Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 6, 2012

This article originally ran on TechCrunch. Chris Anderson wrote a really influential book some years ago called “ The Long Tail ” that shaped how many people think about emerging Internet markets. If you haven’t read it you should consider adding it to you library. It was especially influential in my mind in thinking about media. At the simplest level you can think about markets in terms of the number of times media is consumed and/or purchased by people plotted against the tot

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Media Netflix Content Hulu 302

SoCal CTO

JUNE 26, 2012

I've done four Free CTO Consulting Sessions in the past month with startup founders who all had run into variations of the same problem. They didn't feel they had visibility into timelines and costs for development of their software. They couldn't plan their business. Investors and early customers were becoming worried about the ability of the founder to deliver.

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Outsource Development Software Development Develop Development 254

InfoChachkie

JUNE 11, 2012

HIGHEST DEGREE OBTAINED BY AMERICA'S 400 RICHEST PEOPLE Source: Forbes Magazine, Jan 2012. According to a January 2012 Forbes article, nearly 16% of the 400 most affluent Americans do not have a college degree. When one considers the 400 richest people on the entire planet, the percentage of non-college graduates doubles. Shocking? Hardly. PayPal Co-founder Peter Thiel has granted 24 people under 21 years old $100,000 each, with plans to allocate additional scholarships in coming years.

Tips 279

Tips Startup Education Entrepreneur 279

socalTECH

JUNE 6, 2012

Are you one of the folks who spent this afternoon changing your LinkedIn password, after a password leak at the popular business social networking site? If so, Los Angeles-based MySocialCloud has a feature for you: an automatic, random password generator. MySocialCloud said it has had a feature which allows users to create extremely secure passwords for the passwords stored at the site, to help prevent issues like the one which occurred at LinkedIn.

Social Network 263

Social Network Sites Los Angeles Content 263

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

JUNE 30, 2012

We have grown more than a bit weary of most advertising, no matter in what form. We are constantly bombarded by ads in multiple types of media, to the extent that we most often tune them out unless particularly entertaining from the first moment. Dave’s book: Positioning. In my keynotes on trends in technology, I often lead into one of the trends with the proposition that we have left the information age and are solidly within the age of recommendation , pointing to the fact that 69 perce

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Case Study Study Social Network Advertising 212

SoCal Tech Calendar

JUNE 12, 2012

Monday, June 18, 2012 -- How Investors Really See Your Startup. SCV Startup. Ever wonder how an investor would view your startup? How do they make decisions on what to invest in? How do they decide how much to invest? If you read Tech Crunch it seems like every startup is raising capital.that's far from the truth. Less than 1 0.000000e+00ven get close.

Startup 147

Startup Pasadena Angels Pasadena Writing 147

Frank Addante

JUNE 6, 2012

When you lead a business, moving forward and achieving results are always more important than being right. Maybe it's because I'm part-Italian. Nothing boils my blood more than when I feel I've been wronged. I always try hard to take the high road. But it's often far easier said than done. I've learned that feeling wronged doesn't necessarily mean that I am being wronged.

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Course Product Entrepreneur Company 111

InfoChachkie

JUNE 4, 2012

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”. Eleanor Roosevelt – US Diplomat & Wife of President Franklin Roosevelt. As an entrepreneur, I helped create companies which achieved two IPOs and two trade sales totaling $385 million. During those same 15-years, I made innumerable mistakes. Entrepreneurship is best learned experientially , both directly and through the experiences of others.

Entrepreneur 272

Entrepreneur Outsource Ideas Technical Review 272

socalTECH

JUNE 20, 2012

There is a large menu of startup accelerators in the Los Angeles, but one of more established efforts in the area is LaunchpadLA ([link] The effort actually started as an informal mentoring program, but has grown and expanded to follow the accelerator model. We caught up with Sam Teller , who is directing efforts at the accelerator, to help fill entrepreneurs in on where the program fits in the world of technology and startup acceleration.

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Class Mentor Startup Santa Monica 261

Berkonomics

JUNE 7, 2012

I am constantly surprised when speaking with entrepreneurs and CEO’s who act puzzled and a bit flustered when I ask, “So what is your mantra? Tell me about your company in ten words or less.” Almost every one begins a long explanation of their business that is nearly impossible to follow, let alone recall a few moments later. And each lost an opportunity to tell their story in a memorable way that has power and boosts their enterprise value in the minds of the listener.

Coach 204

Coach Email Entrepreneur Tool 204

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 19, 2012

LA City Council Member Eric Garcetti will give the opening keynote for the inaugural Silicon Beach Fest , a celebration of digital innovators in startups and entertainment happening June 21 – 23. Garcetti, who is currently running for Mayor of Los Angeles, is a fourth-generation Angeleno known for his support of digital and technology initiatives across the City.

