For our Insights and Opinions section today, we're sharing a primer on finances from David Ehrenberg, of Early Growth Financial Services, who gives entrepreneurs a rundown of some of the most important financial items to track.

Whether you're managing your own startup finances, or have an outside firm taking care of this for you, there are many financial items that entrepreneurs should closely track. Here are some of the key ones I recommend all early-stage startups keep a close eye on:

Cash flow/burn rate. Your burn rate is perhaps the most important financial item you need to track: how quickly are you going through your cash reserves, and how quickly are you building those reserves back up. In other words: revenue in minus expenses out. If you don’t keep track of your burn rate, you could run out of cash before you even get your startup off the ground. (More...)

Read the rest of David's primer on financial tracking for startups, at The Most Important Financial Items Entrepreneurs Should Track.

The latest company considering a bid for Los Angeles-based video streaming site Hulu is El Segundo-based DirecTV, according to reports Friday afternoon. A report from Reuters says DirecTV is just one of a number of companies considering a bid for Hulu. The report cited a "source familiar with the situation."

In some what-did-our-spam filter eat-recently funding news, Santa Monica-based Privlo recently raised $2.1M in a seed funding round, for its online marketplace for private mortgage loans. Privlo, which was founded by Michael Slavin, said the new funding came from QED Ventures. According to Privlo said the new funding will go to expand on its recently pilot of its platform, which helps match up private lenders and mortgage borrowers. Slavin was previously a developer of real estate in the Los Angeles area, and according to the firm is a managing partner at private equity firm Napias Group.

Among executives at the firm are Kenn Stearns (eRealty), who joins as Chief Product Officer; Saro Vasudevan (Capital One), Chief Customer and Credit Officer; David Subar (BreakMedia, Interthinx), as Interim Chief Technology Officer; and Michael Barton (Startup Exchange, TicketMaster-CitySearch), who joins the firm as Chief Operating Officer.

Los Angeles venture investor Siemer Ventures is one of the investors in a new seed funding round for medical answering service Ringadoc, which announced $700,000 in a seed funding today. The funding included Siemer Ventures, Telegraph Hill Group, as well as angels. The firm has previously raised funding from FF Angel, Ryan Howard of Practice Fusion, Sharon Knight of One Medical Group, and others. Ringadoc's system helps doctors manage incoming patient phone calls.

Santa Monica-based startup VIRURL said Thursday that it has launched its technology, which automatically publishes sponsored content into blogs. According to the firm, its product allows bloggers to insert sponsored posts that match a blogger's audience on a cost-per-click basis. The firm was founded by Merrill Brown (formerly of MSNBC.com) and Francisco Diaz-Mitoma, Jr. VIRURL is part of the move towards the somewhat controversial idea "native advertising", where sponsored content appears as part of a publisher's news stream.

Newport Beach-based semiconductor developer Mindspeed Technologies has added a new director to its board, the company said Thursday afternoon. Mindspeed said Farid Adib, the Senior Vice President of Product Development & Operations at Sprint Nextel, has joined its board, as well as its governance and board composition committee. Mindspeed said Adib's experience with a broad range of next generation communications and network technologies would help the firm, as it continues to evaluate strategic alternatives.

San Diego-based gaming and computer accessory maker Mad Catz Interactive reported late Thursday that its CFO, Allyson Evans, is resigning. Mad Catz said that it has launched a new search for a CFO. Mad Catz said Evans is leaving to spend more time with her family, but will remain in her position until the firm finds a new CFO. Mad Catz is behind the Mad Gatz gaming accessories, Tritton, and Saitek brands.

Santa Monica-based healthcare messaging provider TigerText has linked up with a provider of mobile security, AirWatch, the firms said this week. According to the companies, the move will allow healthcare customers to secure both their mobile platforms and their text and email communications. Financial arrangements between the companies were not announced. The two said their combined solutions has been chosen by the Community Hospice of Texas. Both companies provide software for ensuring HIPAA compliance of healthcare providers; TigerText's secure messaging services let hospitals, doctors, and others send text messages without violating those strict HIPAA laws.

