Berkonomics
DECEMBER 14, 2017
Have you ever thought of creating an advisory board? As you can guess, that would be an informal group with no legal responsibilities, but one able to be called upon to act as business, industry and scientific advisors to you and the company. Usually, you would want to create an advisory board to fill in the critical areas of need not evidenced in the board of directors or within the company itself.
L.A. Business Journal
DECEMBER 14, 2017
Curisium, a Manhattan Beach–based start-up company that allows health care systems and biotech firms to contract through blockchain technology, has raised $3.5 million from investors, officials announced Thursday.
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Both Sides of the Table
DECEMBER 13, 2017
Men use similar tropes on why #MeToo may go too far. It’s time to break these down. It’s time for more men to start saying, “enough is enough,” “I believe her,” and “I will step out of my comfort zone and speak up so that others feel empowered to follow me.” Men will make mistakes. But mistakes are much better than silence. Mistakes are better than condoning misconduct, harassment, bias or abuse.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 11, 2017
Our interview this morning is with Scott Cannon , the CEO of BigRentz (www.bigrentz.com), which is creating an online marketplace for big equipment--an industry known notoriously as not adopting new technology. Scott tells us how the company--backed by St. Cloud Capital--has managed to coax those equipment rental yards into the digital age, and how the company has tackled other challenges in focusing its business.
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.
Tech.Co
DECEMBER 15, 2017
If you are thinking “Should I build an office out of my garage, Apple or Hewlett-Packard style?”, read on. “The garage didn’t serve much purpose, except it was something for us to feel was our home,” Steve Wozniak told The Guardian , clarifying the real role of Steve Jobs’ parents’ garage in the creation of the first Apple computers. It is up to you to accept this pragmatic view or stick to the romanticized version.
L.A. Business Journal
DECEMBER 12, 2017
Miso Robotics, a maker of burger-flipping robotic arms, announced it has appointed former Yahoo executive Melissa Burghardt as its chief operating officer.
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socalTECH
DECEMBER 13, 2017
Santa Monica-based Fair , the new startup led by former TrueCar founder and CEO Scott Painter, said today that it has tied with auto insurance provider Assurant as its primary insurance partner. Fair--which offers up an app which lets users gain access to a car with no long term commitments and no physical paperwork--said that Assurant is now the primary underwriter for the Fair-branded property and casualty insurance offered for all vehicles available on the app.
Tech.Co
DECEMBER 15, 2017
Coworking has exploded globally over the past two years. According to one study, there were over 835,000 people working out of coworking spaces last year. The number of coworking spaces alone is expected to jump from 11,300 in 2016 to 13,800 by the end of this year. The largest VC backed companies in this space have raised several hundreds of millions in funding to help expand their global footprint.
L.A. Business Journal
DECEMBER 15, 2017
California New Car Dealers Association announced on Thursday that it settled its lawsuit against TrueCar Inc.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 15, 2017
Have you ever noticed that some of your business owner friends get all the bad customers, and yours all seem fairly reasonable? Or is it the other way around? I’m always amazed that, in my role as a business advisor, bad customers somehow seem to gang up on certain businesses. I long ago learned that the customer is not always right, but you can turn most around to be great.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 15, 2017
SpaceX has successfully launched a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) this morning, the Commercial Resupply Services 13 (CRS-13) mission, in the first time the rocket and spacecraft developer has used a previously launched Falcon 9 first stage, as well as previously used Dragon spacecraft for NASA. SpaceX also successfully landed the first stage of its Falcon 9 at "Landing Zone 1", which it said is its 20th successful recovery of a first stage booster.
Tech.Co
DECEMBER 13, 2017
VentureWell, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that supports science and technology entrepreneurs, has selected a medical simulation startup founded by University of Maine students to receive funding and training. The company, Zephyrus Simulation LLC, was spun off from a product developed by a group of bioengineering students at UMaine. The product began as a $500 prototype of a mannequin with a diaphragm that mimics natural breathing patterns, as well as hyperventilation and obstructed breathing
L.A. Business Journal
DECEMBER 14, 2017
Disney to Gain Control of Hulu after 21st Century Fox asset acquisition, TrueCar settles lawsuit with California New Car Dealers Association and Lily raises $2 million for personal stylist.
