Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

'One of the interesting things about being a VC is that you often see companies in transition. If you’re an early investor like I am that often means writing the first $2-3 million check into a business that previously had either survived on fumes or on a $500,000 angel round. I also see companies as they move from having taken $1-5 million from me to their next round where they raise $8-15 million from Series B investors and sometimes I lead at this round (we’re stage agnostic but 8

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

InfoChachkie

APRIL 7, 2014

'A version of this article previously appeared in The Wall Street Journal. Startups are an emotional rollercoaster; moments of sheer terror interlaced with bone-crushing, mind-numbing and highly addictive exhilaration. However, if unmodulated, the highs can become too high and the lows way too low. Long-hours, uncertainty and the never-ending pressure to survive can cause you and your team to overreact to wins, as well as setbacks.

Startup 262

Startup Oracle Journal Email 262

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2014

'BitAngels , the angel investment group which invests in BitCoin related startups, has launched a new, 10,000 BTC structured fund--approximately $4.1 million US dollars at press time--the first, dedicated fund for its BitCoin investments. The angel investment group, whose members include such local Los Angeles investors as Michael Terpin and Brock Pierce, said the new fund is aimed at helping to grow the Bitcoin ecosystem, and is being run with actual Bitcoin.

Invest 244

Invest Funding Press Venture Capital 244

Berkonomics

APRIL 10, 2014

'With help from JJ Richa. The next logical step in our analysis of financing tools is to analyze asset-based lending, in which you pledge or assign your short term assets, such as accounts receivable or inventory, to the lender. Often, the lender then tracks the pledged assets until money is received or inventory sold, expecting repayment from the proceeds of sale.

Report 166

Report .Net Customer Custom 166

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

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 6, 2014

'Reference calls. We all have to make them. Whether you’re considering hiring a new employee or as an investor whether you’re looking to do a background check on the founders of a company. My friend Jason Hirschhorn Tweeted about this today. Here are some pointers that I’ve learned over the years: 1. Ask for at least 5 references. As your candidate for at least 5 references.

Startup 302

Startup Technical Review Entrepreneur Report 302

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2014

'First things first – your startup needs a name! This may seem a silly and frivolous task, but it may be the most important decision you make. The name of your business has a tremendous impact on how customers and investors view you, and in today’s small world, it’s a world-wide decision. Please don’t send me any more business plans with TBD or NewCo in the title position.

Google 117

Google Custom Customer Sample 117

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 9, 2014

'A few scenarios for us to consider: You’re looking to grow the business and want to scale into new territory. You need to research the possibilities in a new landscape but your personal research has been well, a bit fruitless. Perhaps it’s time to raise a round of Venture Capital funding and want a pitch presentation a bit more composed than the dusty Keynote you put together last year for your friends and family round.

Outsource Development 105

Outsource Development Software Review Technical Review Outsource 105

Alon Schwartz

APRIL 7, 2014

'Trying to define leadership is like defining music. Trying to improve your leadership skills is like trying to write a song. There is no recipe, guidebook, or formula; it is art much more than science. You can sure learn the basics and some good fundamentals but at the end of the day, it’s about practice, learning from mistakes and learning from others.

Resource 82

Resource Mentor Ideas Writing 82

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 6, 2014

'A tidal wave of valuable data is surging from the Internet and connected devices today, and the volume is growing exponentially each year. It’s enough to drown any business which tries to fight it or ignore it, and it’s an opportunity to ride higher and faster than even the successes of Google and Facebook, for those startups that use it as their driving force.

Startup 99

Startup Social Media Entertainment Metrics 99

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2014

'There seems to a perpetual shortage of local venture capital investors in the region, despite the huge growth in startup activity here, particularly along Silicon Beach. However, that''s slowly starting to change, as investors have started to realize the opportunities in the area, and have started setting up operations here to tap into the wealth of startup talent.

Seed Funding 220

Seed Funding Santa Monica Funding Startup 220

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 10, 2014

'One of the biggest fears of a parent is to lose their child. Interestingly, not many technology advancements have been made to conveniently track children. Devices are either too expensive or just plain ridiculous (I’m looking at you, leash backpack). After analyzing the market, the founders of hereO conceptualized a GPS-enabled watch for children that’s both stylish and tracks their position, giving parents that much-needed peace of mind. hereO decided to crowdfund the creation of the

Startup 89

Startup HTML Pricing Organization 89

socalTECH

APRIL 11, 2014

'Los Angeles-based Tinder , the mobile dating app developer led by Sean Rad, is now worth over $5 billion, according to a report Friday from Bloomberg. Bloomberg said that IAC recently bought 10 percent of Tinder from venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, for $500M. Bloomberg cited "people with knowledge of the deal." IAC"s Barry Diller said that investors have been "banging through our doors" trying to buy a piece of Tinder.

