socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2019

This morning's interview is with Kevin O'Connor , a longtime investor and serial entrepreneur, who is now running venture capital investment firm ScOp Venture Capital. I ended up doing that for eight years, when it was bought by Amazon for use in Alexa, which is really cool. Congrats on the new name for your venture capital firm.

Venture Capital 145

Venture Capital Startup Invest Capital 145

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 19, 2017

One of the hardest decisions entrepreneurs make when they start a company and raise outside capital is figuring out what an acceptable “burn rate” is. The Basics The starting point — the 101 — is knowing the difference between gross burn and net burn. You start from the basics, which is if you raise $2.5

Startup 212

Startup Venture Capital .Net Capital 212

socalTECH

JULY 20, 2021

Techstars LA, the startup accelerator headed up by Matt Kozlov, announced its 2021 class this week, drawing an international group of twelve new companies to its startup accelerator in Culver City. Companies this year in the program come from as far as Canada, India, and Ukraine.

Class 113

Class Culver City Company Companies 113

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

I think I’ve read Paul Graham’s post on “ Startup = Growth ” three or four times now. “The growth of a successful startup usually has three phases: There’s an initial period of slow or no growth while the startup tries to figure out what it’s doing. I talked about some of that here.

Startup 390

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review 390

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

I have been watching ProductPlan for several years, as the founders are both friends and pillars of the Santa Barbara Startup Community. Without taking a dime of outside capital, the company has achieved impressive success in a competitive, SaaS market segment, landing companies such as Nike, Intuit, NASA, AutoDesk and PBS.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

socalTECH

DECEMBER 30, 2019

Every year, at the end of the year, we share some reflections on the past year from our readers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, sponsors, and others in the local technology community. What new technology area, startup, service, or app did you find most interesting or useful this year, and why? READ MORE>>.

Startup 100

Startup News SaaS Entrepreneur 100

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

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. So if you’re able to raise easily no problem.

Metrics 150

Metrics Startup SaaS Course 150

Berkonomics

JANUARY 27, 2022

Tech businesses today can do this much more easily than a decade ago, with cheaper development costs, SaaS hosting environments avoiding heavy equipment costs, and development platforms with pre-formed routines available.

News 156

News SaaS Platform Sales 156

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

I’m over-paying for every check I write into the VC ecosystem and valuations are being pushed up to absurd levels and many of these valuations and companies won’t hold in the long term. Today you have funders focused exclusively on “Day 0” startups or ones that aren’t even created yet. By definition?—?I’m two founders in a garage?—?(HP

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 7, 2013

The good news for entrepreneurs is that there have never been more office space options for early stage companies. If you use the mentor-driven model that we pioneered at TechStars, you get entrepreneurs who are deeply connected with the broader entrepreneurial landscape. Many Sizes, Many Fits.

Incubator 238

Incubator Startup News Entrepreneur 238

InfoChachkie

APRIL 24, 2012

Article first published as Why A Prominent Start-up Executive Wants You to Get Fired and Fail on Technorati. Kim Kovaks, Founder and CEO OptionEase , recently spoke to a class of emerging entrepreneurs at UC Santa Barbara. attendees was the importance of focus, especially during a startup’s early days. Getting Fired.

Startup 258

Startup Santa Barbara Entrepreneur Class 258

socalTECH

MAY 16, 2019

For our interview this morning, we caught up with Isaac Garcia , a serial entrepreneur who previously founded and sold his last company, Central Desktop, and now is working on a new startup, Sales Insider. How did you start Sales Insider from your past company, Central Desktop, after you sold it? What is Sales Insider?

Sales 133

Sales Startup Software Marketing 133

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 20, 2014

Want to be an entrepreneur? According to a recent Forbes article , UC Santa Barbara''s Technology Management Program offers students a superior startup education over the University of Pennsylvania (home of Wharton), as well Harvard, Northwestern and even its acclaimed southern neighbor, the University of Southern California.

