Sat.Jun 28, 2014 - Fri.Jul 04, 2014

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Why Venture Capital is So Much More Compelling Now

Both Sides of the Table

'It’s not hard to find people willing to write the narrative that “venture capital is not an asset class” or “venture capital has performed terribly.” The most recent was 18 months ago or so called The Kauffman Report. It had an influence on the people who fund our industry in a negative way as many asset managers who fund our industry read this flawed report.

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Don’t over-estimate the knowledge of your audience.

Berkonomics

'When making a presentation to a new audience, the smart thing to do, if there is an opportunity, is to ask your audience by show of hands, if they have some knowledge of your industry or space. If you are making a one-to-one presentation, don’t start without a conversation about the other person’s knowledge of your space. With that conversation, you create an immediate connection with your audience even before beginning to present, and you know better how much explanation you will need to accom

Slides 201
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What This Dive Bar Can Teach You About (Not) Marketing

InfoChachkie

'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Dirty Franks is a dive bar located in Philadelphia, which is also home of The Wharton School. Although only a short Uber ride away, it is seldom frequented by the business students. Too bad, as they would be well served to study Dirty Franks marketing plan, which has withstood the test of time.

Marketing 193
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Metacloud Partners with Trace3

socalTECH

'Pasadena-based MetaCloud , the provier of OpenStack cloud deployment and management, said today that it has partnered with Trace3 , a provider of IT and other services to businesses. According to the companies, MetaCloud has been selected as the "open source cloud solution of choice" by Trace3, which will help implement and recommend Metacloud''s OpenStack solutions to its own customers.

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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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Joe Perez, Founder of @tastemade, On What Makes a Great Product Manager & More

Both Sides of the Table

'Update : Bothsides TV is now available on iTunes , Soundcloud , Stitcher , or any RSS podcast player you use, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube. I also added a little Soundcloud widget on the sidebar (if you’re viewing on web – not on mobile or RSS reader) that you can listen to each episode with. In the most recent episode, I interviewed Joe Perez , Founder of Tastemade.

Product 292
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5 Keys To Product Differentiation For Fun And Profit

Startup Professionals Musings

'Every entrepreneur believes that their product or service is different, and that every customer will quickly see the advantage over competitors. Yet true product differentiation in the eye of the customer is rarely achieved. According to a survey by Bain & Company a while back, 80% of businesses believe they have differentiated offerings, but only 8% of customers agree.

Product 102

More Trending

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At The Pool Launches New App, Yeti

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based At The Pool , the startup led by Alex Capecelatro which helps connect people and travelers, is launching a new app today, which it says is called Yeti. According to At The Pool, the new app helps connect travelers to local discussions, so that they can ask questions about things like the best local coffee shops in town, or discuss sights to see.

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Want to Know What Marc Andreessen’s Magic on Twitter is? Hint: It’s Not Tweetstorming

Both Sides of the Table

'By now almost everybody knows that Marc Andreessen has taken Twitter by storm. By Tweetstorm, that is. Marc seems to single handedly have changed all conventions in Tweeting by dropping 7-10 rapid Tweets in a related stream-of-consciousness labeling each Tweet with a number and a slash before it. Fred Wilson wrote a Tweetstorm and then did a blog post on the topic.

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How To Build Startup Credibility Before Your Brand

Startup Professionals Musings

'With the estimated 510 million live websites at last year-end, and 280,000 new ones being added every day, the biggest challenge for an entrepreneur is to get found, and get some credibility for a new startup. I can attest from experience that publishing a regular blog to properly showcase your brand value, even before you have it, is a most cost effective approach in time and money.

Startup 101
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Wearable Tech LA | Where Entertainment & Health Meet Wearables July 17th

Tech Zulu Event

'Wearables Tech and the Internet of Things (IoT) have been all the latest buzz in the tech world. We just wrapped up our REACH | The Wearable Future event last week where we had Intel, Epson, Indiegogo, LA Times and ShotTracker discuss where wearables have been, where they are now and what is the future of wearables. You can find pictures from the night here.

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Logicube Release Mass Hard Drive Wiper

socalTECH

'Have lots of hard drives you need to wipe out? Chatsworth-based Logicube , which makes all kinds of hardware made for hard drive duplication and electronic forensics, said today that it has launched a new, 8-target hard drive wiper which wipes out eight hard drives at once. The company said it snew device, the ZX-Tower, handles SAS, SATA, USB, and IDE drives--along with other formats--and is aimed at companies and organizations which have to meet stringent HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley requirements.

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Chumby Back From The Dead, Revives Apps

socalTECH

'Remember the Chumby , the Internet-connected, alarm-clock-like device? Well, it''s back, after new owner Blue Octy said that it has restored the Chumby service, after a year of rewriting the original service. Blue Octy is now charging $3 a month for access to the 1,000 or so apps available for the Chumby. Chumby had shut down in April of 2012, after the company ran out of funding support.

