TechCrunch LA

JULY 2, 2020

From larger fund investors like Mark Suster and Kara Nortman at Upfront Ventures to Dana Settle at Greycroft Partners; to early-stage investors like Will Hsu at Mucker Capital; TX Zhuo at Fika Ventures, the responses were generally upbeat about the future opportunities for Los Angeles startups.

Los Angeles 277

Los Angeles Venture Capital Capital Invest 277

socalTECH

MARCH 6, 2017

Los Angeles-based Maple Media (maplemedia.io) recently announced a big, $30M funding from Shamrock Capital, to assemble a collection of mobile applications in the utility, productivity, games and entertainment verticals. What's the idea behind Maple Media? What's the idea behind Maple Media?

Media 153

Media Mobile Startup Acquisition 153

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Low cost and low margin products can be winners, if the volume is high enough.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about The Silent Benefits of PR in which I pointed out that most young companies I encounter don’t fully grasp the benefits of PR because they are less measurable than product milestones or customer acquisition analyses (like CAC/LTV). It super charges a business that is closer to product delivery.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2009

Very few people fund individuals. Product : You should build a product or a prototype. You cannot be just a biz dev type, salesperson, marketing genius or whatever and divorce yourself from product. Great companies are built by having great products. And a great product starts with the founder.

Angel 291

Angel Funding Venture Capital Startup 291

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. That company was Invoca, which just announced a $20 million fund raise led by Accel. So I think it’s now fair to rate me at 9/10 on follow-on fundings. 5 years ago. Sourcing high-quality leads : 9/10. ” Yup.

Venture Capital 387

Venture Capital Downey Writing Press 387

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 20, 2017

Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. On the social media side, the stakes are just as great.

Media 55

Media Social Media Startup Training 55

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2012

Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. On the social media side, the stakes are just as great.

Training 93

Training Media Entrepreneur Social Media 93

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2019

I had just left Salesforce.com where I was VP, Products, after they had acquired my second startup. As I was trying to figure out the role I wanted to play in the VC world I decided I wanted to focus on businesses that were building deeply technical products to solve problems for business users.

Venture Capital 223

Venture Capital IP Startup Google 223

socalTECH

MARCH 16, 2017

Earlier this week, Derek Norton , a long time advisor to the media, Internet, and technology industry in Los Angeles, announced a brand new venture capital fund called Watertower Ventures (www.watertowerventures.com). We sat down with Derek to learn more about the new $5M fund and what it's all about. Tell us about the new fund?

Invest 145

Invest Funding Capital Startup 145

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2016

Not since the initial popularity of Twitter in 2007 has a product so befuddled people. Here’s an example of a recent Snapstorm on negotiations: https://medium.com/media/ecca992139dedfef9ac6dc1a6afe432e/href So for the people who still don’t get why I’d use Snapchat — in no particular order let me say: I enjoy doing it. I LOVE writing.

Snapchat 200

Snapchat Blogging Venture Capital Writing 200

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Next she took to Instagram, a new social media platform that quickly became the most effective tool in a blogger’s toolkit. Last month, the product launched with $1.2 million in funding from Rebecca Minkoff and other unnamed investors. Danielle Bernstein is just 27 years old, but she’s been running her own business for 10 years.

Platform 170

Platform Marketing Tool Venture Capital 170

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2013

The biggest excuse most startup founders mention is too much to do building a product, mapping strategy, investors, etc. I know that finding time is hard, and good writing is simply not what most people do. Once you gain real traction as an expert in your space through the blog, investors will put you at the top of their funding list.

Blogging 104

Blogging Product Startup Writing 104

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2019

Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. On the social media side, the stakes are just as great.

Press 96

Press Entrepreneur Social Media Training 96

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

Along the way, they created a supportive community of emotionally attached stakeholders that would be the envy of any Social Media Manager. Upon graduation from Wharton, John and Kyle launched a startup based upon a simple, pedestrian product: a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf driver. Here''s how they pulled it off.

Newsletter 233

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 233

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

Tracy built her company, Recycled Media , out of necessity. Tracy is knowledgeable enough to talk tech and swap design & product stories with other founders, but she realized early that networking amongst this group and reading and writing in their journals would not bring her more customers. She focused on her customer.

Startup 363

Startup Entrepreneur SEO Venture Capital 363

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Contrary to popular belief, most investors are not looking for entrepreneurs who are desperate for funding. In this context, investors are attracted to thought-leaders visible on social media, and people with strong technical credentials.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 111

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2022

Yager outlines in her book just a few of the reasons why an entrepreneur needs to overcome the fear, and master the art of speaking in public, and I’ve taken the liberty of adding a few occasions from my own business experience: You need funding, and have to address a group of investors.

Marketing 113

Marketing Entrepreneur Customer Custom 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 23, 2019

Even if it’s only a few PowerPoint slides or typed paragraphs, writing something down is the first step toward making it real. Always write in the future tense, what you will do, and name yourself as the key person responsible. The result was a product that was bloated and late to market.

