Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

I think I’ve read Paul Graham’s post on “ Startup = Growth ” three or four times now. And of course on Twitter I’ve seen the Tweets, ReTweets and superlatives on what a great post it is. Viewing the article through the lens of a venture capitalist there’s much to agree with under the mantra of “growth!” And when you read the article carefully it allows for a period of discovery in your business.

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Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Technical Review 390

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

A major hack on domain name registrar GoDaddy appears to have taken out a huge number of internet sites -- including local startup Goodreads. GoDaddy hosts millions of domain names, as well as provides web hosting services itself, but it's unclear how many sites were affected by the outage. The outage has been blamed on hacking activity. It's unclear how many of Southern California's startups were affected; Goodreads was simply one of the few web services which posted a status on Twitter to info

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InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

From a venture capitalist’s point of view, there are no “trick” questions. However, certain questions can be tricky for an entrepreneur to answer. Below are five common questions an entrepreneur will encounter when seeking venture funding. These questions, which manifest themselves in numerous forms, all share a common underlying objective: to divine your motivations, expectations and desires.

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Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012

Who is responsible for the vision that drives the company? This is arguably the primary job of the CEO, with agreement from the board. Many entrepreneurs after taking outside investment defer to their board for matters of direction that include setting the vision, as well as executing the plan. Here is a general rule: The CEO sets the sails and points the ship, creating the vision for the company.

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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

SoCal Tech Calendar

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

Saturday, September 22, 2012 -- Bootcamp for Aspiring TEDx Speakers (and others) in SoCal. The popularity and virality of TED Talks has raised the bar dramatically for any and all presentations. Whether you're preparing to speak at TED, MindShare, TEDx, or another industry event, you need to up your game. Your competition certainly has! If your goal is only to improve the way you present at group meetings or on sales calls, learning the TEDx format is going to put you in a different league.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

When my friend’s small business was struggling a while back, I suggested he add some social media marketing initiatives, and his answer was that he was “too busy.” His business has since closed, but his mindset is still out there. According to a recent Harvard Business Review article , only 60% of companies today use social media for marketing, and only 12% of those feel that they are using it effectively.

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socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

These days, it's not unusual for a handful of tech and startup mixers and events to be going down on the westside. Still, there was something special about the Nextspace @ Amplify Grand opening on Wednesday night. Something very, established about it. I've lived in Los Angeles for ten years now. And when you live in a city that long, you're bound to find yourself at a Hollywood, celebrity-driven party.

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InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

The following guest post is from some of my former UC Santa Barbara students. I thought this post might be of interest to some of my readers, as it offers a glimpse into my approach to teaching entrepreneurship. . Fall quarter of Sr. year proved to be a crucial time for the progression of brightblu – Ben, Sid, and Taylor see this as the period that sparked their entrepreneurial passion.

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Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

This one comes straight from football. From experience and from information about the competition, a coach creates a playbook that contains detailed plans for actions or plays that the entire team must know without question and execute without pause in order to win games and advance toward the playoffs. What is different about you as a manager? If you manage with your team knowing the intended results of each action, and if the members of the team have not honed their skills at execution of th

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Coach Metrics Training Guide 192

Frank Addante

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

When it comes to top hires, the questions people ask tell you far more than the answers they give. When I interview, I don't ask many questions. Instead, I simply open with, "What can I tell you about the company?" It forces candidates to think of questions to ask me, rather than inviting them to recite canned, rehearsed responses about their background and goals.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

I’m sure we have all seen entrepreneurs with high levels of passion and confidence touting an idea that seems to make very little sense to us. Of course, we never see ourselves in this mode, yet we need to recognize that all humans see reality differently through a built-in set of “cognitive biases,” based on their own unique background of experiences, training, and mental state.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

This article initially appeared on TechCrunch - with a minor update highlighted in red below. Ah. We’re back to discussing convertible debt again. This time by the efforts of Adeo Ressi to introduce a new kind of structure called “ convertible equity.” I applaud all efforts by people to take on this issue and especially be Adeo who – let’s be honest – was really the first champion of trying to make the VC world more transparent by launching TheFunded, which d

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Startup Pricing Equity Venture Capital 354

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

What do you get when you take the creative minds behind JibJab.com , the Venice-based online humor content developers--known for its hilarious videos of everything from politics to everyday life--and apply that to kids entertainment? You get Storybots , a brand new, online service with the sensibility of JibJab's comedic content cross pollinated with kids educational entertainment.

