tech Calendar
APRIL 30, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012 -- Electric Vehicle Symposium. More than 100 exhibitors, 200 presenters, and approximately 3,000 electric drive industry leaders, government representatives and energy officials will participate in the 26th International Electric Vehicle Symposium in Los Angeles. More than 100 global companies will display electric vehicle technologies on the show floor, including: Coda, Coulomb Technologies, Dow Energy Materials, GM, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Southern California Edison, and Toyota
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 2, 2012
If you are a young startup founder, how do you find that CEO or other executive for your “dream team” to close on funding and kick start your company? It makes logical sense to scour the job boards, engage an executive recruiter, or scan the networking sites like LinkedIn for a good array of candidates, and then interview the ones with the best resumes.
socalTECH
APRIL 30, 2012
San DIego-based molecular diagnostics equipment maker Gen-Probe , which is publicly held, is being acquired by Hologic in a $3.7 billion deal, the firms said this morning. The two said that Hologic will pay $82.75 per share in cash for Gen-Probe. Hologic said it will continue to maintain a "significant presence" in San Diego. Gen-Probe was advised by Morgan Stanley & Co.
Tech Zulu Event
MAY 1, 2012
We’ve all heard the great expression, “it’s all about who you know” more times than we can remember. But more often than not it plays very true in our daily lives. The right recommendation from someone could get you your next gig, into the hot new club, and maybe even tickets to the big summer concert. Moofaces is out to help those opportunities thrive when it comes to the jobs market.
SoCal Tech Calendar
APRIL 28, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012 -- Domain Boot Camp to Provide Years of Domain Training to Beginners Through Live Two-Day Workshop. Recognizing that many people struggle to learn and enjoy success in the domain industry, Domainate offers a unique, live 2-day training workshop known as Domain Boot Camp.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 1, 2012
Even though I have seen many business leaders succeed, and many that failed, I still struggle with what really makes the difference. It seems like some CEOs are just more tuned in to the market realities, customer dynamics, people interactions, and are better leaders. But what does that really mean? A while back I found some great business leadership insights in “ The Secrets of Tuned In Leaders ”, by Craig Stull, Phil Myers & David Meerman Scott.
socalTECH
MAY 1, 2012
Santa Barbara-based RingRevenue , the provider of pay-per-call technology used by affiliate marketers to track conversions, looks to be in growth mode, with the firm nearly doubling its staff over the last four months. The firm, which is led by Jason Spievak, apparently now has 28 full time employees, up significantly from only 16 in January, according to Spievak.
socalTECH
MAY 2, 2012
Los Angeles-based startup StageIt , which operates an online web platform which lets musicians interact with their fans through live broadcasts from their laptop, has raised a round of funding. The funding came from DEV (Digital Entertainment Ventures), a newly launched New York investment firm headed by Alan McGlade and Michael Yang. The funding was announced by DEV as part of its launch.
socalTECH
MAY 4, 2012
Is Friday the 13th really an unlucky day? For one local startup, it sure was. San Diego-based Slacker , the personalized online radio and music service, apologized to its users this week for an outage last month--on Friday the 13th telling them that it will offer up a free month of its Slacker Premium Radio service to customers. Slacker's outage on April 13th was--literally--due to being struck by lightning, and although the outage was fixed by Saturday morning, the company said it was offering
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