Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 1, 2016

Having time to think about “leadership” at most startups feels like a luxury. It feels like something you could turn your attention to once you have tens of millions of dollars and a large staff to run operations and you could step back from it all and think about how to lead. The reality of most startups is about survival. And because running a company requires money to fuel staff and offices and acquire customers and the like, much of the time spent in early days at a start feels l

Startup 237

Startup Coach Course Invest 237

Berkonomics

JANUARY 14, 2016

You may not know that you have access to many “free” sources of social media contacts to help you in your marketing effort. The first semi–secret source is your LinkedIn contact list. You probably thought it was proprietary to LinkedIn, or at worst, available only when sending messages through LinkedIn to your list. I have thousands of LinkedIn contacts and am willing to assume you have a large number as well.

Social Media 163

Social Media Media Email Content 163

socalTECH

JANUARY 20, 2016

Santa Monica-based TaskUs , the outsourcing firm founded by Jaspar Weir and Bryce Maddock, said today that it has just passed up 5,000 employees. The company--which had just over 1,000 employees in 2014, and started with a mere 5 employees in 2011--says it now has five outsourcing centers in the Philippines. TaskUs has seen rapid growth due to its focus on back end office functions for many, "unicorn" startups, and such customers as Tinder, Savings.com, Wikipedia, Gilt Groupe, and many, many oth

Outsource 160

Outsource Santa Monica Startup Equity 160

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 12, 2016

A version of this article previously appeared Forbes. Long before author Stephen King sold over 350 million books, he was a budding entrepreneur. In order to pay his college tuition, young Stephen created a sole proprietor startup with a very entrepreneurial pricing structure. Leveraging his core competency, Stephen cranked out term papers for his fellow students.

Activity 138

Activity Startup Sales Santa Barbara 138

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.

Company

Eric Greenspan

JANUARY 24, 2016

This silent feud between Seth David and I had been pretty one sided, until now. Like Ice Cube and Dr. Dre use rap lyrics, Seth and I use social media instead. We recently parted ways and agreed to do so amicably. After being what I assume is the subject of one or more of Seth David’s emotionally charged blog posts, I’ve decided it’s time to respond.

Content 119

Content Blogging Burbank Course 119

TechCrunch LA

JANUARY 20, 2016

Los Angeles Uber riders, rejoice. UberX is finally coming to LAX. The company announced that as of 8 a.m. tomorrow, riders will be able to request and get picked up by UberX cars. This comes exactly one month after Lyft launched at LAX, which was originally announced by LA’s Mayor Eric Garcetti. Uber and Lyft had battled for months with the airport and the LA city council to reach… Read More.

Los Angeles 100

Los Angeles Angel Company Companies 100

Berkonomics

JANUARY 21, 2016

Using old email lists for the first time is like eating really stale doughnuts. The taste is pretty bad, and the side effects could be disastrous. Email companies like Constant Contact, Mail Chimp and many others all have strict rules they follow to avoid being caught in spam hell, with their servers blacklisted and worse. Each has automated software watching over your uploads of new lists.

Email 160

Email Marketing Yahoo Class 160

socalTECH

JANUARY 25, 2016

There's a large number of on-demand services which have been appearing recently, to help people deal with almost every aspect of their life. One of the latest is Los Angeles-based Helpr (www.helpr-app.com), which recently launched to help parents find babysitters for their children. Becka Klauber Richter is co-founder of the startup, and spoke to us about the company, which she co-founded with Kasey Edwards.

Demand 159

Demand CTO Coach Screening CTO Hire 159

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 25, 2016

A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. It is no secret that the number of private companies with valuations in excess of one billion dollars has skyrocketed since the start of 2014. As show in CBInsight’s chart, the number of such “unicorns” created during the first half of 2014 was roughly equivalent to the number created during the prior three years.