Ideas 99

Ideas Slides Writing Startup 99

InfoChachkie

JUNE 3, 2013

Along the way, they created a supportive community of emotionally attached stakeholders that would be the envy of any Social Media Manager. Upon graduation from Wharton, John and Kyle launched a startup based upon a simple, pedestrian product: a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf driver. Here''s how they pulled it off.

Newsletter 133

Newsletter Startup Entrepreneur Writing 133

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

It means the “ torso TV ” consumption patterns will be more important than the head or the long tail for the next era of media companies. You should only worry about this if you’re a large, traditional media company with fat margins. TV of the future will not always have linear stories. billion views. think Apple.

Startup 380

Startup Media Content Platform 380

InfoChachkie

MARCH 4, 2013

Their deep understanding of their customers, an uncompromising drive to create a quality product and the courage to ignore the music industry's formulaic approach to producing hits resulted in the creation one of the top selling non-compilation albums of all time. This audience feedback allowed the band to iteratively modify their creation.

Startup 269

Startup Cloud Computing RSS Writing 269

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Some entrepreneurs love to talk and produce videos, but hate to write anything down. Contrary to popular belief, most investors are not looking for entrepreneurs who are desperate for funding. In this context, investors are attracted to thought-leaders visible on social media, and people with strong technical credentials.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Social Media Patents Mentor 126

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2018

San Diego-based Wildfire Systems , led by startup veteran Jordan Glazier , has developed software which product referrals and automatically transform them into trackable links across email, text messaging, chat, and social messaging. We automatically add tracking and point those product references to e-commerce merchants.

San Diego 159

San Diego Social Media Commerce Snapchat 159

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

In the Los Angeles startup world, there are lots of high profile, buzzy companies which have lots of attention and funding--but which haven''t earned a dime of revenue. We worked together for four years, and I ended up heading up media buying at that company, and he headed up sales. We do that methodically.

Startup 239

Startup El Segundo Marketing Media 239

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 14, 2011

Journalists write stories that have an appeal to readers whether the accusations have merit or not. His product auto-posted a testimonial from Dave Morin into Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg called the tactic “lame.&# Find other media outlets to tell your story. Use it as an excuse to get a journalist to write about you.

Startup 329

Startup Press Training Media 329

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2014

Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay. On the social media side, the stakes are just as great.

Press 105

Press Social Media Startup Training 105

socalTECH

DECEMBER 31, 2018

We do, as of the writing of this in early December, seem to be seeing a correction at this time. The biggest news was the continued bullish market now coming on ten years even though historical cycles show markets don't usually last more than 7-8 years. I had expected a correction much earlier in the year and I was wrong. On Demand).

Southern California 100

Southern California News Class Writing 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Low cost and low margin products can be winners, if the volume is high enough.

Services 72

Services Startup Training Writing 72

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Creating awareness for your brand and products is one of the lifebloods of technology startups yet in a world where so many companies are being created it becomes difficult to rise above the noise. Ever notice how some companies tend to be in the press all the time and your big new product launch struggled for inches?

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

At the Twiistup panel last week, there was a debate over whether big companies could be created here, which is ridiculous--Demand Media is the latest example there, we've got Cornerstone OnDemand coming out soon, and there is no question there are market leading, large revenue companies coming out of Southern California.

Redpoint 154

Redpoint Southern California Cornerstone OnDemand Invest 154

TechCrunch LA

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

Anyone who has worked in a large company further knows that timing a product launch or a new marketing strategy has more to do with internal politics than reading market forces. Start writing down predictions about people, companies, and markets. Will “Diet CA-HSR” even get done as feds look to pull back California funding.

Venture Capital 202

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Invest 202

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 24, 2015

Blogging is one of the best ways to do this and build a brand, even before you have a product or service. Develop an efficient and effective writing style. Blogs are a great way for potential business partners to find each other, and build a social media relationship before getting into the hard negotiations of who gets how much.

Blogging 110

Blogging Startup Search Engine Optimization Social Media 110

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 27, 2014

The critical success factors for a product business are well known, starting with selling every unit with a gross margin of 50 percent or more, building a patent and other intellectual property, and continuous product improvement. Low cost and low margin products can be winners, if the volume is high enough.

Services 105

Services Startup Training Writing 105

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2010

One person who doesn’t waste this opportunity is Sam Jones of Formation Media. I run a company called Formation Media. We set up Formation Media to bring that experience to the Internet. We set up Formation Media to bring that experience to the Internet. My partner was in product management at Demand Media.

Startup 315

Startup Content Conference Media 315

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2019

For example, I come from a software background, and back in the early PC days, it could easily cost half a million dollars for a team of professionals to produce a commercial product. Unfortunately, even today, building a good product doesn’t guarantee you a business. Unanticipated pivots, quality write-offs, and shrinkage.

Startup 105

Startup Software Review Technical Review Social Media 105

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2014

The biggest excuse most startup founders mention is too much to do building a product, mapping strategy, investors, etc. I know that finding time is hard, and good writing is simply not what most people do. Once you gain real traction as an expert in your space through the blog, investors will put you at the top of their funding list.

Startup 101

Startup Blogging Writing Google 101