Rustic Canyon 104

Rustic Canyon Santa Monica Entertainment Journal 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 24, 2012

At some point in their life, hopefully everyone strives to be the best in their chosen profession. Most people think that being the best requires more intelligence, more training, and more experience. In reality, in business or even in sports, the evidence is conclusive that it is as much about how you think, as what you do. I saw this illustrated well recently in a sports excellence book called “ Training Camp: What the Best Do Better Than Everyone Else ”, by Jon Gordon.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Training Slides Pricing 106

Steve Reich

JUNE 11, 2012

This is not an article about the high moral purpose and the nobility of listening to your customers. It is an article about how to make your company worth a fortune by listening to your customers. Why does Google dominate search? They obsess about having the best search out there. Why do so many of us have iPhones? It gives the best customer experience of any phone.

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Customer Custom Software Review SaaS 97

InfoChachkie

JUNE 18, 2012

This article originally appeared on Forbes HERE. Philo Farnsworth created a technology which underlies one of the 20 th Century’s most ubiquitous products, yet he died a man of modest means and is relatively unknown today. Philo was an inventor, not an innovator. He was primarily motivated by the educational potential of his invention, not the wealth it might generate.

Ideas 221

Ideas RSS Technical Review .Net 221

socalTECH

JUNE 7, 2012

Look out, Pinterest -- Pasadena-based LoveIt is looking to unseat the popularity of the photo sharing site, with its new platform, and $6M in funding. LoveIt, headed by former PriceGrabber President Ron LaPierre, said today that it raised a Series A round from Juvo Capital and PG Ventures, to bolster its "visual curation and sharing platform." The firm said its allow individuals and groups to discovery, collect, organize, and share photos with their friends, and has already inked deal with major

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Pasadena Platform Organization Sites 235

Berkonomics

JUNE 15, 2012

One important element of positioning a company is pricing strategy. There are five niches you can chose when defining your positioning strategy: price, quality, service, innovation, and elegance. And although many positioning efforts cross the lines between these, great companies play to the strength of just one. And within that slice of differentiation, to make any sort of impact and lasting company, the difference between you and your competitor cannot be incremental.

Pricing 149

Pricing Competition Coach Sales 149

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 4, 2012

We’re driven by challenges and the desire to win. It’s in our blood as humans, some more than others. Gamification fuels that drive and brings the competition to technology. We see it in web applications, mobile apps, project management tools, etc. But if you’re a company looking to motivate your employees or engage with customers where do you start?

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Platform Mobile Startup Software 93

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2012

Money to build the business is the number one challenge for most startups. Don’t believe the urban myth that you can sketch your idea on a napkin, and professional investors will throw money at you. In reality, only 3 out of 100 companies who apply are successful with Angels, and the success rate with VCs is even lower. A large percentage of startups never apply to either.

Technical Review 103

Technical Review Equity Incubator Venture Capital 103

Jason Nazar

JUNE 27, 2012

In the past year I’ve given the following talks that explain the majority of my general advice for entrepreneurs. If you want to know what I did, and what I think you need to do to be successful… then grab some popcorn, set aside 3 hours (not all at once…), and enjoy. 10 Strategies for Startup Success. 21 Golden Rules for Entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneur 69

Entrepreneur Startup 69

Steve Reich

JUNE 26, 2012

John Greathouse of Rincon Ventures told me the YouTube ecosystem was “the Wild West.” That was the understatement of the week, as I learned by attending YouTube’s Premium Partner conference, YouTube Access 2012. The event was last week in New York. It’s a huge ecosystem–YouTube has 800 million users, and 72 hours of content is uploaded every MINUTE.

Southern California 69

Southern California SoCal Content SoCalTech 69

socalTECH

JUNE 7, 2012

Los Angeles-based CapLinked , the online service which helps startups manage their fundraising process, announced this morning that it has linked with half a dozen startup accelerators to help those firms' companies help raise their funding rounds. CapLinked said it has tied with Launchpad LA , Science , 500 Startups , Tech Wildcatters , Amplify , and LaunchBox Digital on its invitation-only program, which allows startups enrolled in those accelerators with access to the firm's premium TEAM acco

Technical Review 224

Technical Review Software Review Los Angeles Startup 224

InfoChachkie

JUNE 25, 2012

This article originally appeared on Forbes HERE. Serial entrepreneur Seth Epstein recently gave a keynote address as part of the University of California at Santa Barbara’s Distinguished Lecture Series. During his inspirational talk, Seth shared six hands-on exercises that entrepreneurs can use to harness their fears. Seth began his entrepreneurial career when he dropped out of the University of California, Santa Barbara at 19 years old to start a clothing company, which he eventually built int

Tips 276

Tips Santa Barbara RSS Startup 276

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 25, 2012

As we continue this monumental year in the startup realm, we welcome a newcomer – Boston Startup School. Last week Boston Startup School officially launched and began with their inaugural class. The school aims to prepare recent college graduates for life working at a startup; and more specifically how to deliver and make progress in an environment filled with unknowns and various resource constraints.

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Education Startup Software Review Technical Review 86

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2012

I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars. Even for low-tech startups, the scope of information available on the Internet, and its global reach, has had a similar financial impact on the many other challeng

Startup 102

Startup Search Engine Optimization SEM Social Network 102

socalTECH

JUNE 1, 2012

Are users willing to check into local businesses with another, mobile check-in product? That's what Los Angeles-based MergeLocal (www.mergelocal.com) is looking to find out, by offering up points which can be converted to real cash, when users check into local businesses. We caught up with co-founder Michael Wong , who told us about how the company is looking to change the model for local check-ins, and also help businesses with getting the word out about their services.

