Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. If you haven’t spent time over there you should. I wanted to also post the series here to have it as a resource on my blog for future entrepreneurs who stop by. I wanted to get the conversation going in the comments section around each topic because I think as much value comes from the comments section as comes from the original p

Entrepreneur 338

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Google 338

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 9, 2009

I just had an all-too common conversation with the founder of a startup who had spent more than a year working with a software development company who had produced a mess. The mess really comes from a developer who was willing to get started on a product that was not fully thought out. I always take a very different approach in early conversations. If I’m being asked to do startup software development, I’m going to push fairly hard on key questions that the startup needs to have answered before

Software Development 292

Software Development Develop Development Startup 292

socalTECH

DECEMBER 14, 2009

Santa Monica-based LIVESTRONG.COM , the online health site run by Demand Media in conjunction with the Lance Armstrong Foundation, announced this morning that it has launched a new online tool it is calling MyPlate D, for online nutrition tracking. The site is targeted at people with diabetes, to help them control the disease. According to the site, the new product allows users to track calories, fat, protein, and carbohydrates for more than 625,000 food items.

Tool 232

Tool Santa Monica Sites Demand 232

Eric Greenspan

DECEMBER 5, 2009

I’ve been engaged with social networking for some time now, starting with Myspace and Facebook and just recently (within the last 30 days), Twitter. I’ve jumped on the bandwagon, big time! I have vanity urls setup at just about every site on the web. I love Namechk.com for this. It’s been an amazing experience so far, but the best part are the relationships I’ve built since getting started.

Social Network 196

Social Network Networking Social Media Yahoo 196

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.

Company

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 9, 2009

There’s a big difference between your vision for your company, your mission and your goal. Your vision tells the world what you want to be as you contemplate in advance how you will change the world for the better. Your mission merely states who you are and what you do. It is used to limit and sift your opportunities to keep you from using resources for projects outside of your core, your mission.

Satisfaction 168

Satisfaction Resource Email Examples 168

InfoChachkie

DECEMBER 2, 2009

“I know half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, but I can never find out which half.” John Wanamaker. If Mr. Wanamaker had access to the Internet, his oft-repeated quote, would have never been uttered. In the “good old days”, pre- 1999, advertising dollars were largely gambled away. As noted in Pour and Stir Part I , the key to the successful execution of this strategy is managing the following equation: The cost to acquire a customer < lifetime value of a customer.

Customer 164

Customer Custom Advertising SEM 164

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 14, 2009

Just saw a great post by Mark Geller - Developers wanted… in Los Angeles, U.S.A. (you can get to know Mark a bit more in my post Product Manager Entrepreneur Mark Geller ). Mark tells us: there is a lot of demand for developers right here in L.A. If you have solid web skills and a few years experience, either with a commercial company or running your own legit projects, there are dozens of companies in L.A. who would love to talk with you.

Software Development 150

Software Development Develop Development Software 150

socalTECH

DECEMBER 14, 2009

Hollywood-based Friendgiftr , an angel funded startup developing Facebook applications, said today that it has launched a new Facebook application which allows users to send real gift cards to friends, family, and others. The startup said it is now offering over 120 U.S. merchants through its app, which allows users to send both physical and digital gift cards via the popular Facebook social networking site.

Tech Coast Angels 217

Tech Coast Angels Social Network Hollywood Sites 217

Eric Greenspan

DECEMBER 5, 2009

I’ve been engaged with social networking for some time now, starting with Myspace and Facebook and just recently (within the last 30 days), Twitter. I’ve jumped on the bandwagon, big time! I have vanity urls setup at just about every site on the web. I love Namechk.com for this. It’s been an amazing experience so far, but the best part are the relationships I’ve built since getting started.

Social Network 180

Social Network Networking Yahoo Social Media 180

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 23, 2009

Now we’re getting organized. There are many ways to express the roadmap for your enterprise. One of the most popular was used by the U.S. Army late in World War II, and adopted by a number of high profile businesses such as Texas Instruments after the War. The structure combined the listing of the goal with a series of strategies and then tactics, each designed to support each other, each measurable and made public throughout the organization.

Organization 159

Organization Metrics Demand Resource 159

SoCal Tech Calendar

DECEMBER 30, 2009

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 -- ExecTec Networking Dinner. An event for executives in the Entertainment, Media, Technology and related business fields to come together and network and share ideas. See [link] (more).

Networking 100

Networking Entertainment Ideas Media 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. If you haven’t spent time over there you should. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute: Tenacity. 2. Street Smarts - OK, so you’re a tenacious person – you never give up.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Startup Outsource Development Customer 306

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 7, 2009

I talk to a lot of founders of startups. My initial conversations normally focus on the core of the business, important Startup Metrics , probably marketing strategy (ex. SEO for Startups and Negative Customer Acquisition Costs ) and, of course, the product itself. Normally the product is defined as a web site. Most founders are fairly passionate about the features and functions of the web site, iPhone application, Facebook application, or whatever web application represents the product.

