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I recently gave a talk about the Future of Television. I’m still planning to write some in depth pieces on the topic but I thought, “given that this is about how video will consume the Internet over the next 5 years, what better way to exemplify this than with a 10-minute video.” Here’s a link to watch it or click the image below.
Note: This is Part IV in the Startup Team Building series. Read Part I HERE , Part II HERE and Part III HERE. A Fortune 500 CEO once told me that I was a Bank Robber. Initially, I was offended. However, once he explained what he meant, I was flattered. Entrepreneurs are law-abiding Bank Robbers. They enjoy the hours spent plotting and scheming and pulling together a team of skilled specialists to accomplish the heist.
Highlighting the continued growth in demand for technical talent, a group of ten San Diego startup is banding together to attract job seekers to their companies, According to San Diego's SweetLabs , the software developer behind Pokki and OpenCandy, it and another nine startups will run an event December 1st called 10 Startups, $100 Million in Funding, 100 New Jobs.
As I look back over more than fifty years as an entrepreneur, I can think of the financial focus of my three entrepreneurial businesses as a prime driver in my life during the early stage of each. And yet, as I recall the greatest thrills, the memorable events, the best of memories, almost none are about the money. The stories of people rising to the occasion, victories in the form of great sale successes, great continuing relationships, occasional awards from valued indus
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.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 -- Tablets: The New Media Platform. How will we use tablets next? How will they evolve? How will carriers need to adapt? What will the evolution of apps look like? Will next-generation processors spawn super tablets? Find out the answers to these questions and more by joining us in a panel discussion with key industry players, Rob Chandhok of Qualcomm, Christy Wyatt of Motorola Mobility, Diana Zaccardi of Verizon Wireless, and moderated by Lucy Hood of USC, for a livel
Many budding entrepreneurs struggle mightily with that first step – out of their comfort zone and into the unknown. They keep asking people like me whether the time is right, and the truth is that there’s never an ideal time to start your own business. It’s like starting a personal relationship, if you wait for exactly the right time, you’ll never do it.
There are very few people in Silicon Valley who have such a precise grasp on what defines success of early-stage startup companies than Eric Ries. And there are very few people who so consistently exceed my expectations when I hear them speak. I find myself nodding – even when the topic is one I don’t expect to agree with such as “fail fast.” This week was no exception.
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There are very few people in Silicon Valley who have such a precise grasp on what defines success of early-stage startup companies than Eric Ries. And there are very few people who so consistently exceed my expectations when I hear them speak. I find myself nodding – even when the topic is one I don’t expect to agree with such as “fail fast.” This week was no exception.
Nearly one year ago, I published my first infoChachkie interview, with Kevin O’Connor , Co-Founder of FindTheBest. At that time, I was not utilizing video. Thus, I was very excited when Kevin graciously agreed to make an encore appearance via Skype. If you care to review my prior discussion with Kevin, you can do so HERE. Before starting FindTheBest, Kevin was the Co-Founder and CEO DoubleClick (sold to Google, $3.1B and a seed investor ISS (sold to IBM, $1.3B).
Santa Monica-based Unsubscribe.com , the startup headed by James Siminoff, which helped consumers unsubscribe from unwanted email, has been acquired by TrustedID. TrustedID, which provides credit and identity protection services, announced the acquisition on Tuesday afternoon, but did not disclose financial terms of the buy. Unsubscribe.com was venture backed by Charles River Ventures, First Round Capital, DFJ Frontier, and angel investors.
There is nothing quite as thrilling in business as igniting a startup and watching it blossom. Especially when starting a company with personal savings or money from relatives and friends, early signs of success are intoxicating. Each new customer, each mention in the press or online adds to the feeling of early accomplishment. And it is more satisfying because it is yours, from idea to execution.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 -- The Startup Conference. The Startup Conference is one of the largest entrepreneur conferences in Silicon Valley, and is coming to LA. on Nov 15th. Join 300+ entrepreneurs to discuss fundraising, launching your startup to the press and more. See [link].
