Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 28, 2012

Fred Wilson wrote two posts in 2010 that were very influential with the startup community. The titles were: Mobile First, Web Second. Mobile First, Web Second (continued). If you’re in the minority that never read them – you should. I know that they really impacted an entire cohort of startups because every company that was coming to pitch me businesses was (is) saying, “I’m a ‘mobile first’ company.” Part of the beauty of blogging that in two sittings F

Web 334

Web Mobile Startup Software Review 334

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 9, 2012

Note: This is an installment in the Iconic Advice series. Other installments include: Jeff Bezos , Steve Jobs and Richard Branson. 1. Pressure Helps You Break Through Your Breakdowns. "Mickey Mouse popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner." If you haven't already subscribed yet, subscribe now for. free we

Tips 277

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Entertainment 277

socalTECH

JANUARY 24, 2012

Santa Monica-based GraphEffect , the venture-backed developer of social marketing software, said today that it has hired both a Sales and Marketing VP. The firm said it has appointed David Pollet as Vice President of Sales, and named Jennifer Cooley as Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. Pollet joins from [x+1], and also served at Bankrate.com and Andover.net, along with Bank of America and LendingTree.com.

Sales 213

Sales Marketing Santa Monica Media 213

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2012

Aggregage , the platform that powers StartupRoar has added a powerful personalization engine. That means that the site now allows users to sign-up and have their content personalized based on their interests. You can sign-up via the "Personalize Your Content" button on the right side of the interface shown to the right of the red arrow below.

CTO Hire 175

CTO Hire Newsletter Content Sites 175

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

Berkonomics

JANUARY 27, 2012

What if you are the seller of a previous business or shares amounting to more than an insignificant percentage of a previous business? Certainly the buyer’s asset purchase documents included a non-compete clause, usually valid for two years from the date of the closing. And because there was consideration paid to you in the sale, that clause is binding upon you and is effective almost everywhere.

Patents 159

Patents Sales Email Product 159

SoCal Tech Calendar

JANUARY 13, 2012

Thursday, January 19, 2012 -- MongoLA. Mongo Los Angeles is an annual one-day conference in Los Angeles, CA dedicated to the open source, non-relational database MongoDB.

Conference 124

Conference Los Angeles Angel 124

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 18, 2012

As part of UC Santa Barbara’s Distinguished Lecture Series, serial entrepreneur and noted venture capitalist Mark Suster recently shared his advice with a large crowd of emerging entrepreneurs. Mark is a Partner at GRP Partners and authors one of the most widely read startup blogs, BothSidesOfTheTable. Mark framed his comments around the major mistakes he made during his early ventures.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Startup Conference Santa Barbara 272

socalTECH

JANUARY 10, 2012

Los Angeles-based Phorus , the startup headed by former PhatNoise founder Dannie Lau, has unveiled its first products at CES, a new, wireless audio streaming speaker which ties directly into Android devices. Phorus said its PlayCast product connects to Android phones or tablets, and allows users to stream lossless audio-quality music over Wi-Fi. The new product--aiming at the popularity of similar systems from Sonos--can be linked together to stream audio to multiple rooms.

Los Angeles 211

Los Angeles Product Funding Startup 211

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2012

An "elevator pitch" is a concise, well-practiced description of your startup and your plan, delivered with conviction and enthusiasm, that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator. Everybody knows about these, but few people seem to deliver a good one. A good elevator pitch is not just for an elevator discussion.

Startup 113

Startup Patents Template Competition 113

Berkonomics

JANUARY 12, 2012

Professional investors want to live by this rule. With the first round of funding, there should be milestones to be achieved. If they are not achieved within the expected time, the reasons must be analyzed and acted upon to avoid loss of capital beyond plan or expectation. And if the vision of the entrepreneur is flawed, or the product impossible to create within cost and time expectations, or the demand impossible to quantify, or revenues never close to plan, then it is time to rethink the pla

Incubator 149

Incubator Venture Capital Invest Entrepreneur 149

SoCal Tech Calendar

JANUARY 27, 2012

Thursday, February 2, 2012 -- Business and Financial Outlook 2012. GABA, German American Business Association. The German American Business Association (GABA) invites you to our Annual Business and Financial Outlook Event to discuss the current state and the 2012 outlook of the economy, financial markets, trade, funding climate and real estate market both in the US and Europe.

