Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

I speak a lot on college campuses and entrepreneur events and amongst the most common things I’m asked to talk about are: What do VCs fund? Hard Problems I encourage entrepreneurs to try and tackle harder problems even if it makes fund raising more difficult and is less likely to succeed.

Design 270

Design Ideas Startup Writing 270

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 28, 2014

There’s Snapchat that uses photos and then instantly disappears after 10 seconds, and then there’s the up-comer, Emojli , that uses tiny cartoonish icons for engagement. Snap Away with Snapchat. Snapchat, founded by Bobby Murphy and Evan Spiegel, boasts of its massive following among kids and teenagers.

Snapchat 82

Snapchat Social Media Social Network Media 82

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2017

It is fitting that 2012 is the year that Snapchat really took off in Los Angeles and raised its first venture capital and began a five year ascent to becoming LA’s most recognizable startup company and largest IPO alongside LAs other great startup brands such as Riot Games and Tinder. Are you kidding me? And this is true.

Riot Games 191

Riot Games Los Angeles Technical Review Venture Capital 191

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2018

And, if you're a social platform, is there a way to monetize all that activity happening on your service? Jordan Glazier: Wildfire has developed a platform for monetizing social messaging. As a serial entrepreneur, what are you doing differently this time based on what you learned from your prior ventures? How does this work?

San Diego 159

San Diego Social Media Commerce Snapchat 159

socalTECH

MAY 7, 2018

When we started the business, we really didn't have a lot of funding, but it made a lot of sense, and we got lots of drivers on the platform. We love Omar, our partner at Sequoia, who is an entrepreneur himself, and sold his last company to Google for $700M. He's a very sharp entrepreneur, and shares the same vision.

Startup 173

Startup Pricing Marketing Entrepreneur 173

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2015

When I counsel startup entrepreneurs I give them my blunt dose of reality, “If you can’t easily identify target leads who have a problem you can solve then hang up your cleats – you’re not going to succeed.” You see – running a SaaS platform for customers like you is the ONLY thing our team does.

Sales 315

Sales SaaS Startup Venture Capital 315

socalTECH

JULY 20, 2015

We spoke with Farhad Mohit , the CEO of Flipagram and a successful serial entrepreneur (having founded Bizrate, which later became Shozilla, and was sold to Scripps), to learn more about the story behind Flipagram and the vision behind its app. So, I took at look at it. What was the magic that make this go viral?

Flipagram 223

Flipagram Social Network Networking Blogging 223

LATechDigest

AUGUST 3, 2019

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) has announced that Evan Spiegel, CEO and co-founder of Snapchat, along with CBRE and California State University, Northridge (CSUN) will be the 2015 Eddy Awards Honorees. CBRE Group, Inc.,

Snapchat 52

Snapchat Pico Rivera Northridge Santa Clarita 52

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2016

Brad Brooks: The biggest news from TigerText this year is that we're evolving from what was a pure secure messaging product to a comprehensive clinical communications platform. Brad Brooks: Locally, I think Snapchat's IPO is going to spawn a massive ecosystem in the Southern California tech community.

Southern California 113

Southern California Social Media News Entertainment 113

socalTECH

AUGUST 29, 2014

For example, if you are watching the World Cup streaming from ESPN or your favorite WB show, you can grab your favorite moments and share them across any medium, whether that''s a chat platform, Snapchat, or anywhere. We''re also backed by the Entrepreneurs'' Roundtable in New York. Is your product available yet?

Content 113

Content Los Angeles Seed Funding Hollywood 113

socalTECH

JULY 20, 2015

We spoke with Farhad Mohit , the CEO of Flipagram and a successful serial entrepreneur (having founded Bizrate, which later became Shozilla, and was sold to Scripps), to learn more about the story behind Flipagram and the vision behind its app. So, I took at look at it. What was the magic that make this go viral?