What's the best way to connect physicians with their patients? A new, Glendale-based startup, SnapMD, is hoping to do that through a smart phone, tablet, or your home PC, via a new service. The firm has just raised $175,000 in a seed funding for its yet-to-be released platform. The firm's founders include Rustin Morse, David Skibinski (CEO), George Tierney (COO), and Doug Campbell (EVP Corporate Development), and said it is in the midst of efforts to raise additional funding to complete its platform. SnapMD did not say when it expects its products to be available. Details on the seed funding have not been announced.

It's official--Los Angeles-based brainwave-tapping startup Melon is within a couple of thousand dollars of hitting its $100,000 fundraising goal, to bring its combination headband-and mobile-phone app to market. According to the company's Kickstarter page, it has now raised $97,398 towards the $100,000 goal for the project--only three days after the project launched. Melon's founders, Arye Barnehama and Laura Michelle Berman, are hoping to tap into the interest in the "quantified self" movement, to help people focus and concentrate better. The startups is part of the latest LaunchpadLA class. Melon--and many other hardware focused startups--have found a sudden new source of funding through crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter. Before sites like Kickstarter, those hardware startups faced formidable issues getting early seed funding, particularly from professional investors and angels; the advent of crowdfunding seems to have turned that formula around dramatically in the last couple of years.

Los Angeles-based technology deals provider StackSocial has stacked up another technology publisher in its pile of customers, saying today that it has added tech publisher iPhoneinCanada.ca. StackSocial said it will provide apps, gadgates, and other tech-related products at a new store on the technology news site. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. iPhoneinCanada.ca offers up news, reviews, tips, and other information on iPhones. StackSocial--which is part of AmplifyLA--distributes all kinds of technology deals on apps, services, software, gadgets, and more through various online publishers.

It's not infrequently that we're pitched by a startup saying they are the 'eHarmony for X', referring to the Santa Monica-based online dating and relationship site's reputation. However, is the next 'eHarmony for Jobs' actually eHarmony itself? A report today says that the online dating site plans to launch its own, career service by the second half of the year. The Santa Monica-based company has been in a big push to update the company's image, attract more customers, and grow the company, under charge of returned founder Dr. Neil Clark Warren. It remains to be seen if eHarmony can translate its technology and branding to the job market. There have been a number of companies who have called themselves the 'eHarmony for Jobs'--Path.to called itself that in August, as has job matching service RoundPegg.

Santa Barbara-based Active Life Scientific, a developer of life sciences research and diagnostics tools, said this morning that it has raised $500K in a Series A follow on investment. The funding came from members of the Tech Coast Angels. Active Life, which is headed by Davis Brimer, says its medical tools are being targeted at the growing problem of degenerating and stiffening tissues, which causes frailty. The Tech Coast Angel's Central Coast Network, led by Mike Panesis, led the deal.

Can a hardware device and your smartphone make it easier for you to optimize your productivity, and improve your concentration? A new, Los Angeles startup, Melon, thinks so, and just booted up an effort this week to raise funding for its brainwave-monitoring headband and smartphone app. We caught up with founders Arye Barnehama and Laura Michelle Berman earlier this week to hear more about what Melon is hoping to do with its brain-reading headband.

What is Melon?

Arye Barnehama: Melon is all about turning the invisible activity of the mind, into something visible and meaningful in your everyday life. Laura and I both have cognitive science background, and this really sparked our desire to build something around allowing people to understand their brains better, and live better day-to-day. It's all about the quantified self moment. You might be familiar with the devices from Jawbone, Nike Fuel, Fitbit. We see ourselves as a layer of understanding, rather than just quantifying. We really want to provide insights and understanding, and hope that users get a better understanding of themselves.

For those who haven't seen your device, what does it look like?

Laura Michelle Berman: The hardware is an EKG headband. When we designed the headband, we made it so they can wear it during any activity that they are used to. You can secure it on your head, and use it during exercise, athletics, working in your office, or studying in the library....