San Diego 166
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XCOR Aerospace Buys Space Expedition Corporation

socalTECH

'Mojave-based space vehicle maker XCOR Aerospace has acquired Dutch company Space Expedition Corporation (SXC), which had been serving as a sales agent for XCOR''s as-yet-to-be-launched space vehicles, the companies announced this morning. According to XCOR, SXC had been its general sales agent for XCOR Lynx flight sales. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed by the company, however, XCOR said the deal was an all-stock transaction.

Sales 166
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The Myth of Creation: Tinder's Startup Story Made Up?

socalTECH

'It''s been a bad week over at Los Angeles-based Tinder , as one of the mobile dating/hookup app''s co-founders, Justin Mateen, was sued by former executive Whitney Wolfe over sexual harassment--and for cutting her out of the list of founders at the company. However, Businessweek reports that the startup story behind Tinder is actually all a myth, conveniently created after Tinder was created inside IAC.

Startup 164
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Cidara Therapeutics Gets $32M

socalTECH

'San Diego-based Cidara Therapeutics , a new, startup biopharmaceuticals firm working on treatments for severe fungal infections, has raised $32M in a Series A funding. The funding was led by 5AM Ventures, Aisling Capital, Frazier Healthcare and InterWest Partners, as well as un-named institutional investors. According to the company, it is working on a long acting echinocandin antifungal drug which is being targeted at use in fighting severe fungal infections in immune compromised patients.

San Diego 164
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How Vadio Is Putting The Video Into Music, With Bryce Clemmer

socalTECH

'In today''s online world, there are audio streaming sites (Spotify et al), and there are video streaming sites (Youtube, Vevo, etc.); however, those two worlds are mostly separate. However, one local startup-- Vadio (www.vadio.com)--is hoping to bring those worlds together, by using technology to automatically add and synchronize video streaming to existing, audio streaming sites.

Startup 164
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Telesign Raises Funding from Telstra

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based mobile security and authentication provider Telesign has raised some funding from Australian telecom provider Telstra , Telstra said last night, as part of an expansion by TeleSign into the Asia Pacific Region. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. TeleSign recently announced a $40M investment round. TeleSign--which is led by technology veteran Steve Jillings--helps a large number of brand name, Internet service providers secure their e-commerce and Internet se

Funding 159
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Drybar Raises $20M

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based hair chain Drybar --which just does "blowouts", those popular hairstyles that involve blow drying hair to achieve a specific look--recently raised $20M in a funding round. The funding came from SPK Capital, Castanea Partners, and angel investors Janet Gurwitch (Laura Mercier Cosmetics, Neiman Marcus), Ron Frasch (Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman), and Paul Pressler (Gap, Walt Disney).

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Tinder Co-founder Sued For Sexual Harassment, Suspended

socalTECH

'One of the co-founders of Los Angeles-based dating app developer Tinder , Justin Mateen, has been sued by a former executive for sexual harassment, and has been suspended. In a lawsuit filed Monday in the Superior Court of the State of California, Los Angeles , former Tinder Vice President of Marketing Whitney Wolfe accused Mateen of a series of incidents and harassing emails, after a romantic relationship between the two went south.

Email 157
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Newegg Starts Accepting Bitcoin

socalTECH

'City of Industry-based online electronics retailer Newegg said today that it has begun accepting Bitcoin payments, via a new partnership with BitPay. According to Newegg, it will let its customers pay for their purchases in Bitcoin, by using their digital wallet via BitPay''s interface. Newegg said that its customers are among some of the earliest Bitcoin miners and supporters of the crypto currency.

NewEgg 149
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Ranker Adds Executives

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based Ranker , which operates an online website for users to share their opinions and lists on countless topics, has hired on a number of new executives. According to the company, it has appointed Glenn Walker as Chief Strategy Officer at Ranker, and Stan Holt as Chief Revenue Officer. Walker is an investor and has been involved in such companies as Westpoint Integrated Technologies; Holt previously has been at Internet Brands, eHarmony, OnGreen.com, and Neodata.

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Qualcomm Buys Wilocity

socalTECH

'San Diego-based Qualcomm said Wednesday afternoon that it has acquired Wilocity , a developer of 60 Ghz wireless chipsets. According to Qualcomm, it will use the buy to bolster its technology and use of 60 Ghz wireless for the mobile, computing, and networking market. Wilocity develops chipsets for the 802.11ad standard (WiGig). In conjunction with the acquisition, Qualcomm said it is releasing a new set of tri-band platforms which combine Qualcomm Atheros Wi-Fi and WiGig solutions, and are bas

San Diego 147
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Ocean Aero Gets Investment From Teledyne For Ocean Robots

socalTECH

'San Diego-based Ocean Aero , a developer of unmanned, autonomous marine vehicles, has scored funding from Thousand Oaks-based Teledyne , the companies said this morning. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. According to Teledyne, the investment also included a strategic partnership deal. Ocean Aero is designing the Submaran, an autonomous vehicle which can operate both on the surface and below the surface of the ocean.

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MiTu Bolsters Exec Team

socalTECH

'Culver City-based MiTu , the Latino media brand and multi-channel network (MCN) which recently scored $10M from such investors as upfront Ventures, The Chernin Group, Allen DeBevoise, and Advancit Capital, has hired a trio of executives to bolster its team. The company said that it has named Daniel Batista, as VP, Head of Strategic Partnerships & Business Development; Cesar Martinez as VP, Sales & Branded Entertainment; and Jeff Mayo as SVP, Business & Revenue Operations.

