TechCrunch LA

JULY 19, 2022

Ghost is not alone in developing technology focused on inventory. Last week, Syrup Tech raised $6.3 million in new funding for its predictive inventory recommendation platform, joining other similar companies, including Zippedi and Inventa. Syrup Tech bags $6.3M to develop some sweet inventory-planning software.

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Product Funding Technical Review Equity 191

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2021

According to an old Harvard Business Review article, many people in history, famous for their inventions, like Thomas Edison, were entrepreneurs who only later were remembered as inventors of the products they commercialized. Of course it helps to have innovative technologies before you start building a business.

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Technical Review Funding Patents Ideas 156

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 5, 2020

Companies that have leveraged technology to make the procurement and delivery of food more accessible to more people have been seeing a big surge of business this year, as millions of consumers are encouraged (or outright mandated, due to Covid-19) to socially distance or want to avoid the crowds of physical shopping and eating excursions.

Technical Review 343

Technical Review Startup Marketing San Diego 343

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2020

As a frequent advisor to new entrepreneurs and startups, I often hear your frustration with being treated differently from other startups by investors, on expectations for valuation , traction, and market size. On the other hand, if the market is super-hot, many will be willing to jump in to make your case.

Marketing 174

Marketing Startup Artificial Inteligence Technical Review 174

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 12, 2022

They look at your track record, industry leadership, marketing energy, moral values, and peer relationships. Quality of your technical and business teams. Brand recognition and market influencer support. Proprietary technology with a high barrier to entry. You need to do the same now.

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Technical Review Social Media Entrepreneur Startup 147

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Last year at this time, SpotOn was on the brink of announcing a $60 million Series C funding round at a $625 million valuation. Since its 2017 inception, SpotOn has been focused on providing software and payments technology to SMBs with an emphasis on restaurants and retail businesses.

Technical Review 296

Technical Review Software Review Invest Acquisition 296

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2017

I pointed out that the storage market in the US alone is ~$30 billion / year and there is no dominant provider — the largest player has < 10% market share. So how did a company that provides storage grow so fast (we’ll exit 2017 with 10’s of millions in recurring revenue), why is it so defensible and is it really a tech startup?

Technical Review 268

Technical Review Funding Software Review Artificial Inteligence 268

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

If you’re funding the same stuff as everybody else and if you started your activities when the clues were obvious you’re much less likely to drive enormous returns. When Fred Wilson funded Twitter I guarantee you it wasn’t obvious that it was a billion dollar idea. Venture Capital is a tricky industry. Far from it.

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Funding Technical Review Ideas Startup 362

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 9, 2011

I spent my days meeting companies, figuring out what areas of the market interested me and trying to get a sense for how VCs thought about fair valuations. I started showing my partners more deals that I found interesting and doing loads of analysis on the future of markets I thought were ripe for disruption. The market had tanked.

Marketing 305

Marketing Venture Capital Funding Technical Review 305

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2022

The key elements of leadership in a company, both individual and organizational, are less tangible, but very critical in setting a market value for investment, acquisition, or going public. Every business and brand has unique requirements to fit into their market environment. Stable and friendly work environment.

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Technical Review Funding Organization Coach 129

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2023

The average length of a funding pitch to angel investors is ten minutes. Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation. Equally bad is a full tutorial on your new disruptive technology.

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Slides Funding Technical Review Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2023

I second his list of top innovation challenges and strategies to capitalize on untapped global startup opportunities: Create new markets rather than disrupt existing ones. Even here, Elon Musk faced this issue with Tesla, needing a support ecosystem as well as new technology. Target a global market rather than a local from day one.

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Capital Marketing Ideas Venture Capital 138

socalTECH

JULY 3, 2018

Los Angeles-based Funraise , the Los Angeles startup which develops customer relationship management (CRM) and other technology for nonprofits, says it has created a new, $600,000 fund to provide grants to nonprofits. Application for its first round of grants are due by July 31st. Funraise is led by CEO Justin Wheeler.

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Funding Southern California Technical Review .Net 113

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 27, 2020

The 29 year-old CEO has, indeed, built a decentralized ghost kitchen — and managed to convince Softbank’s latest Vision Fund to invest in a $120 million round for that the company announced today. In some ways, Nextbite couldn’t exist without Ordermark’s delivery aggregation technology.

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Funding Los Angeles Technical Review Training 263

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Seed investments are down by any measure (funds, deals, dollars) over the past 3 years in deals < $1 million AND in deals between $1–5 million. As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture. So What Impact Did the Drop in Tech Founding Costs Have on VC?

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Venture Capital Invest Seed Funding Startup 328

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? And then in the late 90’s money crept in, swept in to town by public markets, instant wealth and an absurd sky-rocketing of valuations based on no reasonable metrics. What happened? People were building.

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Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 23, 2021

Indeed, two of the best funded companies in the lab-grown meat market hail from The Netherlands, where Mosa Meat is being challenged by a newer upstart, Meatable , which just announced $47 million in new financing. Meatable has a long road ahead of it, because, as Gates acknowledged in his interview with MIT Technology Review (ed.

Chief Technology Officer 261

Chief Technology Officer Technical Review Software Review Product 261

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2019

During the holiday season, our tradition over the last few years has been to post reflections on the past year and some predictions for 2019 from Southern California's technology industry. And, many of the presenting companies received sizable funding commitments and offers of ongoing help.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Software Review Startup Coach 157

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 30, 2014

As I’ve written about recently, at Upfront Ventures we started talking a couple of years ago about wanting to fund stuff with more meaning. I think this is a combination of being realists as venture capitalists that outsized returns in our funds must come from taking on bigger, more impactful projects that can move markets.