CTO Coach 223

CTO Coach Startup Mobile Artificial Inteligence 223

socalTECH

JUNE 22, 2012

Santa Monica-based BlockBeacon , a new, venture backed startup developing mobile applications to help connect users with local restaurants and bars, has released a new iPhone app aimed at helping locals discover interesting, socially active places nearby. The startup--backed by Resolute.vc--also said it is expanding beyond Santa Monica to include all of California.

Orange County 221

Orange County Santa Monica Pasadena Activity 221

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2012

Southern California has seen a big increase in interest in space recently--particularly with the success in the last few weeks of one of the area's highest profile, venture backed startups, SpaceX , delivering a spacecraft to the International Space Station. However, the region's spaceflight roots run deep, with one of the anchoring institution being the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

Southern California 212

Southern California SpaceX Pasadena Technology 212

socalTECH

JUNE 11, 2012

How do you cut out all of the effort required to discover, find, and book venues for your event, wedding, or conference? That's what Santa Monica-based EventUp (www.eventup.com), one of the first companies to emerge out of Santa Monica-based Science Inc. , is trying to figure out. The firm just announced its seed funding round, from the founders of Groupon as other last week, and has launched into Chicago as its latest market.

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Santa Monica Seed Funding Startup Conference 211

socalTECH

JUNE 4, 2012

For this morning's Insights and Opinions , section, where we feature the voices of Southern California's technology industry, we have an article from Howard Marks , the co-founder of Los Angeles startup accelerator StartEngine and co-founder of gaming giant Activision. Howard asks why there is a discount for Los Angeles tech startups, in terms of valuation.

Southern California 210

Southern California Activision Los Angeles Study 210

socalTECH

JUNE 25, 2012

How do you sort through all that social media activity you are driving, and figure out who really cares about what you're posting? Santa Barbara-based Likeabilitee (www.likeabilitee.com) has come up with a new, highly visual service which makes it very easy for you to analyze and understand how people are engaging with your social media posts on Facebook.

Social Media 203

Social Media Startup Tool LAMP 203

socalTECH

JUNE 6, 2012

Crowdfunder , an online site offering up a platform to help startups raise money for their firms via crowd funding, is dangling $25,000 in a contest open to Los Angeles companies. The firm, headed by Chance Barnett, said that its new crowdsourced startup contest, called CROWDSTART LA , will award $25,000 in funding for the company judged the most popular via votes on the site.

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Competition Startup Sites Platform 200

socalTECH

JUNE 7, 2012

Ken Rutkowski , the well connected Los Angeles founder of networking group METal International and KenRadio , has a new platform for his musings on technology and media, on a new show on KFWB. KFWB NEWS TALK 980 said that it is launching Business Rockstars , hosted by Rutkowski, on Monday, June 18th, weekdays from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Rutkowski is a fixture around Southern California's technology industry, and had been involved in the Founders Institute's Los Angeles efforts.

Platform 196

Platform Southern California Los Angeles News 196

socalTECH

JUNE 4, 2012

A new, grassroots effort by Alex Benzer, Tara Tiger Brown and Sean Bonner, Represent.LA , is looking to map out the Los Angeles startup community, by plotting out the list of startups, incubators, accelerators, and others in the community. Brown says that the site is a way to "promote the LA tech scene and strengthen the community bonds that span across a wide distance and many freeways.

Startup 195

Startup Incubator Los Angeles Sites 195

socalTECH

JUNE 13, 2012

How do you go about getting a company product--and company--funded through crowdsourcing? Is it even possible, and what are the pitfalls involved? To learn a bit more, we sat down with Patrick O'Neill , the founder of olloclip (www.olloclip.com), the developer of a popular iPhone accessory, a lens which fits directly on your iPhone. Olloclip managed to fund and start the company based on crowdfunding, and is one of the most popular projects that has been funded through Kickstarter.

Patents 191

Patents Ideas Design Startup 191

socalTECH

JUNE 8, 2012

Did you ever wish you had a more visual, easy to use way to identify which of your social media posts on Facebook are getting the most interest from your friends and others? A new service, Likeabilitee , is looking to do just that, by plotting your social media activity against an easy to use, visual interface. The new service--created by by Mark Sylvester, the founder of IntroNetworks--is in private beta.

Help 187

Help Social Media Tool Media 187

socalTECH

JUNE 6, 2012

A report today says that the hugely successful flight and mission by SpaceX may open up the doors for that firm to gain a new customer: the U.S. military. The report , from Reuters, says that the third successful flight by SpaceX means that the firm has met one of the first requrements to fly military satellites into space. SpaceX already has a long line of satellite launches in its books, and the firm recently announced a plan to launch large satellites into space for Intelsat, with a new rocke

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SpaceX Hawthorne Report Customer 185