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Startups across the nation and around the world are looking for ways to relieve shortages of much-needed personal protective equipment and sanitizers used to halt the spread of COVID-19. While some of the largest privately held technology companies, like SpaceX and Tesla , have shifted to manufacturing ventilators, smaller companies are also trying to pitch in and relieve scarcity locally.
Culver City-based Feet First Events , which runs corporate team building events, says it has launched a new "virtual game" aimed at helping businesses adapt their teams to working remotely. According to the company--which normally runs in-person, corporate team building events--its new "Cyber Sleuths" virtual game uses video and web-conferencing platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Team, Google Hangouts learn the tools to succeed working remotely for the first time.
So many tasks; so little time. As a manager, you have a number of critical tasks that are general to your position as opposed to specific to your industry. These include ensuring the continued health of the organization, setting the moral compass for your stakeholders, providing for succession by training and documenting, leading the effort in compliance of regulations and safety needs, and … elimination of all possible bottlenecks that impede the efficiency of your organization.
The latest effort by Hawthorne-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp. to increase its international broadband internet service produced mixed results.
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.
500 Startups is scrapping its cohort model for accelerating companies and moving to a rolling admissions process, the accelerator said during its latest demo day. One of the progenitors of the accelerator model in the US along with Techstars and Y Combinator , 500 has been a cornerstone of the early-stage company building platform. The move to a rolling admissions mirrors an approach taken by other accelerator programs including MuckerLab , the wildly successful Los Angeles-based early stage pro
As a startup advisor, I see many aspiring entrepreneurs whose primary motivation seems to be to work part time, or get rich quick, or avoid anyone else telling them what to do. Let me assure you, from personal experience, and from helping many successful as well as struggling entrepreneurs, that starting a business is hard work, and doesn’t come with any of the benefits mentioned.
Santa Monica-based Bird reportedly let 400 of its employees go on Friday, via a pre-recorded Zoom meeting, according to a report. The on-demand scooter company said it laid off 30% of its staff, saying "Layoffs are never easy or comfortable to do" and saying that the layoffs were done as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a tweet, Bird said due to "CDC, WHO and a number of government mandates, Bird employees are currently all working from home and the impacted individuals received the news on
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Santa Monica-based Bird reportedly let 400 of its employees go on Friday, via a pre-recorded Zoom meeting, according to a report. The on-demand scooter company said it laid off 30% of its staff, saying "Layoffs are never easy or comfortable to do" and saying that the layoffs were done as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a tweet, Bird said due to "CDC, WHO and a number of government mandates, Bird employees are currently all working from home and the impacted individuals received the news on
The coronavirus pandemic is narrowing the avenues open to biotechs for financing their endeavors, according to some industry veterans. “I think that fear of losing out has pretty much gone out the window right now,” said Equillium (NASDAQ: EQ ) CEO Bruce Steel in a phone interview with Xconomy, speaking generally of investor appetite. “I think they’re going to be very patient and pick their spots in terms of where they’re going to invest, and that’s going to put a lot of pressure on companies.
Earlier this year, personalized news aggregation app Flipboard expanded into local news. The feature brought local news, sports, real estate, weather, transportation news and more to 23 cities across the U.S. Today, Flipboard is bringing local news to 12 more U.S. metros and is adding critical coronavirus local coverage to all of the 35 supported locales.
Too many entrepreneurs I meet in my role as a business advisor still seem to believe networking is all about selling and convincing everyone that what you have will change the world. While selling is still key with customers, networking with peers and investors today is still about building relationships , listening to the needs of someone else, and suggesting a win-win opportunity.
