TechEmpower
MAY 17, 2013
'We have posted Round 5 of our ongoing project measuring the performance of web application frameworks and platforms. In this round, we''re very happy to announce that a community member has contributed tests for ASP.NET running on native Windows. We''ve included Windows on EC2 results as a separate set of data within the results view but caution that the results should be considered preliminary.
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 15, 2013
'No. The one word the best entrepreneurs never accept. I said it. Now let me walk you through a broader story because avoidance of the word in and of itself will seem cliche. Stay with me. When I was little I had a role model for entrepreneurship – my mom. She was a natural leader. She was president of the UJA in Sacramento. From this I saw civic involvement and leadership first hand.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
InfoChachkie
MAY 13, 2013
'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. With no industry connections or family ties, talent agent John Ferriter applied basic entrepreneurial principles to reach the pinnacle of Hollywood''s elite. You can watch John describe his surprising Hollywood journey in the following 20-minute excerpt from his recent talk at UC Santa Barbara.
Berkonomics
MAY 16, 2013
'Surely you’ve heard the buggy whip analogy. A business making those necessary items ignored the signs of progress and found itself without a market. Perhaps that happened to sword smiths upon the invention of the rifle, and certainly to the makers of cassette tapes upon the dawn of the CD. fast payday loans for every one. I found myself in the middle of such a slow-rolling change twice in my career.
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.
socalTECH
MAY 14, 2013
'You often hear the advice: do one thing, and do it well. That one thing, in the case of Los Angeles-based FamousBirthdays.com , is creating an online resource all about--you guessed it--famous birthdays. We caught up with founder Evan Britton about how his company has created the top site in the Internet niche of celebrity birthdays, and how that intense focus on a single niche--and user experience- has paid off for the company in terms of user engagement and growth.
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 13, 2013
'For the past 5 years or so Google, Facebook and a handful of tech industry giants have been quietly buying scores of early-stage startups for their talent. And to keep up with the Jones’s it seems that Yahoo! has now employed the same strategy. And who cares, right? A couple of tech giants throw millions around in either cash (for which they have hoards) or part with some publicly traded stock.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 13, 2013
'The universal challenge of every startup founder is to get everything done that needs to get done, and still have a life. Even outside of business, everyone wants to accomplish more, while working less. I’ve been a student of these techniques for some time, but some time ago I saw a great summary that seems to pull all the key principles together. Stever Robbins, known on the Internet as the Get-It-Done Guy, outlines his strategies in his book “ 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More.
socalTECH
MAY 13, 2013
'Los Angeles-based Greentoe.com , which operates an online marketplace which lets people name their own price for electronics and other items, has raised a round of angel funding, the firm said today. The funding came from Parker Thompson from 500 Startups/Dave McClure. Size of the funding was not announced. According to Greentoe, it will use the funding for marketing of the site, including a multi-platform advertising campaign across the web, television, and mobile.
Tech Zulu Event
MAY 13, 2013
'Once you have a VC on the hook, you’ll want to negotiate the best deal in terms of valuation and deal terms (for more details about negotiating the best terms, check out my previous post: 9 Ways to Negotiate Your Best VC Terms ). Once you’ve reached an agreement, you’re done…or not! Far from the end, receiving funding is actually just the beginning of a whole new stage for you and for your company —a stage full of financial statements, board meetings with VCs and more.
Steve Reich
MAY 12, 2013
'I’ve recently joined Malauzai Software, a developer of Mobile Banking Apps for Community Banks and Credit Unions, as their Chief Sales Officer. Even though I’ve been involved with SaaS products since 1998, the last few months have been quite the education. Delivering apps to a wide variety of financial institutions is dramatically more challenging than I expected, and my experiences illustrate many of the issues you can expect if you build a B2B app company.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 17, 2013
'Being a risk taker in business is not the same as being reckless. Nevertheless, the word “risk” has a negative connotation to most of us, implying danger and possible loss. For true entrepreneurs, risk is viewed as a positive, with its implied challenge to overcome the unknown and hitting the big return. In fact, risk is an integral part of life, as well as every business, yet so few people learn to manage it properly, or even want to think about it.
socalTECH
MAY 17, 2013
'In some what-did-our-spam filter eat-recently funding news, Santa Monica-based Privlo recently raised $2.1M in a seed funding round, for its online marketplace for private mortgage loans. Privlo, which was founded by Michael Slavin, said the new funding came from QED Ventures. According to Privlo said the new funding will go to expand on its recently pilot of its platform, which helps match up private lenders and mortgage borrowers.
