Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 1, 2016
Rolf Winkler wrote a piece in the WSJ about A16Z’s returns in which he says they “lag behind Sequoia, Benchmark and Founders Fund.” Scott Kupor of A16Z responded with a comprehensive overview of valuation methodology in a post that while accurate feels more targeted at sophisticated Limited Partners (LPs) who invest in funds. Let me offer you an insider’s take.
L.A. Business Journal
SEPTEMBER 30, 2016
Russian private aviation holding company CJSC S7 Group’s purchase of Sea Launch, a rocket launch company that operates out of the Port of Long Beach, is making waves in the Southern California aerospace industry, with a legal challenge by the Boeing Co. and concerns about the Russian company’s involvement.
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Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 22, 2016
Imagine yourself with a calendar requiring you to be in six meetings in a day. Day after day. How long would it take to induce you to rethink your use of time – and that of the others sitting (or standing) beside you? More important, how long would it take to realize that there is something wrong with the enterprise when it takes constant meetings to get the job done?
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
For a lot of companies�and their management and legal teams-- managing the reams of paperwork involved with legal contracts is a big, disorganized mess. To address that disaster, Ken Button and Randy Bishop�two veterans of the startup industry�created ContractSafe (www.contractsafe.com), a new online service aimed at helping companies to tame that mess and manage and store their contracts in the cloud.
Advertiser: Aggregage
Office leases are one of companies’ largest expenses, and if your whole team is working from home with no clear end in sight, you may be wondering what to do about your lease.
SoCal Tech Calendar
SEPTEMBER 15, 2016
Wednesday, September 21, 2016 -- "Artificial Intelligence. Friend or Foe?" Explore the Unfolding Mystery of AIs Impact of Humanity. MIT Enterprise Forum of the Central Coast. Is humanity at the dawn of a new age of enlightenment, inspired by benign AI enabled tech; or on an unalterable path to computer driven subservience to AI powered, self-aware machines?
InfoChachkie
SEPTEMBER 6, 2016
A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. Novelist and High School Dropout Louis L'Amour knew the importance of seemingly unimportant people (AP Photo). “Growth hacking” is one of today’s most overused terms, yet despite its trendiness, it predates the Internet by centuries. Entrepreneurs have been seeking clever shortcuts to spur their growth and circumvent their competitors since the dawn of commerce.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
L.A. Business Journal
SEPTEMBER 16, 2016
Guitar maker Fender looks to crank the volume on sales with a new outpost in Hollywood.
Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
Think for a minute whether there is any process or person that could be classed as the eye of the needle in your organization. Is there anything, process or person, that stalls the flow of work from start to finish? A CEO once told me that she was ‘the eye of the needle’ in her organization, purposely controlling quality of service and making sure all of her direct reports let her know of each . decision and action they undertook.
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 27, 2016
LeisureLink , the developer of vacation rental booking software which was started in Pasadena, has shut down all of its operations, and laid off all of its staff. In a letter to partners, LeisureLink said all employees of LeisureLink are being terminated and the platform turned off, after its management was unable to raise additional equity to fund the company.
SoCal Tech Calendar
SEPTEMBER 30, 2016
Thursday, October 6, 2016 -- Energy Storage North America. North America's largest conference, exhibition and networking event for the energy storage industry. Now in its fourth year, ESNA connects developers, energy users, utilities and policymakers to advance understanding and deployment of energy storage and ultimately build a cleaner, more affordable, and more resilient grid.
InfoChachkie
SEPTEMBER 20, 2016
A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. Businesses typically use LinkedIn to recruit employees. However, savvy startups can leverage LinkedIn to create a customer acquisition and a churn reduction tool. In particular, one of Rincon Venture Partner’s portfolio companies, SimpleLegal, has had so much success mining LinkedIn for customers that the CEO was initially reluctant for me to name his company in this article, fearing his competitors will mimic their common sense, yet cleve
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 14, 2016
I recently read a blog post by Beezer Clarkson, Managing Director of Sapphire Ventures about why entrepreneurs should care about from whom their VC funds raise their capital. I spent a bunch of time thinking about this position — especially since Beezer is an investor in Upfront Ventures. There are a lot of things I think entrepreneurs should care about when raising from a VC: How big or small their fund is?
