TechEmpower
DECEMBER 17, 2013
'Merry Christmas web framework performance aficionados! What better way to celebrate the holidays than by cheering on your favorites as they race through a variety of application fundamentals in the biggest web platform grudge match of the season? We certainly can''t think of anything more festive. Now at 90 frameworks and 230 permutations (variations on configuration), Round 8 has something for everyone.
Both Sides of the Table
DECEMBER 17, 2013
'One of the questions I’m most often asked by CEOs is how to hire sales people. I’ve written a lot about recruiting and hiring at startups including my controversial post on whom not to hire and my rapid response to the flame war. I’ve also written extensively on sales and on which sales execs to hire and how to think about the different kinds of sales leaders.
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Berkonomics
DECEMBER 19, 2013
' By: Arthur Lipper. In the process of raising funds to create and develop a business, entrepreneurs make many statements to those they seek to attract as investors. In my years of investing, I’ve developed a set of tough questions that are sure to elicit both information and a vibrant dialog – questions not on the usual checklists of angel groups or investors.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 18, 2013
'Is the age of the brick-and-mortar bank branch over? With the advent of the smart phone, it looks like it might just be. One of the startups looking to help power the "branchless banking revolution" is Los Angeles-based Card.com. The startup--which offers up a wide range of branded, Visa cards--is one of a growing number of finance related technology startups in Southern California.
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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.
InfoChachkie
DECEMBER 16, 2013
'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Tracy DiNunzio, Founder and CEO of Tradesy , recently shared her insights regarding the best approach for entrepreneurs to address competition. Tracy''s frank, pragmatic and somewhat controversial comments were presented as part of UC Santa Barbara''s Distinguished Lecture Series. (Note: I am an investor in Tradesy via Rincon Venture Partners.).
Eric Greenspan
DECEMBER 30, 2013
'The Better Business Bureau was created by and for business. It’s not a government agency. It once had a true purpose and provided protection to consumers. Today, in my opinion, it’s a business that makes its living off of coercing other businesses to become a member. If you don’t, they give you a low rating based on, well, I’m not sure what.
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Both Sides of the Table
DECEMBER 3, 2013
'I’m super proud to announce that DataSift has just completed a $42 million financing round coming at the end of a year where its revenue grew several hundred percent year-over-year. Considering our revenue is SaaS revenue this achievement is even more remarkable. The timing of the announcement of this investment couldn’t have been timed more perfectly if we tried.
Berkonomics
DECEMBER 12, 2013
'Investors love it when entrepreneurs draw little or no money from their startups. It extends the cash available for research and other necessary fixed costs and gives the fragile, young company more “runway” to get to breakeven. But when forecasting the ultimate viability of a business, many times an entrepreneurial founder uses a low, unsustainable salary rate for him or herself in order to show early breakeven.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 5, 2013
'Los Angeles continues to be a hotbed for new, finance-related startups this morning, as Santa Monica-based CARD.com announced it has raised $3M in a Series A funding. According to CARD.com, it is offering up prepaid debit cards aimed at providing a mobile alternative to traditional banking. The Series A funding was led by QED Investors, and also included Resolute Ventures, Anthem Ventures, and angels such as Adam Press and Greg Steiner (BeachMint, eHarmony).
InfoChachkie
DECEMBER 30, 2013
'A version of this article previously appeared on Forbes. Note: This is part II of a series exploring the power of mentorships. Access part I HERE. Mentor relationships are not immune to the laws of human interactions. They require judicious and consistent nurturing to be sustained. Without active management on the part of the protégé, the meetings with their mentor will become less frequent and less impactful, ultimately accelerating the end of the relationship.
Eric Greenspan
DECEMBER 23, 2013
'Today, I wake with a feeling of happiness and pride. I remember all that I’ve accomplished. I have disciplined my mind to never dwell on my mistakes but keep them in mind only to remind me never to make the same mistakes again. I’m focused on my goals for the day, this year and my life. I’ve written them down and I pasted them in various spots throughout my home.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 8, 2013
'These days every new entrepreneur understands that an innovative product or service is necessary, but not sufficient, to start a business. You have to build a web presence with marketing content to get visibility above the 51 million other new websites created last year, and attract the customers you need. But most entrepreneurs don’t know where to start.