Culver City-based Sony Pictures Entertainment has won the exclusive worldwide distribution rights to the new, Angry Bird film from Rovio, Sony announced Wednesday. According to Sony, the 3D film is due to debut worldwide on July 1, 2016. Financial details of the win were not announced. Sony said that it won over the bids of several major studios, who were seeking global film rights to the animated movie. Sony said that John Cohen (Despicable Me) will serve as producer and David Maisel (Iron Man) will be executive producer on the film. Angry Birds has grown into a gigantic merchandising and licensing business, out of its humble roots as a popular, iPhone game.

San Diego-based Ambit Biosciences has priced its IPO, saying that it is offering up 8,125,000 shares of its common stock at $8.00 per share. The company will start trading today on the NASDAQ Global Market as AMBI. Ambit priced well below its estimated initial public offering range, which had been set at between $13.00 and $15.00 per share. Ambit is venture backed by Apposite Healthcare Fund, Forward Ventures, GIMV, GrowthWorks, MedImmune Ventures, OrbiMed, Perseus-Soros Biopharmaceutical Fund, Roche, and others. Ambit is developing biopharmaceuticals for treating oncology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Chatsworth-based Logicube, the developer of hard drive duplication and forensics technology, has debuted a new product, aimed at the digital forensics market. According to the firm, its new Forensic Falcon product allows users to image and verify hard drives at rates of 20GB/min, and is aimed at the government and private sector. Logicube said the devices supports SAS/SATA/USB/Firewire drive interfaces, with adapters to support IDE, eSATA, mSATA, microSATA and flash drives.

Santa Monica-based Splash, a startup developing an iPhone app which lets users connect with others around their passions and interests, has launched its app in the iPhone store. The app, which is free, was created by Rory Reiff and Michael Wilson. The app allows users to follow photos based on not usernames--but tags and topics they are interested in. The app also allows users to comment on those various photos and control who sees their posts on the app, and shares them on Twitter and Facebook.

In the second piece of aerial drone news to come out of Southern California today, Santa Monica-based software developer DreamHammer said it has launched a beta of its drone control software, aimed at controlling unmanned drones and robotics from multiple, different manufacturers in a single system. The company said its Ballista intelligent control platform has been providing its software to the defense, intelligence, and homeland security market. The company said it is now looking at applying the technology to different industries, including transportation, logistics, agriculture, and law enforcement.

DreamHammer said it had revenues of $6M in 2012, and offers up its technology via a software development kit (SDK) that can be licensed by developers to integrate their drones, robots and third party apps. The company's announcement comes on the same day that news of another, unmanned drone technology firm here in the area--Airware--announced a funding round from Google and Andreessen Horowitz.

Southern California's part of the unmanned aerial vehicle industry includes such companies as DIY Drones (which allows you to buy hardware and software to create your own, personal drone) and Aerovironment, one of the major suppliers of unmanned drones to the military--which is also looking at the commercial market....

Monterey Park-based Kotura, the developer of silicon photonics and optical interconnection technology, has been acquired by Mellanox, the companies announced Wednesday. The deal was worth $82M in cash. The two companies said the deal is expected to close in the second half of the year, and will help Mellanox bolster its ability to deliver cost-effective, high-speed networks with next generation optical connectivity. Mellanox--which is based in Israel--said it expects that it will establish its first, R&D center in the United States, at Kotura's current location. Kotura was venture backed by ARCH Venture Partners, GF Private Equity Group, Rockley Ventures, and Viterbi Group. Kotura was founded in 2004.

For today's Insights and Opinions section today, we tap into the wisdom of Ivan Nikkhoo, an experienced entrepreneur, investment banker and VC at Siemer & Associates, and who is an advisor to Siemer Ventures. Nikkhoo gives some insights into the skill of raising growth capital.

Many entrepreneurs are skilled at starting companies, and building successful small ones. Not a simple thing to do, but they seem to have a knack for it.

