Both Sides of the Table
JULY 19, 2015
Yesterday I saw two biopic films: “ Amy ” about the life of Jazz sensation Amy Winehouse who died of alcohol poisoning at the age of 27 and “ Montage of Heck ” about the life of Kurt Cobain , the grunge-rock generational voice who died of an overdose of heroin and valium at the age of … 27. It was a heavy day, for sure.
socalTECH
JULY 30, 2015
Anyone who has ever had to try to schedule an appointment to see the doctor know how much of a hassle it is to get those appointments set up, take time out of work to get you or or you family to those appointments, and sit in a waiting room forever for your turn. How about if there was an alternative? Los Angeles-based health startup Heal (www.getheal.com") has come up with its solution to that problem--a smartphone app driven service, which lets you schedule an on-demand, in-home visit with a d
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InfoChachkie
JULY 28, 2015
A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. In 1987, a representative of Michael Jackson approached the modest Sycamore Valley ranch house and knocked on the door. The owner of the ranch was shocked by the visitor’s message. He told the homeowner that he represented someone who wanted to purchase the ranch at a substantial premium over its current fair market value.
Berkonomics
JULY 23, 2015
When you think of patents, you think of added value to the corporation in the form of protection of its intellectual property. In fact, many corporations spend millions developing surrounding patents to form what is known as a “patent thicket,” much like Brer Rabbit jumped into to protect himself against his detractors in the briar patch. Investors like to see patents or patent applications as evidence of intellectual property value and barriers to entry.
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.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 17, 2015
In my years of working with entrepreneurs, I have heard many times the promise that their new idea will create the next Amazon or Apple, but I rarely hear the more important promise that the founder will practice all the good habits of winning entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs. You see, I’m convinced that the entrepreneur makes the company, not the other way around.
TechCrunch LA
JULY 31, 2015
HTC is planning to release its extremely well-received virtual reality headset Vive to consumers later this year, possibly in November. In the meantime, the Taiwanese company is busy building out its VR ecosystem. HTC disclosed that it spent almost $10 million for a 15 percent stake in WEVR, an open VR platform and community based in Los Angeles. Read More.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
socalTECH
JULY 17, 2015
Ridesharing services Uber and Lyft may soon be able to pick up passengers at LAX, after officials voted to open up access to the airport to the third party services. Uber and Lyft--which have extensive service in Los Angeles--have been unable to pick up passengers at the airport, due to tight restrictions by the city on access to the airport. The ridesharing services are expected to get access as soon as September , according to the LA Times.
InfoChachkie
JULY 14, 2015
A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. Congress' latest attempt to impose an "Internet sales tax" is just another misguided tax grab that will do more harm than good to American small businesses. The Remote Transaction Parity Act (RTPA), introduced by Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), purports to simplify sales tax collections while also leveling the playing field between brick and mortar businesses and online sellers.
Berkonomics
JULY 2, 2015
Many people believe that bottom up budgeting leads to waste and misdirection. The advocates of top-down budgeting are strong in their belief that if you give each person or department no guidance, they will budget to their wants or specific needs, not to those that support a corporate goal. So, they argue: Give your people a top-down generated target.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 12, 2015
One of the simplest questions I get from aspiring entrepreneurs, and ironically one of the hardest, is “How do I start?” I want to tell them to just start anywhere, but I realize that most have no idea where anywhere is. They just aren’t prepared for the life they want, and are really asking me how to learn to be an entrepreneur. It takes more than passion and a course on business basics.
Tech Coast Venture Network
JULY 10, 2015
Check out this Forbes article written by our every own Ash Kumra and Seline Shenoy!
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 26, 2015
The hardest thing about starting a company is that from day one you emerge as this completely vulnerable entity trying its hardest to project success, power, trajectory and inevitability while you secretly know that you’re one knock-out blow from extinction. Think about it: You start with nearly no money, you bring on some co-founders and if they quit it could completely derail your mission, you talk to journalists who if they decide to be cranky can ruin your reputation, you pitch investo
socalTECH
JULY 13, 2015
Irvine-based CrowdStrike , the developer of security software led by George Kurtz, said this morning that it has raised $100M in a Series C financing round, which was led by Google Capital, and also included Rackspace, Accel, and Warburg Pincus. The company develops endpoint protection software-as-a-service, which is used to protect computers against cyber attacks.
