socalTECH

MARCH 5, 2009

High profile entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, CEO of Los Angeles-based Mahalo , emailed an impassioned note to his mailing list Thursday, which he also posted to his personal blog, detailing how one of the firm's employees has just been sentenced to 48 months in jail for computer hacking. According to the FBI indictment, the employee, John Scheifer, infected 250,000 computers with malware to create a "botnet"--a network of hacked computers used to steal account data.

Mahalo 157

Mahalo Los Angeles Blogging Google 157

Technology Council

MARCH 31, 2009

The Technology Council of Southern California and TechEmpower are happy to announce the launch of: Southern California Tech Central This is a community of people in Southern California who have come together to help find and organize the best content from blogs, news sources and other web sites all around technology in So Cal. The goal is [.]. Tags: Hardware Internet Marketing Media/Entertainment Newsletter Sales Software Startups Venture Capital Video Games.

Southern California 100

Southern California TechEmpower Technology Council Newsletter 100

SoCal Tech Calendar

MARCH 31, 2009

Thursday, April 2, 2009 -- iPhone Programming. SDSIC. Come see an iPhone application developed from scratch, live and in action, showing every major step along the way. YouÂ?ll learn how to use the iPhone OS SDK, how to use Xcode to write Objective-C code, how to use Interface Builder to lay out your user-interface, how to use the Debugger, and even how to download your completed application to a iPhone or iPod Touch.

Writing 100

Writing Develop Development 100

Alon Schwartz

MARCH 15, 2009

Prefix. This post is for everyone, married, singles, with children and without. I tried to focus on a few, non common, lessons I’ve learned along the way. If you don’t have children but plan on having some in the future, please continue at your own risk. If you do have children, please sit down…. A starting Point. You really though it will be easier, didn’t you.

Startup 80

Startup Tips Conference Help 80

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

CEO Flow

MARCH 21, 2009

Alexander Kjerulf is a great writer, and I recommend you check out his blog. I’ve included a sample here of his last post (“The seeeeeeriously cool way out of a downturn&# ) that’s very relevant to what CEOs are dealing with today. By the way, I would never tell a CEO to do everything they can to avoid layoffs. Layoffs can hurt a culture, or it can help it – it depends on how they’re handled, and the unique situation of the company.

Layoffs 40

Layoffs Blogging Sample Organization 40

Jason Nazar

MARCH 20, 2009

40

40

socalTECH

MARCH 17, 2009

Rob Farrow is one of the co-founders of Chi.mp , a new startup which is getting set to launch a service to allow users to manage their profiles across the many sites on the Internet. The firm recently relocated its headquarters from Hawaii, and we talked with Rob about why someone might need the service, how it's different from the scores of social networking sites on the web, and what problem it's trying to solve.

Social Network 147

Social Network San Diego Sites Startup 147

socalTECH

MARCH 3, 2009

Carlsbad-based Adjix announced this morning that the firm is looking to help users monetize the popular Twitter micro-blogging service. Adjix said that it is creating a "new ad format" which will allow text ads to be embedded within Twitter "tweets." The new service allows users to select short text ads as part of their 140 messages on the Twitter service, appending the advertising and a URL at the end of a user's update.

Advertising 140

Advertising Blogging Web Pricing 140

socalTECH

MARCH 23, 2009

San Diego-based Adventrx Pharmaceuticals , which was developing pharmaceuticals to improve existing cancer treatments, said late Friday that it will discontinue "substantially all" of its development activities and business operations. The firm said it has reduced its workforce to five employees, while it looks for a "strategic transaction" or financing.

San Diego 138

San Diego Acquisition Activity Develop 138

socalTECH

MARCH 31, 2009

San Diego-based Quidel , a developer of diagnostic tests for the healthcare industry, said Tuesday that it has cut approximately 10 percent of its work force, or 31 employees, in a corporate restructuring. According to Quidel, it made the cuts in order to "gain operational efficiences and reduce costs." Quidel disclosed that the cuts included two senior-level positions, an elimination of its annual cash incentives, and efforts to reduce discretionary spending for the remainder of the year.

