InfoChachkie

AUGUST 11, 2011

Messenger : Naval Ravikant, Co-Founder AngelList and Co-Maintainer Venture Hacks. Former Founder Epinions. Investor in Twitter, Foursquare, DISQUS, and (by Naval’s own admission) “a lot of other companies you have never heard of”. Dharmesh Shah, Founder of HubSpot and of OnStartups , recently published a great post entitled, Raising Money On AngelList , which offers insights germane to my conversation with Naval.

Startup 273

Startup Software Review Summary Technical Review 273

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2011

Santa Monica-based Docstoc , the online business documents site headed by Jason Nazar, has quietly been ramping a video content effort at the site. In a new section on Docstoc's web site, the firm has been sharing dozens of video segments featureing business tips and advice from entrepreneurs from Southern California's technology community. The company has invested in dedicated staff and a studio at its Santa Monica offices to film the short business advice snippets, which have come from Jason N

Content 217

Content Causecast Santa Monica Southern California 217

SoCal Tech Calendar

AUGUST 10, 2011

Tuesday, August 16, 2011 -- Real Value of Customer Excellence. AccessEN. The customer is always rightwell, most times! Our August panel dives deeply into the new age of customer service. Our panelists will discuss their organizations best practices when serving high value customers. Attend and learn: ·How your support staff can become your best sales representatives ·What is a net promoter score and how it can be utilized in your company ·To call-center or not to call-center?

Custom 113

Custom Customer .Net Organization 113

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 11, 2011

Many people believe that good entrepreneurs are naturally born, rather than trained or experienced in the art of business. I believe there is a natural born component required, but often I tend to agree with Peter Drucker , who said “It’s not magic, it’s not mysterious, and it has nothing to do with genes. It’s a discipline, and like any discipline, it can be learned.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Paramount Training Startup 102

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.

Company

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 8, 2011

Note: This is part IV of a five part series. Access the first installment HERE , part II HERE , part III HERE , and part V HERE. “[Poker] exemplifies the worst aspects of capitalism that have made our country so great.”. Walter Matthau, American Actor. I have discussed in this series a number of books and games parents can share with their children which will cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset.

Startup 207

Startup Entrepreneur Competition Guide 207

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2011

Los Angeles-based Mobile Roadie , the mobile apps developer, said today that it has inked a partnership with Consenda , a media software firm, to provide mobile news applications for newspapers in Switzerland. According to Mobile Roadie, it has developed mobile apps for Consenda which helps local and regional newspapers through a system called LocalPoint.

Mobile 208

Mobile News Los Angeles Media 208

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2011

Building a startup is hard work for low pay, it’s risky, and it requires total responsibility to make it work. Yet, many entrepreneurs are the happiest people I know. On the other hand, I know many unhappy individuals who are always partying, have minimal commitments, and little responsibility. I suspect the real parameters of happiness have eluded these people.

Startup 99

Startup Entrepreneur Study Content 99

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 11, 2011

Still unsure about your weekend plans? Well for all the coders out there why not take your chances at $4k! This Sunday BetterWorks his hosting Coloft Hackfest in Santa Monica, CA,and what better way to spend your weekend then with an amazing group of individuals from your local Southern California Tech scene. There is still time to signup! The Deets.

Santa Monica 72

Santa Monica Yammer Geni Southern California 72

socalTECH

AUGUST 9, 2011

ThisWeekIn , the Los Angeles-based, online video podcasting network co-founded by Jason Calacanis, Mark Jeffrey, and Kevin Pollak, is expanding out its lengthy list of podcasts, with a new one focused on startups out the TechStars business incubation effort. The new This Week In TechStars video podcast follows such weekly video podcasts as Mark Suster's This Week In Venture Capital and This Week In Startups from Jason Calacanis.