Web 150

Web Sites Email HTML 150

socalTECH

DECEMBER 10, 2009

One of the industries which has seen a lot of activity lately in Southern California is clean technology, with a large amount of investment activity and new company formation. We recently ran into Nikhil Jain , CEO of Clean Green Guy (www.cleangreenguy.com), a newly launched online marketplace for green tech deals. We spoke with Nikhil, to hear why he thinks the site is important for green technology companies and investors, as well as how the effort is related to his own incubation firm, Artili

Southern California 193

Southern California Startup eHarmony Sites 193

Eric Greenspan

DECEMBER 13, 2009

Yesterday, Make It Work got together at our partner South Bay Mini’s offices to discuss our achievements, our challenges and our future. It was an amazing day! The team was energized. We ate great food, we chatted, we listened to Jeremy Anticouni’s 38th broadcast of CBS/KNX Tech News (powered by Make It Work) and I presented to the team.

News 172

News Santa Barbara Social Media Customer 172

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 2, 2009

I have a business friend, an experienced manager and teacher with a Harvard MBA, whose creativity and intelligence are admired by many. But he dilutes his effectiveness with wordy PowerPoint presentations. It has become a long running joke between us, as I often remind him that most of us have a very limited attention span and ability to recall important points from a presentation.

Startup 159

Startup Writing 159

SoCal Tech Calendar

DECEMBER 14, 2009

Sunday, December 20, 2009 -- Medical Device Communications Symposium: Enabling your Medical Device for Wireless Communications. Join Texas Instruments, Telit, LSR, 7 Layers, and Wyless for this exciting event hosted by Arrow Electronics. Technical presentations and demonstrations showcasing Low Energy Bluetooth - Zigbee - ISM Band Solutions - Cellular.

Marketing 100

Marketing 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 18, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. If you haven’t spent time over there you should. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute: Tenacity. I then covered Street Smarts and Ability to Pivot. 4.

Entrepreneur 298

Entrepreneur Startup GRP Partners Venture Capital 298

Daradiction

DECEMBER 31, 2009

Folks over estimate what they can do in a year and under estimate what they can do in ten. No doubt you’d agree how quickly this past decade has flown by. My one regret is that I wasn’t nearly as intentional about the effects I wanted to create. I didn’t find my North Star (community empowerment) until quite recently. As I reflect upon the past decade and get clear about my vision for my life by 2020 there are a few stories that I would like to share with you: Petunia Pickle

Examples 93

Examples Coach Startup Mentor 93

socalTECH

DECEMBER 11, 2009

Santa Barbara-based FastSpring , a firm which provides e-commerce services and payment processing for online software sellers, claims that the firm had 500% growth in its revenues in 2009. According to CEO Dan Engel, the growth was driven by new clients such as AteBits (makers of Tweetie), Mailplane, BreezeTree Software, and Moonrug (makers of Moonrug Mobile for Android).

Santa Barbara 191

Santa Barbara Google Commerce Software 191

Eric Greenspan

DECEMBER 13, 2009

Yesterday, Make It Work got together at our partner South Bay Mini’s offices to discuss our achievements, our challenges and our future…we called it “Launch to the Moon, 2010.&# There were 50+ Minis parked in a row , that was cool! It was an amazing day. The team was energized. We ate great food, we chatted, we listened to Jeremy Anticouni’s 38th broadcast of CBS/KNX Tech News (powered by Make It Work) and I presented to the team.

Burbank 156

Burbank Yahoo News Social Media 156

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 30, 2009

In past insights, we explored the need for a tangible goal and strategies that are measurable as steps toward achievement of the goal. This insight calls to account tactics to accompany each strategy, and even suggests a number for each. . Tactics support strategies and allow your individual managers and departments to contribute to strategies in measurable ways that are more short term and procedural than are the strategies they support.

Resource 149

Resource Sales Training Demand 149

SoCal Tech Calendar

DECEMBER 14, 2009

Wednesday, December 16, 2009 -- Tech Entrepreneur Happy Hour. Let's get together for drinks at Copa d'Oro in Santa Monica to catch up and talk tech before the holidays. There are lots of exciting things happening in LA software right now. Tons of great new startups, lots of higher level acquisitions. See [link] (more).

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Santa Monica Acquisition Software 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. If you haven’t spent time over there you should. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute: Tenacity. I then covered Street Smarts. 3. Ability to Pivot – I don’t like to invest in people that I’ve never met before who come through my office wanting to have a term sheet within 30

Entrepreneur 291

Entrepreneur Startup Google Yammer 291

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 29, 2009

TechZulu is very pleased to announce that we are partnering with Sony during CES. We are going to be streaming 'Live' From the Sony tower on January 7, 2010 from 4pm-5pm PST (possibly until 6pm). We already have a huge list of amazing products we are going to be covering, but we want to know what you are interested in. This is your chance to let us know what you want us to cover and get to interact with the creators themselves.

