September, 2021

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The Changing Venture Landscape

Both Sides of the Table

The world around us is being disrupted by the acceleration of technology into more industries and more consumer applications. Society is reorienting to a new post-pandemic norm?—?even before the pandemic itself has been fully tamed. And the loosening of federal monetary policies, particularly in the US, has pushed more dollars into the venture ecosystems at every stage of financing.

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Activision Blizzard to Pay $18 Million to Settle Sexual Harassment Suit

L.A. Business Journal

The gaming giant, which posted in $2.3 billion in quarterly revenue, also said it's working to upgrade its policies and training to prevent harassment.

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Trending Sources

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SpotOn raises $300M at a $3.15B valuation and acquires Appetize

TechCrunch LA

Last year at this time, SpotOn was on the brink of announcing a $60 million Series C funding round at a $625 million valuation. Fast forward to almost exactly one year later, and a lot has changed for the payments and software startup. Today, SpotOn said it has closed on $300 million in Series E financing that values the company at $3.15 billion — more than 5x of its valuation at the time of its Series C round, and significantly higher than its $1.875 billion valuation in May (yes, just th

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Illumina Accelerator Backs Seven Startups

socalTECH

San Diego-based life sciences giant Illumina says it has made investments in seven startups, as part of its accelerator program, the Illumina Accelerator. The company said that the investments were made as part of two different programs, the Illumina Accelerator Cambridge, UK, and the Illumina Accelerator San Francisco Bay Area. Illumina's startup efforts are led by Amanda Cashin, PhD, co-founder and Global Head of Illumina For Startups.

Startup 203
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Can You Ask for Office Rent Relief? How to Manage Your Lease During COVID-19

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.

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8 Advantages To Building Your Own Startup Prototypes

Startup Professionals Musings

Back in the early 2000s, the Maker Movement took hold in California, based on the emergence of such do-it-yourself (DIY) tools as 3-D printers, and now sites such as SketchUp and Makerspaces have all the tools you need to make almost anything computer related. Thus entrepreneurs were able to build prototypes and design new products without the traditional huge prototyping cost.

Startup 159
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Have you accidentally created a “power vacuum?”

Berkonomics

Here’s a question to help you decide if you’re guilty. How many times have you heard someone say, “Let’s do it now and ask permission later?” Have you done it in front of your cohort? That’s a common practice in companies where there is a barrier between levels in the chain of command, or lack of communication between people who work together or even for you as a leader.

Resource 156

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LA Companies Give Renters More Ways to Charge EVs

L.A. Business Journal

Electric vehicles are touted as the future, especially in Los Angeles where the city’s climate goals call for 80% of vehicles sold to be electric by 2028 — seven years ahead of the state’s 2035 cutoff for gasoline-powered auto sales.

Companies 306
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GrubMarket gobbles up $120M at a $1B+ pre-money valuation to take on the grocery supply chain

TechCrunch LA

When people talk about “online food delivery” services, chances are that they’ll think of the Uber Eats, Instacarts and Getirs of this world. But today a startup that’s tackling a different aspect of the market — addressing the supply chain that subsequently turns the wheels of the bigger food distribution machine — is announcing a big round of funding as it continues to grow.

Startup 249
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EDF Renewables North America, Clean Power Alliance In Deal For Solar, Storage

socalTECH

The Clean Power Alliance, the local renewable power provider which serves a significant number of Southern California cities, has signed a deal with San Diego-based renewable power developer EDF Renewables North America for a 300 megawatt solar project coupled with a 600 MWh battery storage energy system, the two said this morning. According to the two, the two signed a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) which will provide enough electricity to power more than 163,000 homes.

Riverside 203
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7 Reasons That Investors Won’t Fund Inventions Alone

Startup Professionals Musings

Every inventor seems to think their invention is worth a million dollars, but I haven’t seen anyone pay that much for one yet. In fact, I often have to tell aspiring entrepreneurs that their inventions have zero value, at least not until they are put in the context of a business plan, with qualified people committed to executing the plan. Early-stage ideas fall in the same category.

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A tale of two CEO’s and the management of pain.