Santa Barbara 258

Santa Barbara Technical Review Startup Venture Capital 258

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

I was reading Danielle Morrill’s blog post today on whether one’s “ Startup Burn Rate is Normal. I love how transparently Danielle lives her startup (& encourages other to join in) because it provides much needed transparency to other startups. Let’s set up a framework. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

socalTECH

MAY 22, 2019

For our interview this morning, we talked with David Wood , the Founder and CEO of Eventene (www.eventene.com), an early stage startup, bootstrapped startup developing event management software. David--a veteran of Microsoft, having been the lead developer of Microsoft Exchange--tells us why he started his company.

Startup 212

Startup Evite Organization Software 212

socalTECH

MARCH 14, 2018

Jon Ferrara: The biggest lesson that I've learned about retaining and keeping customers is that you need to start by introducing a minimally viable product or service, and then dance with your prospects and customers. Jon Ferrara: I firmly believe that Service is the New Sales and that the Sales starts after a customer buys.

Customer 166

Customer Custom Conference Social Media 166

socalTECH

AUGUST 5, 2019

Our interview today is with Aaron Ross, the Co-CEO of Predictable Revenue (www.predictablerevenue.com), and author of the Predictable Revenue: Turn Your Business Into A Sales Machine With The $100M Best Practices of Salesforce.com, and From Impossible to Inevitable: How SaaS and Other Hyper-Growth Companies Create Predictable Revenue.

SaaS 113

SaaS Tips Sales Entrepreneur 113

socalTECH

MAY 17, 2019

For today's interview, we sat down and spoke with David Loo , the founder and CEO of Perspectium (www.perspectium.com), a startup which is developing service management applications designed to help connect different, enterprise service management software products together. That's how we started. What specific problem were you seeing?

SaaS 113

SaaS Startup Customer Custom 113

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 6, 2018

The best entrepreneurs in our industry focus on it year-round as opposed to just once every 18 months. Rather than overwhelm you with a super long Suster post I thought I’d break it up into a series of 13 (or so, might expand) posts. Below is the outline Upfront. Let me give you an example. Let me give you an example.

Funding 236

Funding Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur 236

InfoChachkie

MARCH 16, 2016

Startups do not always have the luxury to optimize their product for both buyers and users. I learned the hard way that during a startup’s early days, entrepreneurs should give slightly greater emphasis on developing buyer features, in order to reduce the friction of the sales cycle. Should Startups Build For Buyers Or Users?

SaaS 100

SaaS Startup Software Review Development Team Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2015

If you are an entrepreneur not using this model, it may be time to consider a pivot. If you are looking to start a new business in any domain, it’s definitely worth your time to check your fit for one of these models: Membership website model. Private club model. Surprise box model. Peace-of-mind model.

Startup 106

Startup Customer Custom Netflix 106

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 30, 2011

TechZulu is excited to invite you to the 2012 Startup and Entrepreneurial Forecast taking place on Tuesday Jan. We have a line up of amazing speakers who will share their insights and forecast for startup trends in 2012. Mike is actively involved with early-stage start-ups as an investor, advisor and board member.

Tech Coast Angels 105

Tech Coast Angels Startup Angel Southern California 105

InfoChachkie

OCTOBER 3, 2011

So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. Everything Is A Remix – Including Your Startup. Of particular interest to entrepreneurs, Part III discusses the creative process of technical innovations. Nobody starts out original.

Startup 255

Startup High Tech SaaS .Net 255

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2022

A common request I get while mentoring entrepreneurs is for a copy of the startup checklist they need to follow, in order to build a successful new business. His checklists cover everything from building a vision, to consistently delivering results, for entrepreneurs up to mature business executives. Gamification.

Technology 133

Technology Cloud Computing Social Media Networking 133

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 28, 2013

Join us for a special evening with InfoWorld’s Dave Linthicum as he delves into global enterprise software trends with some of LA’s most successful SaaS and cloud computing companies. The opportunities cloud computing and SaaS afford management. Paths to SaaS and cloud computing that will work for your enterprise. Scott Kriz.

