socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

Are users willing to check into local businesses with another, mobile check-in product? That's what Los Angeles-based MergeLocal (www.mergelocal.com) is looking to find out, by offering up points which can be converted to real cash, when users check into local businesses. We caught up with co-founder Michael Wong , who told us about how the company is looking to change the model for local check-ins, and also help businesses with getting the word out about their services.

CTO Coach 223

CTO Coach Startup Mobile Artificial Inteligence 223

InfoChachkie

MAY 29, 2012

Because Your Big Break May Start As A Little One. This article originally appeared on Forbes HERE. Ever heard of the band “Five Cool What?” No? I am not surprised. When opportunity knocked, rather than busting open the door, they first asked, “What do you want?”. In 1987 the band was discovered by Ron Fair, a rising executive at Chrysalis Records. Ron brought the band into Chrysalis’ headquarters and introduced them to his staff.

Startup 222

Startup Outsource Development RSS Entrepreneur 222

Berkonomics

MAY 31, 2012

Even the smallest business can now reach throughout the globe to find resources for design, development, support and consultation. There are people and companies everywhere willing to work by the hour, providing great skill sets as needed, able to be shed when the job is complete. Some of the best companies I have become involved with are composed of a few critical people who have relationships with a number of service suppliers around the world to add to the team as needed.

Organization 159

Organization Resource Design Services 159

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 1, 2012

Wednesday, June 6, 2012 -- Application Developer Privacy Summit + Happy Hour. Enjoy free food, drinks and discussion with SoCal developers and top privacy experts June 5 and 6 in LA, Fountain City and San Diego. Why? Policymakers in the State Capitol and on Capitol Hill are deciding how to protect  and whos responsible for  user and consumer privacy, and developers are squarely in the crosshairs.

Develop 113

Develop Development SoCal Southern California 113

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

socalTECH

MAY 30, 2012

If you're a startup business owner, how do you get to the next step, and build your first product? One way is getting funding from your potential customers. That's the idea behind a new startup, Fundable , headed by serial entrepreneur Wil Schroter , which allows you to use rewards -- product, company schwag, an even equity -- as a tool to get your startup to the next stage.

Startup 223

Startup Equity Venture Capital Ideas 223

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2012

The space for startups is more crowded than ever. First of all, it’s now international, so you have startups from every country in the world competing for your customer’s attention and their business. Then there is the Internet, delivered through every media, including your smart phone, where the volume of data spewing out is like a new Library of Congress every 15 minutes.

Startup 104

Startup Social Media Platform Blogging 104

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 1, 2012

Tuesday, June 5, 2012 -- Application Developer Privacy Summit + Happy Hour. Enjoy free food, drinks and discussion with SoCal developers and top privacy experts June 5 and 6 in LA, Fountain City and San Diego. Why? Policymakers in the State Capitol and on Capitol Hill are deciding how to protect  and whos responsible for  user and consumer privacy, and developers are squarely in the crosshairs.

Develop 113

Develop Development SoCal Southern California 113

socalTECH

MAY 30, 2012

Los Angeles-based StartEngine , the venture accelerator run by former Activision founder Howard Marks, has aligned with recruiting firm Neohire , Neohire has announced. According to Neohire, it is in an exclusive partnership with StartEngine to provide portfolio companies with unlimited access to its database of resumes and candidates. Neohire also said it iwll be advising StartEngine's startups on hiring key personnel.

Activision 196

Activision Los Angeles Startup Angel 196

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2012

Some investors seem to focus wholly on the strengths of your management team, or your sustainable competitive advantage, and in reality these are the core attributes for every funding equation. While these may be necessary for funding, they may not be sufficient to make your startup the great success embodied in your vision. I have always struggled to communicate the multiple other relevant priorities, and the other intangibles required for a great execution.

