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Many startup businesses – tech or otherwise – fail. In our industry we applaud the efforts for entrepreneurs to have tried and we know that today’s failure can bring the experience for tomorrow’s success. We also know that even though many of us who are experienced in startup successes & failures look at businesses and say, “That will never work” (as many people said about Uber) or “You can’t make any money in that business” (as many said
Dave’s note: This week we welcome guest author, David Friedman, to tell us about his favorite startup CEO, and his take after interviewing her – asking for her list of attributes for startup success. . By David Friedman. I met Kirsten Mangers several years ago after she successfully sold her startup, Webvisible. Kirsten is the founder of ChickLabs , an incubator that focuses on helping primarily women entrepreneurs.
In the world of residential real estate, there are now web and mobile services for everything from finding a new home, comparing neighborhoods and properties, to finding a mortgage, and even handling paperwork and closing. But, over in the commercial real estate world�it's still fax machines, phone calls, and the post office. How do you apply technology to help improve that industry?
A version of this article previously appeared Forbes. Entrepreneurs see the world like a cash booth from a 1950’s game show. On such shows, winners were placed in glass booth filled with money. Once the timer was started, a fan blew the money about and the contestant had a few seconds to grab all the cash they could hold onto. Once you begin seeing the world with the eyes of an entrepreneur, you realize that money-making opportunities are all around you.
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.
Santa Monica-based Mucker Capital has raised $45 million for its third fund, Mucker III. The Silicon Beach firm said that it will continue to invest in software and services startups and continue to focus on the greater Los Angeles area. In addition, it will invest in seed and pre-seed stage companies through MuckerLab, a new accelerator program. “We are founders, just like the… Read More.
As an entrepreneur looking for professional investors, one of the quickest ways to lose credibility and get rejected is to start with a ridiculously high pre-money valuation. I see it happen often in my angel investment group, and you can see it happen almost every week on the Shark Tank TV show. It’s like trying to sell a home still being built at next year’s dream market price.
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Dave’s note: I am so pleased this week to introduce my co-author of “Get Scrappy,” Kim Shepherd, CEO of Decision Toolbox. Her firm is a model of a virtual company, with over 100 employees and absolutely no office other than a post office box. Wow! You’ll enjoy her style and resonate with her message. Here’s Kim… By Kim Shepherd.
How do you take an industry, the fashion industry, which is set in its old fashioned ways�even to the point of still wiring money through things like Western Union�and take it into the electronic age? We spoke with Cassie Betts , the founder of LA's District2 (www.district2.co), to learn District2 is looking to both create a marketplace, and a community, around independent fashion designers, helping them to find resources, vendors, factories, and contractors help them bring their designs to life
A version of this article previously appeared Forbes. Car companies spend a significant amount of money on superficial design features, including the timbre of the sound emitted when a car door is shut. Why? Because many consumers value design features over those which impact performance. Even less time is spent on developing the aspects of a car that become evident long after the purchase is completed.
Scrolling through the @shopboxfox Instagram account is enough to notice the clean-cut aesthetic: feminine, driven, artistic. However, the ladies behind LA’s BOXFOX, Chelsea Moore, Sabena Suri and Jenni Olivero, are channeling much more than their social media accounts let on; they are enhancing strategy and technology to make one of life’s favorite moments, gift giving, easier and… Read More.
Over two days, you’ll learn to build online products that are more motivating, usable, and persuasive, by harnessing digital psychology. Though this workshop is all based on science, the content is presented at a practical level, through clear visual examples and hands-on exercises, designed to reinforce your understanding and to help you develop new skills.
$30 million. That’s how much Invoca raised and we’re announcing it today. It is an heroic accomplishment in a brutal fund-raising market in which only market leaders can bring in that sort of money. But the story started more than 6 months ago. And the narrative may tell you something about your own journey one day. We started planning our fund raising as much as 14 months ago.
Dave’s note: For the second week, we welcome my co-author of “Get Scrappy,” Kim Shepherd, to give us her answer to the oft-repeated question: “How can I trust that my virtual employees are working?” You’ll recall that Kim is an expert here, managing her company of over one hundred employees around the world literally from a post office box – with every one of them, including herself, working from home in a virtual environment.
United Airlines on Friday that it has become the first U.S. airline to begin use of commercial-scale volumes of sustainable aviation biofuel for regularly scheduled flights, through at effort at Los Angeles International Airport. United said the first flight, United Flight 708, between LAX and San Francisco, was entirely fueled by sustainable biofuel, and that it will be operating flights between LAX and SFO for the next two weeks entirely using that biofuel as part of the effort.
A version of this article previously appeared Forbes. Entrepreneurs see the world like a cash booth from a 1950’s game show. On such shows, winners were placed in glass booth filled with money. Once the timer was started, a fan blew the money about and the contestant had a few seconds to grab all the cash they could hold onto. Once you begin seeing the world with the eyes of an entrepreneur, you realize that money-making opportunities are all around you.
According to most definitions, an entrepreneur is one who envisions a new and different business, meaning one that is not a copy of an existing business model. Many entrepreneurs have a passion and an idea, or even invent a new product, but are never able to execute to the point of creating a startup. Even fewer are able to grow the startup into a viable business.
Less than a month ago, Snapchat opened custom on-demand geofilters to everyone. Industry news was excited, but for how amazing of a product they are, custom Snapchat geofilters have remained stunningly under the radar. In case you’re just getting into Snapchat, a geofilter is like a normal Snapchat filter: a design you can overlay onto a photo you take in the app.
