L.A. Business Journal
AUGUST 19, 2016
Los Angeles County tech wages are growing faster than the earnings of tech employees in the nation’s other big cities, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics compiled in a report by downtown real estate investment firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.
Both Sides of the Table
AUGUST 29, 2016
GOAT just announced it raised $5 million in venture capital led by our friends at Matrix Partners. On the surface that sounds unremarkable — fundings happen daily. But this isn’t just any funding. GOAT (“Greatest of All Time) is a sneakerhead marketplace that is en fuego, but we led the company’s last financing round in 2012 (yes, four years ago) when they were an application for letting people join group dinners.
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socalTECH
AUGUST 30, 2016
Santa Monica-based Washio , the venture-backed, on-demand laundry startup, has shut down, according to the company. The company said that it will be shutting down its operations, as of Aug 29., and returning orders to customers. The company did not say why it decided to shut down. Washio had raised around $21.86M in funding, from such investors as A Grade Investments, AME Cloud Ventures, Canaan Partners, Pejman Mar Ventures, Sherpa Ventures, Three Six Zero Group, plus Ashton Kutcher and a large
InfoChachkie
AUGUST 8, 2016
A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. Kate Hudson, Emma Roberts, Eva Longoria, Jessica Biel and Rihanna began wearing Z Supply's clothing before it could be purchased online. It may seem hard to believe, but even in 2016, there remain a number of successful consumer brands that are not sold online. The reasons companies elect to sell exclusively offline differ, but they often center on managing channel conflict with their retail partners.
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.
Berkonomics
AUGUST 25, 2016
How do you teach your work force that mistakes are OK as long as they learn and don’t repeat them? By being a visible example. A friend and fellow CEO states that he publishes each of his mistakes in his company internal blog along with the lesson he learned. “If the CEO can do this, he gives permission for anyone to confess as well,” he states. You may not know it but the National Transportation Safety Board has for years offered a reporting program for pilots, air controllers and others inv
Xconomy
AUGUST 26, 2016
Heather and Jessica Tomko will tell you that they’re nothing alike. They’ve got different interests, different tastes in movies, television, and music. If Jessica hates a gift, Heather probably loves it. Heather just scored tickets to see the Broadway show Hamilton and can’t wait. Jessica sighs. “You can’t get a bigger fad than Hamilton,” Jessica says.
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Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 13, 2016
Time is too precious to waste trying to close a deal with the wrong investors at the wrong time. Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup.
socalTECH
AUGUST 18, 2016
Los Angeles-based local search site YP said today that it has named a new CEO, Jared Rowe. Rowe was most recently at Cox Enterprises, serving as President of Cox Automotive Media Solutions Group--which runs Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, and Dealer.com. Rowe had been at Cox since 2010. Former CEO David Krantz, who has led YP since its spinoff from AT&T in 2012, will continue as a Strategic Advisor to the company.
InfoChachkie
AUGUST 25, 2016
A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. Despite his non-existent education and numerous personal demons, James Brown was a gifted entrepreneur who reveled in proving Conventional Wisdom wrong. In the early 1960’s, it was generally believed that soul music needed to be watered down (think Motown) in order to crossover to white consumers.
Berkonomics
AUGUST 18, 2016
Over fifty years ago, I was CEO of a record manufacturing company in Hollywood. We were the only such facility on the West coast to provide and control the entire process from studio, through finished vinyl record pressings in the same building, therefore able to promise quality control others could only dream about. As founder and CEO of the then public company, I was expert in several of the “clean” processes such as studio recording, record mastering, cover design and photo– lithography.
Xconomy
AUGUST 22, 2016
In downtown San Diego, a private real estate company best known for its master-planned communities in suburban Southern California has posed some existential questions for regional tech hubs looking to build their own startup ecosystems. For example: Can a 20-story office tower serve as a “vertical campus” and innovation hub for local tech companies?
