Sat.Feb 12, 2011 - Fri.Feb 18, 2011

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8 Questions to Help Decide if You Should be Raising Money Now

Both Sides of the Table

A year ago I blogged about one of my most common mantras that applies to sales, biz dev & fund raising alike: “ Time is the Enemy of all Deals.&#. When times are really good for fund raising many teams delay to maximize their valuation. Sometimes this pays off, other times it doesn’t. So how should you decide what to do? I thought I’d try to offer a framework for thinking about the topic.

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ReachLocal's Zorik Gordon On Daily Deals

socalTECH

Earlier this week, Woodland Hills-based ReachLocal (www.reachlocal.com), which helps small and medium sized businesses place online ads, announced a deal to buy daily deals site DealOn.com. The buy puts ReachLocal squarely into the fast growing area of daily deals, but also potentially into competition with such companies as Groupon and LivingSocial.

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Five Ways To Maximize The Value Of Your Startup Experiences

InfoChachkie

In Why Most Business Books (Still) Suck , I discuss why entrepreneurship is best learned experientially. If experiences are the best tools to foster entrepreneurial edification, a natural corollary question is, “How can you get the most out of your startup experiences?”. If you haven’t already subscribed yet, subscribe now for. free weekly Infochachkie articles!

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Poor Software Developers - Pull the Plug Early

SoCal CTO

There's an old adage in software development that I refer to all the time: The first 90% of development takes 90% of the time. The remaining 10%, takes the other 90% of the time. I used this when I taught software engineering. And I use it all the time now when I get the kind of message that I received: I'm looking for a web developer to continue work on my website.

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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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When cash is tight – slow its flight!

Berkonomics

We have discussed why never to run out of cash. This insight delves into how never to run out of cash. There are four basic ways to increase the cash position of a company: inject cash through borrowing or investment, decrease spending or payments on debt, increase efficiency of operations, and increase revenues or advance payments from customers.

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Interview with Mike Napoli, Tech Coast Angels

socalTECH

Since the Tech Coast Angels (www.techcoastangels.com), the largest angel investment group in Southern California, is holding one of its several Fast Pitch competitions next week in Los Angeles (www.pitchtheangels.com), we thought it might be a good time to catch up with Mike Napoli , incoming President of the Tech Coast Angels, to hear the his thoughts on the angel investing environment in Southern California from the angels' perspective.

More Trending

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Startup Weekend Los Angeles

SoCal Tech Calendar

Sunday, February 20, 2011 -- Startup Weekend Los Angeles. Startup Weekend is a weekend event in cities around the world. A highly motivated group of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more meet and in a short 54 hour event work on building projects out. It is very much like an unconference, where the attendees show decide the outcome of the experience.

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Find an Angel Investor, Without Going Through Hell

Startup Professionals Musings

If your startup is looking for an angel investor, it makes sense to present your plan to flocks of angels, and assume that at least one will swoop down and scoop you up. Or does it? Actually numbers and locations are just the beginning. The challenge is to find the right angel for your, and for your situation. Here are some basic principles: Angels invest in people, more often than they invest in ideas.

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ReachLocal Buys Daily Deals Firm DealOn.com

socalTECH

Woodland Hills-based ReachLocal said Tuesday afternoon that it is acquiring New York-based DealOn.com , a provider of daily deals. ReachLocal said it would pay approximately $10M for DealOn Media LLC, which offers up local deals businesses in 18 markets across the U.S., a white labeled and co-branded deals platform, and an online exchange for trading deals with other deal sites.

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Digital LA – Hosts Go Digital: Specialties Panel Live

Tech Zulu Event

Join Digital LA and TechZulu on Feb. 15 as we bring you a live panel discussion on Hosts Go Digital: Specialties! The expert host panelists will discuss how hosts can use digital to specialize in areas such as entertainment, fashion, health, news, etc. Visit TechZulu for full story.

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Hackathon SD

SoCal Tech Calendar

Saturday, February 19, 2011 -- Hackathon SD. Hackathon SD will bring together creative software developers, web developers and designers from across Southern California to work collaboratively on projects of their choosing in a 23-hour marathon of creativity and cooperative development.

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A Victim Mentality Will Doom an Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

People with a victim mentality should never be entrepreneurs. We all know the role of starting and running a business is unpredictable, and has a high risk of failure. For people with a victim mentality, this fear of failure alone will almost certainly make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. I’m sure you all know someone who is the perennial victim. The problem is that most of these people aren’t likely to accept your assessment, so it’s hard to help them.