Startup 99

Startup Education Customer Sales 99

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 29, 2012

For generations the garage sale has been an american summer time tradition. In college they could be a gold mine for finding that once piece of furniture you needed, yet knew would be destroyed. With the growth of the e-commerce generation, we’ve begun to see a shift towards selling more online. It allows us to sell items easier and reach a larger market than ever before.

Commerce 80

Commerce Sales Marketing Mobile 80

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 1, 2012

Thursday, June 7, 2012 -- Vator Splash LA. Splash is a single-track evening event and startup competition. Splash gathers leading entrepreneurs, innovators, venture capitalists and angel investors across technology to inspire and energize the audience about entrepreneurship and innovation. Splash brings together high-caliber speakers who talk about how to build and scale great successful companies, how their industries are changing and the opportunities those changes are creating.

Incubator 113

Incubator Google Competition Invest 113

socalTECH

MAY 30, 2012

In another, big step this week for Southern California's startup space vehicle industry, Virgin Galactic , the Sir Richard Branson-backed effort to commercialize sub-orbital flight vehicles for space tourism, said Wednesday that it has been granted an experimental launch permit from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Virgin Galactic said that Mojave-based Scaled Composites was granted the permit from the FAA to launch its suborbital spacecraft, SpaceshiptTwo, from its custom WhiteKnightT

Southern California 190

Southern California SpaceX Hawthorne Competition 190

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 26, 2012

Startups and entrepreneurs are drowning in the information overload, where the volume of data created is like a new Library of Congress every 15 minutes. That creates a huge gap between data and meaning, and makes quick decisions and action ever more difficult. We all need to take a little more time to think. On the other end of the spectrum, some people “over-think” things to the point of inaction.

Summary 96

Summary Organization Entrepreneur Startup 96

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 29, 2012

Reinventing mobile search is exactly was Everything.me has done. Serial entrepreneurs Ami Ben-David , Rami Kasterstein and Joe Simon are the co-founders of Everything.me, a startup based in San Francisco and Israel. It’s a new HTML5 browser-based app that empowers users by putting everything they need at their fingertips. Delivering a very visual, and recognizable experience with background images and easy to spot icons when doing a search.

Screening 69

Screening Tool Mobile Entrepreneur 69

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 1, 2012

Thursday, June 7, 2012 -- June Firsty. Gloom and ZOOM! Here's our cure for June Gloom: Take members from two of OC's leading business organizations, pair them with great wines and stimulating conversation, and watch ideas take flight. It's the June Firsty, called Gloom and ZOOM! Presented by OCTANe and the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Orange County Chapter.

Orange County 113

Orange County ACG OCTANE Organization 113

socalTECH

MAY 29, 2012

Looking to help users get more out of their business connections in LinkedIn, a new Los Angeles startup, Here On Biz has launched a new app on the Apple App store. The startup--founded by Allen Hartwig and Nick Smoot--said it is looking to help business professionals start online conversations with people around them, by linking location awareness with LinkedIn.

Mobile 190

Mobile Los Angeles Ideas Startup 190

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 29, 2012

For survival, the objective of every business should be to bring in revenues which exceed their costs. Even non-profits have to do this to cover overhead costs, unless they rely totally on donations. Yet I continue to see business plans, or even talk to founders, and can’t find the specifics of the business model anywhere. As Guy Kawasaki says in his book “ The Art of the Start ,” if you can’t describe your business model in ten words or less, you don’t have a business model.

Startup 95

Startup Custom Customer Summary 95

socalTECH

MAY 30, 2012

Los Angeles-based BeachMint , the celebrity-meets-ecommerce startup which already has a impressive lineup of celebrity-linked ecommerce sites, is launching a new site--this time, with celebrity Brooke Burke-Charvet. The firm is getting set to launch site intiMINT , which InStyle reported Wednesday will feature a line of lingerie from Burke, including a "mix of comfy and cute bras, bottoms, loungewear, and sleepwear".

