Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2016

I know the title “I promise you one of the most meaningful days of your life” sounds grandiose but I mean it and I hope you’ll read through to the end and choose to take one small, totally free action, that will change your life and likely those of others. On September 10th of this year I spent an entire day in California State Prison with people who had committed felonies and worked with them on business plans to help them create legal enterprise upon their release as part of Defy Ventures 6-mo

Writing 311

Writing Startup Design Training 311

TechCrunch LA

DECEMBER 2, 2016

If you were to write a history of Silicon Valley, you could do it by looking at a series of major diaspora. Companies like Google, Yahoo, Oracle and PayPal attract top talent for years; when they reach maturity or a major liquidity event, their talent disperses and germinates into the next generation of companies. It’s quite possible that Snapchat could do the same for L.A.

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Snapchat Los Angeles Oracle Yahoo 307

L.A. Business Journal

AUGUST 19, 2016

Los Angeles County tech wages are growing faster than the earnings of tech employees in the nation’s other big cities, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics compiled in a report by downtown real estate investment firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

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Statistics Los Angeles Report Invest 243

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 27, 2016

A friend recently told me a story that had nothing to do with business, but unintentionally had a great lesson for all of us. He had asked his arborist if he could move a mature tree from one part of his property to another – to make room for an addition to his home. “Yes,” replied the professional. “And how much would it cost?” To which the arborist responded, “We’d charge $18,000 for that.”.

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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.

Company

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 30, 2016

It's the age of smartphones and mobile data, where there are now apps gathering an immense amount of information about where we are, what stores we visit, and what we are doing. How do you make sense of all that data and actually help it to drive business decisions? Pasadena-based UberMedia (Www.ubermedia.com) is taking that data, and sorting through it to help businesses.

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Advertising Mobile Social Media Startup 203

Tech.Co

NOVEMBER 7, 2016

In addition to being a tool for burgeoning startups and lucrative companies, virtual reality is also a great way to escape the stress of everyday life. Whether you’re whisking away to another planet or sitting by the beach, a little virtual relaxing can do the body good. Now, virtual reality is being used as a therapeutic meditation tool to help people find their zen and reduce stress-related health issues.

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Guide Study Southern California Tool 162

Xconomy

OCTOBER 19, 2016

“In the new world, it is not the big fish which eats the small fish, it’s the fast fish which eats the slow fish…” — Klaus Schwab, Founder/Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum. Over the past decade, the nature of innovation has changed—even as the pace has substantially increased. One of the reasons has been the ability to collect and analyze vast amounts of digital data, transforming industries from transportation and finance to defense and manufacturing

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Artificial Inteligence Sample Software Cloud Computing 87

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca For the first 5 years or so after I became a VC I didn’t talk much about what I thought a VC should be excellent at since frankly I wasn’t sure. I was mostly doing my job and trying to figure out how to be better every day. After a decade on the job I’ve started to speak more openly when newer industry colleagues now ask me what I’ve learned.

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Venture Capital Capital CTO Coach Startup 292

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2016

Many first-time founders seek advice when thinking about what ideas would be great for a startup company and receive the wrong advice that you need to focus on a billion-dollar idea. There are very few ideas that are obviously a billion-dollar idea from the start. So what should you do? I advise founders to focus on what I call “basecamp,” which is the first level of success or validation at a startup.

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Venture Capital Startup Capital Ideas 254

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 28, 2016

Lead — It’s hard to be a real leader. Decisions are never black or white, so most people fudge. The straddle middle grounds to keep everybody happy. They make compromises to try and hold together constituencies. On business decisions they want to hedge their bets so they do a little bit of everything but nothing extremely well. As highlighted by Brad Garlinghouse years ago in the famous “ peanut butter manifesto ”— it’s like spreading peanut butter evenly over a piece of bread.

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Organization Course Ideas Class 252

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 30, 2016

Amongst the most often asked questions I get from founders is, “How much money should I raise?” Reflexively founders want to raise as much money as they can because they figure it will give them more resources, better chances of competing and a longer runways before they have to do the often painful job of asking, yet again, for money. Every time you ask for money you’re faced with the possible of feeling literally and figuratively like a failure.

Startup 292

Startup Software Review Pricing Entrepreneur 292

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2016

In case you missed it, the press yesterday ran several stories questioning the viability of a wireless charging company I invested in… Continue reading on Both Sides of the Table »

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Berkonomics

JUNE 9, 2016

This story has been making the rounds lately, and I confess that our research cannot find the source. So, with thanks to whomever created this great little parable, here it is: “Every day, a small Ant arrived at work early and started work immediately, she produced a lot and she was happy. The boss, a lion, was surprised to see that the ant was working without supervision.

