This site uses cookies to improve your experience. To help us insure we adhere to various privacy regulations, please select your country/region of residence. If you do not select a country, we will assume you are from the United States. Select your Cookie Settings or view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Used for the proper function of the website
Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Strictly Necessary: Used for the proper function of the website
Performance/Analytics: Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Managing Your Startup Board?—?A Short Presentation I was invited to do a keynote presentation at the Khosla Ventures CEO Summit this week in Sausalito. It was an amazing gathering of some of the most ambitious early-stage CEO’s looking to make a dent in fields related to healthcare, biology, AI and other transformative fields. It’s encouraging to know that there are still great VC firms like KV that are looking to make these short of big bets on shaping the future.
When Ezra first launched about six months ago, the company was using magnetic resonance imaging machines to test for prostate cancer in men. But the company’s founder, Emi Gal, always had a larger goal. “One of the biggest problems in cancer is that there’s no accurate, fast, painless, way to scan for cancer anywhere in the body” Gal said at the time of his company’s debut.
New medicines, devices, and diagnostics produced by the life sciences community in California are giving clinicians better tools to fight disease and improve quality of life for patients around the world. Emerging technologies, such as stem cell and gene therapies, are beginning to make their mark. According to the California Life Sciences Association (CLSA)’s latest California Life Sciences Industry Report , California is home to more than 3,400 life sciences companies.
For our interview this morning, we talked with David Wood , the Founder and CEO of Eventene (www.eventene.com), an early stage startup, bootstrapped startup developing event management software. David--a veteran of Microsoft, having been the lead developer of Microsoft Exchange--tells us why he started his company. What does Eventene do? David Wood: We make event planning software for social organizations.
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.
My Commencement Speech?—?Life at Your Crossroads Photo by Justin Luebke on Unsplash Crossroads Cal Poly Pomona! What’s up!?! I’m so grateful to be up here addressing you today. Today you’re either here to graduate or support somebody graduating. A graduate is at his or her first major crossroad in life. You are faced with decisions about which road to take.
The Los Angeles ecosystem is $76 million stronger today as Fika Ventures , a seed-stage venture capital firm, announces its sophomore investment fund. Fika invests roughly half of its capital exclusively in startups headquartered in LA, with a particular fondness for B2B, enterprise and fintech companies. The firm was launched in 2017 by general partners Eva Ho and TX Zhuo, formerly of Susa Ventures and Karlin Ventures, respectively.
Sign up to get articles personalized to your interests!
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Los Angeles-based Boring Co. , the tunnel-and-transportation startup led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, has been selected to build a small transportation system using Boring Co.'s technology, which will span the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) announced the selection of The Boring Company on Wednesday, saying it hopes to have the tunnel built and transportation system running by the Consumer Electronics Show in January of 2021.
Announcing Projector?—?A Startup I’ve Been Excited to Tell You About for Years A few years ago I spent time in prison with Trevor O’Brien , the founder of Projector. Yes, I always imagined announcing the company that way. We were of course there to work with incarcerated men on developing entrepreneurial skills on behalf of Defy Ventures. We had met previously when Trevor was a product manager at YouTube and Upfront had funded the largest video producer on YouTube, Maker Studios.
For over 100 years entrepreneurs have come to Hollywood to try their luck in the dream factory and build an empire in the business of storytelling. Propelled by new technologies, new businessmen have been landing in Los Angeles since the invention of the nickelodeon to create a studio that would dominate popular entertainment. Over the past five years, virtual reality was the latest new thing to make or break fortunes, and the founding team behind the Korean company AmazeVR are the latest would-
It is an old warning in the entertainment industry. Define your persona the way you want others to view you – before someone else defines you by comparing you to someone not as flattering as you would like. Sometimes you win when others define your story. I have a friend in the music business who worked hard to gain introductions to, and become mentored by, several known names in the business.
Camarillo-based semiconductor maker Semtech has just joined an organization focused on advancing "smart home" technology, as it looks to push its low powered wireless technology (LoRa) into the smart home market. According to Semtech, it has joined the Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA) , an international non-profit industry association for the advancement of smart home and building technologies.
A conference dedicated to transportation and mobility wouldn’t be complete without hearing from Ford, the U.S. automaker with a storied 116-year history. We’re excited to announce that Ford CTO Ken Washington will participate in TechCrunch’s inaugural TC Sessions: Mobility , a one-day event on July 10, 2019 in San Jose, Calif., that’s bringing the best and brightest minds — founders, investors and technologists — who are determined to invent a future Henry Ford might neve
The FDA today has made Zolgensma, a Novartis treatment for the rare genetic disease spinal muscular atrophy, the second approved gene therapy in the US. The news marks a milestone for SMA patients, who have only one other approved medicine available. But it comes with a cost: At $2.125 million, Zolgensma’s price tag creates a critical test for the economic viability of gene therapy as it goes head-to-head with an established treatment.
Carlsbad-based Viasat , which develops satellites communications equipment, reported a win this week with the U.S. Air Force. According to Viasat, it has been contracted to deliver a "Link 16" capable Low Earth Orbit (LEO) spacecraft for the USAF, which will be used to prototype and test space-based Link 16 capabilities. Link 16 is being used by the U.S.
