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The other day I was at a Mercedes dealership. Unfortunately my wife was hit head on in December by a woman who lost control of her car. It was time to get a new car and my wife’s requirements were: The safest thing on the road. As many air bags as possible. I researched the pricing of the car at TrueCar – not because we’re an investor – but because it gives you complete price transparency over what other people in your area paid for a car.
I did a presentation this week at Coloft that looked at how Non-Technical Founders can go about getting their MVP built. It had a passionate group of 50 people attending. I promised to do this post as a follow-up to the session to provide additional links and information. It should also give a sense of what I covered to people who were not there. Here is the outline of the talk and some links from prior posts that talk to the issues that I discussed in the talk.
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Someone on Quora recently asked me to answer the following question: Why Do Digital Entrepreneurs Hate MBAs? As I stated in my Quora answer, "hate" is the wrong word. Tech entrepreneurs' consternation with MBAs does not rise to the level of loathing. Rather, entrepreneurs' frustrations are often due to an incongruence between an MBA's expectations versus the value they can deliver to a startup.
A big group of local, Silicon Beach startups and established tech companies have signed up to showcase the Los Angeles high technology world, according to a list released today by Silicon Beach Sunday. The group said its event, being held on March 10th in Austin, will celebrate the diversity of technology companies in Silicon Beach and Los Angeles, and feature a sample of companies from the region showing off their products.
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.
In the 1980s, high-tech companies stored information about their customers on their sophisticated and high-cost computer equipment. Back then such practices were exceptional except at relatively large companies. Thirty years later, it's so commonplace that there are numerous services to store customer data for you "in the cloud.". A layperson would be excused to think that in 2012, questions about how to store data on computers have been worked out.
So, we’ve discussed why it is important to build consensus in an organization in most every major decision. To do so, a CEO must be able to relinquish some degree of power, overriding decisions made by consensus only with some thought and certainly with an explanation to those involved. A manager secure in the position should never fear empowering direct reports to make decisions that fall within the resources allocated to them and within the budget agreed to with them.
I am fond of quoting that about 70% of my investment decision of an early-stage company is the team. My rationale is simple: everything goes wrong and only great teams can respond to competitors, markets, funding environments, staff departures, PR disasters and the like. Final startup grind from msuster. How you build out your team in the first few years can have a huge impact on the trajectory of your company.
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I am fond of quoting that about 70% of my investment decision of an early-stage company is the team. My rationale is simple: everything goes wrong and only great teams can respond to competitors, markets, funding environments, staff departures, PR disasters and the like. Final startup grind from msuster. How you build out your team in the first few years can have a huge impact on the trajectory of your company.
By MBAOnline.com Women In Tech by MBAOnline.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License Filed under: Technology Tagged: technology, women.
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Because of the rapid pace with which Venture Capitalists review investment opportunities, they must employ pattern matching techniques which include identifying common fundraising deal breakers. Fortunately, most deal breakers can be avoided, with a bit of pro-active thought and deft execution.
There's a new, startup incubator in town in West Los Angeles--this time, launching out of Loyola Marymount University and its College of Business. According to the school, it has launched the The LMU CBA Business Incubator , a brand new startup incubator focused on companies in the technology and consumer products area. The incubator--which is being managed by Dr.
We build web and mobile applications, and we've been doing so for a little over fifteen years. To our delight, technology has evolved and improved in many ways over that time. Technology evolution can be cyclical, with some branches looping back to the past with surprising vigor and without much self-awareness. Platforms eschew threading and then re-invent threading anew.
Surely you’ve been exposed to articles, courses and lectures about various styles of management, and how each is appropriate for some companies and for some levels of organization and at some times. For example, a consensus-building leader works well in that style until someone yells “fire!,” and the emergency requires a dictatorial style of management to act quickly, protecting lives.
This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. By now many of you know the Harlem Shake but what you may not appreciate is the broader trend behind the video and it has mirrored my general views on how TV will work in the future. Harlem Shake is a YouTube phenomenon that in just 2 weeks has gone from nothing to on air on both Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert and collectively the Harlem Shake has been viewed around 200 million times.