Growing a company into a big, growing, successful one is very different, and in many ways, more difficult task. And taking a company through a hyper growth stage is the most difficult part of all. That’s where many younger entrepreneurs fail. There are too many moving parts, unpredictable variables, and mistakes often go un-noticed until they have caused serious damage.

Which is why raising growth capital is of one the most important and defining steps for any company. It is at this point where experience, track record, maturity, timing, and a bit of luck come together. As Calvin Coolidge said,"“All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work." (Continued...)

Read the rest of Raising Growth Capital.

Looking to build your own unmanned aerial vehicle? A new, Newport Beach-based startup, Airware, has raised $10.7M to develop all of the infrastructure for buildling your own, commercial drone, from Andreessen Horowitz and Google Ventures. According to the company, its Series A financing will go towards expanding its team, meeting customer demand, and scaling for growth. Airware said the new funding comes on top of existing funding from First Round Capital, Firelake Capital, RRE Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Promus Ventures, and Y Combinator; the company said it has been part of both the Lemnos Labs and Y Combinator incubators. Airware is led by Jonathan Downey. The firm's products include a range of autopilot hardware (circuits and software) specifically used for UAS designs.

Glendale-based Global Conference Partners, the operator of the free, conference calling service FreeConference.com--as well as related properties InstantConference.com, GlobalConference.com, and other brands--has been acquired by Canadian teleconferencing provider iotum. Financial details of the acquisition wer enot announced. According to iotum, it will continue to operate the services from its Glendale, California location, with no loss of jobs as a result of the acquisitoin. Iotum operates the Calliflower.com conferencing service for small business.

Green Dot, the provider of prepaid debit cards and other financial products, is looking to launch its big move into the mobile banking market on July 4th, the company said Tuesday afternoon. According to Green Dot, it plans to launch its service, GoBank, on Independence Day on iPhone, Android, and online--and also will be making a big, national push to market the service.

GoBank is Green Dot's big move to capture the mobile generation of consumers, with a mobile-only bank--sans retail branches, but with full FDIC protection, mobile deposits, online checkbook and transaction tools, and much more. Green Dot's banking services came via the acquisition of both an FDIC approved community bank back in 2011, and mobile software developer Loopt.

According to Green Dot, it will be promoting GoBank via the 12th season of Project Runway; distribute the service through such online companies as WePay, Check, Tango Card and Rewardable; and promote the new banking service at Rite Aid stores nationwide. It also has a big deal with MetroPCS to promote the banking service on that carrier's Android phones.

Skift, the online travel publishing site started by Rafat Ali--the founder of Paidcontent.org, which was based in Santa Monica--has raised $1.1M in a new funding round. The funding came from Lerer Ventures, along with Ironfire Angel, MESA+, Advancit Capital, Growlab+LX Ventures, Jason Calacanis, Michael Cunniff, Duncan Jennings, Sean Keener, Shakil Khan, Martin Nisenholtz, Paul Noglows, and Michael Yavonditte. Skift is based in New York.

Ali's new travel site focuses on travel industry related news; the publisher said the new funding will go towards doubling its staff from 5 to 10 people, to build out its initial sales infrastructure, as well as for building out its data services. The company has a number of other angel investors from the Los Angeles area, in addition to Calacanis, given Ali's prior success here on the West Coast.

Online dating and matchmaking site eHarmony is looking to update the company's image, and has gotten a makeover--looking to prove that it's still in the dating game. The Santa Monica-based company said that it has launched a next generation site, which it had codenamed "Malibu", to drive new growth and new members for the service. The new design comes as many in the industry have pointed to a new, competitive era, due to the rise of mobile platforms, tablets, and a move away from the traditional, desktop web experience where eHarmony made its mark.

eHarmony said the next-generation, brand-wide redesign is available across all platforms, and looks to "challenge the notion of what the traditional online dating experience should feel like", according to founder Dr. Neil Clark Warren, in an announcement of the move. Warren recently returned to head up eHarmony as CEO, and the company has been making a concerted push to grow its services. Among other changes made on the site are removal of all third-party advertising, new member profile pages, and a streamlined form for the company's famed personality and matchmaking process.