SaaS 92

SaaS Cloud Computing CIO Web 92

InfoChachkie

APRIL 18, 2011

I am on the Board of a growing, dynamic SaaS business which has recently graduated from the startup stage and entered the early-growth phase. Thus, confident entrepreneurs understand the value of seeing themselves through the lens of seasoned executives whose opinions they value and trust. No More Bottle Washing.

Entrepreneur 217

Entrepreneur Startup Slides Examples 217

InfoChachkie

MARCH 4, 2013

Entrepreneurs can learn a great deal from the manner in which Pink Floyd created DSOTM. Lesson: As described in Go For The Quick Buck , wily startups also devise creative ways to secure funding from their customers, rather than from investors. Entrepreneurs should always err on the side of long-term gain. Any time will do."

Startup 269

Startup Cloud Computing RSS Writing 269

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

We spoke with CEO and co-founder Dan LeBlanc , a veteran of ProFlowers and FTD, on how he started the company and he problem the startup is solving for direct to consumer brands. What does your startup do? What's your background, and how did the startup come about? Dan LeBlanc: Daasity is about two years old.,

Startup 113

Startup Platform Commerce San Diego 113

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

I often talk about what I’m looking for when I meet with an entrepreneur. Above all else I’m looking for a genuine passion for what the entrepreneur is doing. You can sense when it is a “mission” for this entrepreneur to succeed and she will continue the journey even if success isn’t easy or immediate.

Venture Capital 373

Venture Capital Startup Course Entrepreneur 373

socalTECH

DECEMBER 29, 2017

I will also become more involved in the Santa Barbara startup ecosystem, now that I am no longer vetting deals up and down the CA coast. As such, I'm also looking forward to helping non-SaaS Founders, which has been my primary focus for the past 15-years.

Santa Barbara 113

Santa Barbara SaaS Southern California Course 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2020

If you are an entrepreneur not using this model, it may be time to consider a pivot. If you are looking to start a new business in any domain, it’s definitely worth your time to check your fit for one of these models: Membership website model. Private club model. Surprise box model. Peace-of-mind model.

Startup 168

Startup Customer Custom Netflix 168

socalTECH

MARCH 16, 2017

Are you an entrepreneur, looking for capital here in Southern California? It's turning out to be a great time for entrepreneurs looking for funding in the region, with not only high profile exits of such companies as Snap Inc., Investment interests: Wide ranging interests related to the firm's startup accelerator. greycroft.com.

Southern California 138

Southern California Artificial Inteligence Funding SoCal 138

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

Great catching up with you, tell us a little bit about your new investment fund? I also invested in a couple of companies that he started as an advisor or board member. A little over two years ago, we sold that last company to Daimler, just about the time AngelList started doing syndication. Kelly Perdew: It's probably culture.

Capital 223

Capital Startup Invest Training 223

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 1, 2012

The following guest post is from Courtney Englert, Customer Success Intern at The Resumator , a SaaS applicant tracking system and hiring platform trusted by many of the fastest-growing companies in the world, including: Pinterest, Tumblr, Hootsuite, Klout, Posterous, Bitly, Atari and Mashable. Sounds like a startup, right?

Startup 184

Startup RSS SaaS Press 184

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 28, 2015

A common request I get while mentoring entrepreneurs is for a copy of the startup checklist they need to follow, in order to build a successful new business. His checklists cover everything from building a vision, to consistently delivering results, for entrepreneurs up to mature business executives. Gamification.

Startup 107

Startup Cloud Computing Social Media Entrepreneur 107

socalTECH

OCTOBER 16, 2015

Pasadena-based 17hats , a startup that develops business management software aimed specifically at solo entrepreneurs (solopreneurs), has raised $4M in a Series A funding. The startup's software handles everything from booking clients and managing projects, to finances and other administrative processes.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Tool Coach Pasadena 100

socalTECH

OCTOBER 28, 2016

Venice-based Amplify LA (www.amplify.la) is celebrating its fifth anniversary as a startup accelerator here in the Los Angeles area � one of the few in the area to have survived in more or less original form after the launch of a number of startup incubators and accelerators five years ago. Congrats on your five year anniversary!

Startup 100

Startup Entrepreneur Funding Incubator 100