Monday, July 15, 2013


Insights and Opinions: The Power of Just ONE More Unit
In our Insights and Opinions section, we feature, today we're feature more knowledge from angel investor and speaker Dave Berkus, who talks about the power of just one more incremental sale for your startup. There is such leverage in high gross profit margins once a company is past breakeven. Every dollar of gross profit falls to the bottom line, increasing net profit faster with each transaction. A ten percent increase in revenues for a company with 50% gross margin and 5% net profit (More info...)
posted on Monday, July 15, 2013(Full story)

NRG Solar Buys Project In Guam
Carlsbad-based solar power project developer NRG Solar said Monday that it has acquired a large-scale, solar project on Guam. NRG said the 25.65 megawatt solar project was acquired from Quantum Guam Power Holdings, LLC. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. NRG Solar is a subsidiary of energy giant NRG Energy, and constructs and operates solar power projects. NRG said it will construct, own and operate the solar project which will sell all of its power output to the Guam Power (More info...)
posted on Monday, July 15, 2013(Full story)

Elon Musk's Next Plan: Connect LA, San Francisco In Half An Hour
Tech mogul Elon Musk, who has proved that you can, indeed, build your own rocketship to space with his success with Hawthorne-based SpaceX, said today that he plans to unveil a brand new transportation system called Hyperloop. Musk said in a tweet that he will release the plans for Hyperloop, which will deliver people between San Francisco and Los Angeles in less than half an hour, on August 12th. Musk has described Hyperloop as a "cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table." (More info...)
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Santa Barbara, San Diego Tops On Per-Capita Venture Capital
A new study released earlier this month has ranked the Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta metropolitan area, as well as the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos metropolitan area among the top ten markets for venture capital activity. The report, from The Atlantic, found that Santa Barbara-Santa-Maria-Goleta was number five in the nation in terms of venture capital activity per 100,000 people, with $59.1M in deals in 2012 and 3.3 venture capital deals per 100,000 people. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos was (More info...)
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Abbott Medical Optics Acquires Optimedica
Santa Ana-based Abbott Medical Optics, which developer intraocular lenses and other products for ocular surgery, plus refractive and eye care products, has acquired a Silicon Valley developer of opthalmic surgery devices. Abbott said that AMO has acquired Santa Clara-based Optimedica, which develops femtosecond laser-based, cataract surgery devices, for $250M in cash plus up to $150M in earn out. Abbott will use the acquisition to expand its vision care business. Abbott Medical Optics includes t (More info...)
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uSamp Gets $15M More For Market Research Tools
Encino-based sampling and online research firm uSamp announced this morning that it has raised $15M in a new round of funding. According to uSamp, the Series D round came from OpenView Venture Partners and DuPont Capital Management, and will go towards accelerating the development of the company's Instant.ly platform. uSamp's services and software is used by marketers for surveys, sampling, and market research. uSamp has now raised somewhere around $29.0M in funding.
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Versant Ventures Names Mazzo Operating Partner
Newport Beach-based venture capital investor Versant Ventures has named former Advanced Medical Optics CEO Jim Mazzo as an Operating Partner. According to Versant Ventures, Mazzo will focus on patient needs, new technology advancements and investment opportunities in the healthcare field worldwide, in addition to becoming Chairman and CEO of one of its portfolio companies, AcuFocus, a developer of corneal inlays. Mazzo headed up Advanced Medical Optics when it was sold to Abbott Labs in 2009, fo (More info...)
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ServiceNow Signs FICO As New Customer
San Diego-based enterprise IT services software provider ServiceNow said today that its software-as-a-service is being used by FICO, the provider of credit scoring services. According to ServiceNow, FICO is using its software to improve its IT operational processes and for self-service support. Financial impact of the win was not announced. ServiceNow said its software is replacing a legacy, IT system. FICO is using ServiceNow for incident, problem, change, configuration and request management.
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BeyondTrust Expands Distribution In Japan
San Diego-based security software provider BeyondTrust is expanding its distribution in Japan, saying this morning that it has partnered with IT services reseller Broad Corporation. BeyondTrust said that the Japanese reseller will distribute its products to help improve market penetration of its services in Japan. As part of the international expansion, BeyondTrust said its Retina CS software now provides reporting capabilities in Japanese.
posted on Monday, July 15, 2013(Full story)

Leap Wireless Acquired By AT&T For $1.2 Billion
San Diego-based wireless carrier Leap Wireless has been acquired by AT&T, in a deal worth $1.2 billion. The two companies announced the deal late Friday. According to the two companies, AT&T will acquire all of Leap's stock and wireless properties, for $15 per share in cash. The companies aid that At&T will retail the Cricket brand name, and continue to utilize Cricket's distribution channels. Leap Wireless operates the Cricket prepaid wireless service.
posted on Monday, July 15, 2013(Full story)