Flipagram 202

Flipagram Social Network Networking Blogging 202

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2013

They are going to Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat, Kik, and other applications. Don’t connect the latest platform, which may be transient, with the larger phenomenon of digitally enabled social conversations. If you can figure out why people care about your product, you’ll have success regardless of the platform du jour.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Marketing Platform 100

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2020

Our interview today is with Scott Grimes , the CEO of Los Angeles-based Stackin' , which operates a text-based, financial messaging platform. Scott Grimes: Ultimately, we are a text messaging platform build on top of Twilio. Finally, what's been your biggest lesson as a second time entrepreneur? Stackin recentlyraised $12.6M

Content 124

Content Social Media Startup Artificial Inteligence 124

socalTECH

AUGUST 17, 2020

Our interview today is with serial entrepreneur Neel Grover , the CEO and founder of Indi (indi.com). We have a couple of thousand retailers and a product catalog of 80 million products, and every day, people are posting their photos and videos to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter. How long has this been available?

Help 113

Help Commerce Platform Orange County 113

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 2, 2018

As an advisor to many entrepreneurs and small businesses, I often get asked where to start, and how to proceed. For young consumers today, it may be Instagram or Snapchat, while B2B offerings should take a hard look at LinkedIn and other business forums. Put your customer at the top, rather than technology.

Marketing 96

Marketing Metrics Social Media Content 96

Tech.Co

FEBRUARY 14, 2017

After logging into your account via Facebook API, the platform uses your date of birth as the core data to help you calendar all of your friend’s birthdays and discover other people around you who also celebrate your special day. Snapchat Stories are an easy way to send your friend a birthday wish. Express Yourself.

Startup 113

Startup Venice Social Network Tool 113

LATechDigest

MAY 13, 2016

SMASHD’s first Cohort brought four early-stage + one mature company into the fold: Sidestep : Mobile platform for live events that allows fans to order merchandise before, during and after an event for VIP pickup and delivery, who has relationships in place with Ticketmaster, and is a merch partner on Beyonce’s latest tour.

Mentor 75

Mentor Venture Capital Draper USC 75

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 9, 2016

Peter Csathy: I'm an entrepreneur, a builder of companies. Peter Csathy: I feel very fortunate that I have had half my career at traditional media companies like Unviersal Studios, and half as a true entrepreneur, building companies in the digital media space. How did you decide to start the firm?

Media 100

Media Blogging Hulu Invest 100

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 5, 2022

A few minutes away from downtown Atlanta, Collab Studio ATL describes itself as “a tech-based one-stop shop for content creators, HBCU students and young entrepreneurs to achieve their business goals.” A post shared by Collab Studios (@collabstudiosatl). Image Credits: Robiiiworld (Brandy Merriweather via BStarPR).

Platform 210

Platform Social Media Netflix Content 210

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

You will build out features or expend to platforms — often before you have enough market feedback to warrant it. Internally at Upfront it’s an entrepreneur who has enough of a proven track record that they can raise a $5–10 million A-round based on their prior experiences.

Startup 292

Startup Software Review Pricing Entrepreneur 292

socalTECH

MARCH 11, 2014

They came to LA, and they''ve invested in companies like Honest Company and Snapchat, and a few others, hosted dinners for Los Angeles entrepreneurs, and they''ve made a serious investment in the community. It felt to us, once we got on the platform, that it was a crowded space. Plus, they''ve invested in Los Angeles.

Hollywood 159

Hollywood Help Media Content 159

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2016

Thus begins Snapchat and why you don’t get it. Snapchat will be used for both like the Internet (and TV) are. I just need to break you of the idea that Snapchat is for one thing – it is not. But since Snapchat uses the frequency above your hearing range it’s nearly impossible to “get” without help.

Snapchat 279

Snapchat Screening Venture Capital Guide 279

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2017

Our social graphs are locked in Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. I speak to colleagues who participate in trading crypto who tell me that there are coordinate rings on encrypted instant messaging platforms like Telegram to have coordinated buying and selling of new currencies. This is where I see cryptocurrencies today.

Course 281

Course Startup Framework Marketing 281

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 17, 2017

Or you know the other one — the one where Snapchat lost $2 billion in just one quarter. I often ask entrepreneurs to consider, “What’s your objective? Is the revenue dependent on a concentrated set of distribution partners or platforms that put future revenue at risk? Two-f **g-billion! What a disaster!

Startup 227

Startup Venture Capital Sales Course 227