Tech Zulu Event
MAY 13, 2013
'In the mid 80s and early 90s, the tech world was all about video games. Nintendo started a revival of the video game industry and every child and adult were equally having a great time playing games at the arcades and at home. The Original NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis provided homes with endless fun and entertainment, but those consoles are long gone and only a handful of people still hold on to such old relics.
socalTECH
MAY 13, 2013
'Can your software skills help make your local community a better place? Could doing some coding over a weekend help improve your local government? A local group, Hack4LA , thinks so, and has launched a "civic hackathon" where over $10,000 in prizes will be awarded to help use open data to address local or national challenges, aimed at helping out local communities and cities.
socalTECH
MAY 14, 2013
'What, exactly, is your brain doing--and why is that important to your productivity and focus? And, how can pulling brainwave data to your smartphone help you focus? A new, Los Angeles startup, Melon , has launched a Kickstarter campaign this morning to build a device to monitor your brainwave activity, and pull that data into your smartphone. The startup--one of the latest companies to emerge out of LA accelerator LaunchpadLA --said it wants to help users to understand their mental focus by gat
socalTECH
MAY 14, 2013
'Need some help finding and booking someone to take care of your dog when you''re away? Santa Monica-based DogVacay , the online, peer-to-peer dog boarding marketplace, is hoping to make it much easier to use its service, through the launch of a new "conciege" service today. DogVacay said it will use live operators to walk "pet parents" through the process of booking someone to board your pet.
socalTECH
MAY 13, 2013
'Los Angeles-based Fans.lu , a developer of an e-commerce storefront to help game companies sell merchandise such as shirts, hats, posters, and more directly to their gamer fans, said over the weekend that it has partnered with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). According to the two, current and future members of the IGDA will receive a discount on the initial store setup fee for Fans.lu.
socalTECH
MAY 15, 2013
'In the second piece of aerial drone news to come out of Southern California today, Santa Monica-based software developer DreamHammer said it has launched a beta of its drone control software, aimed at controlling unmanned drones and robotics from multiple, different manufacturers in a single system. The company said its Ballista intelligent control platform has been providing its software to the defense, intelligence, and homeland security market.
socalTECH
MAY 16, 2013
'Culver City-based Sony Pictures Entertainment has won the exclusive worldwide distribution rights to the new, Angry Bird film from Rovio, Sony announced Wednesday. According to Sony, the 3D film is due to debut worldwide on July 1, 2016. Financial details of the win were not announced. Sony said that it won over the bids of several major studios, who were seeking global film rights to the animated movie.
socalTECH
MAY 14, 2013
'Los Angeles-based content delivery network provider NetDNA is powering a web performance optimization service for WordPress blog owners this morning. NetDNA said that W3 Total Cache , which develops a plug-in for the popular WordPress web publishing software, is using its MaxCDN services to help its customers with optimizing WordPress sites. Financial impact of the deal were not disclosed.
socalTECH
MAY 14, 2013
'Only hours after the launch of its crowdfunding effort on Kickstarter, Los Angeles-based Melon is making progress towards the halfway mark on its crowdfunding goal of $100,000. According to the company''s Kickstarter page, the firm was past $38,000 in terms of its goal since launch this morning. The startup--out of current Launchpad LA class, is developing an brainwave-reading headband which ties to your smartphone via a Bluetooth link, allowing users to monitor their brain patterns.
socalTECH
MAY 14, 2013
'It''s the 37th anniversary of the videogame Atari Breakout , and the game has gotten its own tribute on Google. Google launched an online game-- Atari Breakout --today, letting users play a version of the famous videogame created by Los Angeles resident Nolan Bushnell. Users searching for "atari breakout" on Google Image Search are presented with a working, real version of the videogame, played with image blocks made up of Atari Breakout photos.
socalTECH
MAY 15, 2013
'Online dating and matchmaking asite eHarmony is looking to update the company''s image, and has gotten a makeover--looking to prove that it''s still in the dating game. The Santa Monica-based company said that it has launched a next generation site, which it had codenamed "Malibu", to drive new growth and new members for the service. The new design comes as many in the industry have pointed to a new, competitive era, due to the rise of mobile platforms, tablets, and a move away from the traditi
socalTECH
MAY 16, 2013
'It''s not infrequently that we''re pitched by a startup saying they are the ''eHarmony for X'', referring to the Santa Monica-based online dating and relationship site''s reputation. However, is the next ''eHarmony for Jobs'' actually eHarmony itself? A report today says that the online dating site plans to launch its own, career service by the second half of the year.
