Both Sides of the Table
MAY 9, 2011
I spoke at Stanford last year about starting a tech company. They really cleverly chopped the video up into small bite-sized segments. So for anybody who reads my “This Week in VC&# transcripts but doesn’t watch the video – this one’s for you! It’s only 3 minutes, 44 seconds. I covered what I call “the co-founder mythology.&# So embedded is this conventional wisdom in Silicon Valley that it feels like heresy to even question it.
socalTECH
MAY 4, 2011
One of the stealthiest Los Angeles startups to emerge in the last few months has been Namesake (www.namesake.com), headed by Brian Norgard and co-founded by Dan Gould. Norgard has been keeping Namesake close to the vest, but we were able to visit him at the firm's headquarters in West Hollywood, where he gave us an overview of what the firm is doing.
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Berkonomics
MAY 23, 2011
All of us are pressed for time, always attempting to balance the overwhelming demands of business with the basic wants and needs of family. In earlier insights, we have examined the need for and care of your corporate vision, and how to develop and nurture that vision through to creation of a corporate culture, goals, strategies and tactics. Now we get personal.
InfoChachkie
MAY 5, 2011
Note: This is part I of a three part series. Access part II HERE and part III HERE when they are posted. Agreements with Big Dumb Companies (BDCs) are like DC Comic’s evil villainess, Poison Ivy. Both are seductive and alluring and both are potentially fatal. A startup’s most meaningful agreements are often struck with BDCs. You will no doubt craft agreements with companies of similar or even smaller size to your own.
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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.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 13, 2011
People ask me if they really need ANY business plan, unless they are looking for an outside investor. In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Things that make it investment-grade for outside investors will also benefit you, since you are the ultimate investor.
Tech Zulu Event
MAY 24, 2011
I am currently at the annual VC in the OC program held in Irvine CA by OCTANe , an organization that connects people and ideas to resources and capital in Orange County. Over 600 people came to this event to listen share and network, including entrepreneurs, VC’s and investors. The keynote speech was delivered by Vizio CEO William Wong and VP & Co-Founder Ken Lowe.
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socalTECH
MAY 2, 2011
In recent weeks, online ticketing has seen a surge in interest and funding. Los Angeles-based SaveFans (www.savefans.com) recently raised some funding for its take on secondary ticketing, so we thought we'd speak with founder Wes Brodsky about the company and where it's going. Describe SaveFans and what it does? Wes Brodsky: SaveFans is a negotiation model for the ticketing space.
Berkonomics
MAY 31, 2011
If you have been in management or an entrepreneur long enough, you will have experienced the gray area of decision-making where ethics, the law, your needs and expediency all collide. This is the time when you are paid the big bucks, and when others aware of your plight will be watching most carefully. It is also the time when you demonstrate your true courage to your contemporaries.
InfoChachkie
MAY 16, 2011
“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 and startup investor, I have helped create companies which achieved two IPOs which collectively raised over $100 million, as well as two acquisitions which totaled $385 million.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 16, 2011
The Internet and social media have totally destroyed the meaning of the word “friend” and even changed it from a noun to a verb. On Twitter and MySpace, many young people follow hundreds of friends before age twenty, all without ever having said or heard a word from most of them. Top Facebook users proudly proclaim their “whale” status, with 5,000 friends or more.
Tech Zulu Event
MAY 6, 2011
At its release, email was heralded as the best thing since the facsimile aka the fax machine. Well email may be the savior of the Western world’s time, but like all great inventions of the last century, it could use a little help. DueToDos is a web based business productivity platform that seeks to save you time and increase efficiency whether you’re solo or on a team.
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 17, 2011
I went to undergrad at UCSD, which is not a place known for its Greek institutions and my father grew up in South America and had know idea what a fraternity was. So I went to college with no expectation that I would ever join a fraternity let alone aspire to become president one day. Yet being in a fraternity was one of the most transformative experiences I had in college and prepared me better for becoming an entrepreneur than any class that I took.
socalTECH
MAY 11, 2011
Earlier this week, Los Angeles-based Anti-AgingGames (www.Anti-AgingGames.com), a new online game startup, announced a new service to help users improve their memory and concentration, as well as improve brain function. The firm notably has Atari founder Nolan Bushnell as an advisor and serving as its chief game designer. We spoke with co-founder and CEO Elizabeth Amini , to hear more about what the firm is doing, how Bushnell got involved, as well as the firm's unique outlook and dedication to
Berkonomics
MAY 17, 2011
We are not dealing with personal time management with this series of insights, except when it helps immensely to make a better manager of you and me. All of us have time management tips and tricks to help us get through the day. I have a mantra I try to live by, and it has helped me more than you know over the years. “Never handle a paper twice” may be extended to include reading and acting upon emails, messages, and any written distraction. .