Both Sides of the Table
DECEMBER 6, 2013
'Without DogVacay my Thanksgiving would have been ruined. That’s a fact. And I’m not an investor. I just had to tell this story. It’s a great one about entrepreneurship, friendship and the collaborative economy that is helping families in need across the world. The Background. Every year my family meets in San Diego for Thanksgiving.
Berkonomics
DECEMBER 5, 2013
'The biggest error in planning may not be spreadsheet calculation error. Or cost estimation. It is most often missed assumptions about the market, the competition, the speed of adoption, or other critical metrics you’ve researched, or selected, or even just guessed at to create your plan. Where did you get the data to drive your assumptions of market size or market share?
socalTECH
DECEMBER 4, 2013
'Los Angeles-based hosting company DreamHost is announcing this morning that it has raised $30M in a debt financing round, from Goldman Sachs. According to the company, the funding was structured as a $25M term loan and $5M revolving line, and will go towards buying back the stake of one of the company''s founders, to pay down equipment financing, and to make cash available for growth and working capital.
InfoChachkie
DECEMBER 3, 2013
'A version of this article previously appeared in The Wall Street Journal. How much should Founders pay themselves and their senior team? During a company''s early stages, before it has achieved profitability, the answer is, "as little as possible.". Dave Pink, in this popular video, makes it clear that money only modestly motivates knowledge workers.
Eric Greenspan
DECEMBER 20, 2013
'I am a machine filled with passion and gratitude. I will exceed my goals and achieve greatness. I will earn great respect from others. I will finish what I start. I will make many friends along the way. I will do, create and make many things out of nothing. I am unstoppable. I believe. I am full of desire, strong will and love. I cannot be stopped.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 31, 2013
'If an entrepreneur doesn’t find themselves in over their head at least 20% of the time, they are probably not pushing the limits, not taking enough risk, and probably not working on an idea that’s worth doing. The challenge in to know when and how to ask for help, and not let bravado and ego mask anxieties. The best people know when they don’t know, and know how to find the right help.
Both Sides of the Table
DECEMBER 9, 2013
'Most board meetings are “update meetings” where management downloads its status to a group of investors. These outside board members spend most of the board meeting trying to reacquaint themselves with the company’s business and critical issues. This is hardly ideal and some simple changes could help management avoid both issues.
Berkonomics
DECEMBER 26, 2013
'Guest Post by William Fisher. Dave’s Note: William Fisher is CEO of Quicksilver Software, a software and Internet game development company in Southern California. Bill has survived multiple cycles in the game industry, and writes here his thoughts about his longevity in a volatile niche. I think the number one factor in my endurance is building strong relationships with members of my team, so that they are supportive when things go badly, as they sometimes do in this business.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 13, 2013
'In an interesting indicator of the growing influence of technology companies on Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Museum Of Art said this week that it has launched a new Art + Technology Initiative , which will give artists grants and lab space to experiment with new technologies. The new venture is being backed by Accenture, DAQRI, and NVIDIA, along with Google and SpaceX.
InfoChachkie
DECEMBER 9, 2013
'A version of this article previously appeared on The Wall Street Journal. The empirical evidence highlights the lack of women and minority founders in the startup world. A 2012 Dow Jones'' report entitled Women At The Wheel encompassed 15-years of data on venture-backed startups. During the period studied, only "1.3% of privately held companies had a female founder, 6.5% have a female CEO, and 20% had one or more female C-level executives.".
Eric Greenspan
DECEMBER 30, 2013
'The Better Business Bureau was created by and for business. It’s not a government agency. It once had a true purpose and provided protection to consumers. Today, in my opinion, it’s a business that makes its living off of coercing other businesses to become a member. If you don’t, they give you a low rating based on, well, I’m not sure what.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 26, 2013
'Since the recent 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 Zulu Event
DECEMBER 18, 2013
'TechZulu is excited to invite you to the 2014 Startup and Entrepreneurial Forecast taking place on Tuesday Jan. 28 from 7pm-10pm in Santa Monica. We will have a line up of amazing panelist who will share their insights and forecast for startup trends in 2014. Topics of discussion will be Wearables Technology, Bitcoin, SaaS, Cloud, Mobile, Gaming, Social Markets, what surprises are coming for 2014, creating value with your company, hiring problem solvers, and building a sensible businesses.