Sites 180

Sites Los Angeles Report Startup 180

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

San Diego-based Givit , the video management and sharing service run by Greg Kostello, said this week that it has released on Windows 8 Release Preview via the Windows Store. According to Givit, its app allows users to record, upload, store, share and view video via the new Windows operating system. Windows 8 Release Preview was released to users for download yesterday.

San Diego 159

San Diego Services 159

socalTECH

MAY 29, 2012

In our Insights and Opinions section, we feature opinions, advice, and more from notable people in the local technology industry. Today, we have a piece from Frank Addante , serial entrepreneur and the CEO and founder of Rubicon Project , the Los Angeles advertising technology developer. In today's digital age, it's hard to focus. But the Not-Right-Now list can help you get things done.

Email 157

Email Advertising Los Angeles Entrepreneur 157

socalTECH

MAY 31, 2012

The SpaceX Dragon, the spacecraft built and launched by commercial space firm SpaceX , has succesfully returned to earth, splashing down at 8:42 a.m. PT this morning off the coast of Baja, California. The spacecraft--the first commercial vehicle to ever launch into orbit and dock with the International Space Station (ISS)--is returning experiments, hardware, and other materials from the ISS as part of one of the first missions expected to iron out the use of SpaceX's rockets and spacecraft for r

SpaceX 154

SpaceX Develop Development 154

socalTECH

MAY 30, 2012

San Diego-based MeLLmo , the developer of the Roambi mobile software to create enterprise business intelligence reports, is unveiling a new feature today to allow users to create and publish their own visualizations to the Apple iOS App store. The new feature, called Roambi ESX, will allow companies to publish interactive charts and graphs directly to the iPad.

Tool 154

Tool San Diego Report Research 154

socalTECH

MAY 30, 2012

Pasadena-based Punchcard , the Idealab startup working on mobile loyalty applications, reported this morning that it is in a joint partnership with KDA Group , a local marketing agency, and mobile-local ad network xAd. According to the company, the three will offer up businesses with "comprehensive consumer acquisition strategies" for acquiring new customers.

Networking 154

Networking Marketing Idealab Pasadena 154

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

Pasadena-based LeisureLink , the venture-backed provider of a vacation rental marketing system and operator of online booking travel site ABetterStay.com , has made a trio of new hires this week. The company said it has named Tom Lamb as President of the firm, Alex Hansen as CFO, and Adam Michaelson as Chief Marketing Officer. Lamb was previously at American Discovery, and also was co-founder and COO of local startup Done Right!

Clearstone 150

Clearstone Internet Brands Mission Ventures Pasadena 150

socalTECH

MAY 31, 2012

Venice-based Grubwithus , which operates a service which helps connect people in real life with others over meals and food, said this week that it has raised $5M in a Series A funding round. The round was led by GRP Partners, and also included Michel Daher, a Lebanese entrepreneur. The firm said that Mark Suster of GRP Partners will join the company's board along with the funding.

GRP Partners 150

GRP Partners Seed Funding Venice Funding 150

socalTECH

MAY 31, 2012

Los Angeles-based BUZZMEDIA , the venture backed entertainment and digital media publishing firm behind such sites as Celebuzz, Sterogum, and Buzznet, has acquired electronic music blog site XLR8R , the firm said today. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. BUZZMEDIA, which is headed by Tyler Goldman, said the move goes toward accelerating the firm's growth.

Blogging 150

Blogging Buzznet Entertainment Sites 150

socalTECH

MAY 30, 2012

Santa Monica-based ParkMe , the mobile apps startup founded by Sam Friedman and Alex Israel, has launched its coverage of parking in Austin, Texas, the company said Wednesday morning. The firm said its free, iPhone app allows users in Austin to now find real-time availability of garage and street parking. The company said Austin is the first market where it's launching its real-time application.