socalTECH
MAY 15, 2013
'Looking to build your own unmanned aerial vehicle? A new, Newport Beach-based startup, Airware , has raised $10.7M to develop all of the infrastructure for buildling your own, commercial drone, from Andreessen Horowitz and Google Ventures. According to the company, its Series A financing will go towards expanding its team, meeting customer demand, and scaling for growth.
socalTECH
MAY 15, 2013
'Green Dot , the provider of prepaid debit cards and other financial products, is looking to launch its big move into the mobile banking market on July 4th, the company said Tuesday afternoon. According to Green Dot, it plans to launch its service, GoBank, on Independence Day on iPhone, Android, and online--and also will be making a big, national push to market the service.
socalTECH
MAY 17, 2013
'Santa Monica-based startup VIRURL said Thursday that it has launched its technology, which automatically publishes sponsored content into blogs. According to the firm, its product allows bloggers to insert sponsored posts that match a blogger''s audience on a cost-per-click basis. The firm was founded by Merrill Brown (formerly of MSNBC.com) and Francisco Diaz-Mitoma, Jr.
socalTECH
MAY 15, 2013
'Peter Csathy , the CEO of San Diego''s Sorenson Media , and digital media veteran, has departed the company, and will head up a new legal and investment group formed by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. According to Manatt, Csathy will head up a new effort called Manatt Digital Media Ventures , which will both make new digital media investments in companies, as well as provide professional services to the high tech industry.
socalTECH
MAY 15, 2013
'Online live entertainment ticket marketplace ScoreBig.com has signed on a big new partner this morning, United MileagePlus. Los Angeles-based ScoreBig.com, which is headed by ticketing industry vet Adam Kanner, said that it is the exclusive marketing partner for live-event ticketing for MileagePlus. The deal allows MilagePlus members to earn miles on tickets they buy, and also allows users to trade in their miles to purchase tickets to live events on ScoreBig.com''s marketplace.
socalTECH
MAY 17, 2013
'Los Angeles venture investor Siemer Ventures is one of the investors in a new seed funding round for medical answering service Ringadoc , which announced $700,000 in a seed funding today. The funding included Siemer Ventures, Telegraph Hill Group, as well as angels. The firm has previously raised funding from FF Angel, Ryan Howard of Practice Fusion, Sharon Knight of One Medical Group, and others.
socalTECH
MAY 13, 2013
'Netflix and the Walt Disney Company announced this morning that the two have reached a deal to bring live action and animated films from Disney to Netflix customers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. According to the two, Disney films such as Ratatouille, Wall-E, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, plus classics like Dumbo and the Aristocats will be available to watch instantly.
socalTECH
MAY 17, 2013
'The latest company considering a bid for Los Angeles-based video streaming site Hulu is El Segundo-based DirecTV , according to reports Friday afternoon. A report from Reuters says DirecTV is just one of a number of companies considering a bid for Hulu. The report cited a "source familiar with the situation." READ MORE>>.
socalTECH
MAY 17, 2013
'Santa Monica-based healthcare messaging provider TigerText has linked up with a provider of mobile security, AirWatch , the firms said this week. According to the companies, the move will allow healthcare customers to secure both their mobile platforms and their text and email communications. Financial arrangements between the companies were not announced.
socalTECH
MAY 16, 2013
'Can a hardware device and your smartphone make it easier for you to optimize your productivity, and improve your concentration? A new, Los Angeles startup, Melon , thinks so, and just booted up an effort this week to raise funding for its brainwave-monitoring headband and smartphone app. We caught up with founders Arye Barnehama and Laura Michelle Berman earlier this week to hear more about what Melon is hoping to do with its brain-reading headband.
socalTECH
MAY 15, 2013
'Los Angeles-based Kite Pharma , a biotechnology company developing immunotherapies for cancer, said today that it has raised $35M in its Series A funding round. The firm said that the funding came from Alta Partners, David Bonderman, Pontifax Ltd., Commercial Street Capital, and Michael Milken, along with its founder, Arie Belldegrun. Kite Pharma said the round included $20M in new funding plus conversion of $15M in outstanding promissory notes.
socalTECH
MAY 17, 2013
'What''s the latest batch of videos coming out of Silicon Beach''s startups? Here are some of the highlights from this week from socalTECH''s video section , where we''re currently featuring community videos from and about local startups: What is Privlo''s private mortgage marketplace about? Privlo video explains how the company is launching its own private mortgage marketplace.
Expert insights. Personalized for you.
524 
Let's personalize your content