Networking 208

Networking Incubator Venture Capital Los Angeles 208

SoCal Tech Calendar

AUGUST 12, 2011

Thursday, August 18, 2011 -- Startups Uncensored #22 - Building Bigger Businesses the Second Time Around. This months Startups Uncensored will be on Building Bigger Businesses the Second Time Around." Hosted by Jason Nazar (CEO, Docstoc), it will be an open and frank townhall conversation with some of Southern California's most successful CEOs. Panel includes Ryan Scott, Causecast; Gil Elbaz, Factual; Mark Suster, GRP Partners, and others.

Causecast 100

Causecast GRP Partners Southern California Startup 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 10, 2011

Once you are able to achieve some real “traction” with your business (paying customers, revenue stream), it may seem the time to relax a bit, but in fact this is the point where many founders start to flounder. All the skills and instincts you needed to get to this level can actually start working against you, and you can fail to scale. Investors often say that successfully navigating the early stages of a startup requires lots of street smarts, guts, and luck.

Startup 98

Startup Entrepreneur Coach Mentor 98

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 12, 2011

With the rise of mobile phones in the late 90′s and early 2000′s, it was not hard to get a hold of someone. But what if you want to get a hold of a group of people? And what if a conference call is not an option and you want to get in touch discreetly? Nowadays we have smartphones with email that always on data connections and there are different ways to contact multiple people.

Google 58

Google Mobile Platform Design 58

socalTECH

AUGUST 9, 2011

Santa Barbara-based zuuka Group , the firm behind the iStoryTime line of mobile children's books, said today that it has raised $2M in a Series A investment round. According to the company, the investment came from Corporate Finance Partners (CFP). Corporate Finance Partners was an investor in Brands For Friends, the German online shopping firm that recently sold to eBay.

Santa Barbara 191

Santa Barbara Social Media Mobile Content 191

SoCal Tech Calendar

AUGUST 12, 2011

Thursday, August 18, 2011 -- HOW TO NAVIGATE THE SBIR/STTR POST-AWARD PROCESS. WHAT YOULL LEARN: Understanding your grant or contract terms and deliverables Progress reports and getting paid Final report preparation and submission Lining up partners and submission Lining up partners and investors Implementing the commercialization plan.

Report 100

Report 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 9, 2011

A while back I received a discouraging note from an entrepreneur with a patent and a medical software application who couldn’t find a dime of investment, and was grousing that seed funding just wasn’t available anymore. After exchanging a couple of notes, I concluded that she was more likely a victim of item #1 on my reject list below, rather than a drought on seed funding.

Software Review 98

Software Review Funding Seed Funding Startup 98

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

This article was originally published on TechCrunch. Venture Capitalists typically have partners’ meetings on Mondays. Why is that? Who knows. But probably because as a group we travel a lot. So the industry formed around a day of the week when all partners could avoid having company board meetings or traveling. Yesterday was a Monday. And not a pleasant one.

Marketing 305

Marketing Funding Venture Capital Technical Review 305

socalTECH

AUGUST 9, 2011

Torrance-based PC Mall , the IT solutions provider and catalog retailer, said today that it has officially opened up its OnSale daily deals business. The firm had said in May that it would be converting OnSale into an online daily deals site. PC Mall said the new site is rolling out a beta in Chicago, Los Angels, and Seattle, offering off discounts on national brands, local restaurants, spa and salon services, and more.

Sites 191

Sites Torrance Satisfaction Los Angeles 191

SoCal Tech Calendar

AUGUST 11, 2011

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 -- Tablets for Business. Techbizconnection. For most business users, our smartphones touch almost all areas of our lives. A must have we cannot live without. The growth has been phenomenal, soon to reach a million new phones, every day. Tablets have proven themselves just as useful, in a different way. They balance the portability of smartphones with larger screens and fast processors.

Screening 100

Screening Platform 100

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2011

It’s a well-accepted axiom in the investor community that entrepreneurs learn more from their failures than their successes. Thus a well-explained startup failure often can actually improve your odds of funding in the next go-round. Yet, there is no doubt that the best strategy is to learn from someone else’s mistakes, so you can enjoy the millions that someone else lost in learning.