Report 190

Report Snapchat Social Network Venture Capital 190

socalTECH

APRIL 9, 2014

'Add another company to the list of fast growing, enterprise software companies in Los Angeles that you might not have heard of: Liferay , a developer of open source portal software for the enterprise, is apparently approaching $100M in annual revenues, according to some recent reports. The company--which has been entirely bootstrapped--develops software used by companies to communicate with their customers and employees, providing document sharing, group communications, and much more.

Software 190

Software Los Angeles Report Customer 190

socalTECH

APRIL 7, 2014

'Who were the biggest winners in the successful IPO of Santa Monica-based Rubicon Project ? Based on Rubicon''s current price (around $19.24 per share in trading Monday), the biggest winner from the IPO last week was venture capital fund Clearstone Venture Partners , whose stake in Rubicon Project was worth around $121M today; other winners were News Corporation ($91.5M); Mayfield Fund ($79.29M); as well as Rubicon Project CEO and Founder Frank Addante, whose stake in Rubicon Project is now wort

Clearstone 190

Clearstone News Santa Monica Venture Capital 190

socalTECH

APRIL 7, 2014

'For several years, the phrase "Los Angeles Venture Capitalist" had almost become an oxymoron. Local investments funds have had issues raising their new funds, and venture investors had started to hunker down with their portfolios, waiting for some sign of a thaw in the exit environment. Now, it looks like that day has finally come, as the thaw has come to locally backed companies, with a rash of exits--many of them backed by local investors.

Los Angeles 187

Los Angeles Truecar Angel Anthem 187

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2014

'The parent company of Culver City-based hosting service Media Temple -- GoDaddy --is getting closer to an IPO, based on reports Wednesday that the company has hired on several investment bankers for its public offering. According to Bloomberg, GoDaddy has selected Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan as bankers for its IPO, which is expected sometime later this year.

Culver City 174

Culver City Media Invest Acquisition 174

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2014

'Los Angeles-based Karmacoin has rolled out a new, virtual currency, and a service to let users "tip" and reward other users using Twitter. According to the company, its new service lets anyone send other people its digital currency on Twitter, with the idea that people can pay for micro content and make micro donations using the popular social networking and communications service.

Tips 171

Tips Social Network Los Angeles Content 171

socalTECH

APRIL 9, 2014

'Apparently, Los Angeles has become the center of the world for smartphone-driven house cleaning services, as Airbnb told hosts in the city Wednesday that it has tied up with smartphone-driven cleaning services Homejoy and Handybook to clean rooms between rentals via Airbnb. Airbnb now says on the service that hosts can sign up to have their homes cleaned--thanks to either Homejoy or Handybook--as a part of services that the company offers to its hosts.

Los Angeles 170

Los Angeles Services Angel Mobile 170

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2014

'Former Maker Studios CEO and co-founder Danny Zappin--along with three other former executives of the company--have filed a lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order seeking to stop the acquisition of Maker Studios by Disney. Disney said it would pay as much as $950M, including earnout, for Maker Studios on March 24th. The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday.

Acquisition 168

Acquisition GRP Partners Hollywood Content 168

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2014

'For this afternoon''s contributed article, we''re featuring Dale Carr , the CEO of LeadBolt , who offers some tips to score a career in today''s high tech industry. LeadBolt is based in Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia. You can read more contributions like this from the local technology community at our Insights and Opinions section. With a growing reliance on mobile devices in our daily lives, more job opportunities open up as the industry grows.

Mobile 164

Mobile Tips High Tech Blogging 164

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2014

'Irvine-based Kareo , which develops cloud-based, medical office software aimed at small medical practices, said today that it has named Tom Patterson as the company''s new Chief Financial Officer. Patterson was most recently CFO of Teletrac, and also had been at Quest Software and Citrix Systems. Kareo is backed by such investors as Greenspring Associates, OpenView Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank, and just raised a bit $29.5M funding in January.

SaaS 159

SaaS Software Funding Develop 159

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2014

'Los Angeles-based Zumbox , a startup which had been looking to store and deliver information which normally would be delivered via mail in a digital form, is shutting down its services, as of next Monday, April 14th. According to a message from the company-- first posted by Infotrends --the company said the "time and cost" required to deliver on its concept of "digital postal mail" is "more than the market is prepared to invest.

Zumbox 157

Zumbox Layoffs Los Angeles Invest 157

socalTECH

APRIL 9, 2014

'Los Angeles-based T+ink , the interactive printing technology developer backed and headed by Garry Winnick, said it has launched its first, interactive print ad. The ad for the Moto X phone ran in WIRED magazine and changes color when users touch the ad. T+ink said a video of the ad also has seen more than a million views on YouTube. T+ink announced funding from Winnick last month.

Advertising 157

Advertising Los Angeles Technology Funding 157

socalTECH

APRIL 11, 2014

'Kyocera said Thursday that it is consolidating two of its North American business units into a single location in San Diego. According to Kyocera, it has consolidated the North American sales and technical operations of Kyocera SLC Technologies Corporation and Kyocera Circuit Solutions USA into the Organic Products Sales Group of its San Diego-based Kyocera America unit.