Screening 73

Screening Startup Product 73

socalTECH

DECEMBER 16, 2009

One of the perpetual themes of the technology news sites and blogs this year has been fairly nonstop coverage of Twitter, the microblogging site. Aside from constant coverage of whether the service is up, or down, or somewhere in between, there's also been a lot of attention given to how the service plans to make money. So, it was interesting to speak with Sean Rad , founder of Twitter advertising firm Ad.ly (www.ad.ly), on how his firm is looking to help users make money from the service, even

Advertising 189

Advertising Content Startup Social Network 189

Eric Greenspan

DECEMBER 8, 2009

Have a listen to my chat with Marsha Collier and Marc Cohen on wsRadio. We talked about Must Haves, Farmville, Make It Work, Sonos, Lululemon and more. Tags: eric david greenspan.

145

145

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 16, 2009

It’s time to speak of some sort of business plan. As a professional investor in early stage companies, I have long discounted long, detailed business plans in favor of a concise “executive summary” followed by a believable spreadsheet-based financial forecast projecting three to five years into the future. . Yes, everything does change between drafting that plan and its successful execution.

Summary 149

Summary Resource Writing Email 149

SoCal Tech Calendar

DECEMBER 11, 2009

Thursday, December 17, 2009 -- South Bay Tech Group Happy Hour. Strengthen your "Starbucks network" close to home by getting to know neighbors who are involved in the technology and media industry in the South Bay. Join us for a very casual free networking group for technology entrepreneurs and executives who live and/or work in El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance and Palos Verdes area.

Hermosa Beach 100

Hermosa Beach Redondo Beach El Segundo Manhattan Beach 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 21, 2009

This is part of my new series on what makes an entrepreneur successful. I originally posted it on VentureHacks , one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs. If you haven’t spent time over there you should. I started the series talking about what I consider the most important attribute of an entrepreneur : Tenacity. I then covered Street Smarts , Ability to Pivot , Resiliency and Inspiration.

Entrepreneur 290

Entrepreneur Startup Venture Capital Ideas 290

Tech Zulu Event

DECEMBER 2, 2009

This coming weekend December 5 and 6 TechZulu will be live streaming the Humanity+ Summit. The H+ Summit (Organized by Humanity + ) is a two day, interactive event that will explore how humanity will be radically changed by technology in the future. Over 30 visionary speakers will explore how to enhance your body, mind, life, and world. What is going to be like to be a human in this next phase of technological progress?

Organization 69

Organization Technology 69

socalTECH

DECEMBER 17, 2009

Los Angeles-based Twitter advertising startup Ad.ly has just launched a new Twitter analytics product, the firm said Thursday afternoon, which allows Twitter users to see statistics on their account. According to Ad.ly, the new Ad.ly Analytics services allows users to see how many engaged followers a user has, audience gender, location, and other information.

Statistics 183

Statistics Advertising Los Angeles Sites 183

Eric Greenspan

DECEMBER 8, 2009

Have a listen to my chat with Marsha Collier and Marc Cohen on wsRadio. We talked about Must Haves , Farmville, Make It Work, Sonos, Lululemon and more. Tags: Eric Greenspan farmville lululemon make it work marsha collier radio sonos.

145

145

Daradiction

DECEMBER 30, 2009

Written by Jolie O’Dell. By the way, our RoadTwip panel just got selected by SxSW Interactive. Ever since two friends and I staged a two-week jaunt around the Midwest to attend a great new conference earlier this year, I’ve been more and more aware of a growing trend: the social media road trip. While on the road this year, I’ve come upon long-term social media road warriors such as Mark Simonds of the Twitter Road Trip , brand ambassadors such as Sara Lopez and conference-hopp

Social Media 62

Social Media Media Technical Review Content 62

SoCal Tech Calendar

DECEMBER 10, 2009

Friday, December 11, 2009 -- This Week in Startups/DNAMail Meetup. Come join Jason, George Naspo (CEO of Ikano Communications) and the whole TWiST gang for a special live episode and meetup at the Mahalo.com offices. We'll be starting with the live episode, featuring George Naspo, at 4:30pm and following that immediately with a reception at 6:00pm. Come by to watch the episode with other TWiST fans and then stick around for some great networking.

Startup 100

Startup Networking 100

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 1, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series on Startup Advice. I was reading one of my favorite websites for entrepreneurs, VentureHacks, this weekend and noticed that they are running a long piece on how to pick a co-founder. If you’ve read my blog for a while you’ll know that I’m a fan of starting businesses in a non-traditional way. I recommend that you start a company by yourself and own 100% of it.

Startup 289

Startup Venture Capital Entrepreneur Sales 289