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Amongst the most often asked questions I get from founders is, “How much money should I raise?” Reflexively founders want to raise as much money as they can because they figure it will give them more resources, better chances of competing and a longer runways before they have to do the often painful job of asking, yet again, for money. Every time you ask for money you’re faced with the possible of feeling literally and figuratively like a failure.
This story has been making the rounds lately, and I confess that our research cannot find the source. So, with thanks to whomever created this great little parable, here it is: “Every day, a small Ant arrived at work early and started work immediately, she produced a lot and she was happy. The boss, a lion, was surprised to see that the ant was working without supervision.
Woodland Hills-based ReachLocal is being acquired by publishing giant Gannett Co. , in a deal worth approximately $156M, the two companies said on Monday afternoon. ReachLocal said Gannett would pay $4.60 per share in cash for the company. VantagePoint Venture Partners and Rho Ventures--who own approximately 40% of ReachLocal--said it had agreed to tender their shares to Gannett as part of the acquisition deal.
Hyperloop One, a Los Angeles-based startup working on making Elon Musk’s crazy-fast vacuum tube transportation blueprint a reality, has agreed to partner with the Summa Group and the Russian Government to build a Hyperloop in Moscow. The Summa Group is a Russsian investment group with a large stake in infrastructure investments in the country including port logistics, engineering… Read More.
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.
A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. In 1987, when Rick Astley filmed the video for his hit song Never Gonna Give You Up , he had no idea it would eventually become one of the most viewed videos of all time. By 2016, the video had been watched over 218 million times. Never Gonna Give You Up ’s resurgence began in 2007, when a user on an obscure gaming site posted a link to Rick’s video under the heading for a trailer of the not-yet-released Grand Theft Auto IV video game.
Kobie Fuller, Partner at Upfront Ventures We set out to build a venture capital firm that would not only be a beacon for the rapidly growing LA tech ecosystem but also one that would compete and collaborate nationally with the best firms in the country. To do that you need to have the most talented partners and operating staff because entrepreneurs (and venture capital funds) have choices about whom they will work with and the best deals go to the best firms.
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Kobie Fuller, Partner at Upfront Ventures We set out to build a venture capital firm that would not only be a beacon for the rapidly growing LA tech ecosystem but also one that would compete and collaborate nationally with the best firms in the country. To do that you need to have the most talented partners and operating staff because entrepreneurs (and venture capital funds) have choices about whom they will work with and the best deals go to the best firms.
Santa Barbara-based Impact Radius , which develops digital marketing and affiliate marketing software, has raised $30M in a funding round, according to the company. The funding came from Silversmith Capital partners. Impact Radius--let by startup veteran Per Pettersen--said the new funding will go towards its platform, fund developmentof new products and services, and also to global expansion.
In what might end up being the most-sought-after summer camp experience ever for girls interested in technology and science, The Walt Disney Company said on Thursday that it is launching an on-campus, computer science immersion program aimed at high school girls. Disney said the program which will combine seven weeks of computer coding, with field trips to parts of The Walt Disney Company.
Buy organic groceries online, at an affordable price. That’s the mantra of Los Angeles-based Thrive Market, which has raised a significant $111 million Series B funding round, led by Invus. Thrive, which competes with similar online grocery services like Vitacost, believes there is a significant market opportunity to make natural foods more accessible to consumers and they’ve… Read More.
The Angels Flight funicular, billed as the shortest railway in the world, might be out of commission, but there’s a new way for enthusiasts to get their Angels Flight fix without leaving their computer.
A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. “How much would you pay to have dinner with a lost loved one?” This was a question that my friend and mentor, Bob Wood and I recently discussed during one of our epic bike rides. We both concluded that we would sacrifice an absurd amount of our wealth to spend a few hours with the dear folks we have lost to old age and illness.
The funding environment for tech startups is an ever shifting ground as we go through predictable shifts that go hand-in-hand with the slowing of the overall market. The most important shift I would characterize as the market moving from “high conviction” and thus strong follow-ons to “limited conviction” and lots of gamesmanship / games of chicken … at your expense.
LinkedIn , the owner of Southern California's Lynda.com , is being acquired by Microsoft is a giant, $26.2 billion, all-cash deal, LinkedIn and Microsoft said this morning. According to the companies, Microsoft will pay $196 per share in cash for LinkedIn. LinkedIn bought Goleta-based Lynda.com in April of last year, paying $1.5 billion for Lynda.com.
Phil Hui-Bon-Hoa , the CEO of El Segundo-based Kaleo (www.kaleo.com), is a serial entrepreneur who has previously built and sold four companies, including one acquired by IFILM, and another by Sun Microsystems. He's now hard at work at a new company, Kaleo, which is tackling the enterprise, knowledge sharing market�and already has an impressive list of Fortune 500 customers.
Dave’s note: Our guest author this week is Kevin McDonald, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at Alvaka Networks, a network services and security firm in Irvine, California. He is a trusted technology and security consultant and public policy advisory to some of America’s most influential people and organizations. .
Docupace Technologies, which develops financial document management software, has raised a $16.5 million round of capital from Palisades Growth Capital and TVC Capital.
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Entrepreneurs create their own jobs, why shouldn’t they also create their own degrees? As described in Should Millennial Entrepreneurs Skip College? , most young entrepreneurs benefit greatly from the college experience. However, off-the-shelf majors are typically not suited to the eclectic skills required to succeed in the startup world.
