Sat.Feb 04, 2012 - Fri.Feb 10, 2012

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10 Startup Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Superheroes

InfoChachkie

As part of UC Santa Barbara’s Distinguished Lecture Series, Jason Nazar, Co-Founder and CEO of Docstoc , recently shared ten lessons that emerging entrepreneurs can learn from superheroes. Jason’s inspiration for this 6 ½ minute talk was a blog entry he wrote in 2008, which went viral within the startup community. You can check out Jason’s original entry HERE.

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Is it the jockey or the horse?

Berkonomics

Early stage investors have been arguing over this for years. Do they bet on the entrepreneur (jockey) or the business idea and plan (the horse)? This is serious stuff. If you are looking for money, this question will certainly come up in one form or another when you approach professional or organized angel or VC investors. My answer always varies as I examine each deal, sometimes deferring and passing on an investment because of an uneasy feeling about the ent

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The Complete Guide To Southern California Accelerators and Incubators, Part I

socalTECH

In recent months, a dozen accelerators and incubators have emerged in the Southern California area, looking to help take the new generation of technology startups to funding and beyond. However, with the proliferation of incubators, the difficulty in figuring out. which programs are--and aren't--worth looking at has become very difficult, if not impossible, for startup entrepreneurs.

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Optimizing Websites, Social Media and Mobile Devices: Risk and Reward in the Wild West of Technology

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, February 16, 2012 -- Optimizing Websites, Social Media and Mobile Devices: Risk and Reward in the Wild West of Technology. CONNECT. ebsites are becoming more interactive and mobile applications are impacting brand awareness and sales. Do you wonder how to best utilize your mobile applications to improve your business and brand? Should you use a mobile app for your business?

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Can You Ask for Office Rent Relief? How to Manage Your Lease During COVID-19

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.

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Most Investors Bite Only at Specific Startup Stages

Startup Professionals Musings

If you are looking for an outside investor, you need to know how they see you. Different types of investors look for startups at different levels of maturity. If your startup is at the wrong stage for the investor you are approaching, fishing for money is a waste of time for both of you. For instance, if your company is only a few weeks old and you have zero customers and your product offering is still in design, don’t expect someone to hand over $10 million to fund your efforts.

Startup 96
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Spotlight: LA Tech Winter | Recap, Videos, and Thank You!

Tech Zulu Event

To begin our recap of last week’s winter TZ Spotlight , we’d like to say our list of thank yous. Thank you to the supporters who told their colleagues and friends about the event, to our attendees for the attention towards the center of the room, to our supporting sponsors, our Spotlight judges, and to Bill Gross, our inspirational keynote speaker for the evening.

More Trending

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UCI Entrepreneurship: Henry Samueli, Broadcom

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, February 16, 2012 -- Henry Samueli, Ph.D., Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer, Broadcom Corporation. Entrepreneurship Course, 2012 Guest Speaker Lectures, Henry Samueli School of Engineering, UC Irvine. Free and open to the public. This series is part of a course on Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers, but enrollment is not necessary to attend these guest speaker lectures Email goran@uci.edu for details.

UCI 100
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Investors Like Ideas, But Measure You On Execution

Startup Professionals Musings

After the idea, it’s all about execution. I often hear from investors that a great idea is necessary, but not sufficient. The most important thing is a proven team, meaning one who has built a startup before, and has experience with the execution process in this domain. I’ve talked before about the best personality traits for a good entrepreneur, but I’ve never talked about the importance of process.

Ideas 95
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Amplify’s Guide to Crafting a Pitch Deck | Entrepreneur Resources

Tech Zulu Event

As we turn our ideas for the future into the latest startups and companies of today, there’s always a need for resources to help guide one through the process of it all. As that idea grows into a business there may come a time where the need for outside funding in necessary to further grow and scale. While this time for a business can be exciting one must be prepared with the resources to take the next step.

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Mike Jones On Science Inc.'s First Firms

socalTECH

In November, Michael Jones, the former CEO of MySpace, announced his plans for Science Inc. (www.science-inc.com), a new technology studio aimed at building new businesses in Los Angeles. This week, the firm launched two companies--EventUp (www.eventup.com) and MeUndies (www.meundies.com)--the first companies to come out of the group. We spoke with Michael about those companies he is launching as part of Science, and how they came about.

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Overcoming Startup Company Challenges

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, February 16, 2012 -- SoCalBio Women, Work and Wisdom (W3) Mixer in Los Angeles. Elena Medo of Neolac (Murrrieta) and Shenda Baker of Synedgen (Claremont) will speak about "Overcoming Startup Company Challenges".

Claremont 100
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Startup Due Diligence Is Not a Mysterious Black Art

Startup Professionals Musings

After you have successfully attracted angels or venture capital with your business case, your million dollar product idea, and you have a signed term sheet, there is still one more hurdle to overcome before investors write the check. This is the dreaded “due diligence” process. For no good reason, this process seems shrouded in mystery, when in fact it is nothing more than a final integrity check on all aspects of your business model, team, product, customers, and plan.

