lalawag

LA Startup Spotlight- Here on Biz “Instant Business Networking” App

Geena Urango — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:18:50 +0000

Just yesterday, a Los Angeles-based startup released its “instant business networking” app Here on Biz to the iOS App Store. The app adds location awareness and chat functionality to LinkedIn with the goal of better connecting business professionals for offline interactions.

Here on Biz allows users to see where others are located by general neighborhood. When users are on the go, they can check into events, airports or other destinations away from their home city. The app allows users to publish these checkins directly to LinkedIn. Based on these checkins, users can find local professionals, visiting professionals and event attendees. The app also has a chat feature that can quickly lead to offline meetings.

Below, Co-founder of Here on Biz Nick Smoot gives some more background info behind this startup and some other insight into his entrepreneurial experience.

Pitch us your app in three sentences or less.

We realized that your LinkedIn network is incredibly valuable to your social/business life if used right, so we built an app that takes your network and makes it location aware, real time, and chat enabled. Plus we are baking in some swanky services business professionals like.

What made you decide to focus your app on that service?

We were tired of doing travel for business and it sucking. We spent tons of time in airports and hotels for business travel and realized how cool it would be to have an app that showed us other business professionals around us that we could network with right then and there. So we built it.

How big is your team? Can you describe your company’s culture?

Team of 2 for now. We are lean, mean, and have fun. Our culture is best described as two friends who like to laugh and get shit done. We pride ourselves on excellence and being great beer connoisseurs. Twelve hour days are the norm, but so are ski trips to Whistler, weekend adventures to the Channel Islands, and hiking across the “Devil’s Backbone” with potential investors. The occasional pogo stick competition may break out as well.

How did your company get its initial funding? Do you have any advice for emerging startups on how to deal with funding?

Our initial funding was our own money and a bit from a long time contact that has wanted to “do something” with the two of us. So it made sense to partner up on this one for a few reasons outside of the money component.

If you are going to go for funding, realize that you will give up more than you want. If you can bootstrap it at first… do it.

How will your app deal with competition? Do you keep tabs on other companies that are doing similar things?

We take a stance to lead not follow. As with prior ventures, the competition will be keeping an eye on us. We will forge the path for business mobile networking, others will follow, plundering our concepts, designs, and features, trying desperately to catch up

Tell us a little about your background? What made you want to start your own company/app?

Early on I started working with non-profits. My focus was developing programs and recruiting leaders. After a few excellent years in that, I shifted my focus to marketing and operations consulting for small businesses. This then lead to being picked up by a group of investors to “fix problems”. After a stint of that and meeting Allen, my business partner, we had this moment of realization… we could do something amazing together! We both had specific unique skill sets that complimented each other in a startup so we went after it.

What are your thoughts on the LA entrepreneurial scene?

We are so new to the scene here that it is hard to give a real answer of the scene, but from what we have seen and experienced in the last 6 months, I would describe it as welcoming and exciting. There is a definite “buzz” right now.

Who are your three most influential entrepreneurs? Why?

Steve Jobs- He made his dent in the universe.

Ben Franklin- The man was insatiably curious and solved REAL problems.

William Randolph Hearst- He had a better phone system than the white house during his time. He understood the freedom and impact of tech in a way that created a life of freedom and impact.

What’s the hardest/best thing about being an entrepreneur?

The hardest thing about being an entrepreneur has to be the emotional ups and downs. If they aren’t managed well, they will be your demise.

The best thing has to be the freedom to do exactly what you know needs to be done. You had just better be right.

What’s one of your most successful decisions? Can you share something that’s worked really well for you that you think other entrepreneurs could learn from?

One of the most successful decisions was to build key mentors into my life early on. When I say early on, I mean I was 17. I intentionally sought out influential mentors because someone I really respected told me I needed to. This shaped my path and to this day I think of and talk to them often.

One thing other entrepreneurs could do that has worked well for me is volunteer a bit of time. Find an amazing non-profit you believe in and give back some of the talent that drove you to strike out on your own. There is a lot to learn from giving back.

What are your next goals? (Either for the current venture or for the company/app as a whole)

To become the de-facto app for business networking.

Lastly, what are your three favorite apps? (Besides yours of course)

Uber

Expensify

Flip Board

Follow Here on Biz on Twitter @hereonbiz

Annual ROI Community Summit in Jerusalem

Geena Urango — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:59:06 +0000

ROI Community is a worldwide network of over 700 Jewish social and business entrepreneurs from 50 countries. As an organization, ROI Community connects emerging Jewish innovators from around the globe and enables them to turn their new ideas into action by creating transformative work that will impact the Jewish world and beyond.

From June 10-14, 2012, in Jerusalem, the ROI Community Summit will gather 150 of the Jewish world’s outstanding young leaders. For the first time ROI Community will welcome members from Bolivia, Iceland, Peru and Uganda to its annual Summit. This gathering provides these future Jewish leaders with tools, support and the space they need to turn their ideas into innovative work that will change the face of Jewish life.

The group includes social and business entrepreneurs, social justice activists, artists, environmentalists, media and tech gurus, educators, intercultural dialoguers and others whose projects are already impacting and invigorating communities throughout the United States and the world and who are looking to take their work to the next step.

Each has a great story to tell about their challenges and success, and each prints a diverse skill set aimed at connecting with other social entrepreneurs around the globe. The 201 ROI Summit will provide them an opportunity to collaborate with others, skill-build, and move their projects forward to address the world’s challenges.

The ROI Community is a worldwide network of over 700 Jewish innovators from 50 countries crated and sponsored by American Jewish philanthropist Lynn Schusterman.