Startup 96

Startup Entrepreneur Ideas Writing 96

socalTECH

AUGUST 12, 2011

Santa Monica-based BetterWorks , the employee fringe benefits startup headed by Paige Craig, looks to be ramping its employee recruitment effort, and is sponsoring a developer "hack-fest" this weekend at Coloft. According to the firm, it is awarding $3,000 as a first place prize for the developer who creates a "technical masterpiece" around making the workplace better, whether that is a project management, customer relationship management system, or similar.

Develop 190

Develop Development Santa Monica Competition 190

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2011

Torrance-based LiveOffice , the cloud-based email archiving and compliance service, has ported its user interface into an interesting language--the fictional Klingon language from Star Trek. According to LiveOffice today, users of the software can now view its interface in Klingon when they want to access their email archives. LiveOffice did not say why it decided to add the fictional language support to its product, but said that "In a society with a deep history of war and combat, email manage

Torrance 190

Torrance Email Services Software 190

socalTECH

AUGUST 11, 2011

Los Angeles-based Geni , the family tree and genealogy site, looks to be further tilting its efforts towards its paid, Pro users, by swizzling access to the various features of the site. Geni said Thursday evening that it would give users full permission to add, edit, and merge historical profiles on the site, but will now restrict non-pro user from adding or merging those profiles.

Geni 182

Geni Sites Los Angeles Angel 182

socalTECH

AUGUST 9, 2011

Manhattan Beach-based Morphlabs , the cloud computing software firm headed by former GlueCode founder Winston Damarillo, said Tuesday that it has inked a deal with Alchemy Communications. According to the firm, Alchemy Communications will use its products to provide hosted, private cloud environments to its customers. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed.

Manhattan Beach 182

Manhattan Beach Cloud Computing Software Customer 182

socalTECH

AUGUST 9, 2011

San Diego-based Websense , the developer of web security tools, reports today that it has been selected by Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union, to safeguard data for the credit union's 38 branches. Financial details of the win were not disclosed. Websense said that Addison Avenue had actually been using the firm since 2007, but decided to roll out the solution further as part of a $4.75 billion merger between that credit union and First Tech Credit Union in the past year.

Customer 180

Customer Custom San Diego Tool 180

socalTECH

AUGUST 11, 2011

Towards the end of last month, Culver City-based ThinkNear (www.thinknear.com) announced a seed round of funding for its location-based mobile advertising service, with notable inclusion of such firms as IA Ventures, Google Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, and others. To hear more about where exactly the firm fits in a crowded space, we spoke with Eli Portnoy, the firm's founder.

Startup 177

Startup Mobile Culver City Los Angeles 177

socalTECH

AUGUST 9, 2011

San Diego-based Fallbrook Technologies , the developer of transmission technology, said today that it has launched a new product aimed at bicycles. The firm--which is better known for applying its technology to the electric car market--said its has launched a new product which seamlessly shifts bicycles, either using an automatic or manual option. The firm is aiming that the e-bike market with the new product.

Marketing 176

Marketing San Diego Technology Product 176

socalTECH

AUGUST 11, 2011

Los Angeles-based Elevator Labs , a new startup headed by ex-Virgin Digital execs Brendon Cassidy and Zack Zalon, said Thursday that it has raised $20M in an initial funding round. The round came from KGC Capital. According to the firm, it is looking to incubate new companies in the Los Angeles area. The firm's current portfolio of companies includes Hello Music, Wilshire Media Group, and Fat Cloud.