Report 233

Report Writing Startup Course 233

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 4, 2016

Well, it had to happen. Originally created in the mid 1990’s to help with the imprecise problem of how to value early stage companies, especially those in technology, I developed what soon became known as “The Berkus Method” when published in the popular book, “Winning Angels” by Harvard’s Amis and Stevenson with my permission in 2001. But a lot of time has passed since then.

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Startup Examples Metrics Marketing 231

Berkonomics

MARCH 24, 2016

Dave’s note: This week we welcome guest author, David Friedman, to tell us about his favorite startup CEO, and his take after interviewing her – asking for her list of attributes for startup success. . By David Friedman. I met Kirsten Mangers several years ago after she successfully sold her startup, Webvisible. Kirsten is the founder of ChickLabs , an incubator that focuses on helping primarily women entrepreneurs.

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Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 22, 2016

Imagine yourself with a calendar requiring you to be in six meetings in a day. Day after day. How long would it take to induce you to rethink your use of time – and that of the others sitting (or standing) beside you? More important, how long would it take to realize that there is something wrong with the enterprise when it takes constant meetings to get the job done?

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Email Report Sales Help 217

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 13, 2016

Los Angeles is famous for two things: entertainment and traffic. Back in the 1950s, any association with “stars” and “cars” would be the envy of any modern city. But today, that’s sometimes overshadowed by images of aggressive paparazzi and gridlocked freeways. But when it comes to transportation, there might be more to LA than just bloated commute times.

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Los Angeles Angel Entertainment 216

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 15, 2016

Growth CEO’s differ from those who merely station–keep their way into the status quo, protecting the enterprise by reducing risk and cost – without creating a vision and action plan for growth. Here is a way to test yourself with a tool useful for any leader seeking to create positive change. Authors Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Oglivie have created a framework for creation of a new product or service – one worth spending at least a cycle of time for review.

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Design Framework Ideas Customer 210

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 8, 2016

Dave’s note: This week we invite long-time CEO of Quicksilver Software to respond to our question: “How have you remained relevant in the gaming software business over so many years?” He and his company have worked in the video game business since the very earliest generation of games in the early 1980’s. His company is one of the oldest independent studios in the business.

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Offshore Examples Software Email 210

L.A. Business Journal

NOVEMBER 14, 2016

Two years after Maker Studios co-founder Danny Zappin was ousted as head of the online video firm, a group of former and current executives at his new venture, Zealot Networks, is trying to acquire the branded content company and replace him as chief executive. Zealot co-founder Robert Vanech, the firm’s former chairman and chief financial officer, said he had approached Zappin about the deal and was seeking the backing of private investors and a publicly traded media company to back the bid.

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Content Media Networking Company 209

L.A. Business Journal

SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

Russian private aviation holding company CJSC S7 Group’s purchase of Sea Launch, a rocket launch company that operates out of the Port of Long Beach, is making waves in the Southern California aerospace industry, with a legal challenge by the Boeing Co. and concerns about the Russian company’s involvement.

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Long Beach Southern California Company Companies 254

Berkonomics

DECEMBER 1, 2016

Dave’s comment: This week we welcome our perennial favorite contributor, Kim Shepherd, CEO of Decision Toolbox, to offer us her sage advice on a subject where she is expert. Outgoing, full of creative ideas, and certainly the best person to teach us how, here is Kim on networking… By Kim Shepherd . Networking with others you want to meet is second nature to some, but it fills others with dread.

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Networking Email Google Organization 202

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Think for a minute whether there is any process or person that could be classed as the eye of the needle in your organization. Is there anything, process or person, that stalls the flow of work from start to finish? A CEO once told me that she was ‘the eye of the needle’ in her organization, purposely controlling quality of service and making sure all of her direct reports let her know of each . decision and action they undertook.

Organization 202

Organization Class Report Email 202

Berkonomics

SEPTEMBER 15, 2016

Is your commission structure so complex that even you must have help understanding it – and calculating a commission on a pending bid? Sales people are incentivized by money. They usually are able to calculate what’s in it for them before they make the final presentation and ask for the order. But what if the commission plan is so complex that even the people who should be most excited cannot understand or calculate the winning numbers?