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Cheers App Launches | Adding Cheers to your Day [Exclusive Video With Farhad Mohit]

Tech Zulu Event

We all have things to cheer for in life. Most times we celebrate to milestone events or showing our affection for people in our lives. But there’s so many things in life that make us happy. The Beach , Chocolate chip cookies stuffed with Oreos (yes these really do exist). Or maybe you local hangout that you’re grateful just exists. The Cheers App allows for us to cheers to the world around.

Google 70
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Guidance Software Acquires CaseCentral

socalTECH

Pasadena-based Guidance Software , which develops digital forensics and e-discovery software, said Tuesday afternoon that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire CaseCentral , a developer of electronic discovery software. Guidance Software said it will pay $17.1M for CaseCentral, with up to $33M in earn out. The deal is split between $8.3M in cash and $8.3M in Guidance Software common stock.

Software 202
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Digital LA - Latino Content Panel

SoCal Tech Calendar

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 -- Digital LA - Latino Content Panel. Vamos a our panel on digital creation and distribution of content for Latino audiences. We'll discuss what type of Latino content is successful, themes for mainstream auds, Latino actors / language. We'll also discuss content distribution, marketing and social media. Speakers: Jai Bugarin, Head of Tutele, Maker Studios; Bernadette Rivero, President of The Cortez Brothers; Dan Carrillo Levy, Director of the Creative and Interactiv

Content 100
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This Startup Dream Team Will Assure Fundability

Startup Professionals Musings

Every investor is looking for the “dream team” of executives to put his money on. Often I find that experienced investors flip to the management page of a business plan, even before they read the product description. That’s how important the people are. What are investors looking for in the CEO and the rest of the top executives? Been there, done that, and won.

Startup 94
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Viddy Announces Series A Raise | Mobile Social Video App

Tech Zulu Event

Remember that feeling the first time you got an iPhone? You were all excited and happy to have the coolest technical gadget to date. Then you got Instagram. And you could share pictures with the world with filters making them look like they were from just about any camera ever made. Now you can experience that feeling again with Viddy, the mobile social video app.

Mobile 69
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New Incubator/Coworking Space Emerges In Glendale

socalTECH

A new startup incubator and coworking space in the Los Angeles area-- Voivoda Labs --said this week that it is looking to looking to vet new startups in the area to join its newly built incubator in Glendale. Voivoda Labs--headed by Val Babajov, the former CEO of WebMessenger--said it is looking to vet around 15 startups via a pitch event later this month, to help secure investment for the winner.

Glendale 196
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Digital LA - Love Goes Digital panel

SoCal Tech Calendar

Monday, February 13, 2012 -- Digital LA - Love Goes Digital panel. Join us for our pre-Valentine's Day "Digital LA - Love Goes Digital" panel! We'll discuss trends and tips in online dating (what should your profile pic be, what description, social media for dating), how sites like eHarmony and dating authors use social media to promote, how romantic comedies market and tie into V-day, and more.

eHarmony 100
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Investors Fund Solutions Rather Than Technology

Startup Professionals Musings

Too many entrepreneurs develop a new product without regard to market demand, then build an entire strategy based on creating a need, rather than acting on an existing market need. Investors characterize this approach as a “solution looking for a problem.” These don’t get funded. The best startups find a way to drive the market with their technology, rather than push their new technology-driven ‘solution’ on the marketplace.

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Start-up Step 1: Build A Culture Plan

Frank Addante

The formula for a great company is not a business model, or financial projection. I used to think that company culture happened naturally. After starting and building five companies, I’ve learned that great culture doesn’t just happen—you need to make it happen. In general, a company’s most expensive asset is its people. So it surprises me that so many companies fail to develop a culture or “people plan” to invest in and grow that asset.

Startup 45
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GraphEffect Expands In New York, Chicago

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based social marketing firm GraphEffect said this morning that it has opned up new offices in both New York City and Chicago, as the company continues to expand its staff. The venture-backed firm, which is venture backed by Lerer Ventures, Thrive Capital, Founder Collective, Rincon Venture Partners, CrossCut Ventures and Baroda Ventures, said it has appointed three new directors in the locations, as well as added a over a half dozen other staffers in recent weeks.

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Freestyle Forum

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, February 9, 2012 -- Freestyle Forum. TriTech SBDC. During the opening session you will have the opportunity to discuss any legal challenges, intellectual property (IP), and any other issues that you would to like to present to the forum.

IP 100
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Red Flags To Avoid When Talking About Competitors

Startup Professionals Musings

One of the most important questions you will be asked by potential investors is how your solutions beats the competition, not just today, but over the three to five year life of their investment. There is no perfect answer to this question, but there are many wrong answers which will immediately jeopardize your credibility. The concept is called “sustainable competitive advantage.