The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. I often get asked about the real alternatives to bridge this valley, and there are some good ones I will outline here.
A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Venture Capital is a game of pattern matching. Whenever a VC assesses a potential investment opportunity, they attempt to match the entrepreneur(s), their solution, and intended markets with a pattern they have previously encountered. If you haven't already subscribed yet, subscribe now for free weekly Infochachkie articles!
Are you tired of the same old tourist guidebooks, and wish you could really find those unique, local attractions in a city? Newly launched Crash is hoping to help solve that problem, by surfacing "photo-worthy" locations around you in its mobile app--sourced from its users. We spoke with Erick Laubach , the founder of Crash--which is backed by famed startup incubator Idealab--to hear about how the company is hoping to tap the power of the crowd to help others find interesting, local attractions.
We’re excited to announce TechZulu is coming back to Austin, Texas for South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive 2013! We had so much fun last year speaking with entrepreneurs, startups , panel speakers and making new friends , we decided we just had to do it again this year. So we’re gathering some friends an opening the TechZulu Trend Lounge ( #TZTL ).
Almost all of us in our leadership roles are looked upon to provide clues for behavior by those who look up to us, whether family members or subordinates in the workplace or even those we associate with as peers, suppliers, or customers. In your business and personal life, there will be moments that will define you forever in the eyes of those you might not be aware are watching.
Let me not bury the lede. I’m super excited to announce that GRP Partners led the investment in Ethan Anderson’s new company MyTime (link has LA-based merchants but will give you a good feel for the product). I am taking the lead from GRP and we also invested alongside a number of friends including Dave McClure, Dave Tisch, Ben Smith (Merchant Circle), Brian Lee (ShoeDazzle, LegalZoom), Jason Calacanis, Evan Rifkin, Jennifer Lum, Jay Weintraub and a whole host of other angels.
Steve Jobs was one of those entrepreneurs who seemed universally either loved or hated, but not many will argue with his ability to innovate in the technology product arena over the years. He was instrumental in creating Apple, which has pioneered a dazzling array of new products, and even surpassed Microsoft, to become the world’s most valuable technology company.
A version of this article previously appeared on Inc. Someone on Quora recently asked me to answer the following question: How can I avoid repeating the big job disappointments of my past? This caused me to ponder some of my career choices. As I thought about my past career missteps, I had to admit to myself that in each case there were clear warning signs that I chose to either discount or ignore entirely.
Los Angeles-based Retention Science , the developer of big data analytics software for online marketing, announced today that it has launched a new "Retention Score", which it bills as a Klout Score of e-commerce. The score allows online stores to see, at a glance, what their performance is with customer retention. Retention Science said the score looks at customer churn, customer engagement, customer sentiment, and repeat purchase rate to let businesses get an idea of how they are doing with cu
For 5 years, BIL has been a boon for those of us who enjoy learning, socializing with likeminded individuals and playing fun science games without paying a $6000 entrance fee ala TED. In case you haven’t heard, BIL is the tech oriented, community based non-origination that throws an Ad-HOC conference that runs concurrently with TED (March 1-3) every year.
It has happened to all of us who have been leaders in business long enough. One of your employees is approached by an employee of a customer or of a supplier, stating that “It sure would be great to work in your company.” And without a policy or sometimes without thinking, your employee responds with a “Let me help,” or worse yet, “I have a position open.”.
By Peachtree Capital Advisors Economic Backdrop – It was not the best of times, it was not the worst of times…2012. Not since the great depression has a sluggish economy and a stubborn unemployment number represented pretty good economic conditions for companies to chart their strategic courses. In 2012, the US economy experienced modest growth with real GDP growing 2.7% […].
Entrepreneurship is all about leading – leading customers to a new product or service, leading a startup team to peak performance, and leading a new business to the market opportunity, while providing maximum return to stakeholders. Most entrepreneurs feel they have innate leadership talents, but struggle with how to nurture these abilities and measure their effectiveness.
