socalTECH
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
Los Angeles-based car leasing service Fair , and on-demand ride service Uber will no longer work together to connect Uber drivers with Fair's services, according to a report on Thursday. According to Fair, the move came due "to an unexpected increase in insurance premiums" which would have affected its rideshare drivers. Fair says it will wind down its weekly ridesharing service over the next few months.
Berkonomics
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
Where’s the threat? It is hard to separate this kind of advice from economic lessons in running a business, when office politics can threaten a business in ways that are subtle, but sometimes just as devastating as economic shocks or continuing poor management. Examining the petri dish. Most any office with more than one level of management (more than ten employees) can become a Petri dish for office politics.
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Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 5, 2020
As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I tend to see many of the same obstacles appearing in every new startup, and since I don’t want to appear to be a downer , I’m not sure how to properly warn people ahead of time to be on the alert for these challenges. In fact, since most entrepreneurs are eternal optimists anyway, they would never believe any negative scenarios could happen to them.
L.A. Business Journal
FEBRUARY 7, 2020
As digital media continues to evolve, and as entertainment plays an increasingly crucial role in the category, Silicon Beach has developed into an essential location for big and ambitious companies.
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.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 4, 2020
Amazon is in a major expansion in Santa Barbara, with plans to hire as many as 300 people in a new, three story downtown location, all working as part of the Amazon Alexa team. Amazon's new space, at 1001 State Street, is expected to draw workers from UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and other local universities, as well as from the region's existing supply of technology companies.
Berkonomics
FEBRUARY 3, 2020
It is human nature to start in a new position with enthusiasm, lofty goals, new ideas, and a heightened awareness of those around us and their ideas for the business. After time in our job positions. And it is an unfortunate truism that most of us become a bit stale in our jobs after some time, even if we are most successful at it and appreciated by all who work for or with us.
Southern California Tech Central brings together the best content for technical professionals in Southern California from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
L.A. Business Journal
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
AllVoices, an app that enables employees to anonymously report harassment and other workplace issues, raised $3 million in seed funding.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2020
Irvine-based Ingram Micro , the big computer and technology distributor and provider of technology and supply chain services, said that its strategic business unit, Ingram micro Commerce & Lifecycle Services , is seeing record growth of its Canadian e-commerce business. The company said it saw an 87 percent increase in apparel/footwear orders and a 25 percent increase in consumer electronics in Canada in 2019.
Xconomy
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
Scripps Research is charting new territory with its Calibr division, a drug discovery and drug development group within the research institute that is advancing its own experimental treatments. This week Calibr announced it had received the agency’s go-ahead to move a CAR-T cell therapy it has been evaluating for the treatment of certain blood cancers, including relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancies such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, into human testing.
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 1, 2020
Most small businesses have now forgotten the last recession, and are back to “business as usual.” They don’t realize that business as usual is gone forever. With social media and smart phone apps, real product information spreads at astounding speeds. Entrepreneurs that are not listening, not engaging, and not changing are destined to be left behind even in the best of times.
L.A. Business Journal
FEBRUARY 7, 2020
While Silicon Valley remains home for many technology industry heavyweights, Los Angeles is rapidly gaining ground as a hub for both startups and established firms.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 4, 2020
San Diego-based ecoATM , which develops automated kiosks for smartphone and other electronics trade-ins, said this morning that Cowen Sustainable Advisors has agreed to acquired a "significant minority stake" in the company, for $200M. According to ecoATM, Cowen Sustainable Advisors acquires the stake from Apollo Funds, which are managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, the company's majority owner.
Xconomy
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
This is the last week to register at the lowest rate for March 18’s Xcelerating Life Sciences: Biomedical Breakthroughs in Precision Medicine & Genomics conference at the Takeda Research facility in San Diego. Hurry, our $99 early bird sale ends this Friday, Feb. 7 at midnight. Join Xconomy as we explore how the investment paradigm shift in funding strategies has impacted San Diego, the future for precision medicine, the growth of genomics, and more.
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 2, 2020
These days, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, pitching their latest and greatest new idea, and looking for someone to give them money. Angel investors, like me, have long figured out that asking to see the prototype is a quick way to separate the ‘wannabes’ from serious players. Talk is cheap, but entrepreneurs who show you a working model of their idea know how to execute.
L.A. Business Journal
FEBRUARY 7, 2020
While shares of Snap Inc. slumped last week following lower-than-expected results for fourth-quarter earnings, the company said aggressive efforts to increase users and reduce losses were generating positive results.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
Camarillo-based Semtech , the developer of analog and mixed signal semiconductors, has applied its LoRa low power wireless networking technology to a new product, which detects abnormal spikes in energy consumption in city substations. According to the company, NetOP , a developer and manufacturer of low power, wide area network (LPWAN)-based Internet of Things (IoT) applications, is using its technology to detect swings in energy usage and respond to, prevent or address malfunctions, illegal ac
Xconomy
FEBRUARY 7, 2020
The president’s State of the Union address was wide-ranging, as they tend to be, but those who tuned in heard mention of two hot health policy topics: price transparency and drug pricing reform. President Trump asserted that an executive order he signed last year directing various federal agencies to come up with new rules requiring hospitals to provide patients with more information on prices will save people “massive amounts of money for substantially better care” once they can shop around mor
Startup Professionals Musings
FEBRUARY 3, 2020
Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Almost instantly, via the Internet or on their smartphone in the store, they can find the lowest price alternative or their favorite features, without waiting for push marketing or listening to your best sales person.
