Thursday, March 12, 2009Autobytel Sees Online Advertising Revenue PlungeIrvine-based Autobytel released its quarterly results Thursday, revealing that the firm saw a 35 percent plunge in its advertising revenue, and a 23 percent drop in leads referral revenues last quarter. The firm, which operates a series of automobile related sites, said it had a net loss of $15M on revenues of $14.2M in Q4. Autobytel blamed the steep drop in ad revenues of lower traffic to the company's websites, partially due to reduced search engine marketing activities. For the year, the firm (More info...)
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QAD Chops Staff As Revenues DropSanta Barbara-based QAD, a maker of manufacturing resource planning software, said Thursday that it has cut its staff, as the firm was "significantly affected this quarter by the impact of the global economic downturn." The firm, which disclosed the cuts in its earnings release, said that the workforce reduction is expected to save the firm approximately $14M annually. Number of employees affected by the move, and timing of the cuts, was not disclosed. The firm reported that it had $59.3M in rev (More info...)
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Cornerstone OnDemand Raises $12.7MSanta Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand, a developer of talent management and human resources management software, said Thursday afternoon that it has raised $12.7M in a new round of financing. The round was led by Meritech Capital, and also included prior investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Bay Partners. Cornerstone said the funding will allow it to pursue new market opportunities, enhance its offerings, and continue its business and financial growth. The firm also said that it was cash flo (More info...)
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MSC.Software Executives Resign, Firm Names New CEOSanta Ana-based MSC.Software, a developer of simulation software, said Thursday that its board of directors has named Ashfaq A. Munshi as the firm's interim CEO and President. The sudden move came after current Chairman and CEO, William J. Weyand, and the firm's President and COO, Glenn Weinkoop, decided to resign, the company said. Reasons for the resignations were not given. Munshi has been a director at MSC since September of 2006, and has served at Applied Materials, Silicon Graphics, and Or (More info...)
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OptionEase Trumpets RevenuesSan Juan Capistrano-based OptionEase, which develops software for tracking stock options compliance, said Thursday that the firm had 300% revenue growth in 2008. The privately held firm did not disclose what those revenues were, or any details on its financials. According to OptionEase, the revenue growth gave it GAAP profitability in January. OptionEase develops software-as-a-service for tracking stock options compliance and the FAS 123(R) and IFRS2 regulations. The company also said it has now (More info...)
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YouMail Gets New Competition: GoogleIrvine-based startup YouMail has just gotten a new competitor: search engine giant Google, which launched a significantly comparable service to YouMail's voice mail services. YouMail offers a voice mail service which allows cell phone users to preview their voicemail messages in email or on the web, convert those voicemails to text, and provide personalized phone greetings to callers, depending on who is calling. The venture backed startup--which has scored funding from the Tech Coast Angels and (More info...)
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Dotmatics Opens Office In San DiegoUK-based Dotmatics, a developer of informatics and business intelligence software, reported today that the firm has opened up new offices in San Diego. The firm said the North American offices for the firm are in Del Mar, and were opened in response to "huge interest" and a rapidly growing customer base in the USA. The firm did not say how many people will be located at its new offices. Dotmatics develops web-based and other software tools for browsing and visualizing biological databases, scien (More info...)
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Commission Junction Signs Overstock.comSanta Barbara-based Commission Junction, the affiliate marketing arm of ValueClick, said Wednesday that online discount retailer Overstock.com has signed on as a customer of the firm. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. Commission Junction will manage Overstock.com's affiliate marketing programs, which are used to encourage sales on e-commerce web sites.
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Fate Therapeutics Names Chief Scientific OfficerLa Jolla-based Fate Therapeutics, a firm developing stem cell technology, said today that it has named Ken Batchelor, Ph.D., as the firm's Chief Scientific Officer. Batchelor joins the firm GlaxoSmithKline, where he was most recently Senior Vice President. According to the company, Batchelor has more than 28 years of experience in drug discovery and development. Fate Therapeutics' founders are from Harvard, Stanford, The Scripps Research Institute, the University of Washington and the Whitehead (More info...)
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Xirrus Powers Emergency Response TeamThousand Oaks-based Xirrus said Wednesday that the firm's Wi-Fi equipment has been selected by the County of San Bernardino, as part of a emergency response system. Financial terms of the win were not disclosed. According to Xirrus, the county's Informatoin Service Department has chosen its hardware to distribute voice, video, and data to County, Federal, and non-profit groups during disaster and recovery operations. The county is using a single Xirrus 802.11n array to its mobile disaster recove (More info...)
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CalAmp Names Sales, Marketing VPOxnard-based CalAmp, a developer of wireless products, said Thursday that it has named Rick Nozel as the firm's Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for its wireless networks business. Nozel joins the firm from General Electric's Microwave Data Systems unit, where he was VP of Sales. Nozel had been at GE for 17 years. CalAmp is a manufacturer of wireless equipment for the public safety, industrial monitoring and controls, direct broadcast satellite, and other industries.
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Interview with John Nahm, PhoneViteRecently, we spoke with John Nahm, the CEO and co-founder of Phonevite (www.phonevite.com), a new startup in town which recently relocated from Silicon Valley. We caught up with John to learn a little bit more about what the firm's services offer, as well as how the firm ended up moving to Los Angeles.
Explain what Phonevite is?
John Nahm: Phonevite is a community-based, voice broadcasting service, which allows the "average joe" -- or any small organization -- to send event reminders, emer (More info...)
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