Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 30, 2016

By now if you follow me on Twitter you probably know that I do near daily “Snapstorms” or a collection of short videos (usually < 5 mins in total) with entrepreneur advice on Snapchat. You can follow me on Snapchat at msuster. Snapchat for my “original run” and I’ll also store each video to be watched later.

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Snapchat Course Media Venture Capital 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

Picking a VC is hard. So I thought I’d write about out with what I would look for in a VC knowing what I know now and why. Most VCs are book smart. VCs should be more of a coach than proscriptively telling you what to do. You want a VC who will spar with you but then STFU and let you get on with things.

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Venice Beach-based Snapchat , the developer of a popular mobile application which lets users take "self destructing" mobile photos of themselves that they can send to friends, has raised $13.5M The funding came from Benchmark Capital, led by Mitch Lasky. in a Series A funding, according to multiple reports.

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Snapchat Venice Mobile Report 153

socalTECH

JUNE 24, 2013

A lot of heads turned Monday after Venice-based Snapchat , the instant-photo messaging service known for its self destructing chats, announced a huge, $60M round at a huge valuation. Among the reasons given in a blog post from IVP, defending its investment in Snapchat: the firm loves LA. READ MORE>>.

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Snapchat Invest Electronic Arts Venice 145

socalTECH

JANUARY 29, 2016

Los Angeles-based Naritiv , a new startup developing a network of content creators for Snapchat, has raised $3M in a funding round, the company said Thursday. The startup--founded by Dan Altmann and Eric Posen--says it is enabling the creation of mobile-first content for Snapchat and other social network platforms.

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Snapchat Content Social Network Class 100

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 2, 2017

the parent firm behind Snapchat , has joined up with R/GA Marketing --which helps run the Dodgers Accelerator in Los Angeles--to launched a new startup accelerator, the R/GA Marketing Tech Venture Studio with IPG. Venice, California-based Snap Inc. , READ MORE>>.

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Snapchat Startup Venice Advertising 100

socalTECH

APRIL 11, 2014

Los Angeles-based Tinder , the mobile dating app developer led by Sean Rad, is now worth over $5 billion, according to a report Friday from Bloomberg. Bloomberg said that IAC recently bought 10 percent of Tinder from venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, for $500M. Bloomberg cited "people with knowledge of the deal." READ MORE>>.

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Report Snapchat Social Network Venture Capital 190

socalTECH

MAY 29, 2015

Venice-based Snapchat has raised $537.6M The new investors reportedly include Alibaba, Fidelity, York Capital, and Glade Brook Capital, and the funding has widely been reported at valuing the company at around $16 billion. Snapchat has now raised north of $1.15‎ billion. billion).

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Snapchat Southern California Funding Venice 100

socalTECH

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Disney offered up up to $120K in investment capital, access to entrepreneurs and executives at Disney, and other resources to its startups. disney startup accelerator walt angeles entertainment consumer funding venture capital techstars' READ MORE>>.

Class 185

Class Startup Seed Funding Entertainment 185

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 28, 2014

billion active mobile users monthly as of March 31, 2014, while Twitter has 255 million active users. And this gives way for mobile messaging apps. There’s Snapchat that uses photos and then instantly disappears after 10 seconds, and then there’s the up-comer, Emojli , that uses tiny cartoonish icons for engagement.

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Snapchat Social Media Social Network Media 82

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 15, 2014

For example, Lookout is a mobile security company that was founded by three talented graduates of USC. They started their company in LA but a couple of years after raising capital from Khosla Ventures in the Bay Area they ended up relocating there. Locally we call it “the Snapchat effect.”

Companies 369

Companies Company Startup Snapchat 369

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2014

In fact, many people know I grew up in NorCal and still have a 650 area code on my mobile phone. Last week displayed the best of LA last week for a gala event of all of Upfront’s portfolio companies + the CEOs of many of LA’s top technology companies + 75 VC firms from LA, SF, NY & Boston + 25 LP Funds + the Chairman of Yahoo!