Berkonomics

This is the tale of two CEOs, one of them unfortunately….me. . It’s a story of how people handle unusual situations when selling to the top – an executive of a prospective customer. And the stories couldn’t be more different. First, my friend’s story…. Recently a CEO friend told me her story of a dinner including her director of business development and an executive of a major company, a candidate for a large sale.

Sales 156
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Boost Office Productivity with these 5 Techniques

Southern California Edison Blog

Productive offices get more done—their workers complete projects faster and bring in more revenue for their organizations. While every employee will have a different level of work ethic, office managers have control over several aspects of the workplace that can encourage better team performance. . Below you will find several techniques managers can use to encourage office productivity: .

Product 94
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Meet the Tech Companies Keeping LA’s Music Industry Humming

L.A. Business Journal

The music industry in Los Angeles has grown to encompass far more than just production.

Companies 295
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Performance marketing agency MuteSix bets on content and data to boost DTC e-commerce

TechCrunch LA

Warby Parker filing to IPO last week was one more sign that direct-to-consumer (DTC) is an extremely powerful e-commerce trend. But LA-based performance marketing agency MuteSix didn’t wait that long to build its business around scaling DTC brands. Created in 2014 and acquired by Dentsu in 2019, MuteSix was recommended to TechCrunch by Rhoda Ullmann, VP Consumer at Sense, a Boston-based startup building a home energy monitor. “They demonstrate best-in-class expertise with Facebook an

Commerce 211
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Landsat 9 Satellite Launch Scheduled For Today At Vandenberg

socalTECH

A launch of an Atlas V rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base is scheduled for today, to take a new Landsat satellite into space for NASA, according to NASA. The launch is currently targeted at 11:11am from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, which is north of Los angeles near Lompoc. According to launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA), the launch will also include multiple CubeSats, which will be released after Landsat 9 separation.

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5 Attributes To Look For In Your Perfect Startup Idea

Startup Professionals Musings

Every entrepreneur wishes that he could predict whether his idea could be the “next big thing,” before he spent his life savings and years of energy on it. Investors, on the other hand, typically don’t even look very hard at the product or service, but prefer to evaluate first the entrepreneur, and secondly the business plan. I define these products and services as “solutions” (customers buy solutions to a problem), but Guy Kawasaki more generically calls them causes, meaning any new idea, compa

Ideas 155
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Are you killing innovation in your company?

Berkonomics

First, let’s recognize the problem. Here’s one for executives of any company with next generation products in mind. As your business grows more complex and there are more employees to manage and more customers to care for, slowly you will notice that more and more time of your chief innovation officer or system architect or R&D department is spent focused upon enhancements in response to needs of the user base.

Companies 156
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8 Factors to Consider When Choosing an Office Space to Rent

AllTopStartups

Is your current office space limiting your employees’ ability to create and innovate together as a team? Though renting an office space seems like a big step, it can give… The post 8 Factors to Consider When Choosing an Office Space to Rent appeared first on AllTopStartups.

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Sam Altman-Backed Coco Scores $36 Million for Food Delivery Robots

L.A. Business Journal

Coco partners with 18 local restaurants, including Umami Burger, Jinya Ramen Bar and Alfalfa.

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Just raises $8M in its effort to beat Root at the car insurance game

TechCrunch LA

Just Insure , a pay-per-mile insurance technology company, has raised $8 million in a funding round. . CrossCut Ventures, ManchesterStory and Western Technology Investments co-led the investment, which brings its total raised to $15.3 million since its January 2019 inception. Los Angeles-based Just says it uses telematics “to reward safe drivers and reduce insurer bias” by looking at factors such as how, when and where customers drive, rather than factors such as ZIP code or marital status as mo

Startup 203
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New Program Aims To Connect Startups, Series A Funding

socalTECH

A new program, run by the Alliance for Southern California Innovation, is looking to connect startups with Series A funding, according to the group. The Alliance said it has launched its new SoCal Venture Pipeline program, to help bridge a key funding gap for Southern California entrepreneurs, by connecting them to relevant venture capital firms. The new program is being run in partnership with Silicon Valley Bank.

