Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 15, 2010
I have always believed in the saying, “It’s better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.&# It’s a way of life. It’s not about abusing situations but about knowing when to push the boundaries. It’s about knowing that the overwhelming number of people in life are naysayers and “no sayers&# and sometimes you gotta just roll the dice and say WTF.
SoCal CTO
JUNE 9, 2010
Continuing my series of posts that I’ve been collecting that live at the intersection of Startups and being a Startup CTO : Startup CTO Top 30 Posts for April 16 Great Startup Posts from March here are the top posts from May 2010. Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 "In the old days, getting customers was easy.
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socalTECH
JUNE 16, 2010
Last week, Irvine-based Inspired Instruments (www.yourockguitar.com) announced a round of funding, saying that it has developed an electronic guitar which combines the game controller functionality for popular videogames like Rock Band and Guitar Hero with actual musical functionality. To hear about how the firm is hoping to change the music industry, and bridge between the world of video games and music, we spoke with CEO and co-founder Kevin Kent.
Berkonomics
JUNE 2, 2010
How about incentives for employees all the way down the line and through the corporation? How do we align them to the goals and strategies of the enterprise? Obviously for the appropriate individuals, a bonus program aligned to the department’s goals is appropriate. But how about awarding stock options to all employees? . Tech companies, particularly early stage and startups, still award options aggressively.
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.
Eric Greenspan
JUNE 8, 2010
People often ask me why we’ve built an extensive Media division to support our computer repair company, Make It Work. The answer is simple–no one else could offer us what we wanted, so we did it our way. Make It Work (MEDIA) is not just a radio show! It’s a media bomb…which includes: a 2-hour terrestrial radio show complete with iTunes podcasts. massive engagement on Twitter , Facebook and other forms of Web 2.0 (social media), a one-click embeddable video series called T3:Toda
InfoChachkie
JUNE 1, 2010
Below is a talk on Persuasion by the co-founder of Docstop, Jason Nazar. Find out how getting he got his start-up funded using his knowledge of persuasion, sales, and even hypnotherapy: Full Bio: Jason Nazar CEO and Co-Founder of Docstoc. Jason is the Co-Founder and CEO of Docstoc.com, the premier online community to find and share professional documents.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 6, 2010
The ability to ask questions effectively is one of the most important skills in business as is the ability to actively listen. Yet as important as these two skills are they really don’t seem to ever be taught in school. I wonder if more college students ought to take a journalism course for a semester or do an internship at their school newspaper in investigative reporting.
Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 23, 2010
There are two things that have really surprised me in my years in “management&#. 1. How few people give their employees real feedback on a regular and formal basis. 2. How much employees crave this information, whether positive or negative. So my message to you if you work in a position where you have people reporting to you – don’t sweep feedback under the rug – even if it’s negative.
Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 17, 2010
Last September I was on a panel with Guy Kawasaki talking about Twitter. He said at the time that he Tweeted 4 times for every story that he wrote. FOUR TIMES! The exact same Tweet. I couldn’t believe it. His rationale was that he found that his audience was tuning into Twitter at several different times during the day and he found that four was the optimal number to convert enough of the people reading his posts into traffic back to his website.
Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 8, 2010
I’m typing this from the lawn of Alan Patricof’s “Greycroft” home in East Hampton – my first time in the Hamptons. Greycroft is Alan’s venture capital firm that recently raised its second fund ($130 million) with offices in both New York and LA. We learned this weekend that it was named after his East Hampton home. We’re here for Greycroft’s CEO Summit – a gathering of the CEO’s of their portfolio companies with guest speakers covering topics including how to build your team, PR, customer deve
Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 3, 2010
Paul Graham and the folks over at YCombinator have done much to reenergize early-stage entrepreneurship and encourage the creation of many new and innovative startups including DropBox, Posterous, Loopt, Justin.TV, Scribd and many others. They also gave us Hacker News , which for me was a welcome addition for discovering tech stories. HN and Techmeme are the main two tech aggregators that I frequently skim.
Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 2, 2010
I sent out a Tweet tonight asking whether anybody uses Google’s Buzz product independently of Twitter. I got a pretty luke warm reaction. The overwhelming majority of people who responded gave one of three answers (paraphrased): It was turned on by default by Gmail. It’s annoying. I don’t get it? I use it to communicate with some Gmail friends who aren’t on Twitter (this was the minority).
socalTECH
JUNE 24, 2010
Los Angeles-based CapLinked , an online startup developing software to help link entrepreneurs with their investors, has raised $350,000 in an equity investment round, according to a regulatory filing by the firm today. CapLinked's software helps entrepreneurs manage the information they give to their investors, including tracking milestones and documents, storing and exchanging documents, and handle to-do lists for building a business and managing funding efforts.
socalTECH
JUNE 23, 2010
Earlier this month, Los Angeles-based startup Worlize (www.worlize.com) announced it had received a seed round of funding, and launched a firm to focus on social gaming and chat. The firm's CEO is Brian McKelvey , who we caught up with recently to learn more about his background, the firm, and the market it hopes to serve. Thanks for the interview. What's the idea behind Worlize?
socalTECH
JUNE 2, 2010
This morning's interview is with Alon Goren , co-founder and President of Los Angeles-based Invested.in , an online site which allows users to run fundraisers for their projects. Invested.in launched earlier this year at DEMO. We had a chance to sit down recently with Alon to better understand the firm and where it is nowadays. What is the idea behind Invested.in?
socalTECH
JUNE 15, 2010
Santa Monica-based Rubicon Project , the online advertising optimization firm founded by Frank Addante, is on track to do $100M in revenues this year and will reach profitability in Q4, according to a blog post by Addante Tuesday afternoon. Addante said the firm--which has taken $42M in venture capital from Clearstone, Mayfield, IDG, and Peacock Equity fund--is on track to achieve the "ultimate test of success" for any startup, profitability.
socalTECH
JUNE 11, 2010
Los Angeles-based GotCast , the online casting and talent site run by Alec Shankman, announced Friday that it has reached 400,000 users on its site. The firm said it has now hosted over 6,000 castings on the site. GotCast allows anyone to submit their talent profile to Hollywood producers and others, who are casting television, modeling, and other appearances.
Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 28, 2010
Here is the link to this week’s TWiVC with Mike Hirshland. I apologize for the audio quality – we did this in a rush because we found a last minute studio and recorded in San Francisco. But you can see & hear the entire interview well and I think it will be well worth your while. One of things I’ve loved the most about doing now 11 weeks of This Week in VC is a chance to have an hour-long recorded conversation with investors.
socalTECH
JUNE 15, 2010
Woodland Hills-based ReachLocal said today that it has launched a new, beta of a local business site called Bizzy. ReachLocal said that Bizzy will allow users to connect with local businesses, receive exclusive offers, invitations to events, tips, and news from their favorite businesses. The new site is launching first in New York, San Francisco, and Dallas.
socalTECH
JUNE 15, 2010
San Diego-based e-commerce firm ProFlowers.com was the top ranked U.S. web property for May, based on percentage change in unique visitors, according to the latest comScore Media Metrix numbers. According to comScore, Mother's Day, graduation, proms, and weddings helped to drive traffic to flower gift and greeting sites, driving ProFlowers to the top of the unique visitors increase list.
Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 18, 2010
To see the video of This Week in VC click on this link. What a pleasure that I got to spend an hour talking with both Om Malik (whom I’ve always respected his views) and Paul Jozefak , a venture capital partner at Neuhaus Partners in Germany (and formerly the head of Europe for SAP Ventures). We spent the first 45 minutes or so talking about industry trends (in this order): The history and background of True Ventures, one of my favorite early-stage VC’s (and the one with whom Om is
socalTECH
JUNE 9, 2010
Last week, Los Angeles-based HauteLook (www.hautelook.com), an online private sales site, scored a major round of funding--raising $31M from Insight Venture Partners. To understand why investors are finding the firm so interesting, and why the company raised such a large round, we spoke with Adam Bernhard , CEO of the firm, about the company and funding, how email has allowed the firm to get past the "Google trap" of marketing on the web, and where the firm is going.
socalTECH
JUNE 15, 2010
Monrovia, California-based Prolacta Bioscience , the venture backed firm developing human milk fortifiers for premature infants, announced this morning that it will be donating funds to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure as part of its milk donation program. The firm, which collects excess milk from mothers for developing its milk fortifiers for premature infants, said it will donate one dollar to Komen per ounce of qualified breast milk it collects through the Helping Hands Milk Bank.
Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 12, 2010
We had a special edition of This Week in Venture Capital this week shooting out of the Next New Networks offices in New York. Our guest was Mo Koyfman of Spark Capital. Spark Capital is relatively new to VC (founded in 2005) yet has become one of the hottest new VCs having invested in Twitter, Tumblr, AdMeld, Boxee, KickApps and many more companies.
socalTECH
JUNE 8, 2010
Pasadena-based TweetUp , the Twitter advertising play of Idealab's Bill Gross, said today that it has added news site Topix to its network. TweetUp allows Twitter users to bid on keywords to bring their tweets to the top when users search for information on different web sites. Topix operates a news search site which categorizes news by topic and geography.