The buzz from startup executives, especially high-tech ones, has long been that startups are no place for Baby-Boomers (1946-1964) – you must have the high energy and crazy determination to work 20-hour days to succeed. Only the under-35 age group need apply. I will argue that times have changed, and you better take another look. First of all, the Boomer demographic is currently the single largest, mainstream pool of experienced talent in the market today (76 million people strong).
I’ve often wanted to let people see what a VC pitch is like to help new entrepreneurs have a better sense of what it’s like to present. Obviously having a camera on will add a small bit of an artificial result because I don’t want to ask as much confidential information and with the camera on people are obviously a bit nicer. But this interview is fairly authentic.
Len Short is truly an online marketing pioneer, heading up marketing at Charles Schwab, AOL and then (PRODUCT)RED. He is now leading Chug , a car buying search engine, as its Founder and CEO. Before his career moved online, Len worked on major marketing campaigns for credit card companies and rolled out MCI’s highly successful “Friends and Family” marketing campaign.
Los Angeles-based Postcard on the Run , the startup headed by Josh Brooks, announced this morning that it has raised $750,000 in an angel round, which included actress Selena Gomez, Crosscut Ventures, Mike Jones, Yves Sisteron, Chris DeWolfe, Aber Whitcomb, Brian Fitzgerald, Ryan Steelberg, Colin Digario, Brian Lee, and Jarl Mohn. The firm--which develops iOS and Android apps which easily allow mobile users to take pictures and turn them into real, physical postcards mailed to their friends and
This week, for the first time, we republish an earlier post. With readership up three-fold since that posting in April, 2011, and with many great reader comments then, it is only natural to send you to the original post with those reader comments attached, rather than republish it here. So press this link to go right to that original posting. And thanks for your many comments and emails after last week’s final posting in the first cycle of BERKONOMICS.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 -- Poker Startups #9. We need able bodies in the startup space to come play some texas hold-em with other entrepreneurs and VCs.
So you have a startup idea, perhaps some level of execution or traction, but you or your co-founders are doing it blind; you trudge along with a little advice or knowledge you’ve picked up in torrented audio books after finally having made that decision to quit the 9-5. You continue to build your venture as lean as possible and hit a personal make it or break it point with a couple of unsuccessful investor meetings and very little guidance.
I will be giving a speech today on The Future of Television at the PaidContent conference in LA. I will write way more details about this in the coming months but I thought I’d give you a sneak peak at my presentation for today. Future of TV. Feel free to leave comments and we can have a discussion about the topic in the Disqus comments section.
Article first published as Why Selling To The Government Can Downgrade Your Startup on Technorati. First Greece, now Spain and Italy. Across Europe, historically solvent sovereign governments are suffering from an acute case of systemic deficits. Now, more than ever, government agencies in the US and abroad are lousy startup customers. I am not a government contracting expert.
Adconion Media Group , the European advertising network firm which as significant operations in Los Angeles, said today that it has acquired smartclip , a European digital video advertising firm. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Adconion said that the acquisition will "significantly strengthen" its position in online video. Smartclip adds around 500 new publisher sites to Adconion's network.
Isn’t the goal of any negotiation to get the maximum possible out of the other side? I have learned from long experience that the last bit of concession is the most expensive in a negotiation. Invariably, it’s after the negotiation, whether during the final documentation of the deal or after the closing when the buyer finds those unexpected surprises, and that the seller who drives the hardest bargain is the one attacked with the most energy by the affronted buyer. .
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 -- Medical Device and Investor Forum. The OCTANe Medical Device and Investor Forum has become the top opportunity for medical device start-up companies that are seeking investment capital to make investment presentations to leading venture capitalists and investors. This year we've added growth, expansion, and later stage companies to the Investor Forum.
Klout, PeerIndex, Kred, and even Empire Avenue need to go away. These metrics-application rely on our need to know our “value” and will only continue to perpetuate the dilution of online engagement. This is an open call to the people that use these services, or are simply indexed by them, to opt-out and delete your presence on Klout, Kred, PeerIndex and Empire Avenue.
Launchpad LA today announces it will accept applications for its third class of Los Angeles-based tech startups. We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space. For any company interested in applying please visit the website.