Startup 133

Startup Entrepreneur Invest Venture Capital 133

Eric Greenspan

JANUARY 9, 2016

Patience, it’s not only a virtue, it’s a requirement for success. Rarely does anything build and become valuable over night and usually, if it does, it will fall as fast. A good idea can mature to a great idea and a great business but it requires attention, nurturing and more importantly, patience. But most important is your ability to stay the course.

Course 104

Course Ideas Entrepreneur 104

Tech.Co

JANUARY 19, 2016

CapLinked , a secure enterprise sharing and storage provider, today has announced a new round of funding totaling $3.5 million. The round is led by Subtraction Capital, and includes investments from PayPal co­founder Peter Thiel , Indicator Ventures, and venture debt lender Western Technology Investment (WTI). The California-based team plans to use the new round to grow their team, marketing efforts, and further grow the company.

Doc 109

Doc Invest Screening Capital 109

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2016

Spoiler alert: MCNs don’t exist. They are a figure of your imagination. 20 months ago we sold Maker Studios to Disney for $500 million in cash plus a large earn out. From the day after we sold the company until today I felt it was important that I not comment too much publicly about online video even though I continued to work actively in the sector and made five more investments.

Content 178

Content Snapchat Platform SEO 178

Berkonomics

JANUARY 28, 2016

No–one needs to tell you that mobile readers now outnumber desktop readers for your message. A recent Experian marketing survey revealed that 52% of all email opens are from mobile devices, and that 38% of all clicks are from mobile devices. Experian looked at three hundred brands and 21 billion emails – a few more than you or I have as a resource for our marketing intelligence.

Email 156

Email Marketing Web Mobile 156

socalTECH

JANUARY 21, 2016

Are you one of the unfortunate folks who have had to clear out of Porter Ranch due to the giant natural gas leak? Los Angeles-based on-demand, self storage service Clutter said Thursday that it will offer up three months of storage to residents have have been asked to evacuate during the methane leak disaster. The company said the offer comes after it heard the local, Public Storage in Porter Ranch has been completely booked by residents leaving the area.

Demand 155

Demand Los Angeles Capital Services 155

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2016

Everyone recognizes a great leader when they work with one, but most leaders don’t know what to look for in themselves that will drive that perception by others. In my experience, there is no magic gene involved, just simple good habits executed consistently and convincingly until everyone around you wants to follow your example. This leading by example is easy to say, but not so easy to put into action.

Examples 76

Examples Startup Coach Patents 76

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 5, 2016

rhubarb studios, the Los Angeles-based venture studio that helps entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life, announced that it raised $1 million in seed funding. This money will be used to further grow the studio and amplify resources for [build], rhubarb studios ’ three-month immersive coaching program which takes startups from conception to series A.

Coach 63

Coach Seed Funding Design Resource 63

Tech.Co

JANUARY 28, 2016

Interested in meeting early-stage accredited investors in Los Angeles? Then register for the FundingPost Investor RoundTable on February 4th, 2016 at 2:00pm. FundingPost has hosted 300+ sold-out venture events in 23 cities over the past 14 years. At the LA Angel Investor Roundtable, the panel of investors will focus on pitching to early-stage investors, and what it really takes to get them to write you a check!

Los Angeles 70

Los Angeles Angel Venture Capital Writing 70

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 24, 2016

I’ve been spending a lot more time on Facebook as a blogger than I ever did. So I thought it was worth explaining why. And I’m going to cross post this entire post on Facebook as an experiment rather than just posting a link on FB and trying to drive people to my blog. If you want to follow me on Facebook I’m here. So if you’re reading this on Facebook (or on my blog!

Startup 165

Startup Blogging Newsletter Social Network 165

Berkonomics

JANUARY 7, 2016

There is so much information being shot at us daily via social media streams that we should monitor and control that which pertains to our business – and do so with some level of expertise. There are tools to inform you when your company name or personal name is mentioned. Google Alerts can be set for any parameter and then be set to deliver your results daily or more often using Google.com/alerts.