L.A. Business Journal
AUGUST 31, 2016
Point-of-sale system manufacturer Appetize of Santa Monica has signed a deal with venue management firm Legends to outfit the Los Angeles Rams’ temporary home, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, with its devices.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 14, 2016
As a startup investor in this age of the entrepreneur, I see many more startups, but innovation is still hard to find. The most common proposals I hear are for yet another social networking site ( over 200 active ), or another dating site (over 2500 in the US alone). Startups which display real innovation, such as alternative energy sources and new medical treatments, are still rare.
socalTECH
AUGUST 8, 2016
Last week El Segundo-based Wpromote acquired fellow marketing agency Standing Dog, in a deal which brings the company to 260 employees, and continues to grow the company. We caught up with founder and CEO Mike Mothner --who we first interviewed back in 2007 --to catch up with the company, gets some hints and tips on growing a company, the challenges of bootstrapping, and why Wpromote hopes to be buying more companies in the future.
InfoChachkie
AUGUST 22, 2016
A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. L-to-R: John Greathouse, unknown woman about to slap John, Reed Shaffner, Jerry Jao & Ara Mahdessian. My venture firm, Rincon Venture Partners recently teamed with Jason Lemkin, Founder of SaaStr , to host the first SaaStrX event. I had the honor of moderating a panel of three SaaS CEOs who have collectively raised nearly $40 million of venture capital and are on their way to breakout success: Reed Shaffner of Workpop , Jerry Jao of Re
Berkonomics
AUGUST 11, 2016
It happens all the time when you’re a CEO. Somebody important leaves or is let go, and you worry over the impact upon remaining employees and customers. You worry that the person leaving will begin to unload all the pent–up garbage from the past, perhaps damaging the company and causing customer defections and even employee unrest. Your worry is real.
Xconomy
AUGUST 5, 2016
What is the ideal age to start a company? It’s a question that often circulates in the business press and on tech blogs. Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists have weighed in from time to time and their answers tend to fall into two camps. The first group advocates for the 20s as the optimal time. That’s when you have the passion, creativity, and energy necessary for entrepreneurial innovation.
L.A. Business Journal
AUGUST 8, 2016
In a move to align itself with its paid-subscription rivals, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, television-streaming service Hulu of Santa Monica has ended its free-to-view streaming service.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 24, 2016
I always tell entrepreneurs that two heads are better than one, so the first task in many startups is finding a co-founder or two. You need to find the skills or experience you don’t have in business, technology, or money. So the first question I usually get is what percent of the company or equity is that person worth? Giving a co-founder a salary won’t get you the “fire in the belly” you want.
socalTECH
AUGUST 3, 2016
Los Angeles-based pet sitting marketplace DogVacay has announced its first, DogVacay Scholarship, a $3500 award which was open to any, entrepreneurial student either entering as a freshman to college in the Fall of 2016, or a student currently enrolled at a university. DogVacay said it awarded its first scholarship to Dusty Lynn Shipley, 19, of Arlington, TX, for her idea of an underground water detection system that would use soil-moisture levels to regulate sprinklers and save water.
LATechDigest
AUGUST 30, 2016
LA area developers and entrepreneurs — submissions are now open for the Apple-produced show PLANET OF THE APPS , featuring judges Will.i.am, Gary Vaynerchuk, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jessica Alba. Lightspeed Venture Partners is partnering with Planet of the Apps by committing to invest a minimum of $10M into apps that are discovered on the show. Says Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed, “Planet of the Apps isn’t just a show, it’s a launch pad and accelerator for exceptional ideas.
Berkonomics
AUGUST 4, 2016
It’s a term rooted in ancient philosophy. Robert Greenleaf may have been the first to resurrect the concept in his book published in 1970. Not quite as bold as inverting the management triangle, the concept of servant leadership requires that a business manager focus upon his or her people’s highest priority needs first. The question begged by the headline above is whether this form of leadership is perceived as soft, indecisive, and inappropriate for the fast–moving world of today’s business.
Xconomy
AUGUST 1, 2016
Spinal muscular atrophy affects over 25,000 people in the U.S. and stops many of them from ever being able to walk. Yet scientists’ understanding of the underlying genetic cause of SMA is fairly recent, which is why drugs for the disease are only now progressing through the pipelines of biotech and pharma companies. The most advanced of those therapies is a treatment developed by Carlsbad, CA-based Ionis Pharmaceuticals, and today that drug, known as nusinersen, took an important step forw
L.A. Business Journal
AUGUST 12, 2016
Appetize’s point-of-sale devices aim to help venues get a line on their concession stand needs.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 17, 2016
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. If your forte is a service, like consulting or web site design, it’s harder to find guidance on what will get you funded, and how you can scale your business.
socalTECH
AUGUST 26, 2016
Laguna Beach-based in-home care provider 24Hr HomeCare said Thursday that it has partnered with Uber , to offer up transportation for aging adults. According to the in-home care provider, it will provide those adults with rides from Uber drivers, who are specially trained by the Open Doors Organization to deal with such things as folded wheelchairs, walkers, and mobility aids, and who might be returning from the hospital.