Xconomy
DECEMBER 14, 2017
Companies sometimes raise big venture capital rounds to invest in equipment, people, and other tools for growth. Other times they do it to provide the business a cash cushion. And sometimes it’s about giving potential customers and partners more confidence in the fledgling company. For Ginkgo Bioworks, its latest venture funding round is about all of the above, says CEO and co-founder Jason Kelly.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 14, 2017
Dutch electronics developer Mondicon said Wednesday afternoon that it is setting up an office in Santa Monica, as it launched its products into the United States. The company said it is launching a secure, mobile Wi-Fi hotspot it calls the We.Stream at CES, a secure, mobile hotspot that lets users purchase data in increments of 2GB, 5GB or 10GB from its own touch screen.
Tech.Co
DECEMBER 12, 2017
Failure is part of the startup process. And when it’s time to apply to an accelerator, making sure your company is presented in the best way on the application can significantly improve your chances. Since first launching in 2008, Dreamit has received thousands of applications – heck, I’ve personally reviewed thousands of applications in the not quite three years since joining Dreamit.
L.A. Business Journal
DECEMBER 13, 2017
Online bank Aspiration raises $47 million; Dreamscape Immersive partners with Nickelodeon for virtual reality project; and Sophia Amoruso’s digital media firm Girlboss raises another $2 million.
Xconomy
DECEMBER 10, 2017
View the Slideshow Whether you think self-driving cars are the stuff of science fiction or a potentially paradigm-shifting new form of transportation, autonomous vehicles are coming—and the companies developing them are spending big money to make it happen. A few years ago, industry analysts seemed to think Silicon Valley would win the race to get self-driving cars on the road—and plenty of tech giants are involved in their development, including Apple, Google, Uber, Tesla, and Intel
socalTECH
DECEMBER 14, 2017
Los Angeles-based online movie ticketing service Atom Tickets has signed up a new, cinema chain, adding National Amusements' Showcase Cinemas to its platform. According to Atom Tickets, the deal will add nearly 400 screens Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island to its ticketing app and website. Atom Tickets says it now has nearly 19,000 screens across the U.S. on its platform.
Tech.Co
DECEMBER 12, 2017
Northwest Arkansas is home to Fortune 500 companies including Walmart, Tyson Foods and J.B. Hunt Transport which makes the ecosystem ripe for startups to thrive. In this interview with #StartupsEverywhere , I talk withMichael Iseman, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Startup Junkie, about the mentorship pool, knowledge transfer, the latest happening in the ecosystem and the energy of this community within the region.
L.A. Business Journal
DECEMBER 12, 2017
Miso Robotics hires COO to help expand restaurant installations; NASA sees equivalent risk of launching used SpaceX rocket booster; and satellite data analysis startup Slingshot Aerospace raised $3.25 million.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 13, 2017
Getting things done effectively in a startup requires total individual and team accountability. You can’t afford excuses and multiple people doing the same job. In my view, “taking responsibility” is the core element behind accountability. Many people hear responsibility as an obligation, but I hear it as “the ability to respond.” Unfortunately many people don’t have the ability to respond, because they lack confidence in themselves, or simply don’t have the skills required.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 14, 2017
Los Angeles-based Dreamscape Immersive , which is working on opening up physical "VR centers" across the country, said Wednesday that it has raised $30M in a Series B funding round. The funding included investments from Nickelodeon, Majid Al Futtaim, VRSense Solutions Limited, and Image Nation Abu Dhabi along with Bold Capital Partners, 21st Century Fox, and Warner Bros.