Social Media 146

Social Media Media Search Engine Optimization Tool 146

socalTECH

JANUARY 4, 2016

Over the last week or so, we've featured the reflections of our readers on 2015 and what it has meant for Southern California's technology industry. Our last contribution comes from Hamet Watt , a venture capitalist at Upfront Ventures (www.upfront.com). What was the biggest news for you or your firm this year? Hamet Watt: Upfront Ventures raised a brand-new $300 million fund, Upfront V.

Southern California 154

Southern California Entrepreneur News Technology 154

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2016

Most entrepreneurs, and members of any small team, naively assume that the key to their success is hard work, dedication, and long hours in the business. In reality, their effectiveness is usually more related to how well they develop their work relationships with peers and business leaders. First they need to decipher correctly every relationship as a workship, friendship, or foe.

Mentor 70

Mentor Competition Entrepreneur Summary 70

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 27, 2016

TechZulu is excited to invite you to the 2016 Startup and Entrepreneur Forecast taking place Thursday, February 11 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Cross Campus in Santa Monica. We will have amazing panelists from Crosscut Ventures, Machine Shop Ventures, Techstars, and more to be announced soon who will share their insights and forecast for startups in 2016.

Startup 63

Startup Santa Monica Venture Capital SaaS 63

Tech.Co

JANUARY 14, 2016

HQ is excited to present the first event in our Living Room Series. Join us for a home-cooked meal, workshop, and salon-style discussion on the topic of ‘User Experience Beyond the Screen.’ The event will be small and hands-on, and it is for entrepreneurs, designers, developers from a range of backgrounds to encourage diverse dialogue from a variety of perspectives.

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Screening Los Angeles Angel Design 70

Jason Nazar

JANUARY 1, 2016

I was an infamously odd student in business school and law school. I never bought books, rarely went to class, and hardly studied for exams. But I did spent those four years starting businesses and courting many mentors to help me along the way. Instead of studying for my classes, I’d set up new meet & greet meetings with successful alums. At the end of every meeting, I’d ask, “Would you consider being my mentor?

Mentor 41

Mentor Startup Class Study 41

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 30, 2016

5 years ago I sat at our annual meeting bored beyond belief. It wasn’t just that I have ADD making boring meetings excruciatingly painful – it was that the format was tired, unimaginative, uninspiring and not very useful. We did what many VC funds did – we presented our annual results, we stood up and talked about our portfolio companies, we invited a few to also present and then we had dinner & drinks at some posh restaurant.

Venture Capital 179

Venture Capital Startup Course Funding 179

socalTECH

JANUARY 11, 2016

In an unusual twist for the car sharing market, a new, Los Angeles startup-- WaiveCar --said today that it has launched a new, mobile phone-driven car sharing program in Santa Monica and Venice, which lets drivers drive cars for free. The startup said the free car usage comes thanks to sponsors, who have plastered their advertising on the startup's automobiles.

Santa Monica 150

Santa Monica Venice Advertising Los Angeles 150

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 1, 2016

Welcome to another challenging new year ahead! You’ve probably already made your resolutions for 2016, but if not, I suggest a renewed commitment to finding happiness and satisfaction in your chosen business lifestyle. After all, most of us spend more hours in this role than any other, and life is too short to spend most of your life unhappy. If you haven’t tried it, one way to be happier at work is to be an entrepreneur, according to a classic study by the Wharton School of Business a while bac

Entrepreneur 69

Entrepreneur Satisfaction Study Writing 69

Tech Zulu Event

JANUARY 18, 2016

Wearable IoT World (WIoTW), based in San Francisco and heralded as the world’s first accelerator dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT), wearables and emerging technologies, today has officially launched the U.S.-Pan Asia IoT Superhighway accelerator in Hong Kong. Closing a round of USD 4.5 million led by Radiant Venture Capital , the accelerator will focus on driving IoT innovation and entrepreneurship in Hong Kong and Asia while pushing forward IoT development globally.