Chandler, Arizona-based Zovio , a provider of education technology services, says it plans to boost hiring in San Diego, as well as in Chandler, Arizona and Denver, Colorado, as a result of soaring unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company said it provides personalized learning products for higher education institutions. Despite the positive plans for hiring, it appears the positions might not go very far in an expensive market like San Diego: Zovio said the new positions have a
Finding and enrolling patients for clinical trials is always challenging. The coronavirus pandemic has made it nearly impossible. Fallout from the spread of COVID-19 infections led several companies to declare this week that they would stop enrolling patients in clinical trials or postpone studies that have not yet started. Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY ) said that many healthcare systems are devoting their resources to treating COVID-19 patients, which makes it difficult for these sites to also start ne
Consumers now have their first chance to sample the wares of a short-form streaming service — and it’s not Quibi. Ficto , a streaming service without a paywall offering interactive dramas, film adaptations, comedies, documentaries, talk shows, game shows, and news, is now live on iOS and Android. The company’s entertainment is designed to be interactive with live-streaming, geo-location, live chat, polling, choice-based narratives, 360 viewing, augmented reality, and click t
Many new entrepreneurs are so excited by their latest idea that they can’t resist contacting every investor they know, assuming the investor will be equally excited and want to contribute immediately. Others will work hard on a business plan, and then mail it indiscriminately to every potential investor they can find on the Internet. Both of these approaches are a waste of your time and theirs.
Marina del Rey-based XPRIZE has launched a new effort, the XPRIZE Pandemic Allaince , which it says will help scale the impact and promise of solutions to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Acording to the group--which normally runs competitions to spur development in technology--says the new group is open to the world's innovators, clinicians, researchers, data scientists, institutions, and experts, to help push breakthroughs, research, tap into a network of supports and partners, and more.
Forge Therapeutics has set an agreement with Roche that gives the Swiss pharma giant the option to license a new antibiotic Forge is developing to treat serious drug-resistant bacterial lung infections. This week the preclinical-stage San Diego-based biotech announced that under the deal Forge will retain control of the program, FG-LpxC LUNG, until Roche decides whether to exercise its exclusive option.
Rocket Lab is the latest new space company to feel the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic: The small satellite launcher announced on Tuesday that it would be suspending its next launch, a mission called ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ that was set to take-off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia peninsula on March 30.
In their passion to succeed, too many entrepreneurs treat friends and family investments as “low-hanging” fruit, only to find out later, after a stumble, that the pain of lost relationships is greater than the loss of their beloved startup. Other entrepreneurs never start their adventure, because they can’t face the prospect of even approaching friends and family for an investment kick-start.
El Segundo-based 3D printing services provider 3Diligent says it is looking to help coordinate digital manufacturing and 3D printing efforts to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to healthcare workers, as a severe shortage of the protective equipment has emerged in the United States. The company said it will offer up its Shopsight ERP software for free to both companies and individuals, and coordinate rapid manufacturing of PPE to meet demand.
A multiple sclerosis drug that came to Bristol Myers Squibb via its acquisition of Celgene last year was approved Thursday but don’t expect it to reach patients any time soon. The company says the drug’s launch will be delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Bristol (NYSE: BMY ) drug, ozanimod (Zeposia), is one of the medicines approaching commercialization that the pharmaceutical giant touted as justification for its $74 billion buyout of Celgene.
Polestar has started production of its all-electric Polestar 2 vehicle at a plant in China amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has upended the automotive industry and triggered a wave of factory closures throughout the world. The start of Polestar 2 production is a milestone for Volvo Car Group’s standalone electric performance brand — and not just because it began in the midst of global upheaval caused by COVID-19, a disease that stems from the coronavirus.
Most of you realize that survival in business today requires grabbing hold of tomorrow’s opportunities with disruptive innovation , before your competition or a new startup gets there. The challenge is to create a culture of forward thinking in your company, and avoid the traps of following the paths of least resistance and most comfort that appear in every mature company.
Monrovia, California-based Xencor , a biopharmaceutical company which develops engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease, says it is extending a license for its technology to Vir Biotechnology , in use in developing antibodies to treat COVID-19, the disease cased by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Financial details of the deal were not announced.
Equillium has halted two clinical trials of its lead drug candidate out of an “abundance of caution” related to the coronavirus outbreak but continues to enroll in a third, which is evaluating the antibody as a treatment for acute graft-versus-host disease. The decision made by the San Diego biotech, revealed in its annual report filed Thursday with regulators, is one of the latest examples of clinical trial progress being stymied by the deadly virus , which is delaying the development of some n
A social media platform used to match advertisers with thousands of influencers has been hacked. Social Bluebook, a Los Angeles-based company, allows advertisers to pay social media “influencers” for posts that promote their products and services. The company claims it has some 300,000 influencers on its books. But in October 2019, the company’s entire backend database was stolen in a data breach.