Xconomy
DECEMBER 11, 2017
The annual American Society of Hematology meeting is nearly over. For now, we’ve chosen updates from three disease areas to highlight, plus the more notable market movements. No surprise, there’s a lot about the genetically engineered cell therapy known as CAR-T. Gene therapy and more standard forms of care are up for discussion, too. If you’re not ASH-saturated by now, stay tuned: We’ll have more hematology coverage later this week. [ Note: Ben Fidler co-authored this re
L.A. Business Journal
DECEMBER 11, 2017
Soylent founder to step down from CEO role; Snapchat is trying to make inroads with advertisers in China; and SpaceX to launch used booster and spacecraft.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 9, 2017
The entrepreneurs I see are always talking about “disruptive innovation” ideas, but the plans I read are more often linear extensions of a current hot offering, like one more social network with the best of Facebook and Twitter, one more dating site dimension, or another “must-have” accessory for smartphones. Perhaps hard questions need to come before ideas, rather than after.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 14, 2017
Los Angeles-based Girlboss , a startup founded by former NastyGal founder Sophia Amoruso, has raised $3.1M in seed funding. The funding was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, and also included others. Girlboss is a "lifestyle brand" focused on female empowerment, and offers up articles, books, a podcast, and "rallies" featuring talks, panels, keynotes, and workshops led by women.
Xconomy
DECEMBER 13, 2017
Mark Skinner, the former longtime president of the World Federation of Hemophilia, has had the blood disease on his mind his entire life. He doesn’t have a choice. Skinner, 57, was born with a severe form of hemophilia A, meaning he has a tiny fraction of the necessary cellular machinery to clot blood. His disease dictates what he can or can’t do every day.
L.A. Business Journal
DECEMBER 15, 2017
SpaceX launches Dragon on used Falcon 9; Cigna acquires Brighter for undisclosed amount; and TrueCar settles lawsuit with car dealer association.
Startup Professionals Musings
DECEMBER 11, 2017
As an angel investor and business advisor on new ventures, I expect to see five-year financial projections from every entrepreneur. Yet I get more pushback on this request than almost any other issue. Founders point to the great number of financial unknowns in any new business, and are reluctant to “commit” to any numbers which may come back to haunt them later.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 12, 2017
Irvine-based Cie Digital Labs is announcing this morning that Brad Martin, the former Chairman and CEO of Saks Inc., will join the company as an Executive in Residence. According to Cie Digital, Martin is currently Chairman of Chesapeake Energy, Chairman of RBM Ventures, and Retired Chairman and CEO of Saks Incorporated. Cie Digital recently has focused in becoming a technology "startup studio", after being acquired by technology investor Anderee Berengian.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 15, 2017
Los Angeles-based Villiger , a startup developing a mobile app to help parents book tutors, baby sitters, and other services, has raised a seed round of funding, the company said this week. Size of that funding round was not announced. The company said the funding came from Mangrove Capital, Nir Zohar (President and COO, WIX), and Stephen Stokols (CEO, FreedomPop).
socalTECH
DECEMBER 15, 2017
Santa Monica-based Brighter , the dental healthcare startup led and co-founded by technology veteran Jake Winebaum and co-founder Jason Szczuka, has been acquired by Cigna. Financial details of the acquisition were not announced. Brighter was venture backed by Mayfield Fund, Benchmark, Tenaya Capital and General Catalyst. Brighter's service had allowed consumers to shop for local dentists, and also had a deal with insurers to integrate local dentists into their service directories.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 14, 2017
Shervin Pishevar , co-founder and Chairman of Los Angeles-based Virgin Hyperloop One , has resigned from his post at his venture capital firm, Sherpa Capital. In a statement on Thursday, Pishevar said he has "decided on my own accord" to end his association with Sherpa Capital. Pishevar had already been on a "leave of absence" from the firm. Pishevar has been accused of sexual misconduct by five women.
socalTECH
DECEMBER 13, 2017
Los Angeles-based Aspiration , and online banking startup which calls itself "the financial firm with a conscience", said on Tuesday that it has raised $47M in a Series B funding round. The funding lase led by Social Impact Finance, and also included Allen and Company, Omidyar Network, Alpha Edison, AGO Partners, Reyl & Cie, and Capricorn Investments, plus actor Orlando Bloom, Los Angeles Clippers coach "Doc" Rivers, former Citigroup Chief Operations and Technology Officer Deborah Hopkins, B
socalTECH
DECEMBER 12, 2017
Los Angeles- and Austin, Texas-based Slingshot Aerospace has raised $3.25M in its Series Seed round, according to lead investor ATX Seed Ventures. The round also included investments from Okapi Venture Capital and Sway Ventures, along with Stage and NoName Ventures. The company, which was part of the recent Techstars Los Angeles class, uses artificial intelligence software to process imagery data.
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