Jared Reitzen, CEO of Los Angeles-based MobileStorm, gives a few opinions on how to make you and your resume stand out above the crowd, when applying for a job.

posted Monday, February 8, 2010

Mark Suster, a venture capitalist at GRP Ventures, gives his hints and tips on pitching your company to large groups.

posted Saturday, February 6, 2010

John Savageau, President of Pacific-Tier Communications, says that technology jobs are on a comeback--and asks companies in Southern California to put local talent back to work.

posted Friday, January 29, 2010

Dave Berkus, an angel investor, gives a good summary and rundown of the various different places you can raise money for your business.

posted Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Robert Kibble, Managing Partner at Mission Ventures and a Director at the National Venture Capital Association, writes on why the "Tax Extenders Bill" will stifle innovation in the U.S.

posted Monday, December 14, 2009

Just think. Your entire collection in the sky, accessible from wherever, whenever, without the hassle of hard drives, synchronizations, or downloads. Now, just think about what happens when it all goes away, without warning.

posted Thursday, December 10, 2009

John Dilts, founder of the Maverick Angels, addresses what he calls the New Angel Investor Paradigm -- a different approach to angel funding -- in this piece.

posted Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Angel investor Dave Berkus, gives his list of ten factors to see if the vision for your technology might be attractive to customers or investors.

posted Thursday, December 3, 2009

Scott Edward Walker, a corporate attorny, gives 10 tips for entrepreneurs looking to buy a distressed business.

posted Friday, November 13, 2009

Andy Wilson, of Momentum Venture Partners, takes on Wil Schroter's earlier post and says there is a deep freeze in venture investing; and in fact, we're in the middle of a nuclear winter. Wilson talks about the environment, and what to do about it.

posted Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Wil Schroter is the CEO and founder of Santa Monica-based Affordit, and founded Go Big Network, an online community for entrepreneurs. He recently landed a round of funding, and talks about how he managed to raise a round of funding in this economy, and why.

posted Monday, October 19, 2009

In September of 2008, due to the financial meltdown, a "VC Ice Age" set in, which stalled out venture activity in the mraket. Mark Suster, a venture capitalist at GRP Partners, says that the "ice age" has started to thaw.

posted Thursday, October 15, 2009

Serena Ehrlich, SVP Social Media at Startup Army, gives a quick primer on using social media to promote your startup.

posted Thursday, October 8, 2009

Scott Edward Walker, an attorney at Walker Corporate Law Group, outlines five of the common mistakes he sees entrepreneurs making while negotiating a deal.

posted Thursday, October 8, 2009

Frank Peters, of the Frank Peters Show, interviews John Dilts of angel group the Maverick Angels.

posted Friday, September 25, 2009

This post discusses the five most common mistakes entrepreneurs make in raising capital: (i) playing securities lawyer; (ii) selling securities to non-“accredited investors”; (iii) advertising or soliciting investors; (iv) using an unregistered finder to sell securities; and (v) selling preferred stock to angel investors.

posted Thursday, September 24, 2009

Tracy Olmstead Williams, gives companies advice on how to take command in the new world of social media.

posted Thursday, September 17, 2009

Marc Averitt, a venture capitalist at Okapi Venture Capital, writes an open letter to congress about the proposed Private Fund Transparency Act (S.1276), asking Congress to remove the venture capital industry for inclusion.

posted Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Emrah Kovacoglu, Founder and CEO of Total Beauty Media, talks about the changing landscape of the magazine industry.

posted Monday, August 31, 2009

It's Not the Economy, Stupid Focusing on unemployment isn't the key to fueling innovation and job growth, says USC's Krisztina Holly and Gallup's Jim Clifton.

posted Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Mark Suster, a VC at GRP Partners, talks about the mistakes he most often sees startups making.

posted Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Sam Wu, a business, corporate and securities attorney and partner of Technology Capital Law Group, gives an in-depth look at how pre-money and post-money valuation works.

posted Thursday, August 13, 2009

At the risk of oversimplifying here, a vast majority of consumers expect information/entertainment (a.k.a. “content”) on the Internet to be free in that they are not accustomed to paying for the content the Internet provides them. In fact, there is a whole generation of consumer digital denizens that only know the “Web 2.0 / free” world of the Internet. This poses a potential problem for the related industries: how do we make money if the consumer of what we produce/source/distribute expect that it will remain free?

posted Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Jim Armstrong, a Managing Director at Clearstone Venture Partners, shares his list of the top ten board meetings do's and don'ts for CEOs.

