Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 15, 2011

With the advent of social networking sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, Internet usage has totally morphed, from a serious business medium, to a social and fun medium that still means business. Regular people now build business applications with “mashup” technology, rather than hiring programmers.

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Social Network Networking Sites Startup 95

SoCal CTO

MARCH 4, 2010

I’ve worked with 30+ early-stage companies in all sorts of capacities (and spoken to many, many more), so I thought it might be worthwhile trying to classify the various ways that I’ve engaged in different technology roles in startups. It depends on the business, people, technologies, etc. Each situation is just a bit different.

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Technical Review Technical Advisors CTO Coach Startup 170

socalTECH

JULY 19, 2012

Los Angeles investor Baroda Ventures , the venture capital arm of David Bohnett, has re-upped on online fashion and e-commerce site Fab.com , in a big, $105M third round of funding for that site. Baroda has been an investor in Fab since its seed funding back in June of 2010. Bohnett is the founder of Geocities.com. READ MORE>>.

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socalTECH

OCTOBER 16, 2008

Los Angeles-based You2Gov, an online social networking startup focused on politics, said this week that it has added new technology to allow its users to directly contact members of Congress. The firm's site now allows users to email, write, or make calls via Skype and Jaxtr to their political representatives.

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Sites Social Network Writing Resource 100

socalTECH

AUGUST 24, 2010

Los Angeles-based social networking site MySpace , which is a unit of News Corporation, said late Monday that it is integrating the Fox Audience Network (FAN) directly with MySpace. Fox Audience Network is News Corp's ad serving unit. The Fox Audience Network was created in 2007 as a spinout of MySpace.

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Networking Social Network News Advertising 185

socalTECH

MAY 27, 2009

San Diego-based Interacasting Corporation , a provider of mobile social networking software, has been acquired by Good Technology, the firms said this morning. According to Redwood City-based Good Technology, the acquisition will further expand its device portfolio and enhance the capabilities of its solutions.

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socalTECH

JANUARY 15, 2013

MySpace , the online social networking site which is now owned by Specific Media, has finally rolled out its new, Justin Timberlake-inspired web design, in conjunction with the release of a new single from Timberlake and JAY Z. READ MORE>>.

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Design Web Design Social Network Press 159

socalTECH

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Los Angeles-based Passenger , a developer of private social networking sites for brands, said today that it has raised an additional $7.5M Nour-Omid is a partner at Shelter Capital, and has previously served at Scopus Technology and StudioXchange, and also serves on the boards of Roamware, Isensix, and Kryptiq.

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Steamboat Ventures Social Network Venture Capital Networking 145

socalTECH

JULY 11, 2012

What does social networking have to do with the stock market? Vinny talked with us about his start, which allows users to discuss and collaborate on their stocks and finances in a social way. We wanted to tackle that problem, by using a social network. In that network, we bring in content from all over the web.

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socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

Santa Monica-based social analytics software developer MomentFeed announced this week that it has been accepted into the Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD) Program, Facebook''s program for linking with companies who develop technologies in the advertising, page management, social integration, and tool areas for the social networking site.

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socalTECH

AUGUST 16, 2012

ViSalus , a nutritional supplements maker co-founded by Los Angeles-based, technology entrepreneur Ryan Blair, has filed for an IPO, saying that it is looking to raise up to $175M in an IPO. Exchange and other details of the IPO have not yet been set for the company, whose corporate name is FVA Ventures. ViSalus is based in Troy, Michigan.

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socalTECH

JANUARY 23, 2013

If you are a millenial entering the workforce, what would you be most comfortable with -- a tool designed to work and look like a social network, or a tool built around an old fashioned corporate enterprise software UI? PromoJam debuted its brand new, self-service version of its social promotions tool today, PromoJam 2.0,

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Tool Services Social Network Template 190

socalTECH

MARCH 4, 2010

The three said they acquired MindJolt, a developer of games for Facebook and other social networking sites, as part of the effort, but did not disclose financial terms of the deal. The new firm will be headed by former MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe.