LATechDigest
AUGUST 23, 2016
The LA Dodgers And R/GA Announce Second Sports Accelerator Program Companies. Focus is on Growth-Stage Companies and Strategic Business Development. The Los Angeles Dodgers and R/GA Ventures are pleased to announce the five companies chosen for the second LA Dodgers Sports Accelerator. The program launches today in R/GA’s LA office. The companies include new platforms for creating real-time data, video, and highlights for amateur and professional sports teams, community-based content creation to
Both Sides of the Table
AUGUST 14, 2016
I love reading non-fiction as a way to challenge myself to understand topics that stretch my understanding of the world around me. I love history and biographies and even novels that are “faction.” This Summer I read “The Third Chimpanze” by Jared Diamond and since he’s my favorite history writer I of course loved it. If you haven’t read Diamond, though, I’d recommend starting with “Guns, Germs & Steel” & then “Collapse” but all three are worth reading.
Xconomy
AUGUST 10, 2016
On the day after Intel announced its acquisition of San Diego machine learning startup Nervana Systems, investor Steve Jurvetson told me he was feeling a sense of satisfaction about a call he made three years ago, and how it has been playing out. In a 2013 panel discussion at Silicon Valley’s Churchill Club, the DFJ partner said “machine learning” was his pick as the most important tech trend to watch for the next three to five years.
L.A. Business Journal
AUGUST 26, 2016
Ransomware attack on medical center may have nursed cybercriminals’ interest in such hacks.
Startup Professionals Musings
AUGUST 29, 2016
Most entrepreneurs I know are so passionate about their new idea that they are surprised when family and friends don’t line up to invest in their new venture. Yet they tend to ignore this problem, and move on quickly to professional investors. They don’t realize that most Angel investors and venture capitalists will also decline to be first, if you have no commitment from friends and family.
socalTECH
AUGUST 24, 2016
Real estate management software developer Accruent , which was founded 20 years ago in Los Angeles by Mark Friedman, said today a that Friedman--its CEO for nearly 20 years--is shifting to become Chairman of the board. John Borgerding becomes CEO of the company. Friedman is stepping away from the CEO role four months after the company was acquired by Genstar Capital.
socalTECH
AUGUST 2, 2016
Ojai-based software testing developer GenRocket , and digital services provider UST Global , which is based in Irvine, announced Tuesday that the two are in a new partnership, where UST Global will tap GenRocket's technology for automating the generation of test code and test data. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed. UST Global said the move will help it provision test data for projects early in the software development life cycle for its clients.
socalTECH
AUGUST 10, 2016
In what looks to be an unprecedented surge in high profile, high value exits for high tech companies in Southern California, there have now been six big exits in the region over the last month worth over $100M. Those exits--worth more than a collected $3.8 billion--include the recent sales of Vizio , Dollar Shave Club , Nervana Systems , TouchCommerce , and Orbitera , and Aurrion.
socalTECH
AUGUST 1, 2016
Irvine-based dental laser maker BIOLASE , which trades on the NASDAQ as BIOL, said this morning that it has raised a private placement worth $10M. The funding came from Jack W. Schuler Living Trust, Oracle Partners, L.P. and Oracle Institutional Partners L.P., along with a number of its directors and officers. Biolase said the investors are paying $113.00 per share in stock, for 88,494 shares of its convertible preferred stock.
socalTECH
AUGUST 11, 2016
Westlake Village-based PureSpectrum , a startup which operates an online marketplace to help buyers collect survey panels, has raised $1.6M in a funding round, according to the company. The funding came from multiple, un-named strategic partners. The company was founded by Michael McCrary. PureSpectrum is part of the Hub101 startup incubator space in Westlake Village, which is part of the Cal Lutheran University Center for Entrepreneurship.
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