The new site and features run on desktop, tablets, and the iPhone; the company said an Android app should be available in coming months.

Peter Csathy, the CEO of San Diego's Sorenson Media, and digital media veteran, has departed the company, and will head up a new legal and investment group formed by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. According to Manatt, Csathy will head up a new effort called Manatt Digital Media Ventures, which will both make new digital media investments in companies, as well as provide professional services to the high tech industry. Manatt said the funding will come from the Manatt Venture Fund, an early stage venture fund which has already invested in more than 90 companies, including Pinterest, Etsy, and Idealab.

The new digital media venture from Manatt was created by Los Angeles partner T. Hale Boggs, who is well known to local entrepreneurs as one of the digital media- and tech-focused attorneys here. Boggs helped open up Manatt's Silicon Valley office in 1998 and San Francisco offices in 2007.

The new focus on digital media--and providing services to the growing Los Angeles technology sector--comes after similar moves by other law fims, including Cooley LLP, which created its own investment fund in January after setting up an office in Santa Monica; and Stubbs, Alderton & Markiles, which opened up a Santa Monica office last October and booted up its own incubator program. There are dozens of legal firms servicing the high tech industry here, based on our tracking of those companies and their clients....

Online live entertainment ticket marketplace ScoreBig.com has signed on a big new partner this morning, United MileagePlus. Los Angeles-based ScoreBig.com, which is headed by ticketing industry vet Adam Kanner, said that it is the exclusive marketing partner for live-event ticketing for MileagePlus. The deal allows MilagePlus members to earn miles on tickets they buy, and also allows users to trade in their miles to purchase tickets to live events on ScoreBig.com's marketplace. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

ScoreBig said the deal will "dramatically" expand its distribution and exposure of its brand to consumers. ScoreBig.com offers up a marketplace that helps venue operators, sports teams, and others sell unsold seats, while preserving their premium pricing levels. The site allows consumers to find tickets to big, brand name sports, concert, and theater events at bargain prices.

Kanner is an industry insider, having formerly been an executive from the National Basketball Association (NBA) helping teams to sell their unsold inventory.

Los Angeles-based Kite Pharma, a biotechnology company developing immunotherapies for cancer, said today that it has raised $35M in its Series A funding round. The firm said that the funding came from Alta Partners, David Bonderman, Pontifax Ltd., Commercial Street Capital, and Michael Milken, along with its founder, Arie Belldegrun. Kite Pharma said the round included $20M in new funding plus conversion of $15M in outstanding promissory notes.

Farah Champsi of Alta Partners, and Ran Nussbaum of Pontifax join the company's board with the funding. Kite said it is developing a novel cancer immunotherapeutic product, focused on engineered autologous T cell therapy (eACT).

Irvine-based Kofax, which develops document capture and process automation software, said today that it has been selected by mortgage loan processing company CashCall. Kofax said that CashCall is using its mobile app to streamline and automate mortgage loan processing. Financial details of the win were not disclosed. Kofax explained the mortgage lending company is using mobile devices to capture mortgage documents required for applications, including paycheck stubs, W-2's, investment account statements, and tax returns. Kofax said its mobile apps include technology to help correct issues with poor camera angels, illumination, warping, and more, making sure that images taken with a mobile phone or tablet can be properly processed.

Newport Beach-based digital advertising firm MediaShift has snagged the former CFO of Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, as its CFO, according to the company. MediaShift, which provides digital advertising for private Wi-Fi networking providers, as well as for web publishers, said Baran was most recently Executive Vice President and CFO at Clear Channel Media and Entetaiment, heading up financial planning and operations for 850 nationwide radio stations. Baran also served at CBS TV, Tyco International, and GE. MediaShift went public via a reverse merger back in 2012, and was formerly known as Ad-Vantage Networks; the firm is now traded OTCBB.