Chief Technology Officer 133

Chief Technology Officer Layoffs San Diego Technology 133

socalTECH

MARCH 20, 2009

Beverly Hills-based Baroda Ventures , an early stage venture capital fund, has hired on Peter Lee as a new Partner at the firm. Lee joins the firm from Prism Ventures. Lee has also served at Clearstone Venture Partners, Fortis Partners, Goldpocket Interactive, and McKinsey & Co. According to Lee, his last day at Prism Ventures will be Monday. Baroda Ventures is the venture capital firm run by Geocities founder David Bohnett; the firm's investments have included LowerMyBills, Stamps.com, Unit

Beverly Hills 133

Beverly Hills Clearstone Venture Capital Invest 133

socalTECH

MARCH 4, 2009

Los Angeles-based Steamboat Ventures has set its sights on the celebrity web space, and is the lead investor in a new round of funding for Fanzter , which operates the celebrity products site Coolspotters.com. According to Connecticut-based Fanzter, Steamboat's Dan Beldy joins the firm's board of directors. Coolspotters is a web site which highlights which products celebrities are buying and wearing.

Sites 133

Sites Steamboat Ventures Invest Venture Capital 133

socalTECH

MARCH 31, 2009

Aliso Viejo-based SiliconSystems , a manufacturer of flash-based disk drives, announced Tuesday that the firm's products have been selected by a manufacturer of single-board computers. SiliconSystems said that VersaLogic Corp. has slected the firm's SiliconDrive Blade for a new, single board computer targeted at the military, aerospace, and medical equipment manufacturing market.

Product 124

Product Marketing 124

socalTECH

MARCH 27, 2009

Santa Monica-based Docstoc , the venture funded web-document sharing firm run by Jason Nazar, has connected the firm's document sharing service with Facebook and Twitter updates. The new features allow users to automatically post a link in the Facebook social networking site or the Twitter micro-blogging service with any upload or download of a document.

Rustic Canyon 124

Rustic Canyon Santa Monica Social Network Blogging 124

socalTECH

MARCH 26, 2009

Agoura Hills-based ISWest , a provider of high speed Internet access, colocation, and server hosting, and Los Angeles-based IT outsourcing firm Cal Net, said Thursday that the firms have expanded an alliance to help clients move servers off-site to save money on managing their IT. Details of the expanded partnership were not disclosed. The firms said they have been working together for the last 8 years.

Outsource 124

Outsource Agoura Hills Northridge Agoura 124

socalTECH

MARCH 25, 2009

San Dieog-based PURE Bioscience , a developer of an antimicrobial disinfectant, said Wednesday that it has licensed a distributor for its products in India. According to PURE Bioscience, the firm's products will be distributed under the brand name Enviroguard through Global Endeavor and its Indian subsidiary, Pure-Enviro Biotech, Pvt. Ltd. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Product 124

Product Develop Development 124

socalTECH

MARCH 25, 2009

Pasadena-based LeisureLink has closed on $6.2M in a first tranche of additional funding for the travel firm, the company disclosed today. LeisureLink, which provides a distribution and booking service for specialty lodging, said the round was led by Mission Ventures and Clearstone Venture Partners, and also included participation from its other insiders.

Clearstone 124

Clearstone Mission Ventures Pasadena Capital 124

socalTECH

MARCH 20, 2009

San Diego-based Advantar Laboratories , a provider of contract laboratory services to the drug development industry, has signed an agreement with UK-based firm NextPharma Technologies, a pharmaceutical product development, contract manufacturing, and outsourcing service. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to NextPharma, Advantar will provide it with finish services including lyophilization, packaging, labeling, storage and shipment of clinical materials to clinical sites.

