Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 15, 2010
Everyone seems to be in such a rush to get shacked up these days. In normal times investors will look for “traction&# before investing. We want to make sure we’re in love. This sometimes frustrates entrepreneurs who just want to “get back to running the business.&# But if you understand it you’ll see that it is perfectly rational and it should also influence how you form relationships with investors.
SoCal CTO
NOVEMBER 30, 2010
Funny graphic by @shanesnow that captures the difference between web designers vs. web developers: Like the issue of Startup CTO or Developer , often startup founders who are less technical have this same question. Do I need a designer or a developer? I need to come back to this issue and write more in the future – spectrum of what designers vs. developers cover.
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socalTECH
NOVEMBER 1, 2010
Hollywood-based Ranker , the online startup headed by Clark Benson, said today that it is now seeing over 1 million unique monthly visitors to its web site. The site, which allows users to create their own ranked lists of products, movies, video games, and anything else users want to, said it now has over 6 million items that can be dragged and dropped into its lists.
InfoChachkie
NOVEMBER 18, 2010
“You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”. Wayne Gretzky. Imagine how difficult it would be to score in hockey if you were required to rely on someone who is not your teammate to convince another third-party, whom you have not met, to take a shot on your behalf. As crazy as this scenario sounds, it is very similar to the “scoring process” companies engage in when they track Net Promoter Scores.
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.
Berkonomics
NOVEMBER 12, 2010
The CEO position can be a lonely place, especially when the CEO finds himself in a position of not being able to bring an issue directly to the board and not wanting to explore solutions with associates within the company. This sometimes happens when a CEO is unwilling to admit a weakness in an area that is critical, such as analysis of financial statements, or when a CEO is unhappy with the actions of his board or with pay offers by the board’s compensation committee that cannot be resolved am
SoCal Tech Calendar
NOVEMBER 8, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010 -- Southern California Digital Asset Managers. This meetup is a home for DAM practitioners in the Southern California region who are looking for networking and sharing opportunities with colleagues working in, or interested in, the field of digital asset management. See [link] (more).
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
SoCal CTO
NOVEMBER 1, 2010
I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. We had several emails back and forth where he provided basic details on the concept. And I tried to evaluate the idea and figure out: What did the founder really need here? Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ? Was it a case of needing Homework? Did they really need a Startup CTO or Developer or both?
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 11, 2010
North Carolina-based Dex One , the current owner of Santa Monica-based Business.com , said this week that it is shutting down Business.com, and realigning those operations, merging them into its current business. The shutdown comes three years after Dex One paid $345M for Business.com. Business.com offered up an online directory of local businesses, combined with content and expert commentary.
InfoChachkie
NOVEMBER 18, 2010
“You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”. Wayne Gretzky. Imagine how difficult it would be to score in hockey if you were required to rely on someone who is not your teammate to convince another third-party, whom you have not met, to take a shot on your behalf. As crazy as this scenario sounds, it is very similar to the “scoring process” companies engage in when they track Net Promoter Scores.
Berkonomics
NOVEMBER 29, 2010
Whether you find advisors from family, friends, faculty or fellow managers, great advisors can become an informal resource that rivals that of more formal resources, including board members. You will certainly know when you’ve found such a treasure, almost always through introduction by others and rarely because you have deliberately approached someone to fill a needed hole.
SoCal Tech Calendar
NOVEMBER 2, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010 -- paidContent Entertainment. Not too long ago, the fight for control was all about the living room and it was between cable, satellite and telcos with a tech effort here and there. Now that broadband has gone mainstream were talking internet TVs, gaming consoles, indie set-tops, over-the-top and home-wide networks. Connected devicescellphones, smartphones, tabletsand cross-platform content services, portals and apps raise the stakes from the home to anywhere the p
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 25, 2010
This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . I HATE LOSING. I hate it. I really, really, really hate it. It chaps my hide. It rips at my core. I don’t get over it easily. I lose sleep. I fucking hate losing. It’s not so much the actual outcome that I hate – it’s the process.
