Monday, November 19, 2012


NetDNA Connects CDN To Web Apps, Services
Los Angeles-based content delivery network (CDN) provider NetDNA is making it easier for web application developers to use its CDN services, saying Monday that it has launched a new service to embed web acceleration capabilities into their web services and applications. The company said its new NetDNA Acceleration Platform gives web developers ability to control CDN provisioning--either as a way to resell CDN services, or to help boost their site performance. NetDNA said customers for the new se (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 19, 2012(Full story)

Insights and Opinions: Entrepreneurship: What It's Really Like
What, really, is entrepreneurship like? For our Insights and Opinions article today, we have a frank and honest account of the brutal truth of being an entrepeneur from Mark Suster, frequent blogger, video podcast host, and venture capitalist who talks about all the stuff people never talk about on what it means to be an entrepreneur (and it's not all glory, conferences, and parties.) Mark gives the unvarnished truth in Entrepreneurship: What It's Really Like. It's 4.50am. Sunday morni (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 19, 2012(Full story)

Report: Clipper Windpower To Chop Jobs, Headquarters
Wind turbine manufacturer Clipper Windpower is getting set to cut nearly 200 workers and shut its Carpinteria headquarters, according to a report from the Pacific Coast Business Times. The report says that the move comes as private equity firm Platinum Equity--the new owner of Clipper since August--looks to consolidate operations at the company to a location in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The move apparently comes as Clipper has ceased development operations after a serious warranty issue with its equip (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 19, 2012(Full story)

Luxury Link Taps Morrow As CEO
Los Angeles-based Luxury Link Travel Group, the firm which runs Luxury Link, Family Getaway, and Vacationist, has tapped former Oversee.net CEO Scott Morrow as its new CEO. The firm said that Morrow also joined the company's board. Morrow was most recently co-Chief Executive Officer at Oversee.net, and also served as CEO and President of ThisNext. He also had served at EVP at Citysearch, in addition to time at CNET Networks. Luxury Link helps connect consumers with luxury, premium travel experi (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 19, 2012(Full story)

Factual Bolsters Restaurant Data
Santa Monica-based data startup Factual now boasts more than 1.2 million restaurants, the company said this morning, after adding over 400,000 restaurants to its database. The firm--which provides a cloud-accessible, real time dataset available via APIs--said it also bolstered data on hours of operation, delivery, cuisine, and price across those restaurants, with hours for over 1 milion of the restaurants. Factual maintains a giant "database in the sky" with real time, geolocated information, wh (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 19, 2012(Full story)

TrueCar Launches New Website, Ad Campaign
In a major launch, Santa Monica-based TrueCar, the online new and used car pricing website, said it has launched a redesigned website and new ad campaign. TrueCar, which is headed by Scott Painter, said it has launched a $7.7M advertising campaign developed by Santa Monica's DW+H, to help position it as a national brand. The ad launch comes as part of a redesigned website, which it says emphasizes providing "fairness for both buyers and sellers." The new site looks to be a reaction to the pushba (More info...)
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Report: MySpace Raising $50M For Music Domination
A report this morning from Business Insider says that Irvine-based Specific Media, the parent company of MySpace, is seeking to raised $50M to turn MySpace into a "Spotify killer". The report says that Specific Media is hoping to re-launch MySpace as a competitor to both Pandora and Spotify, two popular streaming music services. Specific Media is now known as Interactive Media Holdings. Business Insider cited a leaked pitch deck from Interactive Media Holdings, which also showed Specific Media a (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 19, 2012(Full story)

EPM Live Acquired By Silverback Enterprise Group
Carlsbad-based EPM LIve, a developer of cloud-based software used for project portfolio and work management, and which was built on Microsoft SharePoint, has been acquired by Silverback Enterprise Group. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. EPM Live's staff and CEO Joe Larscheid will join Silverback as part of the acquisition. Silverback Enterprise Group is venture backed by Austin Ventures, and has recently been acquiring a number of software firms. Silverback most recently acquired V (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 19, 2012(Full story)

ACTIVE Network, LeftLaneSports.com Launch Private Sales Site
San Diego-based ACTIVE Network, the online sports registration site, and LeftLaneSports.com, a members-only e-commerce site based in San Luis Obispo, said today that they have tied to launch a new, private sales website called ACTIVE GearUp. THe two said the site will offer deals on products from endurance and outdoor brands. ACTIVE Gearup replaces Active's earlier attempt in the space, Schwaggle. Financial details of the link between the brands was not announced.
posted on Monday, November 19, 2012(Full story)

Creating the 21st-Century Fashion Brand, with Brett Markinson, Sole Society
One of the fastest growing startups in Southern California in recent years was Hautelook, which went from just an ideas to a huge, $270M acquisition by Nordstrom only X years later. Hautelook was able to help define--and conquer--the online flash sales category, in record time. One of the founders of Hautelook, Brett Markinson, is now head of Sole Society (www.solesociety.com), which is looking to define the next generation of fashion-and-ecommerce brands. We caught up with Brett to understand (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 19, 2012(Full story)

Three SoCal Firms Top National Entrepreneur of the Year List
Three, Southern California companies have topped the annual Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards in three different categories. E&Y announced its winners this morning, which included Joe Kiani, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Irvine's Masimo Corporation (Life sciences); Gary Jabara, CEO and President of wireless infrastructure developer Mobilitie, LLC in Newport Beach (Real Estate); and Mike Morhaime, CEO, President, and Co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment (Technology).
posted on Monday, November 19, 2012(Full story)

Broadcom Powers Wii U
Irvine-based Broadcom said today that its semiconductors are being used to power the wireless connectivity in Nintendo's new Wii U. Broadcom says its chips are being used to provide Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC capability to the new Nintendo game controller, including handling the transfer of video and audio between the Wii U console and Wii U GamePad controller; Bluetooth connections to legacy games and peripherals; and wireless connectivity to the Internet. Broadcom said its BCM43362, BCM43237 an (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 19, 2012(Full story)

Car Town Debuts On iOS
Long Beach-based Cie Games, the developer of the Facebook social game Car Town, said Friday that it has launched a new app on iOS. The company said that Car Town Street, which lets players build and "cruise" with cars in a town, is free and runs on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. The iPhone app was launched in conjunction with Sony and Nitto Tire.
posted on Monday, November 19, 2012(Full story)

Teledyne Wins Lab Services Contract With Dow Chemical
Thousand Oaks-based Teledyne Technologies said Friday that it has scored a commercial laboratory services contract, via its subsidiary, Teledyne Brown Engineering, with The Dow Chemical Company. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. Teledyne said the three year Lab and Office Facility Management contract is part of a strategic services partnership with Dow, and involves on-site and off-site management and support research services at Dow Chemical research facilities in Midland, Mich., (More info...)
posted on Monday, November 19, 2012(Full story)

Peregrine Ramps RFIC Production
San Diego-based Peregrine Semiconductor, which develops radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), said today along with Korean semiconductor firm MagnaChip Semiconductor, that Magnachip is expanding production of Peregrine's UltraCMOS RFIC product line. The two said that the manufacturing ramp for the chips is the fastest in MagnaChip's history. The two did not disclose actual shipping volumes, but said the rampup comes to meet "large demand" for Peregrine's UltraCMOS products.
posted on Monday, November 19, 2012(Full story)