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Ambrx Withdraws IPO

socalTECH

'La Jolla-based biotechnology developer Ambrx has withdrawn its IPO, citing "current public market conditions" in a regulatory filing this morning. Ambrx was venture backed by Tavistock, Maverick Capital, Apposite Healthcare, Versant Ventures, 5AM Ventures, Roche, and Merck. The company had set an initial estimated IPO range of between $12.00 and $14.00 per share on June 11th, but apparently did not get the reception it desired from investors in its road show.

Pricing 147
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Qualcomm Backs MapR's Hadoop Technology

socalTECH

'San Diego-based Qualcomm Ventures , the venture capital arm of Qualcomm, has put its funding behind MapR , the company behind the big data software framework called Hadoop. MapR said today that it has raised $110M in a giant funding round, which was led by Google Capital, and also included Qualcomm Ventures. Existing investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, NEA and Redpoint Ventures, also participated.

Redpoint 147
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Spreeify Launches New Mobile, Display Ad Product

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based Spreeify , the advertising technology company led by Ruben Dua, has launched a brand new product today, offering up cloud-based mobile and display advertising. According to Spreeify, the new technology helps maximize click through, conversion, and engagement on ads. The company said its new advertising technology looks at social referrals, retargeting and other technology optimize real-time bidding.

Mobile 147
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Cytori Therapeutics Adds To Board

socalTECH

'San Diego-based biopharmaceuticals developer Cytori said Wednesday that it has named Gail K. Naughton as a new, independent director at the company. Naughton was the co-founder of Advanced Tissue Sciences, where she also served as President, Chief Operating Officer, and Director. She also was the Dean of the College of Business Administration at San Diego State University.

San Diego 138
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j2 Global Swaps CFO

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based j2 Global has swapped its CFO, saying this morning that its current CFO, Kathleen Griggs, has departed from the position for personal reasons. j2 Global has appointed R. Scott Turicchi--its current President--as CFO. Turicchi has previously served as CFO of j2 Global. j2 Global said the move does not result from any disagreement with j2 Global on any matter relating to j2 Globals operations, policies or practices.

Email 138
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Pulse Electronics Gets NYSE Warning

socalTECH

'San Diego-based Pulse Electronics reported late Tuesday that it has received a warning from the New York Stock Exchange, saying that the company is not in compliance with continued listing rules on the exchange. Pulse said that the company is below the NYSE minimum requirement for average total market capitalization over 30 consecutive trading days of greater than $50 million when its last reported shareholders'' equity is less than $50 million.

San Diego 138
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Jacobs Completes Federal Network Systems Acquisition

socalTECH

'Pasadena-based Jacobs Engineering Group announced yesterday that it has completed its acquisition of Federal Network Systems (FNS), the Ashburn, Virginia systems integrator in the communications, information technology, and data security market. Financial terms of the buy were not announced. Jacobs said it has added more than 750 employees through the acquisition, which will enhance its capability in the intelligence community market.

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Factual Partners With Adelphic On Mobile Ad Targeting

socalTECH

'Los Angeles-based data provider Factual said Tuesday that it has partnered with Adelphic , a provider of a mobile, demand-side advertising platform aimed at agencies and brands. According to Factual, Adelphic has integrated its Geopulse Audience and Geopulse Proximity products into its demand-side ad platform, to better target mobile ads based on a user''s location.

Mobile 138
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Interlink Electronics Names Two To Board

socalTECH

'Camarillo-based sensors and electronics developer Interlink Electronics has named two private equity and venture executives to its board, as part of an expansion of the group, the company said this morning. Interlink Electronics said it has added Angela Blatteis of the Gores Group, and Dr. Frank Levinson of Phoenix Venture Partners (PVP) to its board.

Incubator 138
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Communities For Cause Gets $475K For Matching Nonprofits, Businesses

socalTECH

'Huntington Beach-based Communities For Cause , a startup helping to match nonprofits to businesses, has raised $475,000 as part of an ongoing seed funding round. The company helps businesses by associating them with nonprofits, who they can contribute a percentage of sales to as part of marketing promotions. The company''s founders are gary Allhusen, Aaron Sloman, and Carlos Aguilar.

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ViaSat Links With Eutelsat On Ka-Band Satellites

socalTECH

'Carlsbad-based satellite communications company ViaSat has linked up with French satellite company Eutelsat Communications , where the two will link their high capacity, Ka-Band satellite networks, the two said today. According to the two, the agreement will allow service access on roaming on each other''s high capacity satellite networks (KA-SAT and ViaSat-1).

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Rincon Ventures Backs Keen IO

socalTECH

'Southern California technology investor Rincon Venture Partners has backed Keen IO , a company developing mobile analytics software. According to Keen IO, it has raised $11.3M in a Series A funding, which was led by Sequoia Capital. The San Francisco company also said it received investments from Pelion, Amplify Partners, and Rincon Ventures, along with Cloud Power Capital and angel Morris Wheeler.