Armed with some data from our friends at CrunchBase, I broke down the largest US startup funding rounds from December 2018. I have included some additional information such as industry, company description, round type, notable investors in the company, and total equity funding raised to further the analysis. CLICK ON THE ARROWS BELOW TO NAVIGATE THE […]
Business Lessons from the Great Conductors
This piece brilliantly ties together leadership lessons from the great conductors in music to similar leadership lessons in the business world.
4 Keys To Consciously Making Your Team More Creative
Most entrepreneurs I know are individually very innovative, but a successful startup can’t be a one-man show (for long). That means they need to build an innovative team, which is not a skill that most people are born with. In fact, some very innovative individuals, known as ‘idea people’ or inventors, often end up creating […]
This LA Startup Just Raised $30M To Make Recruiting and HR Seamless
The landscape of employee recruitment looks a lot different than it did twenty- or even ten years ago, and that’s largely because of the widespread popularity and use of social media platforms. Platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are giving rise to Social Recruiting and CareerArc is the leading HR technology platform that streamlines social […]
Creating the Next Big Startup Takes More Than Passion
Every aspiring entrepreneur I know is convinced that his or her idea could be the next big startup, blossoming into a billion dollar unicorn. Yet I find that only a few are able to put their passion aside for a moment and compare their solution to the attributes that really attract a large market of […]
The Best B2B Marketing Strategy for 2019
When companies ask me what B2B marketing strategies they should leverage, I always tell them the same thing: The “High School Party” Strategy. Think back to high school… For a lot of “mid-tier” popular kids — kids who weren’t the coolest — an incredible opportunity came up in during sophomore or junior year. If their […]
Performance Bonuses Don’t Motivate People. Here’s What Does
One of my all-time favorite anecdotes for motivating people describes how Charles Schwab turned around a struggling mill with little more than a piece of chalk. Here’s how Dale Carnegie describes it in his classic book How to Win Friends and Influence People, “Schwab asked the manager for a piece of chalk, then, turning to […]
The Average Startup Overnight Success Takes Six Years
Every startup founder knows implicitly that startup success is a long hard road. Yet we always dream that we are the exception to the rule. So once in a while, it’s good to look at some facts to temper our imagination. I was reading an old article written by marketing guru Seth Godin a while back where […]
LA Tech Hired: 1/15/19
Here are the latest LA tech hirings, promotions, appointments for LA companies covering 1/1/19 to 1/15/19. This week we feature several key hires from DRINKS, the premium wine marketplace that’s expanding its team on the heels of its Series B round in September. LA Tech Hired is a transparent way to inform the LA Tech community […]
When VCs “Own” Your Startup’s Lawyers
There’s a game that, as Startup/VC lawyers, we’ve seen played out across many ecosystems. We’ll call it “own the lawyers,” and because it benefits repeat players (professional investors, service providers) at the expense of first-time founders – and the former are usually the people controlling the microphones – it rarely gets discussed publicly.
The LA Venture Capital News Digest: 1/15/19
The latest news from VC firms in LA for the first half of January 2019 featuring must know news including news for Bailey Capital, Arcadian Fund, and more …