posted Wednesday, July 15, 2009

What are the top ten traits of companies who actually get VC investment? Jeff Cohn, a well known consultant to angel and venture investors in town, who was previously Investment Screening Director for the Tech Coast Angels, shares his list.

posted Wednesday, July 15, 2009

In the world of startup investing, Angels invariably come across a lot of great entrepreneurs that they get to know on a personal level and think the world of. Unfortunately they sometimes have to say “no” to these individual because they aren’t completely comfortable with the company’s market space and/or technology.

posted Thursday, July 2, 2009

In this article, Peter Lee, a venture capitalist at Baroda Ventures, discusses company valuation, and what the real goal of setting a value on a company is, and should be.

posted Friday, June 19, 2009

Docstoc's Jason Nazar makes a proposal on how to save MySpace: He says: "MySpace has lost the battle as the 'place for friends'. If the powers that be, can accept this, and move forward with breakneck speed, they have an incredibly huge opportunity to build something we will all be talking about again."

posted Thursday, June 18, 2009

In this article, Peter Lee, a venture capitalist at Baroda Ventures, an early-stage investment fund in Los Angeles, helps entrepreneurs understand the importance of matching different kinds of investors and their goals with their exit outcome expectations.

posted Friday, June 5, 2009

Ever wanted to hear how angels think of the terms they offer and the returns they expect? And what will happen if the outcome is less than a complete success? Frank Peters, of the Frank Peters Show, talks with Angel Capital Association Chairman John Huston.

posted Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Krisztina Holly, vice-provost for innovation and executive director of the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation, talks about how business leaders could learn valuable leadership lessons from the collaborative management style at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

posted Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Frank Peters, of the Frank Peters Show, talks with UCLA's Bob Foster, about his efforts helping out entrepreneurs.

posted Friday, April 17, 2009

Cathy Ashbaugh, President of Pacific Shore Resources, a local recruiting firm, gives some well timed advice on how to handle a layoff.

posted Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Andrew Warner, founder of Mixergy, talks with Brian Johnson, the founder of eteamz, Zaadz, and Philospher's Notes, about what he's learned in launching his three companies.

posted Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Frank Peters, chairman emeritus of the Tech Coast Angels, and podcaster, talks with Dave Ryan of Mission ventures about what's going on in venture capital in San Diego, and how the changing venture economy will affect angel investors.

posted Friday, March 13, 2009

One of the biggest questions we get from entrepreneurs is if they should be having to pay to present to angel groups. Joe Platnick, a member of the Pasadena Angels, talks about whether fees are ever appropriate to present to an angel investors group.

posted Friday, March 6, 2009

Americans are dealing with the worst financial and economic trouble in decades–and, unfortunately, it’s going to get worse before it gets better (sorry!) Why then, you might ask, will this ultimately be a good and healthy thing for us, i.e., the ‘us’ that decides to take advantage of it?

posted Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Nicole Jordan, who has been instrumental in bringing together the Los Angeles technology industry, gives startup CEOs a primer on what to expect from their PR efforts--and why it takes time.

posted Sunday, February 22, 2009

John Greathouse, a partner at Rincon Venture Partners, tells why a downturn is a great time to start a company, and why it shouldn't matter what the economy looks like in the first place: Attempting to determine the perfect time to enter the startup market, whether by starting or joining an venture, is akin to trying to time the financial markets. Those who attempt to do so find it is a consistently doomed strategy.

posted Thursday, February 19, 2009

Frank Peters, chairman emeritus of the Tech Coast Angels, and podcaster, talks with John Taylor, VP of Research at the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) about the stresses on the venture capital industry today.

posted Wednesday, February 18, 2009

John McKee, a Los Angeles resident and former executive at DirecTV, is an author and business coach. In this article, he gives seven tips to the currently unemployed on how to persevere through - and even make the most of - this difficult time.

posted Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Frank Peters, chairman emeritus of the Tech Coast Angels, and podcaster at the Frank Peters show, looks at the angel investing business and thinks about how to optimize the screening process to respond to the weakened economy and the corresponding lack of capital.

posted Monday, February 9, 2009

Krisztina "Z" Holly, the Vice Provost for Innovation at the University of Southern California and Executive Director for the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation, ponders the mass extinction of U.S. auto companies, and looks at how natural evolution might be applied to economics.

posted Thursday, February 5, 2009

Aaron Fyke, who was most recently a partner at Australia's biggest clean technology venture firm, and is now in Pasadena, gives some thoughts about what kinds of startup companies succeed, what kinds raise funding, and more.