Incubator 174

Incubator Los Angeles Media Organization 174

socalTECH

AUGUST 11, 2011

Santa Monica-based eHarmony , the online dating and matchmaking site, announced this morning that it has named Jeremy Verba as its new Chief Executive Officer. Verba joins the firm from Zynga, where he was founding General Manager of that firm's Treasure Isle title. Verba had previously served as President and CEO of teen community site Piczo, as well as AOL, E!

eHarmony 174

eHarmony Santa Monica Sites Mobile 174

socalTECH

AUGUST 9, 2011

Venice, California-based MOVIECLIPS , the online provider of licensed movie clips headed by Richard Raddon and Zach James, is announcing today that it has scored $7M in a Series B funding round, and also partnered with Google to feature its clips on YouTube. The firm said that its Series B round came from MK Capital, as well as Shasta Ventures , First Round Capital , SoftTech VC, Richmond Park Partners , as well as angels, including Naval Ravikant , Jeff Kearl , Tom McInerney, and Allen DeBevois

Google 173

Google Venice Venture Capital Capital 173

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2011

Pasadena-based FastSoft , the developer of Internet acceleration devices based on technology out of the California Insitute of Technology (Caltech), said today that it has been selected by Los Angeles content delivery network (CDN) NetDNA. FastSoft said NetDNA will use its appliances to improve content delivery speeds across its entire product line.

CalTech 171

CalTech IP Pasadena Content 171

socalTECH

AUGUST 9, 2011

San Diego-based ServiceNow , the venture-backed, privately backed developer of IT management software, said today that it has passed $125M in annual revenues, and has opened up a new, San Jose development center. According to the firm, it is seeing rapid growth and interest in its cloud-based service for IT management, with more than 100 percent revenue growth between June 30, 2010 and June 30, 2011.

San Diego 168

San Diego Software Services Capital 168

socalTECH

AUGUST 12, 2011

Van Nuys-based Electro Rent , the provider of electronic test equipment rentals and leasing, said Thursday that it has purchased Equipment Management Technology , a fellow electronic test equipment company, out of bankruptcy. Electro Rent said it pay $11.1M in cash for the firm, via a private, U.S. Bankruptcy court sale. Equipment Management Technology is based in Las Vegas, and rents, sells, and leases used electronic test equipment.

Van Nuys 167

Van Nuys Sales Technology Company 167

socalTECH

AUGUST 9, 2011

Calabasas-based Spotlight , which develops software-as-a-service for managing ticket management, said Monday that it has named a new member of its board. The firm said that Edwin Miller, CEO of 9Lenses, has joined the company's board of directors. Spotlight is venture backed by Point Judith Capital, Jim Pallotta, co-owner of the Boston Celtics, and Brian Bedol, founder of sports television channels Classic Sports Network (now ESPN Classic) and CSTV (now CBS College Sports).

Calabasas 167

Calabasas Entertainment Software Networking 167

socalTECH

AUGUST 8, 2011

Santa Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand , the developer of software-as-a-service for talent and employee management, has dropped its plans for a secondary IPO, citing "current marketing prices". According to the withdrawal statement from Cornerstone OnDemand, the firm's existing shareholders, who were planning on selling in the secondary offering, were unwilling to participate due to "current market prices".

Cornerstone OnDemand 167

Cornerstone OnDemand Santa Monica Software Review Pricing 167

socalTECH

AUGUST 10, 2011

Among other news this week, Los Angeles-based Cocodot , the online invitations site started by former MySpace exec Shawn Gold, opened up a free tier to its invitations service, allowing users to now send out up to 1,000 online cards and invitations to others. Previously, the invitations site required users to pay for electronic invitations, along with its professionally printed invitation cards.

Newsletter 164

Newsletter Tips News Startup 164

socalTECH

AUGUST 10, 2011

San Diego-based SG Biofuels , the biofuels firm backed by Life Technologies, has inked a deal with a petroleum country in India. According to Bharat Renewable Energy Ltd., a joint venture of Bharat Petroleum, it has initiated a program with SG Biofuels to develop and deploy the firm's Jatropha seed technology. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

San Diego 160

San Diego Technology Develop Development 160