A new study, issued today by the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future , says that the majority of Americans still don't think pulling a cell phone out at a meal is appropriate. The study found that 62 percent of Americans feel that it's not at all appopriate to have a cellphone on the table during dinner, with 76 percent saying that texting is not all all appropriate, 80 percent panning browsing on the web, and 84 percent saying you shouldn't talk on the phone at a meal.
Santa Monica-based content delivery network (CDN) provider EdgeCast said this morning that it doubled its revenues in 2012, and now has more than 225 employees. The privately held firm did not disclose its revenues, however, the firm has previously been reported to have had revenues of between $50-100M in revenues in 2011, and $15-20M in revenues in 2009.
How do you figure out which of your users matter most in your social applications and games, and help that to improve social interaction and engagement in your apps? Redondo Beach-based NinjaMetrics has just scored some funding for exactly that, in the first part of a Series A funding round, worth $750,000. The new funding comes from Yuri Pikover (Xylan, 5Square, Access360), along with the Tech Coast Angels' Ace Fund, along with other angels.
Two, Southern California researchers were awarded the nation's top honor for their contributions to science and technology Friday, as President Obama awarded twelve researchers the National Medal of Science, and eleven inventors with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation at a ceremony at the White House. Dr. Frances Arnold , a professor at the California Institute of Technology , was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, and Dr.
Spreeify.com , a brand new, Los Angeles startup, said last week that it has launched a brand new, social shopping site, centered around free giveaways and shopping deals. The startup, led by Ruben Dua, said it combines product giveaways with social shopping, to help merchants gain customers. The firm lets users browse for and shop for women and men's apparel, accessories, home decor, and gadgets.
BLANKSPACES , one of the original, coworking facilities in Los Angeles, is returning to Santa Monica's 2nd Street, according to CEO Jerome Chang. Chang said that its 2nd St. location will again be operating as BLANKSPACES. As part of the relaunch, Chang said that it has partnered with a new, $500K investment fund focused on mobile apps and games to help provide money to members (via Vak Sambath); will be launching a series of office hours to help with in-person, one-on-one discussions (with John
MyTime , which operates an online service focused on online deals for appointment-focused businesses like chiropractors, personal trainers, housekeeping, and more, has raised a round of funding to expand its service beyond Los Angeles. The round was led by GRP Partners, and also included angels such as Dave McClure, Dave Tisch, Ben Smith (Merchant Circle), Brian Lee (ShoeDazzle, LegalZoom), Jason Calacanis, Evan Rifkin, Jennifer Lum, and Jay Weintraub.
What's the best way to find local tourist locations? How about a mobile app which taps the power of its users to find cool and unique spots in their city? Newly funded and launched startup Crash --backed by Idealab--said today that it has launched its iOS-based attraction discovery app and website. The startup, led by Erick Laubach, said that the application lets anyone be their own tour guide, and explore attractions which "make a city unique.
NASA said late Thursday that it has set a new date for the next SpaceX resupply mission, and is targeting Friday, March 1st for the resupply flight to the International Space Station. Space Exploration Technologies, the commercial rocket and spaceflight firm based in Hawthorne, and headed by technology mogul Elon Musk, has seen huge success in its goal of developing its rocket and spacecraft technology to deliver supplies--and eventually, people--to space.
Science Inc. , the technology startup incubator and studio headed by former MySpace CEO Michael Jones, has raised around $30M in funding from Hearst Ventures , the venture capital arm of Hearst Corporation, Hearst said this morning. Science Inc. and Hearst did not disclose terms of the deal, but AllthingsD said the investment was worth $30M and gave Hearst a twenty percent stake in Science.
Gradient X , the online mobile marketing and advertising technology developer backed by GRP Partners, Rincon Venture Partners, Crosscut Ventures, Founder Collective, Double M Capital, Baroda Ventures, Siemer Ventures, and others, has snapped up some talent from OpenX with its latest hire. Gradient X said this morning that Stephan Cunningham has been named Vice President of Marketplace Operations, heading up the firm's client, partner and vendor relations, first and third-party data management, i
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