posted Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Mixergy's Andrew Warner talks with Professor David Kirsch, founder of the Dot Com Archive, about some lessons that can be learned from the 1990's Internet bubble.

posted Friday, January 30, 2009

Janine Davis, of Technical Connections, gives some insight into today's job market.

posted Thursday, January 29, 2009

Jeff Cohn is a Los Angeles-based venture consultant, who helps source investment opportunities for San Francisco-based MHS Capital. Jeff shares some of his thoughts on how the incoming Obama administration can help create jobs.

posted Friday, January 23, 2009

Frank Peters, of the Frank Peters Show and former chairman of the Tech Coast Angels, talks with angel investors Dave Berkus, John Filla, and Bill Payne about pay-to-play, down rounds, liquidation preferences, and other terms, as the angels make their 2009 predictions.

posted Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Jason Nazar, CEO of Beverly Hills-based DocStoc, gives his advice on The 7 ways to Get Traffic on the Web. Nazar says: "Driving traffic to your website is a formula that can be reverse engineered. Other than paying for traffic with advertising, there are only so many ways to get people to show up at your door."

posted Thursday, January 15, 2009

Frank Peters, of the Frank Peters Show and former chairman of the Tech Coast Angels, talks with Jim Armstrong of Clearstone Ventures about the venture capital market and perspectives on how the economy is affecting the high tech and venture capital market.

posted Tuesday, January 6, 2009

In what looks to be a very tough year for finding venture and angel funding, lots of startups are looking to bootstrapping as a way to fund their businesses. One of the more successful firms to use the approach--before it was fashionable--was 37Signals. Andrew Warner of Mixergy talks with Jason Fried about their hints and tips on bootstrapping.

posted Wednesday, December 31, 2008

John Greathouse, a partner at Rincon Venture Partners, gives startup entrepreneurs some key insights into advisors, advisory agreements, and how to make sure business advisors are valuable to your firm.

posted Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Andrew Warner, founder of Mixergy, gives the tips and hints on funding he gathered from Adeo Ressi, of The Funded.

posted Tuesday, December 9, 2008

With the down-turn of the local and national economy, there has been a shift in the Los Angeles commercial real estate market. Jake Bobek and Scott Steuber of Cushman & Wakefield give companies a few hints and tips on how to take advantage of the market conditions.

posted Tuesday, November 25, 2008

"With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good." Really? I would think that with a name like Smucker's it has to be a vile disease or possibly a large, poisonous, South American leech. If "Smucker's" can be slapped on food and annually generate billions of sales, chances are that your company name, no matter how mediocre, will not preclude you from achieving significant success. Thus, join the ranks of Yahoo, Google, Amazon, eBay, Cisco and Microsoft and focus your limited time and resources on perfecting your customer value proposition, not on devising an ideal company name.

posted Tuesday, November 18, 2008

California's economy is at war with itself. Like the Civil War almost 150 years ago, the factions are split geographically, but this time, the two sides are Northern California and Southern California—more particularly, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles. This battle turns on whether it’s true that "content is king," as many people believe, or whether content is becoming a mere commoner while the technologies that distribute it become ever more valuable. The outcome of this struggle may determine the future of the entertainment industry.

posted Tuesday, October 21, 2008

William Quigley, a venture capitalist at Clearstone Venture Partners, counters the latest fear and doom attitude within the high tech community with this this editorial, entitled "Remaining objective when fear is in the air".

posted Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Jared Reitzen is CEO of Los Angeles-based MobileStorm, and gives six tips that can help your business through challenging times like we're seeing today in the markets.

posted Wednesday, October 8, 2008

John Greathouse, a partner at Rincon Venture Partners, gives some of his hints and tips of working with corporate investors (or, as he calls them, Big Dumb Corporate Investors).

posted Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Parables, cliches, and axioms are wonderful things. They tend to exist because they tend to reflect generalities that have been tried and tested through time. So, it goes without saying that the tortoise does win the race against the hare, and the guy who doesn’t have first mover advantage tends to have the best shot at avoiding the mistakes, and expectations, of the guy who jumped to market first.

posted Monday, September 15, 2008

Frank Peters, of the Tech Coast Angels and The Frank Peters Show, gives his cheat sheet on writing an effective Executive Summary for your business.

posted Thursday, September 4, 2008

Andrew Warner, founder of Mixergy, gives some quick hints and tips about keeping your inbox clear.

posted Monday, July 28, 2008

"Uncle Saul" gives some hints and tips on negotiating agreements with big companies.