L.A. Business Journal
FEBRUARY 7, 2020
Los Angeles consumer tech companies and the executives who launched them have been at the forefront of some of the most successful — and ubiquitous — products and services of the past decade.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2020
Los Angeles-based Gento , which operates an on-demand staffing marketplace for healthcare and nursing facilities, said on Wednesday that it has raised $5M more. The funding game from Palisades Growth Capital. Gento is led by CEO Victor Gajendran. The company was originally known as Nursing Without Walls. READ MORE>>.
L.A. Business Journal
FEBRUARY 7, 2020
Gaming is a global industry, but few cities are as entrenched in the production and development of video games as Los Angeles.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2020
Irvine-based Accurate Background , a provider of background screening for employers, has acquired Career Employment Screening (CBES), the background screening arm of CareerBuilder. Financial terms of the buy--which was backed by private equity firm Apax Partners--were not announced. According to Accurate Background, the combined firm will operate under the Accurate Background brand.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2020
Los Angeles-based HopSkipDrive , which offers up transportation services to help kids gets to and from school, hsa raised another $22M in funding, the company said today. The funding came from Cyrus Capital Partners, State Farm Ventures, plus Upfront Ventures, FirstMark Capital and Greycroft. According to the company, it has now raised $44M in total funding.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 3, 2020
The CEO of Los Angeles-based Hulu , Randy Freer, is stepping down from heading up the company, Disney said late Friday. Freer had been CEO since October of 2017. The move comes as a restructuring by Disney, as it continues to shuffle its business after its acquisition of 21st Century Fox. As a result of the shuffle, Hulu will now being managed as part of Disney's Direct to Consumer and International business, according to Disney.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 3, 2020
San Diego-based Truvian , which is developing a benchtop, blood testing system to provide lab results for a number of health tests, said it has named Shane Bowen, Ph.D., as its Senior Vice President of Engineering. Bowen was most recently Senior Director of Scientific Research in the Department of Research and Technology Development at Illumina, where the company said he led the research team that conceptualized and developed the patterned flow cell format and manufacturing methods for Illumina'
L.A. Business Journal
FEBRUARY 7, 2020
While some technology developed by L.A.-based software startups is invisible to the average consumer, the impact is anything but.
L.A. Business Journal
FEBRUARY 7, 2020
Get to know the innovative executives who make Silicon Beach an essential hub in the tech industry.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 7, 2020
A new, Santa Monica-based startup, SureSale , has raised $7M in its Series A funding round, the company said this week. The funding was led by Upfront Ventures and also included Coffin Capital. SureSale says that it provides a "rigorous background check" on all of its vehicles, and provides a comprehensive report, to ensure a vehicle has clean title and that a vehicle meets its standards for sale, and offers up a 5 month, 5,000 mile protection plan.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 7, 2020
Irvine-based Ingram Micro said on Thursday that it has acquired Ictivity , a provider of European IT services. According to Ingram Micro, the acquisition will expand its portfolio of high value, IT services in Europe. Ictivity is based in the Netherlands, and provides consulting, implementation and managed services. Financial terms of the acquistion were not announced.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 7, 2020
The U.S. International Trade Commission has taken up a complaint, filed by Santa Barbara-based Sonos , that Google has been importing and selling goods which Sonos says infringe upon its patents. According to the ITC, it is investigating Google and parent company Alphabet, over the allegations by Sonos that Google has violated parts of the Tariff Act of 1930, by selling certain audio products and controllers.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
Los Angeles-based AllVoices , a new startup which helps companies collect anonymous feedback on such areas as harassment, bullying, bias, and other problems in their organizations, has raised $3M in a seed funding round, the company said on Thursday. The startup said the funding came from Crosscut Ventures, Greycroft Ventures, Halogen Ventures, and Vitalize VC.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
Los Angeles-based Snafu Records said on Thursday that it has launched a new startup, which will use artificial intelligence to help find musical talent. The company, founded by Ankit Desai, said it raised $2.9M in a seed funding, which came from TrueSight VEntures, along with Day One Ventures, plus such angels as Agnetha Faltskog (ABBA), John Bonten (Spotify), Samanta Hegedus Stewart (William Morris), Jesper Theil Thomsen (Soundboks), and Nicholas SHekerdemian (Headstart.io).
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
Hawthorne-based SpaceX is planning to spin off its satellite launch arm, Starlink , via an IPO, according to Bloomberg. SpaceX has been launching a massive fleet of thousands of satellites into space to provide Internet access across the globe. The plans for a potential IPO and spinout of Starlink came from SpaceX's President Gwynne Shotwell, at a JPMorgan Chase & Co. event, according to Bloomberg.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
San Diego-based Neurocrine Biosciences , which develops a number of biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of neurological, endocrine and psychiatric disorders, has named Shalini Sharp to its board of directors. Sharp is currently the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Ultragenyx. Sharp was previously CFO of Agenus, and also served at Elan Pharmaceuticals, McKinsey & Company, and Goldman Sachs.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2020
Los Angeles-based HAAWK , the provider of rights management and monetization services for YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram which is led by Ryan Born, said on Wednesday that it had acquired Keyframe Audio , a music startup which offered up micro-stock music licensing. Financial terms of the buy were not announced. HAAWK said that it will launch a new service, Identifyy.com , which will offer up a self-service rights management portal for independent artists and do-it-yourself (DIY) musicians.
socalTECH
FEBRUARY 5, 2020
Looking to deliver your very own satellite into space, and have a spare $1M? Hawthorne-based SpaceX is now accepting online reservations for flights on one of its dedicated, satellite ride sharing missions--for a cost as low as $1M. According to SpaceX, it is expanding its launch services "to directly address the needs of small satellite operators" through the online booking tool.
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