Outsource Development 124

Outsource Development Outsource San Diego Sites 124

socalTECH

MARCH 19, 2009

Los Angeles-based AdventureLink , the new adventure travel booking site run by Kelly Tompkins, announced this morning that it has acquired a competitor, Adventure Central. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. According to AdventureLink, the all-stock deal also included a new investment from Allegis Capital. Amount of that funding was not released.

Allegis 124

Allegis Invest Anthem Venture Capital 124

socalTECH

MARCH 18, 2009

Santa Monica-based Topspin Media , the online music startup of former Yahoo Music GM Ian Rogers, said today that the firm has inked a deal with Berkleemusic.com, the online continuing education division of the Berklee College of Music, to partner on a set of online music courses. According to Topspin, the two will work together to develop online music courses designed to teach artists, managers and labels on effective use of Topspin's platform.

Course 124

Course Redpoint Santa Monica Education 124

socalTECH

MARCH 17, 2009

Los Angeles-based private equity firm Vicente Capital Partners announced today that the firm has held a final close on its Growth Equity Fund, bringing the total commitment to the fund to $165M. The firm said that new capital commitments came from Credit Suisse and the State of Connecticut. Vicente Capital had announced the new funding in October with $150M in commitments.

Equity 124

Equity Capital Funding Los Angeles 124

socalTECH

MARCH 5, 2009

San Diego-based Optimer Pharmaceuticals , a biopharmaceutical company focused on antibiotics, said Thursday that it has raised $32.9M in a registered direct offering from institutional investors. Those investors were not disclosed. The firm said it will sell 2,794,700 newly issued shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $10.00 per share. Optimer has two lead products, a antibiotic in phase 3 trials for Clostridium difficile infection, and an antibiotic for treating 'travelers' diarrhea

San Diego 124

San Diego Pricing Product Company 124

socalTECH

MARCH 3, 2009

Santa Monica-based Image Metrics , a venture-funded developer of facial animation software, announced Tuesday that the firm has signed on a UK-based studio as a client. According to Image Metrics, Double Negative is a beta client for the firm's facial animation technology, and will use the firm's "self-service" offering to use Image Metrics' facial animation process in-house.

Metrics 124

Metrics Santa Monica Content Services 124

socalTECH

MARCH 2, 2009

Arcadia-based Siimpel Corporation , which is developing MEMs-based components for mobile cameras, announced Monday afternoon that the firm has raised an additional round of investment from LG Innotek. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. Siimpel develops MEMs modules which are used to design higher quality, mobile phone cameras. LG Innotek is a Korean developer of camera components, modules, and related products.

Arcadia 124

Arcadia Invest Zone Ventures Draper 124

socalTECH

MARCH 2, 2009

Calabasas-based Emergent Game Technologies , the software developer behind the popular Gamebryo game engine, said today that it has launched a new product focused on rapid prototyping and development of game titles. According to the firm, its new title--Gamebryo Lightspeed--will allow developers to create games on any console or PC platform. The firm said that the new software can create titles "in any genre" for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, and downloadable titles.

Software 124

Software Technology Calabasas Software Development 124

socalTECH

MARCH 31, 2009

Los Angeles-based GoTV Networks has launched a new mobile, social networking application focused on sharing pictures, videos, and text with their friends and family. The firm launched its new product-- LiveFromYou --Tuesday, saying that the new service will automatically organize pictures, videos, and media, and share that media with widgets loaded on Facebook or MySpace.

Social Network 113

Social Network Networking Mobile Google 113

socalTECH

MARCH 30, 2009

Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp. said this morning that it has acquired Aliso Viejo-based SiliconSystems , a manufacturer of solid state disk drives, in a deal worth $65M in cash. According to Western Digital, SiliconSystems will added to the firm as a new division. Michael Hajeck, founder and CEO of SiliconSystems, will become Senior Vice President and General Manager of WD's newly formed Solid State Storage Business.