InfoChachkie
MAY 12, 2011
This article originally appeared on Technorati: You can watch my 14-minute interview with Jason Nazar, Founder and CEO of Docstoc below. If you prefer to read a summary of Jason’s responses, they are included below. If you have questions for Jason, please include them in the comments section. Messenger: Jason Nazar, Founder and CEO, Docstoc. Value Prop Twitter Style : Docstoc’s mission is to: "Make every small business better" If you haven’t already subscribed yet, subs
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 22, 2011
Entrepreneurs often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills. They run into difficulty when their business reaches the $1-2 million annual sales range, or their employee count exceeds 5-10. It’s here that entrepreneurs must shift their thinking from tactical and operational, to strategic and managerial.
Tech Zulu Event
MAY 11, 2011
The best part about being a writer who covers startups is seeing revolutionary ideas take shape from their infancy. To examine disruptive technology and prognosticate on the effects on society as a whole is fascinating. What makes this even more exciting is I am out of the echo chamber of Silicon Valley. In fact, I am in Newport Beach a small beach town in Orange County CA, but for the purpose of this article the home to PayDivvy.
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 26, 2011
This post originally appeared on TechCrunch. I have often said that what separates real entrepreneurs from pundits and bystanders is a bias towards getting things done versus over analyzing things. My credo has always been JFDI. It’s the hardest thing to teach people who come out of big companies, out of conservative jobs. At the big consulting firms, investment banks and established large technology companies we’re taught to produce long reports, make sure that every document is perfect quali
socalTECH
MAY 26, 2011
Jake Winebaum is a veteran of the Southern California technology industry, having run and sold a number of successful, Southern California startups. His last success was Business.com, which he sold to R.R. Donnelly, and he also was behind eCompanies, which invested in such companies as JAMDAT Mobile, Boingo Wireless, and USBX. He's also on the board of hot Silicon Valley startup Gigya.
Berkonomics
MAY 2, 2011
Years ago, when I was CEO of my record manufacturing company in Hollywood, I happened to walk around the plant into the press room just as Bobby, one of the employees’ favorite coworkers, was offering stolen merchandise to his fellow pressmen from a bag he was carrying. He halted, and waited for me to react, obviously caught in the act. Everyone loved Bobby, a hard worker and good friend.
InfoChachkie
MAY 26, 2011
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is right now.”. Chinese Proverb, borrowed from Scott Dinsmore’s Reading For Your Success. In the 1930’s, when Max Fleischmann (of yeast fame) brought his yacht into the Santa Barbara harbor, the local laundry trucks did the sensible thing. They lined up on the dock and patiently waited for the ship to arrive, so they could get their “share” of its dirty laundry.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 30, 2011
Some people are not cut out to be entrepreneurs. This is a good thing, or the business world would be chaos, with everyone trying to do their own thing. So what about you? How do you know if you should be running your own company, or concentrating on that queue of work that someone else has built for you? I’ve hit this before, but I still hear from too many unhappy entrepreneurs.
Tech Zulu Event
MAY 7, 2011
Our daily lives are filled with advertisements of the latest and greatest technologies offering to “change the way we live.” Today with such a low entry point, (thanks to the success of the Internet,) these technologies are coming in at a rapid pace. Recently we’ve begun to see the rapid adaptation of mobile applications and their defiance of technology’s limits.