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Twitter Takes Aim At UberMedia, Shuts Access To Twidroyd

socalTECH

Taking aim at Pasadena-based UberMedia , the Twitter client firm headed by Bill Gross, Twitter has shut down access to the firm's API for two of UberMedia's clients, including Twidroyd and UberTwitter. According to a statement on Twitter's blog, it shut down the access, for "violating our policies." Twitter, in announcing the shutdown, suggested that users should, instead, download the "official" applications for BlackBerry, Android, and iPhone.

Idealab 200
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Nevolution: I Am a PC App Store

Tech Zulu Event

At Twiistup 8 Matthew Smith (CEO) and the Nevolution team debuted what they dubbed the “future of software distribution”. Visit TechZulu for full story.

Twiistup 105
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Startup Weekend Los Angeles

SoCal Tech Calendar

Saturday, February 19, 2011 -- Startup Weekend Los Angeles. Startup Weekend is a weekend event in cities around the world. A highly motivated group of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more meet and in a short 54 hour event work on building projects out. It is very much like an unconference, where the attendees show decide the outcome of the experience.

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You Don’t Need to be Rich to be an Entrepreneur

Startup Professionals Musings

I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars. Even for low-tech startups, the scope of information available on the Internet, and its global reach, has had a similar financial impact on the many other challeng

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Interview with Deena Varshavskaya, Wanelo

socalTECH

Last week, we ran into Deena Varshavskaya , the founder of Los Angeles-based Wanelo (www.wanelo.com), a social shopping site focused on allowing women to share and follow others as they shop online. We talked to Deena about her startup and where she's trying to take it. What is Wanelo? Deena Varshavskaya: Wanelo--from Want-Need-Love-- is a community platform for shopping.

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Raise a glass with TechZulu & New Media Vault at Drai’s Hollywood

Tech Zulu Event

That's right. We all work hard, now it's time to play hard. TechZulu is turning three and we couldn't think of a better place to celebrate than the exclusive nightclub, Drai's Hollywood. We've partnered with New Media Vault (who subsequently will be celebrating their two year anniversary) to bring you a night of red carpet chic, rooftop cabanas, and a DJ who's flying in from New York.

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Hackathon SD

SoCal Tech Calendar

Friday, February 18, 2011 -- Hackathon SD. Hackathon SD will bring together creative software developers, web developers and designers from across Southern California to work collaboratively on projects of their choosing in a 23-hour marathon of creativity and cooperative development.

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Ten Tips to Business Risk Without Reckless Abandon

Startup Professionals Musings

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.

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ecoATM Raises $14.4M

socalTECH

San Diego-based ecoATM , a startup which develops automated kiosks for evaluating and buying back consumer electronics, announced today that it has raised $14.4M in funding in a combination of its Series A funding and venture debt. The funding came from Coinstar and Claremont Creek, along with venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank. Randy Hawks of Claremont Creek, and Gary Cohen, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Customer Experience at Redbox, join the firm's board as part of the funding.

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Foodme.com | I am Hungry and Want a Deal NOW!

Tech Zulu Event

John Delacruz and his startup Foodme.com presented a Twiistup 8 and was almost as impressive as the mini cupcakes at their booth. The startup fills a need in the market by connecting restaurants to patrons in real time. Visit TechZulu for full story.

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Startup Weekend Los Angeles

SoCal Tech Calendar

Friday, February 18, 2011 -- Startup Weekend Los Angeles. Startup Weekend is a weekend event in cities around the world. A highly motivated group of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more meet and in a short 54 hour event work on building projects out. It is very much like an unconference, where the attendees show decide the outcome of the experience.

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Learn Strategies for Tapping into Foreign Markets

Startup Professionals Musings

By Christian Arno, Managing Director Is your business tapping into foreign markets? If you haven't broken out of your domestic market, you are missing out on a big business opportunity. The idea of selling overseas is attractive to many small and medium-sized businesses. But many small business owners abandon any thought of selling abroad because they don't think they have the necessary resources.

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THQ Revives Korean BBQ Truck

socalTECH

Agoura Hills-based videogame maker THQ has revived its North Korean-themed food truck, the Pyongyang Express , as it gears up for the release of its first person shooter game Homefront. THQ said it will be serving up heavily subsidized food in Los Angeles and San Francisco from the truck, including fresh tacos, burritos and rice bowls. The food truck is similar to the Facebook and Twitter-driven Korean BBQ trucks spawned by LA's Kogi BBQ.