L.A. Business Journal
SEPTEMBER 15, 2016
Southern California Edison has selected Tesla Motors Inc. to build a 20-megawatt battery storage facility in Mira Loma for an undisclosed amount.
Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 15, 2016
Is your commission structure so complex that even you must have help understanding it – and calculating a commission on a pending bid? Sales people are incentivized by money. They usually are able to calculate what’s in it for them before they make the final presentation and ask for the order. But what if the commission plan is so complex that even the people who should be most excited cannot understand or calculate the winning numbers?
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 26, 2016
LeisureLink , which develops vacation travel booking software and technology, and was started in the Los Angeles area, appears to have halted its service, telling its partners on Friday that it has suspended accepting new reservations as well as modifying existing reservations. The company--which is still backed by a number of Southern California investors, including the Tech Coast Angels--had merged with VacationRoost.com back in 2013, and moved its headquarters to Utah.
SoCal Tech Calendar
SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
Wednesday, October 5, 2016 -- Energy Storage North America. North America's largest conference, exhibition and networking event for the energy storage industry. Now in its fourth year, ESNA connects developers, energy users, utilities and policymakers to advance understanding and deployment of energy storage and ultimately build a cleaner, more affordable, and more resilient grid.
InfoChachkie
SEPTEMBER 13, 2016
A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. A friend recently asked me to give his startup-minded daughter some advice to help her vet undergraduate entrepreneurial programs. As I thought about the characteristics that comprise a great program, I identified five criteria that a prospective entrepreneurial student can use to evaluate the efficacy of a collegiate entrepreneur curriculum.
Tech.Co
SEPTEMBER 6, 2016
Kids require a lot of attention , and if we ourselves are not available to give that extra care to our kids, we are keen on finding someone who we trust would do a great job. Trust is a huge factor in relegating childcare to others; we need to feel the connection, and believe that our kids are in safe hands and that the person doing the job is willing and capable of giving the utmost possible care.
L.A. Business Journal
SEPTEMBER 30, 2016
ArbiClaims believes it has settled on a successful strategy in providing speedy online arbitration
Berkonomics
SEPTEMBER 1, 2016
This is not necessarily the way we intend to behave as managers, but our headline reflects the reality of most experiences when viewed in retrospect. We carefully vet the potential hire for experience required. Ninety days or longer later, if that person is terminated by management, it often is for actions resulting from the person’s relationship with others in the organization more often than failure to perform the specific task for which the person was hired.
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 20, 2016
Los Angeles-based digital marketing agency Wpromote said on Monday that it has launched a new set of scholsrships, which will go to students interested in digital marketing. According to Wpromote, the new scholarships--which will be awarded bi-annually--will total $3,000, with the first award in December of this year. The company will award a $1500, $1000, and $500 scholarship to students who are in high school, undergraduate school and graduate school, and are open to students of all majors and
SoCal Tech Calendar
SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
Tuesday, October 4, 2016 -- Energy Storage North America. North America's largest conference, exhibition and networking event for the energy storage industry. Now in its fourth year, ESNA connects developers, energy users, utilities and policymakers to advance understanding and deployment of energy storage and ultimately build a cleaner, more affordable, and more resilient grid.
Startup Professionals Musings
SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
In my experience mentoring new entrepreneurs and aspiring business leaders, I see far too many who seem to be driven by all the wrong reasons. Everyone seems to espouse extrinsic motivations, such as getting rich, having power, and fulfilling parent dreams, when in fact a focus on satisfying internal interests and desires will likely lead to more success, as well as satisfaction.
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
ServiceNow , the developer of service management software led by Frank Slootman--and which started in San Diego--has launched its own venture capital arm, ServiceNow Ventures. According to ServiceNow, which is based in Santa Clara but still has major operations in San Diego, ServiceNow Ventures will target investments in early stage companies that develop cloud-based applications, built on its platform, as well as growth stage vendors developing strategic technology integration with the ServiceN
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 22, 2016
Urban Airship , a startup which develops mobile analytics and engagement software, said today that it has named two executives--both of whom have had prominent roles at Santa Barbara area technology companies. The company--based in Portland--said it named Scott Allen as its CFO, and Eric Holmen as its SVP of Worldwide Sales. Allen had previously been VP and CFO of Citrix Online, which is based in Santa Barbara, in addition to current roles at Intermedia and a prior role in finance at ADP.