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 5, 2011
This article originally ran on TechCrunch. I’m in Seattle this week. People keep asking me if I’ve “seen anything interesting.&# Of course I have. I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I’m always inspired when I hear stories about innovation. I really liked BigDoor, MediaPiston, OpsCode, BuddyTV, SEOMoz and much more. Can’t list them all.
socalTECH
MAY 18, 2011
Santa Monica- and Israel-based TuneWiki said today that it has launched a new, Android based social music player. The music player includes such features as displaying the lyrics of music while playing, music discovery, and social features. TuneWiki operates an online database of music lyrics, which are also includes social features and ways to connect with other music fans.
Alon Schwartz
MAY 16, 2011
The proposed California bill SB 242 below attempts to change the way minor’s information is displayed on social websites as well as what rights do parents have, which is quite earth shaking. The bill will allow the parents of any kid under the age of 18 to request any social networking web site like Facebook to remove ANY personal information from the site, within 48 hours upon request.
InfoChachkie
MAY 30, 2011
The recent purchase of Skype by Microsoft for $8.5 billion caused me to recall an awkward meeting I had in 2005 with a particularly clueless group of cellular executives. Their utter stupidity is a bit disheartening, but highly instructional. Witnessing The Idiot’s Dilemma. I recently had lunch with a good friend with whom I have a shared experience.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 2, 2011
Although every startup is unique, there are certain common avoidable mistakes that can lead to legal complications which jeopardize the long-term success of the business. I’m not suggesting that every startup needs a lawyer, but you should definitely pay attention, and not be afraid to consult legal counsel if any of these raise qualms for you. Like other environments, most legal issues don’t result from fraud, but from ignorance on specific requirements, or simply never getting around to doing
Tech Zulu Event
MAY 10, 2011
The message was clear, beware of false prophets when dealing with your young and budding startup. This particular evening, we attended the LeanLA meet-up located at Coloft, a swank professional co-op/work space in the heart of Santa Monica, known as the epicenter of the LA startup scene. The venue was lined with vibrant and inviting decor, a spacious loft style presentation room, and plenty of mini-workstations for the motivated and social entrepreneur; a great setting for the presentation at
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 21, 2011
This article first appeared on TechCrunch. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the proliferation of starutps in the past 2 years. It seems almost incomprehensible that only 2.5 years ago we read the “ RIP Good Times &# presentation from Sequoia. But what does this all mean? Are we headed for a long era of innovation in which startups are the new norm?
socalTECH
MAY 24, 2011
Southern California--and particularly, Los Angeles--has always been a center of the music business, which makes it unsurprising that there are many, music-focused startups which end up starting here. One of them is online music events site Loudvine (www.loudvine.com), which was co-founded by Vic Caretti , who gave us the scoop on what the site is all about.
Alon Schwartz
MAY 7, 2011
Beginning of April we had an event in which we shared our ideas and experience with building the product, building technology and building the business. Some advise and some of the things we do wrong and need to improve. See the best team in LA talk.
InfoChachkie
MAY 19, 2011
Note: This is part III of a four part series. Access part I HERE , part II HERE and part IV HERE. As noted in parts I and II of this series, agreements with Big Dumb Companies (BDCs) can be alluring and potentially fatal. In many cases, agreements contain the promise of future riches, much like a piece of cheese in a mousetrap. This series describes how entrepreneurs can craft company-changing agreements with BDCs, while avoiding Kiss of Death contract provisions.
Startup Professionals Musings
MAY 23, 2011
The business world has been watching this emerging generation with trepidation, and a lot of us haven’t been sure who would be the winners, and who would be the losers. Can they survive as entrepreneurs, and do they have the passion it takes to run a startup and attract investors? My own perspective is that the recession has been good for Gen-Y (Millennials), because it has forced them to face reality, often for the first time in their life.
Tech Zulu Event
MAY 2, 2011
There’s one thing that I find to be extra inspirational to witness even over watching successful professionals speak about pursuing their passions, and that is to see younger individuals following similar paths to success. At the Technovation Challenge LA Pitch Night hosted by Iridescent , we saw six teams of high school girls from various Los Angeles City Schools pitch a number of mobile app ideas to a panel of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 7, 2011
Sometime around 2003/04 my technology team turned me on to “Spolsky on Software&# a periodic newsletter served up blog style from Joel Spolsky of FogCreek Software, a maker of bug-tracking software. Blogs weren’t popularized yet so it was an oddity for me to read the founder of a software company spewing out advice. But I loved reading them and so did my team.
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