Los Angeles-based Triton Digital , which provides technology to help the digital audio and podcasting industry with streaming and advertising, says that news and talk format streaming is growing as a result of the ongoing disruption due to COVID-19. According to Triton Digital, it saw a 14 percent increase in the share of streaming attributable to News/Talk formatted radio station, on both AM/FM streaming and station formats.
Santa Monica-based Catasys , a provider of artificial intelligence and technology-enabled healthcare products used for telehealth services, says it is seeing a surge in enrollment in its programs, as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to the company, it is surpassing a weekly rate of 500 member enrollments for the month of March for its OnTrak programs.
Irvine-based technology distributor Ingram Micro says it is looking to help the many U.S. and Canadian small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) it serves, who are facing a cash crunch due to the ongoing COVID-19 disease outbreak. According to Ingram Micro, it is extending $110M in addition credit to approximately 2,000 of its channel partners across North America; temporarily waiving fees associated with the majority of its partner financing program; and also offering up better payment terms to its
Irvine-based Thirdwayv , a developer of connectivity and security products for the IoT industry, said it has named a new advisory board, adding five people to help guide the company. The group includes David C. Klonoff, M.D., the founder of Diabetes Technology Society; David Kleidermacher; Google's Vice President of Engineering and former Chief Security Officer at BlackBerry; Raafat Fahim, Ph.D, president of REFF Consulting and former president and CEO of Nabi Biopharmaceuticals; Michale L.
Fountain Valley-based HyperX , the gaming product division of Kingston Technology, says it has shipped a new product, the ChargePlay Clutch for mobile. The gaming controller uses the Qi wireless cahrging standard and a detachable battery pack. HyperX said the new product is available for $59.99 MSRP, through both its own online store as well as Amazon.
Newport Beach-based restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill says it is shifting its eSports competition, the 2020 Chipotle Challenger Series , into an online tournament format. The eSports tournament--which was in person in Dallas, Texas last year--will include both professional gamers and celebrities, and will offer up $50,000 in prizes and free Chipotle for a year.
Santa Barbara-based Seek Thermal , which develops thermal imaging products, says it has rolled out a new, low-cost thermal imaging system which automates temperature screening using skin temperature. The company said its new product, Seek Scan, delivers accurate skin temperature measurements, automatically detecting faces, and alerts if someone is warmer than a customizable alarm temperature.
Santa Monica-based online healthcare marketplace operator GoodRx , which operates online marketplaces for prescriptions, doctors, and other healthcare services, is expanding its marketplace to include online doctor's visits (telehealth). The company said the GoodRx telehealth marketplace will make it easier for patients to find online medical providers.
Los Angeles-based Slingshot Aerospace , a developer of software which combines satellite, aerial, drone and other data, has raised $3.0M in a combination of venture capital and a Small Business Innnovation Research contract, the company said on Thursday. According to the company, it received $1.5M in funding from ATX Venture Partners and Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, and $1.5M from the U.S.
Los Angeles-based telemedicine provider Cloudbreak Health , which provides telemedicine and video medical interpretation services, says it has integrated the popular Zoom video conferencing service into its telemedicine platform. According to the company, the integration makes it easier for healthcare providers to access its services, including secure, live remote interpretation in roughly 250 languages.
Verizon and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) say that they will provide students with free, unlimited Internet connectivity to students who currently have no access to the Internet from home, as part of a plan to make sure students can continue learning even as the LAUSD has closed its campuses, the two said this week. Financial details of the deal between LAUSD and Verizon were not disclosed by the companies.
Pasadena-based Green Dot Corporation , the provider of banking services--which is best known for its prepaid debit cards--said it has named Dan Henry as the company's Chief Executive Officer. Henry also will join the company's board. Henry was previously CEO of Netspend, another provider of prepaid debit cards, where he was until 2014; Henry had also been involved in Netspend's IPO in 2010.
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