Funding 63

Funding Venture Capital Chief Technology Officer Class 63

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 4, 2016

A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. It was a decade ago that I led the sale of Expertcity (creator of GoToMeeting) to Citrix. During the early 2000’s, my team grew the company to one of the largest SaaS businesses of its day, with sales of $70 million. In November of 2015, Citrix announced that it will spin out the “GoTo” Division, of which GoToMeeting remains the flagship product, as a standalone public company.

SaaS 141

SaaS Yahoo Advertising Customer 141

socalTECH

JANUARY 20, 2016

Redlands-based GIS and mapping software developer Esri has launched a new product, which takes aim at enterprise users of Google Earth. According to Esri, its new ArcGIS Earth software is a free, desktop based interactive globe which allows users to visualize, explore, and understand spatial data, letting users work with 3D and 2D map data. Esri said the new offering is part of an effort to help support current Google customers and partners, who were using Google Earth Enterprise (Google Earth E

Google 138

Google Software Development Software Customer 138

socalTECH

JANUARY 4, 2016

Auto maker Toyota , which is headquartered in Torrance, says this morning that it is announcing how it plans to leverage artificial intelligence research in its next generation vehicles. Toyota, which has not yet revealed the details of the announcement, said the effort comes out of the Toyota Research Institute (TRI), a research and development enterprise focused on artificial intelligence for automobiles, robotics, and scientific discovery.

Artificial Inteligence 136

Artificial Inteligence Torrance Research Invest 136

socalTECH

JANUARY 26, 2016

Los Angeles-based HopSkipDrive , the kids' ridesharing service which is led by Joanna McFarland, said today that it has raised $10.2M in a Series A funding. The funding was led by FirstMark Capital, and also included Greycroft Partners and Pritzker Group Venture Capital, along with prior investors Upfront Ventures, BBG Ventures and 1776. The ridesharing service--which taps screened, childcare providers to drive children around town for busy parents--also said it has named the former GM of Uber i

Services 133

Services Screening Los Angeles Venture Capital 133

socalTECH

JANUARY 28, 2016

Los Angeles- and Berlin-based eKomi , a developer of software to solicit ratings and reviews from e-commerce customers, has added Anastassia Lauterbach to its board of directors. Lauterbach has served on the boards of Dun & Bradstreet, Kaspersky Labs, Intel, and Star Alliance, and been an executive at Qualcomm, Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile International, Daimler Chrysler Services, and McKinsey & Co. eKomi is led by Michael Ambros, and says it is headquartered in Berlin and Los Angeles with

Beverly Hills 130

Beverly Hills Software Review Invest Commerce 130

socalTECH

JANUARY 26, 2016

A big Los Angeles area construction and engineering firm, AECOM , said Tuesday that it has been selected to build the first, Hyperloop test track, for a competition being run by Hawthorne-based SpaceX. AECOM said it is building a six-foot diameter, steel tube track which will run nearly one mile, adjacent to SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorn, as part of the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition.

SpaceX 130

SpaceX Hawthorne Outsource Development Competition 130

socalTECH

JANUARY 15, 2016

Santa Monica-based venture capital investor March Capital Partners is the lead investor in a developer of cloud networking technology, VeloCloud Networks , as part of a new $27M funding round for that company. VeloCloud, which is based in Silicon Valley, said the new Series C funding was led by March Capital Partners, and also included Cisco Investments, New Enterprise Associates, and Venrock.

Capital 130

Capital Funding Santa Monica Venture Capital 130

socalTECH

JANUARY 7, 2016

San Diego-based Emotient , a developer of facial expression recognition software, has been acquired by Apple , Apple disclosed on Thursday. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Emotient, which was backed by Handbag and Intel Capital, had developed applications for Google Glass and other platforms to be able to tell what a person was feeling based on their facial expression.

Artificial Inteligence 130

Artificial Inteligence San Diego Google Software Development 130