Both Sides of the Table
JUNE 3, 2010
This was really a fun week at TWiVC because we decided to have an entrepreneur come and talk about raising capital rather than having a VC come on. We had Farb Nivi , who is the founder & CEO of Grockit , a website that enables online group learning. It’s always such a pleasure for me to spend time with Farb because he has all of the enthusiasm and energy you love to see in entrepreneurs.
socalTECH
JUNE 14, 2010
Coffee chain Starbucks , the second home of startup entrepreneurs and frequent makeshift offices of many a startup or technology professional in town, is going to open up free Wi-Fi for its customers. According to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, the firm has recognized its customers desire for a better, in-store Wi-Fi experience, and will offer one-click, free Wi-Fi as of July 1st in its U.S. stores.
socalTECH
JUNE 7, 2010
USC Stevens Institute , the effort at the University of Southern California to spur innovation within the school, has tapped a number of venture capitalists to help guide a new mentorship and funding program, the institute said this morning. According to USC Stevens, it has tapped James Blair of Domain Associates , David Lane of ONSET Ventures , Andy Rappaport of August Capital and the Rappaport Family Foundation, Mark Stevens of Sequoia Capital , and Ken Klein , President of Wind River , as cha
socalTECH
JUNE 29, 2010
Los Angeles-based Demand Media , the online media firm headed by Richard Rosenblatt, announced today that it has inked a partnership with celebrity model Tyra Banks , to create a new site focused on fashion and beauty. According to Demand, Banks' beauty and entertainment firm Bankable is in a deal to develop a Web site, online video offerings, and mobile applications.
socalTECH
JUNE 23, 2010
Los Angeles-based Total Immersion , the developer of augmented reality software, has snagged another win in the entertainment industry with 'Iron Man 2'. The firm said its is providing augmented reality features for a digital promotion around the film, as part of a marketing campaign from LG. Total Immersion said the deal, made with LG Mobile Phones, Alcone Marketing, Marvel Studios, and Paramount, will include augmented reality features as part of a limited edition Iron Man 2 comic book bundled
socalTECH
JUNE 21, 2010
Los Angeles social networking site MySpace said today that it has launched a World Cup profile page , where it is bringing together World Cup related content from the site and elsewhere on the web, and also is powering a profile page for Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo. The firm said the World Cup profile page includes live streaming feeds of matches, streaming of World Cup related Twitter and MySpace status, videos from Fox Soccer, and a number of badges which show up in user status updates,
socalTECH
JUNE 29, 2010
Los Angeles-based CleanGreenGuy.com , which operates an online marketplace for green business deals, said it has renamed itself OnGreen.com , and is live with its new service. The site allows users to post green investment and business deals, find investors, and connect with others in the clean technology sector. The firm is backed by Blue Marble Ventures, and is being run by Blue Marbles' Patrick McKenna.
socalTECH
JUNE 4, 2010
Hawthorne-based SpaceX , the commercial rocket firm headed by Elon Musk, has seen a successful launch of its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral this morning. The spacecraft--which is being designed to deliver payloads to the International Space Station and to orbit--took off from Cape Canaveral at 11:45am Pacific Time, after a delay due to a "out-of-limit startup parameter" at its earlier 8:00am launch time.
socalTECH
JUNE 21, 2010
Los Angeles-based Solarmer Energy , the UCLA spinout which is developing flexible plastic solar panels, and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), said today that they have signed on in a research and development deal to work on improving the lifetime of plastic solar cells. According to the firms, they will explore the lifetime and stability of the organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices that make up the energy-harvesting layers of plastic solar cells, wit
socalTECH
JUNE 22, 2010
A new San Diego-based online dating site, HerWay.com said Tuesday that it has launched, putting the control of online dating in the hands of women. The site--which says it is the first dating site where "women take the lead"--said it lets women initiate and control the contact with men, avoiding issues with women being inundated with unsolicited messages from potential suitors.
socalTECH
JUNE 30, 2010
Last week, Los Angeles-based Stroome (www.stroome.com), a new startup originally spawned out of a project at the USC Annenberg School of Communications, won $200,000 in the 2010 Knight News Challenge. The Knight News Challenge is a contest which highlights digital news experiments and technology, and is closely watched by those in the news industry.
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