What will be the next big thing that everyone talks about? I’ve been asking around and looking at companies, trends, and what else is going on to put together the following list of startups worth watching in 2016. Read at Venture Beat. Press MORE

Santa Monica-based salary comparison startup Comparably , which is led by startup veteran Jasaon Nazar, has run a survey of over 10,000 technology employers, to help break down some information about the pay gap between men and women. The startup's survey found that the pay gap is worst for women in the 18 to 25 year old age bracket. MORE

If you were to write a history of Silicon Valley, you could do it by looking at a series of major diaspora. MORE

“It was running fine.” ” In our performance consulting work, we often hear variations of the following: “Our web application was running fine with a few hundred users. MORE

One of the big advantages of starting up a new company in the region in recent years has been a large number of startup accelerators, who have been driving a lot of the new startups in the area. One of those accelerators�focused exclusively on hardware�is Make In LA (www.makeinla.com). MORE

I talk about failure a lot because I think it can be tremendously instructive and I think that success without failure often masks underlying lessons. MORE

In addition to being a tool for burgeoning startups and lucrative companies, virtual reality is also a great way to escape the stress of everyday life. Whether you’re whisking away to another planet or sitting by the beach, a little virtual relaxing can do the body good. MORE

A version of this article previously appeared on Entrepreneur.com. Did I passed on Uber’s seed round? It’s worse than that. I never even bothered to listen to Travis’ pitch, even though I was repeatedly offered the opportunity. MORE

Amongst the most often asked questions I get from founders is, “How much money should I raise?” MORE

By far the most popular post on this blog is 32 Questions Developers May Have Forgot to Ask a Startup Founder. It was originally written in 2011 and has had amazing staying power. While I’ve updated it a few times, it continues to get at important questions that startup founders need to be asking. MORE

We have just lived through the greatest era of fake entrepreneurs. It was a second-wave dot-com boom that lasted five to six years, when money was so readily available ( many have referred to it as the Age of the Unicorns ) that it felt like anybody could get in on the “become-an-entrepreneur” game. MORE

Most people want to know if they’re being paid fairly or if they should be commanding higher pay, but don’t know how to find out. Nazar’s new company, Comparably, is launching Thursday to bring transparency to not only pay, but also culture in the workplace. Read at TechCrunch. Press MORE

I’ve had lots of conversations with fellow CTOs about the TechEmpower Web Framework Benchmarks. Some really appreciate the value that they bring to help them understand performance characteristics of different frameworks. MORE

Point-of-sale system manufacturer Appetize of Santa Monica has signed a deal with venue management firm Legends to outfit the Los Angeles Rams’ temporary home, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, with its devices MORE

SolarReserve announced on Tuesday that it would build ten solar thermal plants on a Nye County site about 225 miles northwest of Las Vegas for $5 billion MORE

CapLinked , a secure enterprise sharing and storage provider, today has announced a new round of funding totaling $3.5 million. MORE

Many startups have a great product that’s viable, marketable, and ripe with potential. But if that was the only indicator of success, then nine out of 10 startups wouldn’t fail. MORE

A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Even Stephen Curry Needs To Practice. Entrepreneurship is a contact sport. It cannot be learned from a book or in a classroom. The skills which underlie entrepreneurship are largely learned first-hand, through trial and error. MORE

Buy organic groceries online, at an affordable price. That’s the mantra of Los Angeles-based Thrive Market, which has raised a significant $111 million Series B funding round, led by Invus. MORE

A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. It happens during nearly every fundraising pitch meeting. The entrepreneur cannot wait to show me their product via a demo. MORE

There has been a lot of public debate over the past several weeks about whether it’s a good thing to be “gross margin positive” or not and commentary always reminds me that some people at startups don’t quite understand financial metrics or even how to think about which ones are healthy. MORE

Between late appointments, pushy sales people and sticker shock, finding the perfect wedding dress can quickly turn into a frustrating nightmare for any blushing bride. MORE

CAMERON KASHANI is the Godmother of Silicon Beach, having cofounded LA’s first coworking space, Coloft, in 2010. Coloft has been home to over 1400 alumni, including Uber LA, Instacart, and Fullscreen. MORE

Round 13 of the ongoing Web Framework Benchmarks project is here! The project now features 230 framework implementations (of our JSON serialization test) and includes new entrants on platforms as diverse as Kotlin and Qt. Yes, that Qt. MORE

What is the ideal age to start a company? It’s a question that often circulates in the business press and on tech blogs. Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists have weighed in from time to time and their answers tend to fall into two camps. The first group advocates for the 20s as the optimal time. MORE

Los Angeles County tech wages are growing faster than the earnings of tech employees in the nation’s other big cities, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics compiled in a report by downtown real estate investment firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc MORE

In the corporate world, events are more than just an event�they are opportunity to connect with your customers and turn potential customers into buyers. How do you make those events happen? We spoke with co-founder Ryan Costello about Santa Monica-based Event Farm (www.eventfarm.com), on how its software technology is being used to power high end, VIP events for large companies. What, exactly, does Event Farm do? Ryan Costello: We're a software company. MORE

Real estate management software developer Accruent , which was founded 20 years ago in Los Angeles by Mark Friedman, said today a that Friedman--its CEO for nearly 20 years--is shifting to become Chairman of the board. John Borgerding becomes CEO of the company. Friedman is stepping away from the CEO role four months after the company was acquired by Genstar Capital. Accruent still has offices in Los Angeles, but recently has been headquartered in Austin, Texas. Accruent was founded in 1995. MORE

As we draw closer to the end of 2016, it is important that we take a moment to look back and reflect on all of the ways technology has inspired us, and transformed the way we live and do work. MORE

It wasn’t so long ago that venture capital was a suburban California phenomenon. Los Angeles didn’t have much in terms of a real tech scene — and even San Francisco only had a few VCs or tech companies. MORE

Santa Monica-based TigerText has hired on two new healthcare veterans to its executive team, the company said this week. According to TigerText, it has named Kirk Kirman as President of Client Organization, heading up sales and customer support; and Kelli Castellano as Chief Marketing Officer, leading the company's marketing strategies. Kirkman was previously VP of Enterprise Solutions at athenalheath, and also has served at TamberHealth, Zix Corporation, and Amicore. MORE