Wednesday, December 28, 2011


Report: WebVisible Shuts Down
Irvine-based online advertising firm WebVisible has shut down, according to a report Wednesday. Former WebVisible employees had been telling socalTECH over the last few months that the firm was looking for a buyer. The company has not yet confirmed the shutdown, however, founder and CEO Kristen Mangers had left the firm in January in 2011. WebVisible had raised over $37M in venture capital, from such investors as Adams Street Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and Sutter Hill Ventures.
posted on Wednesday, December 28, 2011(Full story)

Online Holiday Sales Up 15 Percent, Hit $35.3 Billion
Online holiday sales this year were up 15 percent, hitting $35.3 billion, according to the latest tracking by Internet metrics firm comScore. comScore said that the e-commerce spending for the first 56 days of the holiday season was helped by digital downloads of music, TV, movies, e-books, and apps. In particular, comScore pointed out a "huge spike" in sales on Christmas Day, due to people downloading digital content and subscriptions. More than 20 percent of sales on Christmas Day were in the (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, December 28, 2011(Full story)

Surfline's Collins Dies
Sean Collins, the founder of Huntington Beach-based Surfline, has died, according to the company. Surfline is the go-to site for surfing forecoasts, and was based on Collins' development of surf forecoasting methods over the last 30 years. The company said Collins died of a heart attack while playing tennis Monday. Surfline had originally started as phone-in surf forecast service in 1985, which Collins later transformed into one of the largest sports websites in the world. Collins was 59.
posted on Wednesday, December 28, 2011(Full story)

Broadcom Names New Board Member
Irvine-based Broadcom said this morning that it has named Robert Finocchio, Jr., to its board of directors. Finocchio currently sits on the board of Echelon Corporation, and also has served as Chairman, CEO, and President of Informix Corporation and President of 3Com Systems.
posted on Wednesday, December 28, 2011(Full story)