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 15, 2016
Most of the insiders and hiring executives in Los Angeles know how hard it is to find technical talent in Los Angeles�but not all realize it's not because of lack of talent, but because of very high demand. Last week, job search service Indeed launched a new service in Los Angeles, called Indeed Prime , hoping to jump into the market for finding talent here to address that issue.
L.A. Business Journal
SEPTEMBER 8, 2016
Virgin Galactic’s commercial spaceship, VSS Unity, took to the skies above the Mojave Desert on Thursday, the craft’s first test run since its predecessor SpaceShipTwo crashed and killed one of its pilots in 2014.
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 27, 2016
Location-based information service Foursquare said on Monday that it has opened up its first office in Los Angeles, in Playa Vista. According to Foursquare, the new office will help it meet explosion in demand, in part due to local local automotive, entertainment, CPG and QSR customers. The company said that Lindsay Aston, Matt Bontaites and Karen Lurry will lead the new office.
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 20, 2016
Los Angeles-based Fika Ventures , founded by Tx Zhuo and Eva Ho , is looking to raise a total of $50M for a new investment fund, according to a pair of regulatory filings by the firm in the last week. The new firm has two separate filings for a $38.5M fund, Fika Ventures LP, and $11.5M for Fika Ventures - A LP. The firm has not detailed any plans on the new investment fund or its focus.
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 20, 2016
Calabasas-based audio technology developer DTS is being acquired by San Jose-based Tessera Technologies , in a deal worth approximately $850M in cash, the companies announced today. According to the two companies, Tessera will acquire DTS by paying $42.50 per share in cash, which is a 28 percent premium to the 30-day volume weighted average price of DTS.
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 13, 2016
Most professionals know that networking is the key to building their business and finding new opportunities, but don't necessarily know how to go about doing so effectively. A new, Los Angeles-based startup, Zenvoy (www.zenvoy.com) is looking to change that, with a service that helps match professionals with one-on-one networking. We spoke with Bill Webster , Founder and COO of Zenvoy, to learn more about the company.
L.A. Business Journal
SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
Daqri pitches its augmented reality Smart Helmet as a good fit for engineering and industrial jobs.
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 27, 2016
Redland-based GIS software developer Esri said on Monday that it has been selected by Microsoft , to offer up its GIS services for Microsoft Power BI and Microsoft Azure. Esri said its ArcGIS platform will be integrated into Microsoft's Power BI (Business Intelligence), a set of business analytics tools. Esri will also offer up its ArcGIS Pro desktop application via Microsoft Azure.
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 23, 2016
Los Angeles-based streaming media delivery provider Triton Digital has won the business of Bloomberg Media , the consumer facing arm of Bloomberg L.P., as part of a delivery, monetization, and measurement deal. Financial details of the partnership were not announced. The two companies said that Bloomberg Media is using Triton's technology to delivery financial information and news audio listeners, including using Triton's digital advertising platform and analytics software.
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
A new, Santa Monica-based cybersecurity startup, Opaque Communications , said on Tuesday that it has launched the company and released a new suite of products in the cybersecurity area. The startup, led by Dwayne Hall, said its new products are aimed at the financial services, healthcare, biotech, defense/aerospace, entertainment and R&D markets, and offer up a "hack-resistant" data center storage system called Dark Vault, a fully encrypted, cloud service called Dark Transmit, and a secure,
socalTECH
SEPTEMBER 14, 2016
Are you a startup looking to find funding in Southern California? It's often tough to figure exactly who the venture capital funds are who are funding startups in the area. However, for members of socaltech.com, it's a click away with our real time analysis of venture funding flows. Here are the venture firms who have been most active in SoCal (Santa Babrara - Los Angeles - Orange County - San Diego) in the last twelve months, based on the number of deals: 1.
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