Computer Vison Startup Nanit If you follow me on Snapchat ( msuster ) you might already know that I’ve been looking at and investing in a number of companies in the computer vision space. My thesis is that it will become a major I/O computing metaphor or as this field is sometimes referred to HCI ( human-computer interaction ). Today I am so excited to announce our latest investment in the category — Nanit — which is a smart baby monitor.
Los Angeles-based Heal , which develops an on-demand app and service which connects users with doctors for house calls, has named former co-owner, CEO, and President of the LA Dodgers Jamie McCourt to its board of directors. The company--which is led Dr. Renee Dua--said McCourt was already a founding investor in the company, having invested in the company's seed funding via Jamie Enterprises.
Two, Los Angeles area companies, Paladin Software , and Tipalti , said this week that they have linked up in a strategic partnership, to enable payments to video content creators across different countries. Paladin--which offers up software to manage contracts and payments for multi-channel networks (MCNs)--said it is using Tipalti's technology to streamline payment processing in a creator's local currency.
Here is a variation of the “tree falls in the forest” question. In past insights, we’ve looked at leadership skills, ways to enhance effectiveness, and how to develop creative ideas that motivate and propel your organization to greatness. Here is the ultimate question for a leader…. You’ve heard the old saying that you can lead by fear or lead because people want to follow.
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Are you an entrepreneur that is thinking about dropping out of college? Answer the following four questions first. The startup careers of Zuckerberg, Ellison, Disney, Gates, Jobs, Branson and Dell make it seem that the path to entrepreneurial success is enhanced by avoiding a college degree. I even played into this mythology with a provocative article I wrote about college dropout successes.
Graham calls it “doing things that don’t scale” because part of the definition of a startup is having a scalable technology. So what has changed? Playing Startup. Doing a startup is relatively popular. You know it is when universities start offering “entrepreneurship” programs. As is true for all things popular, there are people who actually do startups and those who play startup.
Santa Monica-based salary comparison startup Comparably , which is led by startup veteran Jasaon Nazar, has run a survey of over 10,000 technology employers, to help break down some information about the pay gap between men and women. The startup's survey found that the pay gap is worst for women in the 18 to 25 year old age bracket. According to the survey and accompanying infographics--which compared the gender pay gap by age, ethnicity, level of education, and other factors --women are paid 2
A new effort, led by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and headed up by startup evangelist Krisztina 'Z' Holly, is looking to bridge the gap between entrepreneurs and manufacturers in LA. The new MAKE IT IN LA effort recently published a study , which found that manufacturing has more employment in LA than the creative industry; and that there is excess capacity in Los Angeles for manufacturing, with lots of potential to tie that manufacturing expertise with LA's new startup culture.
Dave’s note: Here comes my favorite “tell-it-like-it-is” CEO, Kim Shepherd, with another of her “crazy” (meaning excellent) ideas to pry innovative ideas from associates. Does the headline grab your attention? Read on… By Kim Shepherd. What can your department or company buy if it had an extra million dollars? The quick answer is: a whole slew of great ideas.
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Startups, much like ancient tribes, are comprised of a small number of people who band together to battle a cruel, hostile world. Like the tribe, a nascent venture’s survival is precarious and never guaranteed. Success requires everyone applying their specialized skills in concert toward the group’s common good.
Graham calls it “doing things that don’t scale” because part of the definition of a startup is having a scalable technology. So what has changed? Playing Startup. Doing a startup is relatively popular. You know it is when universities start offering “entrepreneurship” programs. As is true for all things popular, there are people who actually do startups and those who play startup.
In the corporate world, events are more than just an event�they are opportunity to connect with your customers and turn potential customers into buyers. How do you make those events happen? We spoke with co-founder Ryan Costello about Santa Monica-based Event Farm (www.eventfarm.com), on how its software technology is being used to power high end, VIP events for large companies.
Universal Robotics , a Danish maker of robots for the industrial and medical markets, says it has set up a new West Coast headquarters in Irvine. According to the company, the new, 3,000 square foot plus base will help it expand local technology and sales support. The new office will be led by Craig Tomita. According to Universal Robotics, the new location is also very close to the University of California, Irvine, which it says is a potential source of engineering talent for the company.
Over the years I have counseled entrepreneurs to think of a “no” response in terms of “yes, but…” There is always another way to say “no” that leaves the door open for creative thinking. Well, almost always. Sometimes, you just have to suck it up and say “NO” with strong conviction. It usually happens after several attempts to find a “yes, but” solution to a problem or issue that just can’t be resolved.
Did you know that approximately 4,000 preventable mistakes occur in surgery every year, resulting in about $1.3 billion in malpractice lawsuits? That’s right, apparently the skilled surgeons rooting around in your stomach are not only falling asleep at the wheel, but they are also costing hospitals more money than you’ve ever seen in your entire life.
Reflexion Health, a San Diego startup founded in 2012 at the nonprofit West Health Institute, is moving to commercialize Vera, its physical rehabilitation system based on Microsoft Kinect’s motion tracking technology. After recently raising $18 million in Series B funding, the healthtech company also plans to add new products as it expands nationally among U.S. healthcare systems, CEO Joe Smith said late Monday.
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