socalTECH

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, $3.3 billion worth of stolen Bitcoin was recovered from "a single-board computer that was submerged under blankets in a popcorn tin stored in a bathroom closet". The stash was located by the Los Angeles office of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The US DOJ said that the Bitcoin was stolen from Silk Road by defendant James Zhong, who pled guilty to wire fraud on November 4th.

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TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

Generative AI is suddenly everywhere. Over the past year, you’ve probably seen people showcasing impressive AI-generated artworks, thanks to progress in text-to-image algorithms introduced by groups like OpenAI and Stability AI. A proliferation of startups is now trying to devise applications for this new class of language model , where the machine is capable of creating new text, images and videos based on simple human input.

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Generative AI Marketing Artificial Inteligence Template 182

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

Zoom, Teams, phone, or in person? Imagine yourself with a calendar requiring you to be in six meetings in a day. Day after day. It doesn’t matter whether you’re required to be there in person or virtually, you get worn out after a few of these. Your attention span sorely reduces to nil, and your quality of input and insights fall as the long day progresses.

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Conference Email Report Sales 177

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 6, 2022

One of the realities of being an entrepreneur is that you have to keep learning and changing to survive. Everyone on the startup team knows there is no buffer, and no personal isolation from impact based on your job description that can save you. Thus everyone has to make sure they are focusing on what is important, and making leadership decisions to save the business.

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Satisfaction Organization Custom Customer 147

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.

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socalTECH

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

Santa Monica-based online car marketplace TrueCar said it has awarded a new, retrofitted vehicle to a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran, as part of its DrivenToDrive initiative. The initiative connects disabled American veterans with vehicles. According to TrueCar, the brand new, retrofitted Chevy Traverse was awarded to Marine Corps Vietnam veteran Leonard "Len" Johnson of Philadelphia.

Truecar 202

Truecar Santa Monica 202

Steve Reich

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

Now tell the truth, have you ever said that after a Banking/FinTech conference? But I heard a banker say it at the 2022 FedFis Roundup. The Roundup is a different event–limited to 200 or so, and completely focused on intimate, round table conversations, rather than vendor booths and canned speeches to mass audiences. What made it so exciting? The focus on BaaS banks.

Conference 59

Conference Custom Customer Venture Capital 59

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

After many years in business, working in large companies as well as startups, I’m no longer surprised at why mature and successful companies struggle with introducing innovative new ventures as the market and environment changes. Their track record is dire, with only twelve percent of the companies in the Fortune 500 from fifty years ago still even in business today.

Incubator 143

Incubator Seed Funding Metrics Custom 143

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

Oxnard-based Nature's Generator said this morning that it has launched a new product, a wind turbine aimed at the home market. According to the company, the Nature's Generator Powerhouse includes a 120-240v/7200 watt pure sine wave inverter, and should be enough to power a whole house. The turbine starts at $999.99. The company did not say what minimum and maximum speeds of wind are required for its wind turbine to work.

Marketing 113

Marketing Product Companies Company 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 5, 2022

As a business consultant with experience in large companies as well as startups, I often hear about dysfunctional management hierarchies, as well as the value provided by exceptional ones. We have all heard about the successes of flattened management organizations in the last decade at Facebook, Valve, Zappos, and others. Individual team members all dream of being unleashed.

Outsource 133

Outsource Training Organization Social Media 133

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

Business partnerships have traditionally been agreements to drive more transactions than either company could do alone. The new paradigm, driven by disruptive technologies, cloud-served supercomputing, and the new generation of young adults with global empathy, is partnering and giving something now for a competitive advantage in the future. An excellent example is the initiative by Elon Musk and Tesla Motors a few years ago to give away their battery patents, to infrastructure and competitive c

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IBM IBM Startup Examples 131

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

I was always impressed by a few people at work who seemed to get along with everyone, and wondered what I was missing in talent or temperament. After years mentoring young aspiring entrepreneurs , I am now convinced that getting along and becoming more productive with other people is a skill that any professional can learn, or accomplish via a dedicated strategy.

