It’s quite possible that Snapchat could do the same for L.A. Column Social TC Los Angeles Snapchat PayPal Mafia Evan SpiegelIf you were to write a history of Silicon Valley, you could do it by looking at a series of major diaspora. MORE

For the past few months I’ve been doing nearly daily “Snapstorms” or short videos with startup advice released on Snapchat. Among the most comical things to me in the past few years is just how much it annoys some people that I use Snapchat. Snapchat is faster and easier. MORE

WhatsApp updates with Snapchat-like vanishing content, SpaceX lands its latest Falcon 9 rocket booster, media buying on Snapchat confuses advertisers, and more MORE

Los Angeles-based Naritiv , a new startup developing a network of content creators for Snapchat, has raised $3M in a funding round, the company said Thursday. The startup--founded by Dan Altmann and Eric Posen--says it is enabling the creation of mobile-first content for Snapchat and other social network platforms. naritiv venture capital snapchat content creation hollywood social media network MORE

Analyst says Facebook monopoly crushing competitors such as Snapchat, Hyperloop One delays testing of pod, and Jam City launches bubble shooter game based on ‘Peanuts MORE

Venice, California-based Snapchat said Tuesday that it has settled a dispute with Reggie Brown , the fellow Stanford University student who had claimed that he came up with the idea for Snapchat. Brown had sued Snapchat, CEO Evan Spiegel, and CTO Robert Murphy in November, as well as all of the company''s investors, saying they had stolen the idea from him. snapchat lawsuit reggie brown legal settlement social media MORE

In a bid for a new generation of readers, Playboy , the men's magazine best known for its long history of nude photo pictorials of women, has launched a new "non-nude" era of the publication, with a Snapchat-like front cover. MORE

Venice-based Snapchat might be the darling of the technology startup scene, but there are at least three, privately held startups--and maybe, more--in Southern California who recently passed $100M in revenues, according to a look through recent announcements. Snapchat had reportedly been on track to hit a $100M run rate--a longtime milestone--in 2015, however, has not announced yet if it hit that goal. acquisition merger revenues steelhouse advertising openx market thrive snapchat MORE

Venice-based Snapchat is hoping to launch an IPO, which will raise the company an astounding $4 billion in capital--valuing the company at between $25 billion and $35 billion--according to a report on Wednesday from Bloomberg. Snapchat is in the midst of an IPO effort being led by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group. Snapchat recently changed its corporate name to Snap, Inc. snapchat snapinc snap merger acquisition exit social networking MORE

the parent company of Snapchat , has filed lawsuit in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging that he was fired for refusing to tell lies to potential IPO investors. The lawsuit, filed by Anthony Pompliano, claims that Snapchat used false statistics on user numbers to recruit Pompliano from Facebook, and that Snapchat has since made it difficult for him to find a new job. snapchat legal lawsuit merger acquisition anthony pompliano court facebook MORE

Venice-based Snapchat , the high flying, high profile startup led by Evan Spiegel, is planning an IPO, according to Spiegel, who talked about the company's IPO plans at a conference on Tuesday. The plans for an IPO are not a surprise, given the ultra high valuation that Snapchat has been getting in its latest private funding rounds. snapchat merger acquisition evan spiegel MORE

Venice-based instant messaging startup Snapchat , arguably Southern California's highest visibility "unicorn" startups, had a mere $3M in revenues between January and November of 2014, according to leaked documents published on Gawker. According to documents posted by the online publication, Snapchat lost $128M in the period, on only $3M in revenues. Snapchat was most recently reported to have a valuation north of $16 billion. MORE

Los Angeles-based Snapchat confirmed it has raised $50M in a Series C funding Wednesday, as the hot, instant photo messaging app developer reportedly turned down a $3 billion offer from Facebook and has decided to continue on as an independent company. Snapchat has now raised $125.0M MORE

Venice-based Snapchat has selected two investments banks--Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs--to lead the company's much anticipated IPO, according to a report from Reuters Wednesday afternoon. The report--citing "a source familiar with the situation"--said the IPO would value Snapchat at $25 billion. Snapchat--which recently renamed itself Snap, Inc. --has messaging networking social acquisition merger sachs goldman stanley morgan snapchat MORE

Venice, California-based Snapchat has hired on Facebook executive Sriram Krishnan, who had headed up Facebook's ad network for the last few years, according to a report on Monday. snapchat facebook executive advertising network videoKrishnan ran Facebook's Audience Network, its effort to sell display and video ad space on Facebook apps. READ MORE>>. MORE

Venice-based instant messaging app maker Snapchat has raised another $175M in funding , according to the WSJ this morning, from Fidelity Investments. According to the report, the new funding values Snapchat at $16 billion, the same valuation as the company's last funding injection. Snapchat has now raised more than $1.2 snapchat venture capital instant messaging fidelity investments communications MORE

Yesterday I wrote a primer on how to use Snapchat for my peer group of “over 30” people who don’t yet “get” Snapchat. Today I want to talk briefly about why I believe Snapchat is an important media company. It’s up to Team Snapchat to live up to its financial expectations but I believe it certainly has the potential. Snapchat is performing off the hook on all fronts. But Snapchat starts with one hell of an advantage. MORE