As an Instructor of entrepreneurship at UC Santa Barbara, I welcomed the chance to read Brad Feld & Jason Mendelson’s Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer And Venture Capitalist. As the authors make clear in the book’s preface, their goal is to create a “definitive guide to venture capital deals” and “demystify the venture capital financing process.
In an unprecedented surge in startup support activity in Los Angeles this morning, another venture startup accelerator, Start Engine , formally launched this morning, applying the accelerator model to startup in the Los Angeles area. Start Engine, started by Activision co-founder Howard Marks and investor Paul Kessler, said today that it is looking to provide mentorship, funding, and other resources to startups in the area, starting with a first class in January.
The tech market is filled with many stories of early-stage funding. It’s even more exciting when you can report an exit of a company that is a major win. That’s why I’m proud to announce today that HealthDataInsights (founded by Victor Chaltiel), where GRP Partners was a 30% owner, has been acquired for $400 million. It maps to several themes about “solving bigger problems,” “taking more meaningful ownership positions” and “women in entrepreneurs
It looks like Los Angeles is set to get access to peer-to-peer car sharing service Zipcar , as it plans to open an office in Hollywood tomorrow. Zipcar has been inviting the press to an event tomorrow with L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti, to mark its entry into Los Angeles, the 16th market covered by the company. The introduction of Zipcar to the Los Angeles market would be a first for the mainline, peer-to-peer car sharing movement, which allows car owners to rent out their cars on an
Adobe Systems said today that it has acquired Auditude , a provider of video ad management and monetization technology. Auditude, although now based in Palo Alto, had originally been developed for a UCLA MBA business plan competition, by Nicholas Seet. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Seet founded Auditude for the KNAPP competition at UCLA, while he was at the UCLA Anderson School of Management at its fully employed MBA program.
(Editor's note: Los Angeles has always had strong ties to business in the UK, and the UK government has been very active in reaching out to Los Angeles technology firms in recent years. On the invitation of UK Trade and Investment, socalTECH Contributing Editor Travis Oberlander has traveled this week to London for us, to compare and contrast the efforts in the UK to establish their own technology center with our own efforts in Southern California.).
Neville Spiteri is co-founder of Venice-based WEMO Media (www.wemomedia.com), a new, digital studio whose flagship product is TheBlu (www.theblu.com) an online, interactive experience focused on the world's oceans. WEMO Media is an interesting combination of Hollywood, computer games, and deep technical experience, one of the few companies we have seen which seems to combine both the worlds of high tech and software with content, interactive, and Hollywood.
Woodland Hills-based ReachLocal , the provider of services to help small and medium sized businesses advertise online, said Thursday that it has opened up a new office in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The firm said the new office will serve as its European headquarters. ReachLocal said it now has over 800 consultants in North America, Australia and Europe serving over 18,000 advertisers.
As automotive web sites go, there are lots of review and information sites giving you information about new and used cars, magazines and information sites for auto enthusiasts, and discussion sites and groups for all kinds of cars. But, it turns out, there are not any automotive sites specifically geared towards women. That's something which Los Angeles-based VroomGirls (www.vroomgirls.com) is looking to change--with the backing of sponsors like Toyota, Ferrari, and Lamborghini.
Los Angeles-based startup accelerator MuckerLab , which is headed by Erik Rannala, has tapped Brea-based Dreamhost , the web hosting company, as the "official" web hosting and application hosting provider for the accelerator, the firm is announcing today. According to Dreamhost, all of the startups accepted into MuckerLab's program throughout 2012 will receive one year of free web hosting services from Dreamhost, including fully managed servers.
Los Angeles-based Anybeat , the alternative social networking site created by former MySpace Music VP Dmitri Shapiro, has opened up broad, public access to the service. The firm--which had been in invite-only, beta mode--said it is looking to create a "third place"--different from home and work--for people to get away, relax, and socialize. Anybeat is taking a very different approach to Facebook, which is centered around people you know, and instead trying to create an online space where you can
The Los Angeles area has seen a surge in the last month in companies and organizations looking to bolster entrepreneurial activity and startups in Southern California. Joining that surge last week in startup activity was Science, Inc. (www.science-inc.com), headed by Mike Jones , the former CEO of Myspace. Science is looking to incubate its own set of companies, make investments, and otherwise work to create the next successful startups.
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