InfoChachkie
JULY 20, 2015
A version of this article previously appeared in Forbes. When you can live where you want to live and make money doing what you love to do, you are, by my definition, a screaming success. Six outstanding entrepreneurs have created this sweet flavor of success in one of the most beautiful places on earth – Santa Barbara, California. Santa Barbara has become a high-tech startup mecca, rivaling cities many times its size.
Berkonomics
JULY 9, 2015
By David Steakley. Editor’s note: Popular contributor, David Steakley, returns this week with his take on the importance of cloud delivery for technology businesses. – DWB. Everyone knows that software-as-a-service has displaced the old style of delivering enterprise software. You may have assumed that this has transpired as a natural evolution of technological capabilities.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 29, 2015
You can’t survive as an entrepreneur without resilience, because you are going to fail at least once, maybe multiple times. That’s the nature of trying something that’s never been done before. Resilience means not giving up, and being energized by what you have learned. As Thomas Edison said, "I have not failed. I have just found ten thousand ways that won't work.
Tech Coast Venture Network
JULY 10, 2015
Check out this Forbes article written by our every own Ash Kumra and Seline Shenoy!
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 14, 2015
I noticed this post today from Ezra Galston titled “ Dear Brad, Fred & Mark: How The Hell Do You Do It? ” The premise is that either I (I won’t speak for Fred or Brad) have some magical solutions that allow me to produce a lot of content, or I’m super human or conversely I could read it as a negative post in that I’m somehow neglecting my duties as a mentor and advisor to the startup companies in which I’ve invested or to the fund that I manage. **. tl;dr
socalTECH
JULY 20, 2015
Los Angeles-based Flipagram (www.flipagram.com) has created a potent and wildly viral mobile app, which combines photos, music, and video to create addictive, engaging mini slideshows of your life. The company recently raised $70M in funding to further expand its app and team, from such impressive investors as Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Index Ventures.
Tech Zulu Event
JULY 21, 2015
Pocket Sun didn’t want to be the only girl in the room at startup conferences. So she started a conference for girls. Hundreds of founders, speakers, mentors, and students flocked to the University of Southern California on March 28 th , 2015 to be inspired by female entrepreneurs. She didn’t stop there. As a founding partner of SoGal Ventures , Pocket will now influence the next generation of startups and entrepreneurs worldwide, helping many amazing females along the way.
Berkonomics
JULY 30, 2015
Editor’s note: Berni Jubb was an Inc.500 entrepreneur, after years as a senior marketing manager of a large computer company. He regained his senses, and now runs a small resort and restaurant in Costa Rica. By Berni Jubb. My First Startup…. …never started, nor did my fifth or sixth. My desire to run something stirred inside me early in life, but the first real entrepreneurial adventure finally took hold after a lot of failed experiments.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 24, 2015
As the number of sites on the Internet floats around one billion, the challenge with every new startup is to be found and stand out. More important, if someone does find your site, the content better be enticing enough for them to come back. Blogging is one of the best ways to do this and build a brand, even before you have a product or service. In this age of relationships, you, the entrepreneur, are a very important element of your new brand, and it’s never too early to start marketing the val
Tech.Co
JULY 28, 2015
These days, many commercial rockets are made using some carbon fiber, an extremely strong, light, and durable plastic. The carbon fiber that doesn’t end up in space often comes to rest in landfills – which is not just unfortunate for the environment, but a waste of some pretty amazing material. In light of this situation aerospace engineer Ryan Olliges came up with an idea to reduce aerospace waste and put it to good use: make skateboards out of it.
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 1, 2015
__. faux·men·tum. fōˈmen(t)əm,fəˈmen(t)əm/. noun. when a technology startup, its investors or the market believe in robust growth rates writ large. “the ecommerce company gained fauxmentum by raising artificially high amounts of venture capital and spent lavishly on customer acquisition despite long payback periods and questionable LTV” __.
socalTECH
JULY 15, 2015
Los Angeles-based Omaze , the startup led by Matt Pohlson and Ryan Cummins, which helps charities and causes raise funding by offering up once-in-a-lifetime auctions involving celebrities and other opportunities, hass raised $9M in a Series A funding, the company said Wednesday. The funding was led by FirstMark Capital, and also included Michael Eisner's Tornante Company, Vayner/RSE,Dave Gilboa of Warby Parker, Dave Leyrer (Boulevard Capital), CrossCut Ventures, FFVC and Adam Press.