Santa Monica 150

Santa Monica Pricing Mobile Funding 150

socalTECH

MAY 29, 2012

Hawthorne-based SpaceX , the developer of commercial space rockets and space vehicles, has signed on its first commercial contract for its Falcon Heavy, with Intelsat , the satellite communications firm, the two said this morning. SpaceX--which is riding high from its successful launch and docking with the International Space Station last week--will provide its Falcon Heavy for unspecified future business with Intelsat.

SpaceX 150

SpaceX Outsource Development Metrics Hawthorne 150

socalTECH

MAY 31, 2012

Apple's popular iPhone has just jumped into the pre-paid wireless market, after San Diego-based Cricket Communications said that it will offer up the popular smartphone to its customers, starting at $55 per month for unlimited talk, text, and data. Cricket is the first, pre-paid carrier in the U.S. offering up the popular device. Cricket said it will offer both the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 via its prepaid plans, and will be available in Cricket's company owned stores and select dealers.

San Diego 147

San Diego Startup Custom Customer 147

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

Westlake Village-based Row 44 , the provider of in-flight WiFi and entertainment systems, reported yesterday that it has been selected by Icelandair , to provide its services on Icelandair's fleet. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. Row 44 said it will begin equipping Icelandair's fleet with its high speed WiFi starting this year. Row 44 said the win came due to its ability to operate over both land and water, which was particularly important for Icelandair's transatlantic routes.

Westlake Village 145

Westlake Village Entertainment Report Services 145

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

Los Angeles-based Gobbler , the online, cloud-based backup and collaboration startup headed by Chris Kantrowitz, said this week that it has tied together its platform with online storage provider Box. The company said that they will link Box's content sharing tools with Gobbler's infrastructure, to specifically address the needs of media creators. Gobbler's software is aimed at media creators, letting them store, collaborate, and share their projects via cloud-based storage.

Media 145

Media Venture Capital Los Angeles Tool 145

socalTECH

MAY 31, 2012

Earthlink founder and Southern California entrepreneur Sky Dayton is leading an angel investment in a new startup out of Stanford, which is developing a service which allows developers to track changes and extract information out of web pages. Palo Alto-based Diffbot has raised $2M in an angel funding round, which included Sky Dayton, Andy Bechtolscheim (Sun Microsystems), Joi Ito, Maynard Webb (eBay), and several others.

Southern California 145

Southern California Web Advertising Activity 145

socalTECH

MAY 30, 2012

Irvine-based Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies , the developer of vehicle propulsion systems and other alternative fuel vehicle technology, reported today that it has delivered a pilot version of a Ford F-150, featuring a plug-in-hybrid electric (PHEV) drive system. The company said the vehicle was delivered to Florida Power & Light Company, in a collaboration with lithium-ion battery system supplier Dow Kokam.

Report 145

Report Sales Technology Develop 145

socalTECH

MAY 31, 2012

Los Angeles-based RealD , which provides 3D movie projection technology, reported Thursday that it has scored another deal with a Chinese theater chain. RealD said that HNA Group will install RealD's 3D technology on up to 500 cinema screens across a newly formed cinema circuit, HNA Vigor Film Investment. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Screening 140

Screening Los Angeles Report Invest 140

socalTECH

MAY 31, 2012

Thousand Oaks-based Teledyne Technologies , the diversified provider of instrumentation, software, electronics, and other products for the aerospace, defense, and other markets, is continuing its acquisition strategy this morning, saying that it has acquired BlueView Technologies , a developer of high resolution acoustic imaging and measurement products.

Thousand Oaks 140

Thousand Oaks Technology Acquisition Software 140

socalTECH

MAY 30, 2012

A firm owned by Los Angeles private equity firm Platinum Equity , desktop publishing tools maker Quark , has acquired a UK-based firm developing cloud-based, tablet and mobile publishing software. Quark, which was acquired by Platinum Equity in August of 2011, said it has acquired Mobile IQ , the maker of the Pressrun cloud based, mobile publishing tool.

Equity 140

Equity Mobile Tool Acquisition 140