Patents 90
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Start-up Step 1: Build A Culture Plan

Frank Addante

The formula for a great company is not a business model, or financial projection. I used to think that company culture happened naturally. After starting and building five companies, I've learned that great culture doesn't just happen—you need to make it happen. In general, a company's most expensive asset is its people. So it surprises me that so many companies fail to develop a.

Startup 40
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Report Tallies $7.7 Billion In SoCal IT Exits In 2011

socalTECH

A new report released today tallies up $7.7 billion in IT exits in 2011, the highest since 2000, for Southern California IT firms. The report--compiled by Ocean Road Partners--included both venture-backed and self-financed information technology companies. According to the report, the biggest exit during 2011 was for Greent Dot , which provided liquidity of $2 billion for its pre-IPO investors, the highest of any exit since 2000.

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CoDev2012

SoCal Tech Calendar

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 -- CoDev2012: Achieving Higher Open Innovation Returns while Managing Risk, Costs and Uncertainty. CoDev2012 will be taking a closer look at how open innovation efforts are helping top companies better manage risk, contain costs and yield higher value deals. The program features keynote presentations, case studies, panels and deep dive workshops with innovation visionaries and top innovation leaders representing: Clorox, Corning, Pepsico, Avery Dennison, Mars Inc., N

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Seven Principles for Survival in a Micro-Business

Startup Professionals Musings

I’m hearing more and more these days about a new type of small business, called a “micro-business” (or micro-enterprise). These are usually characterized as owner-operated, with five employees or less, and less than $250,000 in sales. With the low cost of e-commence entry, and powerful Internet technologies, they require minimal capital to start, perhaps as little as $500.

Writing 99
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USC Project Uses Tweets To Predict Oscars

socalTECH

Can you use Twitter to predict who is going to win the Academy Awards? That's the idea behind a project being run by the University of Southern California Annenberg Innovation Lab. IBM , and the Los Angeles Times. According to the groups, they are working on an analysis of millions of public tweets to attempt to pick the Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Picture categories of the 84th Academy Awards.

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Startups Move Into New EvoNexus San Diego Incubator

socalTECH

A group of startups have moved into a new, downtown San Diego startup incubator run by CommNexus , as that group's EvoNexus incubator expands into a second site. The incubation effort--which has been running in North San Diego at the University Towne Centre since 2009--said the new space includes 15,000 square foot, and initially includes twelve companies.

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Eventup Launches Venue Booking Site, Backed by Science, Inc.

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Eventup , a new startup backed by Mike Jones Science, Inc. "digital studio", launched today, saying that it will help people find and book venues for their parties, weddings, and more. The startup--headed by Tony Adam--creates a marketplace which lets people find exclusive venues directly from private property owners. Jones, in an interview, described EventUp as an "Airbnb for venues", a comparison to the popular service which allows people to rent out spare rooms to travelers.

Sites 180
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Oversee.net Sells Moniker, SnapNames

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based Oversee.net , the domain name and Internet marketing firm, has sold off its Moniker and SnapNames units, to KeyDrive S.A. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. Moniker and SnapNames handle live domain auctions. According to Oversee, the sale helps it to focus on its core monetization and vertical markets division. KeyDrive S.A. is a provider of domain registration, monetization, and aftermarket services based in Luxembourg.

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MomentFeed Partners With Location3 Media

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based MomentFeed , the startup which is developing software to provide analytics on such things as check-ins and customer interaction at retail locations, said this week that it has partnered with digital marketing firm Location3 Media. According to MomentFeed, Location3 Media will be providing a layer of services on top of its platform for its clients.

Media 171
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FamilyFinds Takes Page From Pinterest, Launches myFINDS

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based FamilyFinds , the daily deal service backed by Matt Coffin, the founder of LowerMyBills.com, looks to have taken an inspiration from the popularity of Pinterest , with its own sharing and commenting service. FamilyFinds told its users Thursday that it has launched myFINDS! , a new service which will help users "track of and share great ideas you find online".

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HipGeo Ties With Vagabondish

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based HipGeo , the developer of location-aware mobile apps that allow users to log their travels, is announcing today that it has partnered with Vagabondish , a news website focused on offbeat travel news and advice. HipGeo said that users can download HipGeo, enter a special code, and blog to their Vagabondish blog to win various prizes.

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Cornerstone OnDemand Promotes Three

socalTECH

Santa Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand , the developer of software-as-a-service for talent management, learning, and human resources management, said today that it has promoted three of its executives. THe firm said it has promoted Vincent Belliveau to Senior Vice President and General Manager EMEA, promoted Kirsten Maas Helvey to Senior Vice President of Consulting Services, and promoted Dave Carter to Senior Vice President of Sales.