Startup 318

Startup Santa Monica Snapchat Yahoo 318

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2016

Southern California's venture capital totals dropped significantly in Q3 of 2016, to a mere $663.2M billion funding round for Snapchat. in funding, according to the latest numbers from the PricewaterhouseCoopers MoneyTree report, based on data from Thomson Reuters. in funding in Q3, down from the much larger, $2.5

Southern California 100

Southern California Orange County Report Santa Barbara 100

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2013

Josh Brooks , OnTheRunTech.com dba Post Cards On The Run (Los Angeles, mobile apps). Sean Callahan , SlimSurveys (San Diego, mobile apps). Greg Cohn , Burner (Los Angeles, mobile app). Sam Friedman , ParkMe (Santa Monica, mobile apps). Melani Gordon , Taphunter (San Diego, mobile apps).

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Southern California SoCalTech Dollar Shave Club Santa Monica 279

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

billion in venture capital to LA’s technology startups and 2014 will shatter that figure. Over the past 4 years LA’s tech fundings have growing at a 30% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) which is > 4 times the US average VC CAGR (7%). In the last full year where we have data LA attracted $1.5

Entrepreneur 376

Entrepreneur Snapchat Startup Google 376

Tech Zulu Event

JULY 16, 2013

Venture Capital: Upfront Ventures. Previously known as GRP Partners, Upfront Ventures has focused on early stage investments since 1996. Whether the end goal is a functional business app or a mobile-friendly website, philosophie’s modern, open-source approach to development is sure to get the job done.

Startup 111

Startup Snapchat Venice Social Media 111

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. In the Early Days.

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Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

LATechDigest

MAY 30, 2016

Mobile App Hackathon (-6/4). Here’s what’s new in LA’s tech space: SNAPCHAT Raises $1.8B MARCH CAPITAL Opens LA Shop with $240M Fund ( link ). UCLA ANDERSON Hosted a VR / VC Event. Startups have been pitching VCs all day at @Expert_Dojo #investorfest — @LATechHappyHour this afternoon!

Belkin 45

Belkin UCLA Funding Pasadena 45

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 12, 2016

Part I, Team) Tact was founded by Chuck Ganapathi , who was formerly the SVP of Products at Salesforce.com having led initiatives like their chat product, CRM and mobile. Here’s how they did it … Mobile First —  It is now well understood that “mobile first” dominated the consumer Internet and we take this for granted.

Software 105

Software Mobile Artificial Inteligence Oracle 105

LATechDigest

MAY 13, 2016

SMASHD’s first Cohort brought four early-stage + one mature company into the fold: Sidestep : Mobile platform for live events that allows fans to order merchandise before, during and after an event for VIP pickup and delivery, who has relationships in place with Ticketmaster, and is a merch partner on Beyonce’s latest tour.

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Mentor Venture Capital Draper USC 75

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2016

Thus begins Snapchat and why you don’t get it. Snapchat will be used for both like the Internet (and TV) are. I just need to break you of the idea that Snapchat is for one thing – it is not. But since Snapchat uses the frequency above your hearing range it’s nearly impossible to “get” without help.

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Snapchat Screening Venture Capital Guide 150

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2017

Currencies only began in earnest about 2,500 years ago and ever since have been a great enabler of democracy and social mobility, not the other way around. For example, distribution to find new apps in a mobile Internet is tightly locked down by the oligopoly of Apple and Google. We’ll have to see how it all plays out.

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Course Startup Framework Marketing 280

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2017

https://medium.com/media/cc969482e7abf6b75d3c0958c8ee409d/href I moved to Los Angeles in 2007 and as a VC who had built his career as a programmer, database designer, program manager, CEO then VP Products at Salesforce, I wanted to build a portfolio of software investments.

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Buzzfeed Media Content News 210