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8 Brand Strategy Rules From Elite Consumer Companies

Startup Professionals Musings

Every new business dreams of becoming the premier brand in their space, like Starbucks is to coffee, and Apple is to consumer electronics, but they have no idea how difficult that is to achieve. In fact, only 100 of the 10,000 multimillion-dollar consumer companies around the world can claim to be an “apostle brand” – one that inspires enduring trust, loyalty, and endorsement.

Companies 152
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Why would you ever “fire yourself?”

Berkonomics

To start: “new source of energy” and “new ideas.”. When a new CEO or manager is hired into a company, for a while lots of energy flows from the top and new ideas seem to be generated daily. It is one reason not to fear the unknown when upper-level management long in place turns over, often leaving most everyone worried about the future of the company and for their own prospects.

Ideas 156
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Key Easy Ways to Optimize SEO to Grow Your Business

AllTopStartups

Are you looking for ways to optimize your site for SEO so that you can generate more quality leads and boost your online visibility? SEO website optimization is a must… The post Key Easy Ways to Optimize SEO to Grow Your Business appeared first on AllTopStartups.

SEO 59
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TikTok Opens Creator Marketplace to Influential

L.A. Business Journal

Partners like Influential will have access to first-party TikTok data that can help them identify creators for advertising campaigns.

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Steve Reich - Untitled Article

Steve Reich

A fun conversation with Dave and Tanner.

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GreenPower Delivers First Electric Bus

socalTECH

Los Angeles-based zero-emissions heavy-duty vehicle company GreenPower Motor Company has delivered its first, all-electric school bus to a district in Santa Maria, according to the company. According to the company, its first BEAST school bus was just delivered to the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District. The company said the new school bus is an all-electric, 40-foot battery powered electric school bus with a range of up to 150 miles; the bus can seat up to 90 passengers.

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7 Advantages For Being A Socially Responsible Startup

Startup Professionals Musings

More entrepreneurs want to be socially responsible these days, but fear a negative impact on profits, growth, and the ability to find an investor. In the short run, there are real costs associated with the “triple bottom line” of maximizing profit, people (social), and planet (environment). But very quickly, it is becoming obvious to startups that the value and satisfaction exceeds the costs.

Startup 149
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Can you negotiate without emotion?

Berkonomics

Here’s the problem. Negotiating an agreement, especially one that involves personal gain, is tough for the person personally involved. There is too much to lose to be objective, to be willing to walk when terms go upside down. What if the negotiation is personally important? It is my experience that you should have an expert negotiator with you or even in your place, whether from your board or an employee or outside professional such as an attorney – when the issue is personal.

Pricing 156
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SpaceX’s Historic Week Ushers in New Possibilities for Space Exploration

L.A. Business Journal

Inspiration4 proves that the company is making headway on its mission of opening space travel to all.

Company 264
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Trust Aims to Help Small Businesses Make Smarter Ad Buys

L.A. Business Journal

As an alum of social media giant Snap Inc.’s revenue product strategy team, James Borow said he has seen firsthand the struggles that small businesses face in advertising and marketing.

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PlantWave Uses Plants to Make Music

L.A. Business Journal

PlantWave, a device created by Marina del Rey-based Data Garden Co. that turns a plant’s biorhythms into music, is starting to blossom.

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Assembly Reaches $1 Billion Valuation

L.A. Business Journal

Culver City-based ecommerce software and data company Assembly has joined L.A.’s tech startup unicorn club.

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HopSkipDrive, a Ride-Hailing App for Kids, Rolls into the School Year

L.A. Business Journal

When Joanna McFarland grew frustrated that she couldn’t drop her son off at karate practice because she had to be at work, she started commiserating with other moms.

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Appetize Acquired by SpotOn for $415 Million

L.A. Business Journal

Playa Vista-based point-of-sale software developer Appetize Technologies Inc. has been acquired by SpotOn Transact Inc. for $415 million.

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Trust Aims to Help Small Businesses Make Smarter Ad Buys

L.A. Business Journal

As an alum of social media giant Snap Inc.’s revenue product strategy team, James Borow said he has seen firsthand the struggles that small businesses face in advertising and marketing.