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Chief Technology Officer Social Network Venture Capital Sites 174

SoCal CTO

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

Fake Site - you can have what looks to be a real site, even take "orders" but not actually have anything able to run it. Leverage Existing Platforms or Third Party Products - you want to test your social network, grab Drupal and whip something together, or even just use a hosted service.

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Technical Review CTO Hire CTO Coach Software Review 338

socalTECH

AUGUST 24, 2010

Los Angeles-based social networking site MySpace has acquired Threadbox , a developer of email messaging software, according to Threadbox. According to Michael Cerda, the firm's co-founder and CEO, the team will be applying the firm's technology at MySpace. Financial details of the buy were not disclosed. READ MORE>>.

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Email Social Network Acquisition Los Angeles 167

socalTECH

JULY 7, 2010

Rumored to be prepping for an IPO, just inked a deal to launch a new beauty and fashion site with Tyra Banks. Confident Technologies / Curtis Staker / San Diego - Staker is the former President of Websense, and has pulled together an experienced team with a depth of experience from the firm. which he sold to AOL.

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Southern California Entrepreneur SoCal Mahalo 228

socalTECH

OCTOBER 27, 2011

The company said Thursday that it has released technology which help employers cut down on employees watching time-wasting viral videos and entertainment--while still allowing those employees to access other, useful content on sites like YouTube, Facebook, and other social sites.

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Social Network Entertainment San Diego Content 154

socalTECH

JULY 27, 2011

A new, Los Angeles-based startup FundaGeek , focused on the crowdsourced funding market, is getting set to launch in the next few weeks, hoping to tap into the crowd to help get technology-based projects off the ground. Gutierrez said that the site is looking to fill the "frustrating hole" between "great idea" and traditional venture funding.

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socalTECH

MARCH 10, 2010

Van Nuys-based Audiolife , a firm that develops tools and technology to sell merchandise to music fans, announced today that it has raised $1M in a bridge round of funding. The company said the funding will go to hire key personal, further develop its technology platform, and for strategic partnerships. READ MORE>>.

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Van Nuys Funding Social Network Venture Capital 145

Eric Greenspan

MAY 25, 2010

For one, we built a following by using Facebook and Twitter and other social networking sites. Our audience can interact with Jeremy, ask questions and the entire show is posted as a video on the site and blog shortly after the show airs. OSN 101 – Online Social Networking news and tips.

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Social Media Media Blogging Social Network 220

socalTECH

APRIL 30, 2010

Last week, San Diego-based Confident Technologies (www.confidenttechnologies.com) announced that it had acquired the assets of Vidoop, and created a company focused on security and authentication of users. What does Confident Technologies do? The Confident authentication suite of software, which also includes out of band technology.

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Technology Web Sites Orange County 124

socalTECH

MARCH 24, 2011

Woodland Hills-based CrowdGatehr , which operates a network of special interest message boards and forums, announced Thursday that it has named Taher Scherzay as Vice President of Technology. CrowdGather said Scherzay joins from Elexity Systems, where he was co-founder and CTO.

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Woodland Hills Social Network Web Networking 154

socalTECH

MAY 18, 2012

As Mountain View-based social networking site Facebook hits the market today, in what is the largest tech initial public offering in history, one question is if it will spur what has, so far, been a lackluster IPO market for Southern California technology firms.

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socalTECH

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

Santa Monica-based Image Metrics , a developer of facial animation technology, announced Thursday morning that it has acquired Big Stage , the developer of avatar creation software. Image Metrics said it would merge Big Stag's avatar creation platform into its existing, real-time video animation technology. READ MORE>>.

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Metrics Tech Coast Angels Santa Monica Mission Ventures 145

Berkonomics

JUNE 30, 2012

Email readers, continue here.] There are a number of ways to do this effectively, including the use of social networks to create buzz, seeding product acceptance through early adopters or celebrities, or by creating a small niche market that shows unusual acceptance and more. Dave’s book: Positioning.