Tech Zulu Event
JULY 29, 2015
rhubarb studios announced today a collaboration with Mayor Eric Garcetti’s #techLA Summer of Civic Hacking to marshal the best talents of LA’s technology sector to address some of the city’s most pressing challenges. This event serves as a kick-off for rhubarb studio’s hackathon series, “Hack for Humanity,” which seeks solutions for public good in the private sector.
Berkonomics
JULY 16, 2015
Several times a month, I’d have lunch with one of my CEOs, and each time we’d find ourselves digging into the intellectual property developed by the company over the years, just to refresh ourselves about what the intended use was back then, and whether new developments or technologies might make these older ideas and patents relevant again. Since I have been involved at the board level with so many companies over the years, sometimes I can see connections that might be missed by a CEO with a s
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 5, 2015
Starting a new business is a serious undertaking. Yet many aspiring entrepreneurs I know approach it as a fun project, get-rich quick scheme, or perhaps an expensive hobby. Others quit their day jobs and commit everything to their new passion, without regard for their own well-being, or the welfare of others around them. Neither of these approaches bodes well for success.
Tech.Co
JULY 27, 2015
The first graduates of the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program in LA will be celebrated this Tuesday, July 28th. The program was a success thanks in part to support from AT&T. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will deliver the keynote address. The Summer Immersion Program is a seven week long intensive computer science course for girls who are sophomores or juniors in high school.
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 7, 2015
If you follow the Twittersphere you may have noticed several people weighing in on this recent piece by Mike Isaac of the NY Times, asking “ How Many Angels is Too Many? ” I found myself nodding through all of it with quotes like, “Seed investing is the status symbol of Silicon Valley,” said Sam Altman. I myself coined the term ENIFA (everyone now is a f **g angel) in 2011 but it didn’t stick as well as the term Unicorn did.
socalTECH
JULY 1, 2015
San Diego-based Classy , which develops cloud-based software used by nonprofits for fundraising, disclosed that it has raised $18M in a new funding round. The funding came from Mithril Capital Management and Salesforce Ventures. Classy was founded in 2006 as StayClassy, and also counts Bullpen Capital and Venture51 as backers. Classy allows nonprofits to create fundraising campaigns for specific projects or year-round initiatives, with features such as leaderboards, user-generated media, team fu
Tech Zulu Event
JULY 19, 2015
Almost the instant the concept of the sharing economy was introduced, it has skyrocketed into hundreds of successful and established brands by offering everyone a chance to be their own boss, and others the ability to outsource needs saving time by providing convenience. Author Chelsea Rustrum has spent the bulk of her adult life experimenting in this new sharing economy.
Berkonomics
JULY 28, 2015
September 21st, 2015 marks the sixth anniversary of publication for BERKONOMICS , the blog containing insights for business management, entrepreneurs, and investors. Starting with just 4,000 circulation in 2009, BERKONOMICS has grown to well over 100,000, and is read on five continents by an audience that is 45% female. One third of its readers are aged 25-34.
Startup Professionals Musings
JULY 19, 2015
Since the recession, and at least partially sparked by it, I’m seeing a real resurgence of entrepreneurial spirit, and more startup activity than ever before. I believe the days of the “job work” mentality are thankfully waning, with more people looking to get satisfaction by making the world a better place, rather than just tolerating brain-numbing work to fund enjoyment elsewhere.
Tech.Co
JULY 6, 2015
No one goes into to the florist industry for the money. Florists are passionate about what they do. They should be seen as craftspeople and their work should be taken seriously. The big companies in the industry (think FTD, Teleflora, 1800Flowers) that dole out work to local florists are not only stifling their creativity, but killing their businesses.
Both Sides of the Table
JULY 6, 2015
Many people are too cautious in sales processes and as a result when they present their solutions they end up sounding milquetoast and undifferentiated from anybody else in the market. In this post I advocate taking a harder stand on where your product or solution differentiates in the market – even if it means you lose some deals as a result.
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