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Technical Review Software Review CTO Hire IP 418

Tech.Co

DECEMBER 29, 2023

While the market isn't short of spritely, innovative entrepreneurs, harsh economic headwinds combined with a pullback in investor spending have made it harder than ever for budding businesses to break through. Verifying Looking for regular tech news straight to your inbox? 2023 hasn't been an easy year to be a startup.

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Startup Generative AI Newsletter Tool 210

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

If you’ve read any of my ongoing series on fund raising from venture capitalist (episode 1?— ?controlling controlling your psychology ) you no doubt have heard me say that raising capital is a sales & marketing process. Building models to evaluate the deal and/or reviewing customer files, company financials, business plans, etc.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Invest Slides 314

SoCal Tech Calendar

APRIL 27, 2011

Tuesday, May 3, 2011 -- Clean Technology Leaders Conference and Business Mixer. Presentation will review critical pre-requisites, planning and follow-on actions required to help start or grow a successful business. SPEAKER: John Ricardi, President and CEO, HiTech Initiatives.

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Technical Review Conference Technology Tool 100

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 26, 2022

For example, Bill Gates founded and grew Microsoft, and Michael Dell built a great technology company, both with no outside funding until they went successful enough to go public years later and sell shares to common stockholders. Pivots become a source of pain rather than positive learning.

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Funding Startup Satisfaction Venture Capital 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2022

In these days of global competition via multiple channels, you need continuous marketing to find more customers. Acknowledge every customer feedback and review. Don’t let that one negative stand out as the only review submitted. Produce marketing events to get visibility and attention. They won’t find you.

Technical Review 142

Technical Review Social Media Conference Customer 142

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2010

Many of you have read or at least know the primary thesis of “ Crossing the Chasm &# the seminal book on marketing your products to mainstream consumers by Geoffrey Moore. It influenced a generation of tech marketers. We all intuitively know this curve now but we don’t all market effectively to it.

Marketing 294

Marketing Customer Custom Technical Review 294

Tech Zulu Event

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

James (chairman of the Althea Foundation) and appointed Adam Sroka as Senior Vice President of Technology in a move to make business transactions simple and secure. . Jackson , “This financing round, coupled with hiring Adam Sroka as our head of technology, puts CapLinked in a position to further enhance our enterprise product offerings.”.

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Technical Review Software Review Bertelsmann Technology 88

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

The rise of “micro VCs” or seed-stage funds. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). 15 years ago we were at the peak of Internet hype with the launch of many over-capitalized businesses with a market size & opportunity was limited. On the surface the narratives have been.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

socalTECH

OCTOBER 24, 2019

in a funding round. The company said it raised funds from Initialized Capital, Founders Fund, Founder Collective, Peak State Ventures, SV Angel, Liquid 2 Ventures, SaaStr, and The House Fund. The company pointed to LA's growth in the technology and entertainment area for the entry into the market.

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Technical Review Startup Entertainment Los Angeles 100

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 12, 2018

seems like an unlikely place to grow one of the next billion-dollar startups in the booming Los Angeles tech ecosystem. The company is ServiceTitan, and its market… is air conditioners. The city of Glendale, Calif. “Silicon Beach” this ain’t.

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Glendale Los Angeles Startup Technical Review 271

TechCrunch LA

MARCH 31, 2021

The sweeping infrastructure package put forward today by President Joe Biden comes with a price tag of roughly $2 trillion (and hefty tax hikes) but gives startups and the broader tech industry about $1 trillion worth of reasons to support it. Fables of the reconstruction.

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Startup Technical Review Invest Research 229

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2018

A critical stage for most first-time entrepreneurs is getting their idea developed into at least a prototype to validate their technology. Acquiring seed-stage funding is admittedly tough, but a source that I find often overlooked is government grant funding, accessible in the U.S. The approval process is long and bureaucratic.

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Funding Technical Review Startup Research 90

Tech.Co

MARCH 8, 2018

Fortunately, for those headed to SXSW, Startup Night SXSW 2018 , presented by the Kauffman Foundation and TechCo, will be filled with investors from a multitude of industries who are looking to discover and fund startups building the latest solutions and tech innovations. Lisha Bell, Deal Flow Lead for Pipeline Angels.

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Technical Review Startup Software Review Entrepreneur 70

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 1, 2016

At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. …But LPs Have Been Putting Out More Money Than They Are Getting Back. . That’s money that fuels our startup ecosystems.

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Venture Capital Capital Marketing Seed Funding 150

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

What's the best way to reach out and recruit diverse candidates for your technology company? is an HR tech platform that makes it very easy for companies to source diverse talent. How do you create those communities, and are those focused on different technical areas? How are you funded? Describe what Divercity.io

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Startup Platform Resource 140

Tech.Co

JULY 13, 2023

Initially pinned as a generative AI startup for Twitter when it first hit the headlines back in April, the xAI website seems to suggest that the new startup will remain separate from the social media platform, as well as Musk's collection of other technology companies.

Artificial Inteligence 115

Artificial Inteligence ChatGPT Generative AI Technical Review 115

TechCrunch LA

APRIL 18, 2022

Elder told TechCrunch that the company raised $7 million in a seed round, touting it as “one of the highest seed-stage valuations in its category” — he declined to divulge the number — to give the company nearly $10 million in total funding to date. This includes a $2 million pre-seed round from 2021.

Software Review 187

Software Review Metrics Startup Technical Review 187

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 21, 2009

On the third Wednesday of every month I co-chair a meeting called the SoCal VCA (venture capital alliance), which represents participants from all of the top venture capital firms in Southern California as well as prominent members of the Tech Coast Angels (TCA). We feature a prominent speaker at every event.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Southern California Company 241