San Diego 153

San Diego Organization Sales Technology 153

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2014

'Agoura Hills-based TouchCommerce , which provides Internet and mobile chat technology and services which helps to engage customers browsing e-commerce sites, reported today that it has signed up Total Gym Fitness as a customer for its new mobile products. TouchCommerce said the win comes as it releases an updated version of its mobile chat product.

Agoura Hills 153

Agoura Hills Agoura Mobile Commerce 153

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2014

'Publicly held pharmaceuticals firm Questcor has been acquired for $5.6 billion by fellow pharmaceuticals maker Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals , the two said late Monday. Mallinckrodt will pay $30.00 in cash and 0.897 of its shares for each share of Questcor''s common stock. Questcor had sales of $799M during calendar year 2013. The companies did not say how the acquisition will affect Questcor''s employment base in Orange County.

Orange County 153

Orange County Acquisition Sales Company 153

socalTECH

APRIL 7, 2014

'San Diego-based Notevault , a developer of mobile apps aimed at helping people in the engineering and construction industry tie photos and voice notes to projects, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding. The funding came from San Diego investor West Partners. NoteVault, which is led by Peter Lasensky, develops software which is used to generate commercial construction reports, using mobile phones and voice transcription to annotate projects, document engineering and construction, and more.

Mobile 153

Mobile Funding San Diego Report 153

socalTECH

APRIL 7, 2014

'Los Angeles-based content delivery network operator MaxCDN said this morning that it has integrated its platform with a website firewall provider, Sucuri. Financial details of the link were not announced. Sucuri develops the CloudProxy Website Firewall, which is designed to provide firewall and intrusion detection for websites, in addition to protectin gfrom distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

Web 149

Web Content Los Angeles Networking 149

socalTECH

APRIL 7, 2014

'San Diego-based solar power lease provider OneRoof Energy said this morning that it has expanded into the Northeast, and has started offering residential solar leases in Massachusetts. OneRoof Energy said it is opening up new offices in Newton, close to downtown Boston, as part of the expansion. OneRoof Energy provides financing for the installation of solar panels on residences, working with local solar installers.

San Diego 149

San Diego Startup Marketing Company 149

socalTECH

APRIL 11, 2014

'Irvine-based SecureAuth , which provides two-factor authentication software, hsa named Darin Pendergraft as its new Vice President of Marketing, the company said this week. Pendergraft was most recently at Oracle, and had also served at Quest Software (which is now part of Dell). According to the company, he was most recently driving marketing strategy for Oracle''s Identity management products.

Oracle 147

Oracle Marketing Software Product 147

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2014

'Sonos , the maker of the whole home audio streaming systems, has connected up its systems with Google Play Music , the music service run by Google, the companies announced this morning. According to Sonos, it now lets users directly stream to Sonos from within the Google Play Music app on their Android device, or directly from the Sonos app. Google Play is Google''s online music service, which lets users store up to 20,000 songs in the cloud and stream those songs to their PC, Android tablet or

Google 147

Google Santa Barbara Services Company 147

socalTECH

APRIL 10, 2014

'Los Angeles-based private equity investor Gores Group said Thursday that it has invested in Tweddle , a major provider of publishing and technology for the automotive OEM and supplier market. Financial details of the investment were not disclosed. Tweddle provides owner''s anse service manuals to OEMs using its technology. Tweddle is based in Clinton Township, Michigan.

Invest 147

Invest Equity Venture Capital Commerce 147

socalTECH

APRIL 9, 2014

'San Diego-based a href="[link] , the developer of camera-based, driver safety and monitoring systems, said Wednesday that it received five patents in 2013, and filed applications for an additional, 18 patents on its technology. According to the company, the new patents and applications brings it to a total of 20 issued patents, and 32 patents pending.

Patents 147

Patents San Diego Technology Develop 147

socalTECH

APRIL 9, 2014

'San Diego-based biopharmaceuticals developer Zogenix is facing an unusual problem in getting its products to market: the state of Massachusetts has banned the company''s lead product, Zohydro ER, from sale in the state, even before they have been released. Zogenix has developed an extended release version of the painkiller hydrocodone, aimed at treating severe pain.

San Diego 147

San Diego Sales Product Marketing 147

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2014

'Aliso Viejo-based Sequent Medical , which is developing medical devices for treating aneurysms, said Tuesday that it has raised $20M in a Series D funding. The funding was led by Delphi Ventures, and also included Domain Associates, US Venture Partners, and Versant Ventures. Sequent said the funds will go towards its US clinical studies and to broaden its product portfolio.

Venture Capital 147

Venture Capital Study Funding Capital 147

socalTECH

APRIL 8, 2014

'Irvine-based cloud storage provider Zadara Storage said today that it has expanded its service in Australia, after the deployment of its product by partner SerenITaaS. According to Zadara, the company''s solution is being deployed in Amazon''s AWS Asia Pacific (Sydney) region, and becomes the tenth global data center running its service. Zadara''s cloud storage service and software uses commodity cloud storage for supply9ing enterprise storage.

Services 147

Services Software Product Company 147