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Startup Examples Satisfaction Mentor 114

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 10, 2022

In more continuing turmoil at Twitter, new owner Elon Musk is reportedly ending the ability to work remotely at the social media company, and is demanding employees put in "at least" 40 hours in person at the office each week. The report--from Bloomberg--said that the new rules kick in immediately. It's unclear what percentage of Twitter's remaining employee base is working remotely, however, during the pandemic, significant percentages of employees across technology companies scattered to remot

Demand 113

Demand Social Media Report Sites 113

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

Los Angeles-based eTailPet, a developer of point-of-sale software for the pet retail market, said it has launched new features for its software. According to the company, it has added text messaging and subscriptoin features for its POS platform. The company said those features include the ability to use text messaging to send appointment reminders for grooming or other services, promote new products, send order confirmations and shipping updates, and more. eTailPet is led by founder and preside

Los Angeles 113

Los Angeles Platform Software Sales 113

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

XPRIZE, the Los Angeles-based organization which organizes prize-based competitions to advance technology in the areas of "humanity's greatest challenges", said it has named a winner of its four-year ANA Avatar XPRIZE. According to the group, it awarded $5M in a grand prize to NimbRo of Bonn, Germany, with $2M going to Pollen Robotics of Bordeaux, France and $1M to Team Northeastern, based in Boston.

Competition 113

Competition Organization Los Angeles Technology 113

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

Irvine-based Virtual Dental Care, a developer of virtual dental services, said it has teamed up with Cigna to provide dental referrals via video, text, chat, and email. The company said it offers up 24/7 video consultation for urgent situations such as pain, infection, and swelling, offering up prescriptions and referrals to local ,in-network providers for appointments.

Email 113

Email Networking Services Develop 113

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

Santa Monica-based Autonomy, the electric vehicle subscription service run by longtime auto and tech veteran Scott Painter, says it is expanding its services beyond California. The company said it has debuted its service in Florida, allowing its users to subscribe to Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y vehicles. Autonomy's service allows users to access electric vehicles without a long term lease or need for a loan.

Santa Monica 113

Santa Monica Services Companies Company 113

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

New York- and Los Angeles-based Xeal, a developer of electric vehicle (EV) charging technology, said last week that it has raised $40M in a Series B funding round. The funding was led by Keyframe Capital, and also included ArcTern Ventures, Moderne Ventures, Ramez Naan, plus Nexus Labs, Wind Ventures, and Alpaca VC. Xeal says it also received $10M in a credit line from Bridge Bank.

Venture Capital 113

Venture Capital Los Angeles Capital Funding 113

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

Has the purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk, for $44 billion, put the rest of his companies at risk? A report by Wired says that Elon Musk Is Overloaded, with the recent purchase and obsession with Twitter threatening Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Neuralink.

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Report SpaceX Company Companies 113

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

Santa Monica-based game publisher Activision said today that it has hit $1 billion in revenue in just the first 10 days of the release of its latest title, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. The company said the revenue exceeded the previous record, which it set in 2012 in 15 days with its earlier title, Black Ops II. The company said that people have played more than 1 billion matches across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC so far on the new title.

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Activision Santa Monica Companies Company 113

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

Another attempt by Rocket Lab to catch a rocket falling back from space--part of its plans for reusability--has failed, despite a successful launch of a payload into space. Rocket Lab did not say what went wrong with the helicopter catch, but it did successfully deliver the MATS satellite (Mesospheric Airglow/Aerosol Tomograph and Spectroscopy) into space for its client.

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socalTECH

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

Pasadena-based nonprofit CTrees said today that it has launched a database of satellite data capturing an inventory of how much carbon is stored in forests globally. The nonprofit said it provides that data an the country- and jurisdiction-level, using artificial intelligence (AI) technology and satellite imaging. The nonprofit said it will offer up its data to governments, the private sectors, NGOs, and the general pubic.

Artificial Inteligence 100

Artificial Inteligence Pasadena Technology 100