Yesterday I wrote a primer on how to use Snapchat for my peer group of “over 30” people who don’t yet “get” Snapchat. Today I want to talk briefly about why I believe Snapchat is an important media company. If you still don’t get Snapchat please read the primer or follow me on Snapchat for a week or two because how I create “stories” on Snapchat is more of a use case for modern media than perhaps some teens use the product so it may resonate more
There are many roads to Rio, so they say. But there is one overwhelming method of appraising the effectiveness of a business leader. Outcomes. We can invent lots of metrics to measure progress for a leader, including revenue, profit, employee satisfaction, cost containment, percentage of available market, and more. But these are all individual roads to Rio – which is the stated goal for the organization.
Los Angeles-based Evercar , a company which is developing an electric vehicle sharing network--starting with Los Angeles--says it plans a major expansion in this market, and plans to add as many as 1,000 vehicles in the Greater Los Angeles area. According to Evercar, it currently has 43 vehicles in the Los Angeles area, including Downtown, West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Inglewood, and Marina del Rey.
You’re always going to get the same results, doing what everyone else does. Sometimes you have to know when to zig where others zag. These are some of the counterintuitive lessons I’ve learned and applied from the most successful folks I’ve met. . Pick Fights – to test others’ resolve in their own beliefs. In business you can’t turn over the reins to someone who doesn’t know how to defend their own ideas and plans.
I’ve noticed a great tendency among startup founders to ignore the essentials of business accounting in the early stages of their startup. Just because you are not profitable yet, doesn’t mean you can skip the record keeping. In fact, just the opposite is true. When you anticipate losses for the first year or two, it is more important to properly document all expenses, including tricky ones like business travel, business meals, and your home office.
For new businesses, social media marketing may seem a bit overwhelming. However, with a good set of rules to frame your communication, you will quickly become comfortable presenting quality content that reflects the voice of your brand and appeals to your audience. Here are four steps to help you get started building a great social media presence. Invest in a professional brand.
In 2006 I started using Facebook and most of my friends & colleagues thought I was strange. They thought it was like MySpace and why did I need a MySpace page? In 2007 I started using Twitter and most of my friends & colleagues wondered why people would care what I ate for lunch. In 2008 I started VC blogging. I had blogged when I was an entrepreneur.
As a serial entrepreneur and founder of 6 companies, I’ve found one of the most important ingredients for innovation to be something I call “ whitespace ”. Whitespace is time you set aside to refresh your thinking, strategize, reflect on your primary goals and gain perspective. To me, whitespace is the lifeblood of the innovator, and an absolute must for any creative person.
Los Angeles-based connected doorbell developer Ring has apparently been installing its camera-enabled, Wi-Fi connected doorbells as part of a burglary prevention program with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The LAPD and Ring said today that they will be announcing the results of a successful program to prevent burglaries in Wilshire Park, as part of a pilot program where Ring donated its Ring Video Doorbells to residents to reduce overall burglary in neighborhoods.
Dave’s note: This week, let’s welcome an expert in employment background checks, Chris Dyer, CEO of PeopleG2, to help us explore one dicey subject that gets lots of entrepreneurs and managers into trouble by being completely unaware of what they cannot ask a candidate in an employment interview. Here’s Chris… By Chris Dyer.
Angel investors are still the lifeblood of early-stage startups, despite the surge of activity in crowdfunding and an increasing early interest from venture capitalists. According to the Angel Capital Association , at least 300,000 people have made angel investments in the last two years, totaling $24 billion in the U.S. alone. These are all accredited investors who risk their own money.
When people express concern about how smartphones are damaging our young people, I laugh. This anxiety that the internet is going to ruin real human interactions is reminiscent of parents in the 50s who were worried that Elvis shaking his hips was the devil. Let’s be very clear here. Being concerned about cultural progression “damaging us as a society” always repeats itself with the current trend and will continue to play itself out again and again and again.
At the Upfront Summit in early February, we had a chance to have many off-the-record conversations with Limited Partners (LPs) who fund Venture Capital (VC) funds about their views of the market. While I’m not an LP, the following post represents my discussions with more than 100 LP firms – specifically ones that do fund VCs – and full survey data from 73 firms , so I’ve tried to capture the essence of what I’ve learned.
As a serial entrepreneur and founder of 6 companies, I’ve found one of the most important ingredients for innovation to be something I call “ whitespace ”. Whitespace is time you set aside to refresh your thinking, strategize, reflect on your primary goals and gain perspective. To me, whitespace is the lifeblood of the innovator, and an absolute must for any creative person.
Los Angeles-based Snapchat has acquired emoji software developer Bitstrips , in a deal worth around $100M in cash and stock, according to a report this morning. Fortune citing multiple sources, says the companies refused to comment on the deal. Bitstrips makes an app called Bitmoji, which lets you create your own, personalized emojis/cartoon avatars, with customized hair, coloring, eyes, and other features, which can be shared and incorporated into different scenes, and even personalized comic s
A version of this article previously appeared Forbes. Fanstasy sports sites DraftKings’ and FanDuel’s popularity has spurred a new-breed of political betting sites. Unlike sites of the past that were deemed illegal, the current crop of election sites appear to well positioned to exploit the unprecedented focus Americans are applying to the 2016 election cycle.
Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all levels.
Apple fans, rejoice! On Monday, Apple unveiled the new 9.7-inch iPad pro and the newest iPhone SE. The newest iPhone SE is a throwback to older models due to it’s four-inch display yet combined with the power of the 64-bit A9 chip, which was introduced in the iPhone 6 and 6s Plus. This will come as a welcome surprise to any users who may have been at odds with the larger displays of the iPhones 6 and 6S.
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