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Entertainment USC Venice Content 243

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Business Plans are dead. Most sophisticated investors ignore them, focusing their attention on an entrepreneur's pitch and presentation materials, financial forecast and executive summary. As noted in Entrepreneurs Shouldn't Pitch Their Ideas To Venture Capitalists , most sophisticated investors place their bets on people rather than opportunities. As such, the primary goal of your executive summary is to open the door to an in-person meeting.

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Venture Capital Summary Technical Review Template 211

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

It happens. Boards are elected by the shareholders, sometimes with preferred shareholders holding seats by right of their investment. In that instance, often the investor selects the board member and the CEO goes along with the choice, mostly out of having no alternative at the time. Then there comes the first – or better yet the fourth – meeting of the board following the appointment of a new member.

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Design Invest Venture Capital Email 176

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

Its time for Round 3! The Tech Crawl is back and in full swing heading to Santa Monica Silicon Beach area! For those of you who may have missed out you can checkout what Mediapost and D&B had to say about it: TZ Tech Crawl Takes Participants on a Tour of Silicon Beach. 2012 TechZulu Tech Crawl – Technically Awesome. A tour of some of the hottest Silicon Beach tech companies Santa Monica Edition.

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Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Deciding to be an entrepreneur is a lifestyle move, and should be part of a long-term strategic plan. You shouldn’t be making this decision just because you are mad at your boss, you would like to be rich, or someone else thinks it’s a good idea. In these changing times, if you already have a startup, with no plan, maybe it’s time to think ahead for a change.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

You know the old saying about trust … “It takes years to build and seconds to destroy.” And once destroyed it is very difficult if not impossible to repair. You need to be the guardian of your own reputation. You need to constantly ask yourself whether your actions in rapidly scaling an online community are worth the potential downsides of destroying trust amongst your users.

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Blogging Content Press Startup 328

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 14, 2012

A new, Santa Monica-based startup, AMP , is hoping that crowdfunding will bring its bookmarking site and file exchange site for those interested in sustainability to life. The startup--started by Sarah McKinney and John Lehnert--said it turned to IndieGogo for fundraising as a way to scale its site past beta. The site--in part, inspired by sites such as Santa Monica's DocStoc--hopes to become a place where people working on environmental and social progress can connect with others and other info

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InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

The following guest post is from Dan Monarko, Online Marketing Manager at The Resumator , a SaaS applicant tracking system and hiring platform trusted by many of the fastest-growing companies in the world, including: Pinterest, Tumblr, Hootsuite, Klout, Posterous, Bitly, Atari and Mashable. I am a Board Member and an investor in The Resumator via Rincon Venture Partners.

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Tips RSS Ideas SaaS 182

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

This may be news, but boards of directors can offer bad advice. A typical board is composed of five persons in a company that has received outside funds from professional investors. Two members usually represent the founders or management, two are from the investors, and one is often elected by the four to represent the industry in which the company works.

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Resource News Entrepreneur Email 159

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

Lyfe Mobile is a new Southern California startup that combines augmented reality (AR) with traditional ad networks and real-time bidding (RTB) to offer advertisers and brands a unique opportunity to engage customers in an exciting new way. Founders Tony Gonzales and brothers Tony and Charlie Lambrospoulos came from a traditional digital display ad background, but found themselves unsatisfied with the way display ads work.

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Mobile Networking Advertising Southern California 102

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

An entrepreneur is literally “one who creates a new business.” The best new businesses are ones that have never been done before, so mastering creativity and recognizing creativity are key skills and mind-sets. But how does one recognize and nurture creativity in a person or team? Recently, I was reviewing a new book by Bryan Mattimore, “ Idea Stormers: How to Lead and Inspire Creative Breakthroughs ,” which outlines well eight attributes of the most creative people, which seem to match the mind

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Entrepreneur Ideas Course Social Media 105

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2012

If you were on Twitter on Saturday you might have noticed a lively discussion with Dave McClure, Fred Wilson, Chris Dixon and myself. And a few others. Luckily there are tools like Storify – so you can actually see a synopsis here. I recently wrote about my views that startups rounds should be priced. If you do an uncapped note it’s bad for the investor.