Elon Musk via Flickr by TED Conference To be successful as an entrepreneur, you don’t have to be a fabulous person, but it helps. Some people, and some entrepreneurs, have that something extra that you can’t quite put your finger on, like Ryan Seacrest is searching for on American Idol. But the entrepreneurs that have it, including Elon Musk and Richard Branson, seem to be able to effortlessly get team members, investors, and customers to follow them anywhere.
Los Angeles-based XPRIZE , the organization which launches prize-based competitions to spur the development of advancements in technology, says it is trying something new in its prize efforts--a new, $25,000 prize open to any individual who refers someone who ultimately goes on to win a grand prize in an XPRIZE competition. According to the foundation, its new "Find a Winner" program is open to the public.
Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. Most entrepreneurs I know admit to a poor first media interaction, and many are still waiting for the instant replay.
Yet another new biotech company has been founded in San Diego by serial entrepreneur Mike Grey and other alumni of rare disease startup Lumena Pharmaceuticals. Reneo Pharmaceuticals, which has offices in San Diego and in the UK, announced Monday it has raised $50 million to advance a compound it is testing as a therapy for diseases that hamper the performance of mitochondria—the parts of our cells that turn what we eat into energy, among other life-sustaining tasks.
A new, Los Angeles-based startup, BiasSync , has launched a tool aimed at helping corporations and government agencies measure unconscious bias in the workplace, in an attempt to help foster a "more fair and respectful workplace". According to BiasSync, the company was co-founded by former broadcast journalist and entrepreneur Michele Ruiz, former Tinder VP of Technology Dan Gould, and serial tech entrepreneur Robin Richards.
Change is hard. But these days it’s required and inevitable. Yet, in my daily role as an advisor to entrepreneurs and small business owners, struggling to boost revenues, profits, and earnings, I still see too many managers falling back on command-and-control, a focus on weaknesses, and not enough time for people. The result is lost productivity and a poorly engaged work force.
Sebastian Thrun first made his mark on autonomous vehicle development at the dawn of that industry, when he led a Stanford team whose robot car Stanley won the $2 million DARPA Grand Challenge in 2005 by racing driverless through the Mojave Desert for 132 miles. These days, Thrun seems just as excited by another imprint he’s made on the still-forming AV industry—not as a researcher, but as an entrepreneur in online education.
San Diego-based Sotera Wireless , which develops vital signs monitoring products for the healthcare industry, has named Younes Achkire, PhD, as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO). Achkire was most recently Vice President of Engineering and Operations at Foxconn Health Technology Business Group, and also was co-founder, Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Zap Surgical Systems.
Image via Flickr by jardenberg Your marketing launch is the most important element of startup success these days, to get customer attention in this world of information overload. Yet it is the one element that too many entrepreneurs focus on only as an afterthought. Everyone assumes their product or service is so great that “word-of-mouth” will carry the day for them.
Patients, doctors, family members, and drug-price watchdogs continued to wait for the expected approval of Zolgensma , a Novartis (NYSE: NVS ) gene therapy for the rare inherited disease spinal muscular atrophy. Originally developed at a children’s hospital in Ohio , Zolgensma will be a litmus test for the nascent field. If approved this week or next, it would be just the second gene therapy to come to market in the US.
San Diego-based Locana , a developer of RNA-targeting gene therapy technology, announced Wednesday morning that it has raised $55M in a Series A funding round. The funding was led by ARCH Venture Partners, and also included Temasek and Lightstone Ventures, along with new investors UCB Ventures and GV (formerly Google Ventures). According to Locana, the funding will go to advance and expand its pipeline of RNA-targeting gene therapy programs, as well as to bolster its leadership team and technolo
Image via Good Free Photos It’s time for more entrepreneurs to reset their focus, and shift their thinking to completely different ways of doing things. Everyone talks about innovation, but the majority of business plans I see still reflect linear thinking – one more social network with improved usability, one more wind-farm energy generator with a few more blades, or one more dating site with a new dimension of compatibility.
Inhibrx, developer of protein drugs targeting cancer and other diseases, has raised $40 million from the hedge fund Viking Global Investors as the biotech steers several programs through early-stage clinical trials. The La Jolla, CA-based company was founded in 2010 by Mark Lappe, Brendan Eckelman, and Quinn Deveraux. Eckelman is the company’s chief scientific officer and executive vice president of strategy; Deveraux is its executive vice president of early research.
The Precellerator , the Santa Monica-based startup incubation and accelerator effort with ties to local technology law firm Stubbs, Alderton, and Markiles LLP, has opened up applications for its next class of startups, the accelerator said on Tuesday. According to the Precellerator, deadlines for applications for its next class, the 13th class, is July 15th.
How do small hotel chains and boutique hotels keep up with all the advancements going on in technology? Los Angeles-based Runtriz (www.runtriz.com) has developed mobile software which helps those hotels keep up with the giants in the market. We spoke with co-founder and CTO, Alonso Vargas about the company. READ MORE>>.
We organize all of the trending information in your field so you don't have to. Join 5,000+ users and stay up to date on the latest articles your peers are reading.
You know about us, now we want to get to know you!
Let's personalize your content
Let's get even more personalized
We recognize your account from another site in our network, please click 'Send Email' below to continue with verifying your account and setting a password.
234 
Let's personalize your content