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Case Study Study Social Network Advertising 212

socalTECH

DECEMBER 8, 2009

Recently, San Diego-based Rippol (www.rippol.com) launched its web site, a service which uses social networking to help people find and discover interesting videos related to their interests. Instead of 20 comedies on one site, now you have 5000 on one site. So is this more social networking, or is this search?

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UCSD Social Network Content Sites 145

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2011

Johnson, announced a move to allow other sites to host and show content via a new Lunch Network effort. So that's what the Lunch Network is. Most importantly, it now gives all of their users and readers to not only read content on the site, but they can engage, interact, and create content. We caught up with J.R.

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Content Software Review Technical Review Sites 242

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

Learn something new - most programmers love learning new technologies or solving new kinds of problems. Not Knowing Enough - Unfortunately, you also cannot get into a conversation with a programmer and not know the first thing about the technology. If you don't understand the basics about mobile technology, then read up on it.

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Guide Startup Mobile Framework 349

socalTECH

MARCH 17, 2009

Rob Farrow is one of the co-founders of Chi.mp , a new startup which is getting set to launch a service to allow users to manage their profiles across the many sites on the Internet. We had a concept around creating a platform, using open standards, to resolve lots of the issues surrounding social networking and the issues of identity.

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Social Network San Diego Sites Startup 147

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 23, 2013

Working with professional athletes combined with my natural leadership ability and experience in business development makes me uniquely suited to lead a technology company in the health and fitness industry. Sergey Belyankin is our Chief Technology Officer. Advertising revenue is generated from each site visitor, paid or otherwise.

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Social Network Networking Training Summary 92

socalTECH

AUGUST 20, 2009

Sherry Gunther: MyMiniPeeps.com is a unique, online community for kids ages 6-13, which is both a social networking community as well as a game site. It's unique, in that it encompasses the concept that the kids are empowered to run the community, instead of just hanging out and visiting it like most sites.

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Media Tech Coast Angels Social Network Content 150

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 12, 2013

Full-service Pinterest marketing and technology startup – HelloSociety recently announced it had driven $30 million in additional sales revenue for its over 350 brand clientele through Pinterest. million new users and 22 million unique page views to its clients’ sites as a result of its effective campaign execution. million followers.

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Sales Technical Review Marketing Technology 101

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 19, 2020

The roughly 300,000 marchers that filled the streets of downtown Los Angeles for the third annual Women’s March received more than just an opportunity to hear from some of the state’s high powered politicians, they were also part of a new experiment from local March organizers in bringing technology into the movement.

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socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

According to FastSoft, the network includes 30 nodes "around the globe" which can be used to test performance enhancements from using the firm's Dynamic Site Acceleration (DSA) product and software. The firm's technology is based on out technology developed at Caltech for the Internet2 and for improving web transfer speeds.

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Networking CalTech IP Social Network 133

socalTECH

MARCH 9, 2015

Wonder why once dominant social networking site MySpace --once the poster child for the Los Angeles technology startup world failed under News Corp? sean percival lalawag myspace social networking lessons' Former MySpace VP Sean Percival says it was a "spaghetti-ball mess". READ MORE>>.

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Social Network News Networking Los Angeles 100

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

In his quest to better connect with new friends, Alex Capecelatro had a problem: none of the existing social networking sites were really designed to connect people with who you didn't know, and might share your hobbies and interests. Alex Capecelatro: Hyphos is a social discovery platform. What is Hyphos?

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UCLA Culver City Startup Social Network 187

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2009

One of the firms launching this week there is Los Angeles-based NativeTung (www.nativetung.com), which is developing tools to help web sites translate and create multilingual versions of their sites. Idris Manley: Essentially, what we do is we create a global layer for web sites, that supports multiple language content channels.

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