Both Sides of the Table
DECEMBER 10, 2013
'Recently I wrote the first post in a series on board meetings, entitled, “ Why You’re Not Getting the Most out of Your Board ,” which focused on the need to prepare properly, set good objectives and discuss mostly strategic topics. Even if you follow this game plan meticulously your board meeting can be taken off course by well-intentioned board members who lead you down a rate hole.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 4, 2013
'Santa Monica-based Docstoc , which is led by Jason Nazar, has been acquired by Intuit, the companies said this morning. Financial details of the buy were not announced, however, the buy apparently was worth around $50M, according to various reports and sources. Docstoc was venture backed by Rustic Canyon Partners, Crosscut Ventures, as well as local angel investors like Mike Jones, Scott Walchek, Matt Coffin (LowermyBills), Brett Brewer (Intermix/MySpace), Robin Richards (MP3.com), and others.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 12, 2013
'Earlier this month, Los Angeles-based web hosting and cloud computing provider DreamHost (www.dreamhost.com) raised a big, $30M funding round for the company--the first in the company''s long history. The company- now has around $50M in recurring annual revenues. We caught up with CEO Simon Anderson to learn more about the big debt funding round and how it came about, the complexities of providing founder liquidity in a bootstrapped company--and how the company is looking to use those funds to
socalTECH
DECEMBER 9, 2013
'Milton Olin , the former COO of Napster , has died as the result of a bicycle crash early Sunday afternoon involving a police car, according to multiple reports. According to those reports, Olin was struck on Mulholland Highway in Calabasas. Olin served as COO of Napster from 2000 to 2002, and also had previously served at Altschul & Olin LLP, FirstLook.com, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, Polygram, A&M Records, among other companies.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 5, 2013
'Despite the huge surge of content specifically being developed for the web--and for sites like YouTube--making that content profitable and sustainable continues to be an issue for content creators. To try to figure out a better model to support great content, Los Angeles-based Tubestart (www.tubestart.com) recently launched a crowdfunding site, specifically aimed at digital video and YouTube creators.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 10, 2013
'Los Angeles-based online art gallery and e-commerce provider Saatchi Online has tapped one of LA''s technology and business veterans as its new CEO today, tapping Sean Moriarty for the position. Moriarty is an active investor and advisor to many of LA''s startup companies and headed up Ticketmaster Entertainment from 2000 to 2008, including heading up that company''s spinout from IAC/InterActiveCorp and its IPO.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 17, 2013
'Santa Monica-based Demand Media has lost its Chief Revenue Officer, Jeff Dossett, to startup Porch.com , only eight months after Dossett was named to the position after the loss of former Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer Bradford. According to Porch.com--which operates an online site which helps homeowners explore and get information on remodeling projects, including peeking into their neighbor''s projects and costs--Dossett will join the company in Seattle to head up all its profit and reve
socalTECH
DECEMBER 9, 2013
'Los Angeles-based content delivery network operator EdgeCast has been acquired by Verizon , to help bolster Verizon''s Digital Media Services, Verizon said this morning. Financial terms of the deal were not announced, but the deal is reported to be worth around $390M. Verizon said it will integrate EdgeCasts''a capabilities into its offerings, and will use it to further improve its capabilities.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 13, 2013
'Irvine-based Oculus VR announced last night that it has raised $75M in a funding round, a giant Series B for the maker of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets. The funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, and also included Spark Capital, Matrix Partners and Formation 8. The round comes only 7 months after the company''s $16M, Series A funding.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 12, 2013
'In one of Southern California''s biggest holiday events of the year, over 700 people joined us last night at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles to celebrate the region''s rising stars, the socalTECH 50. We partnered up with the Digital Family Reunion to bring together the technology community for the night, for a night of networking (and more networking), live music, food, drink, and great company.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 13, 2013
'Santa Monica-based voice services, voice API and texting services company CallFire announced today that it has named Ronald Burr as the company ''s CEO. Burr, who has been Chief Revenue Officer of the company since 2012, was the co-founder of NetZero, and has also served at such companies as WebVisible, LRN, Westlake Venture Partners, Layer2 Networks, and Vault Corporation.
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