SoCal CTO
NOVEMBER 2, 2010
Google Code just release the API console. It better organizes Google’s APIs and I even discovered a couple new APIs. Right now (more are expected soon) it provides: Buzz API - Google Buzz provides developers with a powerful set of API endpoints for searching, reading, and updating post content and metadata. Custom Search API - Google Custom Search enables you to search over a slice of the web, such as your own website, or a collection of websites.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 17, 2010
Santa Monica-based LIVESTRONG.COM , the online health and fitness site joint venture of Demand Media and Lance Armstrong, said this week that it has launched a new, iPhone application geared at helping users quick smoking. Livestrong said its new MyQuit Coach iPhone application--which costs $3.99 in the Apple App store--will provide a customized quitting plan, track daily tobacco use and allowance, provide quitting facts and motivational information, plus allow users to earn badges and rewards.
InfoChachkie
NOVEMBER 9, 2010
In the early 1970s, the Seven-Up Company devised an ingenious plan to market its flagship soda. The campaign was so successful it eventually catapulted 7-Up’s sales to rival that of both Coke and Pepsi, making it the third most popular soft drink in the US. The company hired the Dominican actor Geoffrey Holder, who delivered the commercial’s signature tagline with memorable panache, “ Maaarvelous, absolutely maaarvelous.
Berkonomics
NOVEMBER 22, 2010
Let me tell you the story of the first investment made by a newly organized formal group of angel investors. It was thrilling for these angels to find a young entrepreneur with an idea for a business that seemed so destined for greatness that the angels invested over $1 million on the condition that the group receive two board seats and one observer seat on the start-up’s board.
SoCal Tech Calendar
NOVEMBER 27, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010 -- CONNECT Convergence Venture Roundtable deadline. onvergence Venture Roundtable is being launched to take advantage of the synergies taking place in San Diego across clusters and the region's new iHub designation from the Governor for wireless health, biofuels and energy storage. Technologies covered will include clean energy, smart grid, intelligent transportation, energy storage/batteries, biofuels, action sports combining with wireless, cleantech or material science
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 29, 2010
Justyn Howard, founder of Sprout Social has a blog post that he’s written about his experiences of migrating from scrappy tools to more efficient ones (i.e. Using Balsamiq instead of SnagIt, Website Optimizer over just Google Analytics and FTP). It’s a great topic, his post is well written and given that he’s going through it right now in his startup it’s worth reading his point of view on the topic.
Tech Zulu Event
NOVEMBER 15, 2010
After months of submissions the moment you all have been waiting for is here! For those who still might be wondering what Spotlight: LA Tech is all about, It’s a screening room for new technology homegrown in our region. It’s a gallery of great entrepreneurship. It’s a toast to those who build and innovate. It’s a gathering of friends and tech enthusiasts of all stripes.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 17, 2010
Last night, Amazon.com jumped into the movie business, with its own, online film submission site, Amazon Studios , backed by the help of a number of notable USC Film School advisors. Amazon is not the only company looking to make a business out of online film submissions: We dug up some of the other local competition in this space, mined from our database of startups , with brief details below: Amazon Studios.
InfoChachkie
NOVEMBER 9, 2010
In the early 1970s, the Seven-Up Company devised an ingenious plan to market its flagship soda. The campaign was so successful it eventually catapulted 7-Up’s sales to rival that of both Coke and Pepsi, making it the third most popular soft drink in the US. The company hired the Dominican actor Geoffrey Holder, who delivered the commercial’s signature tagline with memorable panache, “ Maaarvelous, absolutely maaarvelous.
Berkonomics
NOVEMBER 8, 2010
Whenever there are outside shareholders, and when there is a product in release, there is a chance, no matter how slight, of a lawsuit against members of the board as well as against the corporation itself. Even if such a suit is completely without merit, the cost of defense and the risk of a negative outcome both hang over the company and the director.