posted Thursday, July 24, 2008

Yes, we are in a recession. Maybe not a textbook definition of one, but textbooks tend to be behind the times. So, we’re in a recession. You can feel it. You can see the change in the business climate. Interestingly enough, those who have the resources – secure funding, or wealth – are relishing the inherent contradictions of the marketplace. They know that this is a time of great opportunity.

posted Thursday, July 10, 2008

Your lawyer may be the most important member of your extended venture. The difference between a great lawyer and a good lawyer is startling and you will know it once you experience both.

posted Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Brian Ring, program director at the Greater Los Angeles Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year program, gives some hints and tips on how to become a successful entrepreneur.

posted Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Marc Averitt, a venture capitalist at Okapi Venture Capital, wrote this post for one simple reason: to be able to point every would-be-entrepreneur who asks him what it takes to “get venture capital.” So, what are VCs looking for before they decide to invest in a start-up? The good news is that Marc discloses the secrets here. The bad news is that even if you cover all of these elements it still doesn’t guarantee you will get funding.

posted Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Angel investor Al Schneider, of the Tech Coast Angels and Pasadena Angels, talks about the ways investors value your startup, deal terms, and valuation concepts.

posted Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Every startup faces the question of who to hire for their first sales position. Do you look for that fantastic VP of sales who is not only a great closer, but also a master strategist? Do you hire that friend of the founder who is young but promising? How do you decide?

posted Tuesday, May 20, 2008

"Uncle Saul" talks about why most business books suck, and why.

posted Thursday, May 15, 2008

A well regarded, local technology exec--who has led one IPO, was closely involved in another, along with a number of M&A transactions, but who wishes to remain anonymous -- talks about the "rookie advantage" of being a startup.

posted Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Omid Rahmat--former publisher of Tom's Hardware Guide--speculates on the next Internet wave, which he thinks will involve web applications and software-as-a-service.

posted Thursday, April 10, 2008

Sid Mohasseb, managing director of Venture Farm and an angel investor who is the incoming President of the Tech Coast Angels Orange County, talks about the importance of watching performance indicators -- even as a startup.

posted Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Scott Fox, the Los Angeles-based author of "Internet Riches," talks about the problem of Internet companies not telling people where their company is located.

posted Monday, March 31, 2008

Hitting the wall is a term that will be familiar to anyone who has attempted to run a marathon. Omid Rahmat, former CEO of Tom's Guide Publishing, talks about the current state of online publishing and advertising, and how online content is flagging a little these days, and may need to get a second wind.

posted Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Matt Ridenour, Managing Director at Momentum Venture Partners, a Los Angeles early stage venture fund and advisory firm, shares some hints and tips about basic corporate structure for startups and entrepreneurs.

posted Friday, March 21, 2008

Jared Reitzen, CEO and Founder of Los Angeles-based mobileStorm, gives some hints and tips on making sure important things don't slip through the cracks when running a growing business.

posted Friday, March 21, 2008

Building a great company requires a combination of talent, persistence and luck. Angel investor Ken Deemer discusses the five things that he believes will ultimately have the most impact on your chances for success.

posted Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Entrepreneurs often find themselves in high-stakes negotiations with big, savvy players, with significant negotiating power (referred to herein as “Big Boys”) -- whether it be a venture capital firm in connection with a financing or a private equity firm in connection with the sale of the entrepreneur’s business; the situation can indeed be daunting. Scott Edward Walker gives ten tips to entrepreneurs.

posted Monday, March 3, 2008

Mark Averitt, a venture capitalist at Okapi Venture Capital, talks about the different kinds of risk that venture capitalists assess when deciding to invest--or not invest--in a startup.

posted Thursday, February 14, 2008

Most entrepreneurs looking for funding have heard about the various avenues available to them, but are not familiar with the positives and negative of each. Sid Mohasseb of Venture Farm gives a 10,000 foot view of different funding sources.

posted Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Scott Edward Walker, a corporate attorney, gives ten tips for entrepreneurs who are launching a start-up that will seek venture capital financing.

posted Sunday, November 11, 2007

Your company name. Your logo. Your slogans. The look and feel of your business and products. These all set your business apart from your competition, and therefore can act as trademarks. Steven C. Sereboff, Mark A. Goldstein, and Michael D. Harris discuss some of the basic issues behind trademarks.

posted Sunday, November 11, 2007

Scott Edward Walker, a corporate attorney, gives ten tips to entrepreneurs who are thinking about, or want to know more about, selling their business.