Clearstone 113

Clearstone Venture Capital Invest Marketing 113

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 5, 2012

Over the holiday I became aware of a new tech blog that aims to have deep insights into the next generation of technology, which they call The Hypernet. Why should you care? Well, it is established by some of the industries more successful investors – Mike Maples and Roger McNamee. My favorite post was this one (image above) in which they talked about their 10 hypothesis for technology investing.

Blogging 280

Blogging Screening Invest Technology 280

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 23, 2012

Note: This is an installment in the Iconic Advice series. Other installments include: Jeff Bezos , Steve Jobs , Richard Branson , Walt Disney and Michael Dell. 1) Get A Mentor. "I started the site when I was 19. I didn't know much about business back then." [Tweet this quote]. If you haven't already subscribed yet, subscribe now for. free weekly Infochachkie articles!

Startup 268

Startup Tips CTO Coach Technical Review 268

socalTECH

JANUARY 16, 2012

California Institute of Technology in Pasadena said over the weekend that Elon Musk , the technology mogul who founded SpaceX and Tesla Motors, and co-founded PayPal, will deliver this year's commencement address in June. Caltech said Musk will deliver the commencement address for the school on June 15th at its campus in Pasadena. The school said that Musk will talk about how "brilliant, big ideas can and will have a positive impact in the world.

CalTech 209

CalTech SpaceX Pasadena Ideas 209

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2012

Entrepreneurs are all about firsts, and the most important is you making a great first impression – on investors, customers, new team members, and strategic partners. Poor first impressions can be avoided, but I’m amazed at the number of unnecessary mistakes I see at those critical first introductions, presentations, and meetings. The key message here is “preparation.

.Net 107

.Net Entrepreneur Google Research 107

Berkonomics

JANUARY 20, 2012

Entrepreneurs tend to remain in the business arena they came from. Some are alumni from companies that would be a competitor to the enterprise being created or joined. And some are former selling shareholders of just those businesses. What is the rule about those pesky non-compete agreements signed upon discharge or sale of the previous company? The good news is that if you were not a significant (usually 5% or more) selling shareholder of a previous company, many states specifically exempt n

Companies 136

Companies Company News Design 136

SoCal Tech Calendar

JANUARY 27, 2012

Thursday, February 2, 2012 -- DOMAINfest Global. DOMAINfest is a conference series that brings domain industry and Internet professionals together to learn, network, and do business. Attendees include online advertising experts, domain publishers, domain monetization experts, SEO and SEM specialists, website developers, online marketers, ad or affiliate network suppliers, search advertising providers, venture capitalists, bankers and trademark/legal advisors.

SEM 113

SEM SEO Web Development Advertising 113

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 3, 2012

Seth Epstein, Founder and CEO SocialStay , former Founder and CEO of FUEL (acquired by Razorfish) and Emmy Award winner for his work on the X-Games, recently spoke at UC Santa Barbara as part of the Technology Management Program’s Distinguished Lecture Series. His talk was especially intriguing, as he attended UCSB, but dropped out to start a clothing design company.

Ideas 266

Ideas Guide Startup Santa Barbara 266

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 30, 2012

Note: This is an installment in the Iconic Advice series. Other installments include: Jeff Bezos , Steve Jobs , Richard Branson , Walt Disney and Mark Zuckerberg. 1. Degree? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Degrees. "As important as school was, I found that it could be very disruptive to a steady income." [Tweet this quote]. According to a January 2012 article in Forbes Magazine , nearly 16% of the 400 most affluent Americans do not have a college degree.