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Pricing Venture Capital Writing Equity 294

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

Have a legal question? A new, Los Angeles startup, myRight , is hoping to help users with some basic legal questions, through a new service geared around asking users questions-and-answers about their legal questions. The startup, part of the StartEngine accelerator, asks users a series of questions around different topics -- things like security deposits, wills, gun control -- helping users to learn more about different topics, and also referring them to more detailed information sources and la

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Help Legalzoom USC Los Angeles 231

The Huffington Post

SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

Technology accelerators and incubators have sprung up around L.A., making it easier for a new entrepreneurs and seasoned Hollywood executives alike to quit their jobs and pursue the startup dream. Read more: Los Angeles Startups , La Tech Incubators , La Startups , Los Angeles Tech , Venture Capitalists , Tech Accelerators , Tech Incubators , Venture Capital , Slideexpand , Silicon Valley , Los Angeles News.

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Writing Incubator Hollywood Develop 74

SoCal Delicious

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

Follow PandoDaily: Search. Main menu. Skip to primary content. Skip to secondary content. Deals. People. Products. Culture. PandoList. Events. Back Page. Books. Ten Tech Entrepreneurs Who Are Putting LA on the Map. Post navigation. ← Previous. Next → For one reason or another, people in this country tend to look down on LA. If a person from outside Los Angeles is a fan of the city, dig a little and you’ll probably find that they like it for the celebrities, Hollywood not LA.

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Technical Review Entrepreneur Riot Games Southern California 75

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

We see it all the time. Everywhere you look. In business meetings, dinner with friends, people strolling on the beach, or parents watching their children in the park— people are attached to their device. It’s a question to ask then, how much are we really LIVING in the very essence of the word? Do we appreciate every single moment of our lives? Hearing the birds chirp?

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Design Yahoo Santa Monica Los Angeles 101

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012

If you have had some success in a business, I’m sure you bristle just like I do when someone says “You were just lucky…” I’m a strong believer that we all make our own luck, which means that the harder we work, the luckier we get. In reality, “hard work” is just a catch-all term for a list of principles that good entrepreneurs follow, allowing them to work smarter and improve their odds of success.

Entrepreneur 101

Entrepreneur Startup Networking Resource 101

Steve Reich

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

A billion dollar established market. Incumbent companies so despised by consumers that they are routinely sued over the poor quality of their offerings. A dynamic founder who has proven he can run lean and get the job done. A young VC liked the idea and took it to his partner meeting. What could go wrong? A turndown. “They just didn’t get it.”.

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Venture Capital Google Satisfaction Ideas 65

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

In a world where we are overwhelmed with social updates ("had a turkey sandwich for lunch", "just went for a walk"), how do you cut through all that noise and actually learn about important things going on in your personal networks without spending 100 percent of your time on Facebook or other sites? A new, Los Angeles startup, EverySignal looks to be tackling that problem with its new service.

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Incubator Los Angeles Networking Sites 228

Frank Addante

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

I was asked to talk about the Future of Automated Trading at the ExchangeWire ATS conference in London, here is my presentation. ATS Presentation from robcoop.

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Conference Advertising 67

SoCal Delicious

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

Follow PandoDaily: Search. Main menu. Skip to primary content. Skip to secondary content. Deals. People. Products. Culture. PandoList. Events. Back Page. Books. The Startup UCLA Accelerator Is About Entrepreneurship Not Investment Returns. Post navigation. ← Previous. Next → Later today, the Startup UCLA accelerator will have its inaugural demo day.

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UCLA Invest Startup Class 47

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

It’s unbelievable how often start up founders stifle their company from growing by not knowing how to effectively communicate their brand. From devising a tweet length pitch to having an easy to remember name, each branding opportunity is a touch point for a new customer to be attracted to what you have to offer. In this article the focus will be on how to successfully attract media attention.

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Press Startup Technical Review Email 97

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

One of the most common complaints I hear from entrepreneurs is that they are overwhelmed by the workload and stress of starting their company. Then there are the additional challenges of balancing the demands of family and friends. Having too much on your plate can turn your dream into a nightmare. Some people will tell you to just get a bigger plate, meaning hire some help.

Tips 101

Tips Entrepreneur Startup Mentor 101

InfoChachkie

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

What American tech company is the coolest? A subjective, yet important question. The rest of the country may be in a recession, but hiring within the tech community remains highly competitive. Talented employees look for a number of tangible and intangible factors when deciding among multiple employment offers, including a company's cool factor. As such, a reputation as a cool company is a competitive advantage to be cultivated and coveted.

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Yahoo Company Companies RSS 205