posted Monday, October 1, 2007

The decision to pursue patents, which kind and how much to spend is a business decision that merits both consideration and planning. Steven C. Sereboff, Mark A. Goldstein, and Michael D. Harris discuss some of the basic issues and costs of filing a patent.

posted Tuesday, September 11, 2007

How do entrepreneurs identify and manage the personal connections that are central to their new ventures? Perhaps more importantly, what network-building strategies are most effective?

posted Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Scott Steuber and Ted Simpson look at the changing Los Angeles real estate landscape for technology focused startups who are looking for office space, and answer the question about where people are putting their startups today.

posted Saturday, June 23, 2007

Mark Skaist, a corporate lawyer at Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, gives some hints and tips for entrepreneurs. Skaist talks in this interview about shareholders agreements, valuation, and intellectual property protection.

posted Monday, June 4, 2007

The success of your startup is likely to be greater if you plan your business. The ensuing discussion focuses on proper planning prior to the start of operations, and continued planning during implementation.

posted Thursday, April 12, 2007

In a perfect world, the most creative and innovative ideas would have an easy time getting funded, while all of the flawed business concepts would quickly fall by the wayside. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world: we live in Southern California, a place where even the “next big thing” can have trouble lining up money. Technology entrepreneurs could save themselves a lot of time – and heartache – if they followed a few rules before they approached angel investors and venture capitalists.

posted Sunday, April 8, 2007

5 software applications that every startup needs, according to the author of The Streetwise Small Business Book of Lists.

posted Thursday, March 15, 2007

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Tenants: How Los Angeles Technology Companies Can Make Real Estate Work for Them covers some key basic topics for high tech companies planning for their future.

posted Saturday, March 10, 2007

Venture Capital: A Practice Guidebook for Capital-Seeking Business, Owners, Managers and Advisors is a complete book covering the basics of venture capital funding, including a overview of venture capital funds; investors rights agreements;what to expect in a VC transaction; terms sheets; venture capital terms and jargon, and more. The book comes courtesy of Michael Colwin, SVP of Sales at Bowne, who can be reached at mike.colwin@bowne.com or (310)282-8800.

posted Saturday, March 10, 2007

You don't have to wait for angel investors or venture capitalists to fund your business in order to start. Steven Mednick gives some tips to get going on your own.

posted Saturday, March 10, 2007

Angel funding for growing companies is a mysterious process to most entrepreneurs. Somewhere between hitting up your rich uncle and begging for a loan at the bank, a professional angel group can provide $250,000 to $1.5m in equity funds to accelerate growth and make it attractive to later stage investors. Ken Hayes, a member of the Pasadena Angels, gives a rundown of the angel funding process and how it works.

posted Thursday, January 4, 2007

While one can't underestimate the importance of funding, it's not the make-or-break factor that separates successful ventures from the also-rans. Rather, the most important issue is leadership. Simply put, companies need to have senior-level decision makers with the experience to understand how to navigate the unique and challenging path that start-up ventures need to take.

posted Sunday, December 17, 2006

Frank Addante, a successful Los Angeles entrepreneur, and former founder and CEO of StrongMail Systems and CTO and founder of L90, talks about when it is, and isn't appropriate to look for venture capital, and why.

posted Wednesday, December 6, 2006

What really turns you on? Think about it … what would cause you to jump out of bed every morning with a fire in your belly instead of dreading that train ride into “work?” What would you do if you could do anything in the world? Now, get ready for this question: Why aren’t you doing it? Kelly Perdew, Managing Director at Angel-Led Venture Partners and winner of "The Apprentice", talks about finding your passion.

posted Thursday, November 30, 2006

Matt Ridenour, Managing Director at of Momentum Venture Management, talks about some tips on finding early stage investors.

posted Thursday, November 30, 2006

Richard Abbitt, CEO and President of Venture Realty Group, gives some hints and tips to startups looking for real estate and office space.

posted Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Three Keys to Obtaining Venture Capital is designed to help first-time entreprenuers understand the venture capital process and provides a useful step-by-step tool for creating a business plan. Through this understanding, and armed with a comprehensive and thorough business plan, and entreprenuer will have realistic expectations and can concentrate on targeting the financing search for the most promising business investment sources.

posted Tuesday, November 21, 2006

What are venture capitalists looking for today? Entrepreneurs often have a hard time figuring out what venture capitalists are looking for, and when the best time it is to approach them for funding. This article looks at what VCs are looking for.

posted Tuesday, November 21, 2006