Rustic Canyon 113

Rustic Canyon Miramar Marketing 113

socalTECH

MARCH 26, 2009

Yesterday, Pasadena-based LeisureLink (www.leisurelink.com) announced a $6.2M funding round for the firm's travel booking service. We caught up with Eric Hovanec, the firm's CEO, and Steve Reich, the firm's SVP of Sales, to hear more about the funding. For those who haven't seen LeisureLink before, explain how your service works? Eric Hovanec: We're a distribution and revenue platform for specialty lodging providers, including vacation rentals, condominium hotels--anything that isn't a hotel.

Startup 113

Startup Platform Clearstone Content 113

socalTECH

MARCH 24, 2009

Marina Del Rey-based ActionAllStars.com , which develops virtual worlds for kids from six to 14 years old, said this morning that it has linked up with Candystand.com , an online gaming and entertainment site. According to the firms, ActionAllStars.com's sports entertainment will be available directly from Candystand.com's web site. The deal includes access to Action Allstar's sports games from the National Basketball Assocation (NBA) and Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLB).

Marina Del Rey 113

Marina Del Rey Clearstone Entertainment Sites 113

socalTECH

MARCH 20, 2009

Dan Yomtobian is CEO and founder of Sherman Oaks-based Scour (www.scour.com), a meta-search engine which adds social features such as voting and comments to Internet search. Scour is an offshoot of a PPC advertising firm, ABCSearch, which was also founded by Dan. We talked with Dan to learn more about Scour, how it started, what he's hoping to do with it, plus learn more about the firm's hiring plans.

PPC 113

PPC Sherman Oaks Advertising Yahoo 113

socalTECH

MARCH 18, 2009

Los Angeles-based RotoHog , a developer of fantasy sports games, has inked a deal with Fox Sports on a Spanish-language, fantasy sports game focused on the 2009 Major League Baseball season. RotoHog, which is set to announce the deal tomorrow, said that the partnership with Fox Sports En Espanol will make its fantasy game available to subscribers in 25 countries in North and South America and the Caribbean.

Mission Ventures 113

Mission Ventures Los Angeles Capital Angel 113

socalTECH

MARCH 18, 2009

For our Insights and Opinions section today, we are featuring a podcast from Andrew Warner founder of Mixergy, which runs a popular series of technology networking events in Los Angeles. Andrew has recently been interviewing interesting entrepreneurs and thought leaders, and recently interviewed Brian Johnson , the founder of eteamz, Zaadz, and Philospher's Notes.

Mixergy 113

Mixergy Slides Company Companies 113

socalTECH

MARCH 13, 2009

Santa Barbara-based Make It Work , which operates an in-home, computer and electronics help service, said Friday that it has signed a multi-year contract to host a radio show on KNX 1070. According to Make It Work, the show will be hosted by Jeremy Anticouni, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of the firm, along with radio talent Tim Conway, Jr.

Tech Coast Angels 113

Tech Coast Angels Chief Technology Officer Santa Barbara Southern California 113

socalTECH

MARCH 10, 2009

San Diego-based NexAira , a venture-backed developer of 3G/4g wireless data products, said this morning that it has added two telecom vets to its board of directors. NexAira said that former president and acting CEO of Novatel Wireless, Brad Weinert, and the previous CEO of Radiant Communications, Jim Grey, have joined the firm's board of directors.

San Diego 113

San Diego Networking Product Develop 113

socalTECH

MARCH 10, 2009

Aliso Viejo-based Enclarity is announcing today that it has raised $5.5M in a Series C funding round. The round came from Bain Capital Ventures and Ignition Partners. According to Enclarity, the funding will go towards further research and development. Enclarity develops healthcare information systems which help keep databases up to date, including information about physicians and their practices.

Funding 113

Funding Research Capital Help 113

socalTECH

MARCH 9, 2009

Los Angeles-based Rubicon Project , the online advertising optimization software firm headed by Frank Addante, released new traffic and customer numbers Monday, saying that the company is now serving up ads for 8 of the top 15 newspaper publishers in the U.S. The company's publishing customers include MediaNews, Gannett, and Freedom Interactive, among others.

News 113

News Clearstone Advertising Los Angeles 113