Tips 247

Tips Startup Entrepreneur Santa Barbara 247

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 12, 2012

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Steve Blank, author of Four Steps To The Epiphany , Stanford Professor and noted entrepreneur. Steve was very generous with his time, allowing us to cover a variety of topics during our Skype conversation. The subject discussed in the video below is Steve’s belief that Venture Capitalists should begin their careers as operational entrepreneurs.

Venture Capital 239

Venture Capital Startup Entrepreneur SaaS 239

socalTECH

JANUARY 9, 2012

What do you do when a new industry, which serves the same customers as you do, suddenly appears and starts to grow astronomically? In the case of Los Angeles-based SkuLoop (www.skuloop.com), what you do is you shift your focus to that new industry--in this case, flash sales and daily deals--and figure out how to apply your technical know-how to that rapidly growing market.

Startup 208

Startup Custom Customer Commerce 208

socalTECH

JANUARY 17, 2012

Santa Monica-based Convertro , the venture backed, advertising analytics and optimization firm run by Jeff Zwelling, said today that it has hired Armen Avedissian as its Chief Operating Officer. Avedissian was most recently Chief Revenue Officer at MyLife. Zwelling said that Avedissian is "the biggest hitter" in the area of attribution and media optimization.

MyLife 205

MyLife eHarmony Santa Monica Advertising 205

socalTECH

JANUARY 25, 2012

The love affair between Los Angeles startups combining e-commerce and celebrity continues unbated today, as a new, Santa Monica-based startup headed by actress Jessica Alba --and backed by Brian Lee , the founder of LegalZoom and ShoeDazzle--unveiled itself to the world. The Honest Company says that it will provide eco-friendly products such as diapers, bath and skin products, and household cleaning products to subscribers via a monthly subscription, following the popular model pioneered by Shoe

Product 204

Product Legalzoom Santa Monica Commerce 204

socalTECH

JANUARY 19, 2012

Los Angeles-based Invested.in , which is headed by Alon Goren, is one of a number of companies that debuted at the startup accelerator Amplify LA this week. Invested.in provides a platform which can be used for crowd funding projects, and can also be white labeled by other companies. Amplify is one of a number of accelerators which have cropped up in Los Angeles in the last six months or so.

Los Angeles 200

Los Angeles Platform Funding Startup 200

socalTECH

JANUARY 6, 2012

San Luise Obispo-based Shopatron , the developer of e-commerce software for brand manufacturers, reports today that it added a total of 85 new clients in the sporting goods industry during 2011. The firm said those clients included K2, Rossignol, Powderhorn, Quickpoles, Academy Snowboard, and Bolle, among many others. The firm did not detail how those clients influenced its financials, but did say that the clients came from a range of sports including cycling, watersports, snowsports, action spo

Commerce 196

Commerce Sales Competition Report 196

socalTECH

JANUARY 5, 2012

Last month, just before the holidays, Los Angeles-based PartyEarth (www.partyearth.com) raised $4.0M in capital for its online service for connecting people with nightlife venues. We caught up with Sam Altman, the firm's founder, to hear more about the company, and how we went from working in private equity to heading up a company all about finding nightlife.

Content 196

Content Equity Startup Platform 196

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 25, 2012

Tal Siach is a life-long serial entrepreneur who has mastered social media as a guerrilla marketing tool. In my recent interview with Tal, he describes how his actions encouraged Intuit to play nice with Mint. He also describes how he used Digg to discover the ugliest person on Facebook. If you haven't already subscribed yet, subscribe now for. free weekly Infochachkie articles!

Social Media 194

Social Media Media Tool Advertising 194

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2012

Note: This is Part VI in the Startup Team Building series. Read Part I HERE , Part II HERE , Part III HERE , Part IV HERE and Part V HERE. Two bands, both heralding from Liverpool. Each with a unique look, hip contemporary sound and significant initial success. Why did A Flock of Seagulls crash soon after their initial hit while the Beatles’ career has spanned nearly 40-years, including a number one CD (“Love”) as recently as 2007?