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Startup Weekend Los Angeles | Presented Live by TechZulu

Tech Zulu Event

It's that time again and Startup Weekend LA is back at Coloft in Santa Monica happening RIGHT NOW!!! For those that may be unfamiliar with Startup Weekend its a weekend event in cities around the world. A highly motivated group of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more meet and in a short 54 hour event work on building projects out.

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Entrepreneurship Speaker: Judy Greenspon, NPI Services, Inc

SoCal Tech Calendar

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 -- 2011 Entrepreneurship Speaker Series. UCI CalIt2. Speaker: Judy Greenspon, President, NPI Services, Inc. Contact Goran Matijasevic at goran@uci.edu.

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Online Subscription Businesses – Startups Uncensored #20

Jason Nazar

This month’s Startups Uncensored will be on “Online Subscription Businesses”. It will be an open and frank town-hall conversation with some of the most successful founders and operators of web based subscription business talking about the keys to success to building & growing online businesses that are driven by subscription sales. This month’s session will be hosted by Jason Nazar (CEO, Docstoc.com), and we will be joined by Josh Myers CEO of PeopleMedia and Jeff Tinsley CEO and Founder of

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King.com Extends To Facebook

socalTECH

Los Angeles- and London-based online games developer King.com said this morning that it has extended its games system to Facebook. King.com, which develops tournament-based casual games, said the firm is now linking to Facebook, with a set of its 26 game titles. The firm is venture backed by Index Ventures and Apax Partners. READ MORE>>.

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Badgeville Did Not Earn a Badge Checking in at Twiistup 8

Tech Zulu Event

At Twiistup 8 last week ten startups gave their pitches to a panel including a VC, Angel Investor, Advisor and industry expert. No startup recieved harsher criticism than Badgeville. Visit TechZulu for full story.

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The current venture market and how to pitch it

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, February 24, 2011 -- A CEOs, an education and support group for CEOs presents: The current venture market and how to pitch it - Joey Tamer, shadow CEO. Getting professional tech investment (private, angel, venture, strategic) in these times is not easy. Joey will tell us about what investors want now (especially from early stage tech companies), how much and how often they are investing this year, and how you should pitch to them.

Marketing 100
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Looking for a roommate for my schweet pad Santa Monica

Daradiction

Hello! I moved within Santa Monica recently to a great place with a better layout for working at home and having people over. I’ve had a GREAT roommate for awhile, but he recently got engaged and they are getting married. It’s a 2BR / 2BA place, remodeled with hardwood floors and a great kitchen. Their share of the rent would be around $1100 but could be less/more on if they want the place furnished, office den, parking spot, etc.

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Hautelook Acquired By Nordstrom For $270M

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based HauteLook , the flash sales site run by Adam Bernhard, has been acquired by Nordstrom for up to $270M. According to Nordstrom, it will pay $180M in stock plus up to $90M in earn out over the next three years. Nordstrom said the buy will enable it to participate in the fast-growing private sale marketplace. HauteLook was venture backed by Insight Venture Partners, which just invested $31M in the company in June of 2010.

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Spotlight: LA Tech SuperDemo Announced!

Tech Zulu Event

We here at TechZulu have been diligently working away on the next Spotlight: LA Tech event at USC March 3rd. Through the search of what company would be a great presentation of what the Los Angeles tech community is capable of, this company not only fits the description but knocks it out of the park! Visit TechZulu for full story.

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Entrepreneurship Speaker: Bill Link, Versant Ventures

SoCal Tech Calendar

Thursday, February 24, 2011 -- 2011 Entrepreneurship Speaker Series. UCI CalIt2. Speaker: William "Bill" J. Link, Ph.D., Managing Director, Versant Ventures. Contact Goran Matijasevic at goran@uci.edu.

UCI 100
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12 New Friday Freebies

Startup Professionals Musings

Some of these have a limit so if the link no longer works then the freebie is gone (I will try to keep up with the broken links). Here is a list of the ones I know about. Feel free to add your own freebies in the comments section: Free Gardening How To Magazine (sign up for a free National Home Gardening club) Free Issue of History Channel Magazine (when you sign up for the free membership) Free sample of Quaker® Life Bar Free sample of Maybelline® FitME Foundation Free sample of Jergens® Overni

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