SoCal Tech Calendar
NOVEMBER 26, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010 -- LAVA hosts PwC's Shaking the MoneyTree. Please join LAVA, PwC and a distinguished panel of industry experts and local VCs for their insights on the results of the Q3 2010 PwC/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree Report based on data from Thomson Reuters. Moderator: Randy Churchill, Director, Emerging Company Services, PwC; Current Confirmed Panelists: John Babcock, Partner, Rustic Canyon Partners; Jonathan Funk, Managing Director, Allegis Capital; Klaus Ko
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 25, 2010
This is an updated post from my ongoing series on Startup Advice that I learned from founding two companies. . I HATE LOSING. I hate it. I really, really, really hate it. It chaps my hide. It rips at my core. I don’t get over it easily. I lose sleep. I fucking hate losing. It’s not so much the actual outcome that I hate – it’s the process.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 14, 2010
By Joseph A. Bockerstette, Main Street Venture Fund As I outlined last week, trophy angel investors are always looking for trophy entrepreneurs. In many areas, not enough entrepreneurs meet the criteria, so it’s still a buyer’s market. The result is that the Main Street Venture Fund consistently has more money available than good opportunities for investment.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 5, 2010
Los Angeles-based Factual , the open data platform startup headed by Google AdSense inventor Gil Elbaz, said last night that it has inked a number of deals to provide and link its local business information data to Facebook, Booyah, Home Junction, and others. According to Factual, it will access and contribute to new local datasets with Home Junction and Booyah, and deliver local data for Facebook Places in the UK and Japan.
Tech Zulu Event
NOVEMBER 8, 2010
On Thursday, December 9th, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. PST we have special guest Kamran Pourzanjani CEO of Bestcovery and former CEO and Co-Founder of Pricegrabber on TechZulu Live. Visit TechZulu for full story. Tags: Entrepreneurship Startup TechZulu Live Bestcovery Kamran Pourzanjani Pricegrabber.
Berkonomics
NOVEMBER 1, 2010
Expect a board member to give a meeting a month, emails and phone calls between. Urgent issues require more of all. Board members are usually busy people, often running other companies or serving on multiple boards. Early stage boards usually meet once a month for two to four hours, enough to ruin the rest of a day for those who travel even short distances.
SoCal Tech Calendar
NOVEMBER 15, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010 -- Patrick Soon-Shiong Innovation Awards. See https://www.pubservice.com/pr/labj/orderform2.aspx?PNO=LA10PSIandCO=CJ. (more).
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 22, 2010
I recently wrote about my philosophy of minimalism that “ less is more &# with the mantra “when in doubt, leave it out.&#. I’ve had a long-standing rule of thumb in product design, which I call “design for the novice, configure for the pro.&# I started saying this back in 2001/02, long before the era of Web 2.0, lean startups or even the advent of AJAX.
Startup Professionals Musings
NOVEMBER 21, 2010
I’m hearing more and more these days about a new type of small business, called a “microbusiness” (or microenterprise). These are usually characterized as owner-operated, with five employees or less, and less than $250,000 in sales. With the low cost of e-commence entry, and powerful Internet technologies, they require minimal capital to start, perhaps as little as $500.
socalTECH
NOVEMBER 22, 2010
Pasadena-based OnGreen , the online marketplace for green and clean technology businesses, said today that it has launched a new, patent marketplace focused on allowing users to license or sell their intellectual property (IP). According to OnGreen, the new marketplace will provide additional funding avenues for entrepreneurs. OnGreen said the patent exchange will focus on promoting the sale and licensing of green and clean technology patents and other form of IP.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 18, 2010
All this heavy talk about angels, VCs, bubbles lately. I thought I’d go for a more tactical & practical post today. The art of the quick phone call. I had breakfast with David Tisch the other morning in NYC. If you don’t know David he’s the guy who will be running TechStars New York starting in January. And that’s a great thing because I was really impressed with him.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 28, 2010
Recently I wrote a blog post about how I hated losing, but I embrace it as a way to learn, improve and increase my win rates. One of the things I learned from my “post-game analysis&# is that you’re most vulnerable right after you’ve won the deal. I know it sounds counter-intuitive but my experience tells me it’s true. At the moment you pop the champagne cork and let down your guard is when you’re easiest to attack.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 14, 2010
It’s really hard to zig when the whole world seems to be zagging. One of my favorite quotes I learned in high school was: “Nonconformity is the Highest Form of Social Attainment&#. It was written as the yearbook quote of the smartest seniors as I was finishing my freshman year. It has always stood with me. I have had a low bullshit meter.
Both Sides of the Table
NOVEMBER 3, 2010
There is a transition in every company from a “seat of the pants&# kind of entrepreneurial company to a “process driven&# mechanized one. Many people who are successful in the former fare less well in the latter. Frankly, I’m much more of the former kind of guy and I tire of the routine process & politics required to succeed in a big company.
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