Startup 193

Startup Competition Marketing Sales 193

socalTECH

JANUARY 27, 2012

Dmitry Shapiro , the former founder and CEO of Veoh, and later head of MySpace Music and Facebook alternative Altly, said Thursday that he has launched Uberpaper , a new, online news reading service to help people read and navigate news. Shapiro announced the new site on his Google Plus stream, saying that the new service is looking to make news easier to navigate, and add social features and voting to help the "most relevant news to bubble to the top.

News 191

News Veoh Google Report 191

socalTECH

JANUARY 18, 2012

Los Angeles-based Gamzee , the HTML5 game development firm headed by Howard Marks, one of the founders of Activision, has shifted its staff as it rethinks how to approach the market. The startup develops the Skyscraper City social game, which lets users create and build a city, adding buildings, redeveloping neighborhoods, and more. According to Marks, the firm has decided to rethink the opportunity, and now sees that it's important to create smaller, rather than bigger games, due to the time it

Activision 191

Activision Mobile Resource Los Angeles 191

socalTECH

JANUARY 5, 2012

Santa Monica-based Nimble , the developer of online, contact and relationship management software headed by Jon Ferrara, the former founder of Goldmine, said last night that it has raised $1M in a seed funding round. The round was led by Google Ventures and Mark Cuban. The funding also included Jason Calacanis, Don Dodge, Dharmesh Shah, and others. Nimble helps users manage their connections and customers, including integration with email software like Gmail and Microsoft Outlook.

Google 190

Google Santa Monica Seed Funding Email 190

socalTECH

JANUARY 13, 2012

San Diego-based Telcentris , which develops voice-over-IP and other voice systems for business, said this week that it has named Cliff Rees as President of the firm. Rees was most recently at Leading Edge Communications, XCast Labs, GlobalTouch Telecom, as well as Telegroup. The firm said Rees will oversee operations, sales, business development, and product management.

IP 189

IP San Diego Sales Product 189

socalTECH

JANUARY 20, 2012

Los Angeles-based Mobile Roadie , the developer of branded, mobile applications, is powering another app release, this time from the band the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Mobile Roadie said that the Red Hot Chili Peppers released its free app earlier this week. The app is currently Mobile Roadie's number one app in terms of downloads this week. Mobile Roadie has not announced any details of the deal to develop the app; the company is behind a significant number of high profile apps for brands, musicia

Mobile 185

Mobile Los Angeles Angel Develop 185

socalTECH

JANUARY 16, 2012

Santa Monica-based TrueCar , the online auto buying site led by Scott Painter, said Monday that it is addressing compliance issues and concerns with its service with a change to its billing model. The firm said it will offer up a new, flat fee billing model in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a move which comes after a public complaint by the state, which was made public most recently in December, "reminding" the company that the laws of that state prohibit compensating anyone in connection with th

Truecar 185

Truecar Santa Monica Advertising Sales 185

socalTECH

JANUARY 10, 2012

Santa Barbara-based RinvRevenue , the provider of pay-per-call marketing technology, said today that it has partnered with mobile ad network firm Tapjoy. The two said they partnership will deliver advertisers with more customers through inbound calls. Financial details of the partnership were not announced. RingRevenue's technology helps track the source of inbound calls from affiliate networks.

Mobile 182

Mobile Networking GRP Partners Santa Barbara 182

socalTECH

JANUARY 27, 2012

Looking to get a bargain on a domain name? Don't look for Bargain.com , which is one of the domain names being auctioned off at the Moniker domain name auction at next week's DomainFest , the domain name conference spearheaded by Los Angeles domain firm Oversee.net. In a pre-auction listing of domains to be auctioned off at the conference, Oversee.net, which owns both Moniker and SnapNames, put a $750,001 to $1M starting bid on the Bargain.com domain.

Oversee.net 180

Oversee.net Conference Los Angeles Sales 180