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Sales Pricing Email Examples 202

socalTECH

OCTOBER 21, 2016

Often, older professionals in the workforce�especially those who are past retirement age�face job discrimination, despite bringing a rich set of experience and talent honed over many years. Those individuals, however, are actually a gold mine of talent, says Deone Sulgatti , the CEO and founder of Tengia (www.tengia.com). Tengia is a new website focused on helping companies take advantage of that deep talent and lifetime of accumulated experience, by matching them with older individuals with the

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Help Startup Design Resource 199

socalTECH

OCTOBER 17, 2016

Los Angeles-based HelloTech , the on-demand, tech support company co-founded by Richard Wolpert, announced this morning that it has named Ted Hong as President of the company. Hong was previously co-founder of Dropoff, an Austin, Texas startup providing same day delivery for businesses. Prior to that, he was Chief Marketing Officer at Fandango. According to HelloTech, Hong will ofersee finance, marketing, operations, product development, and technology operations for the company.

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Fandango Demand Los Angeles Entrepreneur 193

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 3, 2016

Pasadena has a long history as a center of the technology and innovation world�all the way back to first American experiments with rocket launches in 1936�Southern California's first foray into the rocket business (sorry, SpaceX)--through the Internet boom with Idealab, to today. We thought we'd catch up on what's happening today, and in particular, how Innovate Pasadena (www.innovatepasadena.org) is looking to spur even more startups and technology in Pasadena�and why that's important for the r

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Pasadena Orange County Idealab CalTech 190

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 28, 2016

Thousand Oaks-based California Lutheran University and its School of Management said on Monday that it has named both an Executive-In-Residence and Entrepreneur-In-Residence to the school. The school said Primo Custodio, most recently VP for Human Resources at NBC Universal, will become Executive-in-Residence for the business school, and Jim Cathcart, a motivational speaker and author, becomes Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

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Thousand Oaks Entrepreneur Resource Customer 190

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 28, 2016

For a lot of companies�and their management and legal teams-- managing the reams of paperwork involved with legal contracts is a big, disorganized mess. To address that disaster, Ken Button and Randy Bishop�two veterans of the startup industry�created ContractSafe (www.contractsafe.com), a new online service aimed at helping companies to tame that mess and manage and store their contracts in the cloud.

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Doc Software Review Help Startup 190

L.A. Business Journal

NOVEMBER 29, 2016

Pritzker Group Venture Capital has expanded the number of personnel in its L.A. office in order to purse more early-stage investments in local tech companies. Partner Gabe Greenbaum and Vice President Peter Liu have relocated from the firm’s Chicago office to Los Angeles. The company also recently hired Nico Gimenez, who joined as an associate. Pritzker is particularly interested in investing in enterprise, consumer tech, healthcare IT software, as well as emerging technologies such artificial i

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Los Angeles Artificial Inteligence Angel Venture Capital 186

socalTECH

OCTOBER 28, 2016

Venice-based Amplify LA (www.amplify.la) is celebrating its fifth anniversary as a startup accelerator here in the Los Angeles area � one of the few in the area to have survived in more or less original form after the launch of a number of startup incubators and accelerators five years ago. Paul Bricault , co-founder of the accelerator, sat down with us earlier this week to reflect on the lessons he's learned over those five years, and what he's learned about LA's startup environment.

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Startup Entrepreneur Funding Incubator 186

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 28, 2016

Do you need new prescription lenses, either for that fashionable new sunglass frame you just bought, or perhaps to update the glasses you already have? Los Angeles-based Lensabl (www.lensabl.com) recently launched a new service to help people with just the prescription lenses you need. Andy Bilinsky , Co-founder and CEO, tells us why the company is targeting prescription lenses--but not frames--with the startup, and why the company thinks prescription lenses are ripe for innovation.

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Customer Custom Pricing Services 186

L.A. Business Journal

OCTOBER 14, 2016

The L.A. office market saw a solid third quarter, with the vacancy rate narrowing to 14.8 percent from 16.2 percent in the same period last year, according to data from Jones Lang LaSalle.

Marketing 228

Marketing Report 228

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 28, 2016

Blackline, a Los Angeles-based accounting software company, debuted in the U.S. markets Friday. After pricing at $17 per share, the stock closed at $23.70. In what has been a slow year for tech IPOs, Blackline decided to go public right now because it’s “part of a longer term plan to raise awareness for what we do,” said CEO Therese Tucker.

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Software Los Angeles Pricing Angel 185

socalTECH

OCTOBER 19, 2016

There's been a revolution in the amount of information that can be gathered about our genetics�driven by automated gene sequencing equipment and advancement. However, all of that data, although useful, has not yet been used in a way that directly impacts personal health and wellness most effectively. Arivale (www.arivale.com), a startup founded by Dr.

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Coach Startup Study Venture Capital 183

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

Our interview this morning is with Kelly Perdew of Moonshots Capital , a Los Angeles based investment firm that makes seed stage investments in early stage companies�and in particular, for this Veterans Day, in companies founded by military veterans. Kelly is a longtime angel investor in such companies as Scopely, Bitium, UStream, Thrively,� and many others.

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