Snapchat IPO investors won’t get voting power, Wilcon plans to wire downtown Los Angeles to aid increased cell demand, DirecTV Now customer complaints growing, and more MORE

Venice, California-based Snapchat reportedly is hoping to generate between $300M and $350M in revenue this year, according to a report published Tuesday. Snapchat--which has yet to publicly announce financials--apparently hit a "$100M run rate", but not actual yearly revenue, in Q4 of last year. Snapchat has a valuation of over $16 billion, but also has seen massive user adoption of its messaging apps and features such as Snapchat Stories and Snapchat Discovery. MORE

Venice-based Snapchat has confirmed its acquisition of Bitmoji, the developer of software which lets people create their own, personalized "emoji", which they can insert into Snapchat. The company--which announced the deal via a comic strip on Tuesday--said Bitmoji's team has joined Snapchat as part of the deal. Snapchat reported paid around $100M for Bitmoji's parent company, Bitstrips. merger bitmoji snapchat acquisition comic strip emoji software MORE

Venice-based social networking app developer Snapchat looks to be on the prowl for employees, based on a new recruiting video released onto YouTube by the company Wednesday morning. In the video, Snapchat''s employees -- of which there are 35 -- talk about working at Snapchat and in Venice. MORE

Venice-based instant photo messaging service Snapchat has released an update to the company''s software for both Android and iOS, in response to the major security breach over the holidays resulting from the abuse of its "Find Friends" feature. MORE

Venice-based Snapchat is reportedly near a $110M acquisition of mobile search startup Vurb , according to reports. Neither Snapchat nor Vurb have yet confirmed the deal, which apparently has yet to be signed. snapchat vurb merger acquisition search mobile discoveryThe original report cited a "person famliar with the deal". READ MORE>>. MORE

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. You can follow me on Snapchat here or by searching in the app for msuster. MORE

Los Angeles-based Snapchat has acquired emoji software developer Bitstrips , in a deal worth around $100M in cash and stock, according to a report this morning. cartoon emoji animation software acquisition merger snapchat bitmoji MORE

By now if you follow me on Twitter you probably know that I do near daily “Snapstorms” or a collection of short videos (usually < 5 mins in total) with entrepreneur advice on Snapchat. You can follow me on Snapchat at msuster. Snapchat is similar. MORE

Snapchat founders add class of shares to maintain control after IPO, website optimizer Zarget raises $6 million, and Snapchat launches a ‘Snapshow’ with Jimmy Fallon MORE

the parent company of Snapchat. Snapchat is reportedly hoping to have an IPO as early as March. snapchat snap merger acquisition google capital capitalgGoogle Capital , the late stage investment firm owned by Google parent Alphabet, Inc., has confirmed it is a backer of Snap, Inc. , The confirmation of the investment came via a listing on the portfolio page of Google Capital, which was renamed CapitalG this week. In a related move, The Information says that Snap Inc.--in MORE

Los Angeles-based MomentFeed , which develops social marketing software to help multi-location, retail brands better manage the information about their local stores, has linked up with Snapchat's partner program, according to the company. Snapchat said that MomentFeed is now one a number of "Snapchat Partners", which lets MomomentFeed's customers execute targeted, location-based paid advertising campaigns using Snap Ads and Geofilters. MORE

A report, published by eMarketer on Tuesday, says that Venice, California-based Snapchat will earn an estimated $1 billion in ad revenues next year. The report predicted that Snapchat will represent 2 percent of social network ad dollars in the US next year. eMarketer said it calculated the ad revenues based on its own revenue model, consumer adoption estimates, monetization trends at similar social networks, and monetization assumptions for different Snapchat ad products. MORE

Tinder acquires Snapchat-like app Wheel, Snap Inc. aims to raise as much as $3.2 billion in IPO, and Disney’s Maker Studios is eyeing layoffs MORE

And Snapchat has changed the game and in ways that I think the community doesn’t even quite understand yet. (If If you’re not a Snapchat user and want a taste of what I do there check out: Snapstorms.com where I save the videos permanently.) But here is what I’ve learned about Snapchat. MORE

Venice-based Snapchat has named Tom Conrad, the former CTO of Pandora, as its new VP of Product, the company disclosed on Wednesday. snapchat pandora product executiveConrad--who is based in the Bay Area--was CTO at Pandora between 2004 and 2014. He also served at Kenamea, Pets.com, Documentum/Relevance, Berkeley Systems, and Apple Computer. READ MORE>>. MORE

Venice, California-based social messaging service Snapchat is opening up an office in Seattle, and plans to hire at least 50 staffers in the Rain City. According to a report , Snapchat has leased 8,000 square feet in the city, part of a quest to find more technical talent for the company. snapchat seattle office expansion growth jobs employment MORE

About 30 percent of brand accounts on Snapchat are dormant, Virtualitics raises $3M to Visualize data in VR and AR, and SpaceX runs Hyperloop contest this weekend MORE

Snapchat reportedly preparing for $25 billion initial public offering, Reaction Commerce raises $2.7 million, Rubicon Project hires Google executive as chief product officer, and more MORE