The Valley Girl talks with PacketVideo’s Rick Schwartz on “The Valley Girl Show”

Justine Gananian — Wed, 02 May 2012 21:08:06 +0000

This week on The Valley Girl Show, host Jesse Draper chats with PacketVideo‘s Rick Schwartz, Director of Connected Home Software. PacketVideo allows you to create technology for your smartphone, tablet, and computer for an easier way to share all of your media. The key feature is the ability to “beam” your content to another source, whether you want to play a song on your stereo at home or watch a YouTube video on the your big screen TV. All it takes is the push of a button on your device, and you can beam your content to your device.

Deemed “a device for your device”, you download Beam Browser, which is free app on your device that allows you to type in any URL and if the content on that webpage is “beamable”, you are ready click, view, and enjoy. PacketVideo also uses Twonky, which collects and stores your web-based media.

PacketVideo is a pioneer of cellphone multimedia – it was the first company to do video on a cell phone ten years ago. “At the time, people didn’t understand why you would even want to do that, and now it seems obvious to everyone,” Schwartz says.

Download the app today and beam away! Check out Jesse’s interview with Rick to hear PacketVideo’s story.

Previously on lalawag:

Meebo’s Mindset Technology Research

Geena Urango — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:27:23 +0000

Meebo is a social platform that connects users with other users through the internet by allowing you to crate an interest profile to get new and timely information about the things that matter to you. In other words, Meebo organizes the web around people to make it simple to find and share things online. One feature that Meebo has is Mindset technology, which determines how personality affects consumption decisions, brand affinity and purchasing behavior.

In February and March of 2012, Meebo interviewed around 1300 people about which summer movies they intend to watch in theaters. A high percentage of people intending to watch these movies also scored highly with certain personalities (or “Mindsets”). Based on the research done, Meebo drew these conclusions:

The Optimist: People who intend to watch The Amazing Spider-Man and G.I. Joe 2 this summer are more likely to be optimistic. These people tend to be entertainment seekers in general. They are 52% more likely to be romantic comedy moviegoers as well. They are also over 70% more likely to purchase goods and services that support environmental sustainability.

Life of the Party: Viewers intending to see Rock of Ages, Bourne Legacy and Men in Black III are more likely to be extroverted, take care of their appearance, and enjoy shopping. They are 42% more likely to be interested in using salon quality hair products. Brands like True Religion jeans and Paul Mitchell are preferred by extroverts.

The Artist: Our research shows that Snow White and the Huntsman appeals strongly to highly creative types. Brands that appeal to people high in creativity include Burt’s Bees, Sephora, and Mac cosmetics. Creative people are significantly more likely to buy organic foods and seek out bold styles in fashion. They are less likely to drive trucks, watch ESPN, or go to sit-down chain restaurants.

The Dare Devil: Those who intend to see The Dark Knight Rises and The Expendables 2 are more likely to be risk-seekers. People with a high risk preference are more likely to prioritize exercise and fitness. They’re 34% more likely to consider socializing with friends a top hobby and are 27% more likely to prioritize owning the most current tech products. But you won’t find them eating somewhere like Whole Foods – they stick to conventional foods.

The Egotist: The Total Recall intenders are more likely to be spotlight-seekers. They are more likely to own sports cars as their primary vehicles, more likely to pursue investments as a top hobby, and like to save significant portions of their income as well. Brands that appeal to them include BMW and American Express.

A few important notes: 1. This is just a sampling 2. Not everyone watching these movies will have the Mindset indicated, but there is a greater likelihood that they would.

Which “Mindset” do you have??

Follow Meebo on Twitter @Meebo

The Valley Girl™ Spends Quality Time with the Owner of the Dallas Mavericks

Jonathan Polenz — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:12:15 +0000

Jesse Draper, the creator and host of “The Valley Girl Show” interviews Mark Cuban, Dallas Mavericks Owner and investor, and talks about his first entrepreneurial experiences, how he invests in people through email and why he dislikes Silicon Valley.

“Mark Cuban is down to earth, honest, real, intelligent and inspiring,” said Jesse Draper, host and producer of “The Valley Girl Show.” “He is willing to speak his mind and shows real passion in what he believes.”

Viewers can watch this interview with Mark Cuban on Mashable at http://mashable.com/follow/videos/1573532135001-jesse-draper-interviews or SFGate.com, the San Francisco Chronicle’s website. To check out “The Valley Girl Show” column on SFGate.com, go to http://blog.sfgate.com/valleygirl/2012.

“The Valley Girl Show” is syndicated across a network of distribution partners and regularly receives over two million monthly views across multiple platforms. These platforms include multiple television boxes such as Roku and Boxee, iTunes, and downloadable mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android. It can also be seen on screens at thousands of restaurants across the country including Taco Bell and Denny’s. The show is viewable online on ValleyGirl.com, Youtube and 25+ other distribution channels. The rapidly growing audience consists primarily of cosmopolitan, tech savvy 18-35 year-olds who are highly educated and have large social networks. Ms. Draper interviews the biggest names in business and technology including Mark Cuban, Justice Sandra Day O’Conner, Joe Saunders, Steve Wozniak and Tony Hsieh. The show is a balance of fun games and tough questions, and also provides educational takeaways.

“The Valley Girl Show” is filming interviews in May for release summer 2012. ‘

Check out the “The Valley Girl Show” at www.valleygirl.com.

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Tech Cofounder Dating LA Event- May 9th “The Elevator Pitch”

Geena Urango — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:51:32 +0000

On May 9th, 2012, from 7-10PM, the meetup group Tech Cofounder Dating LA is hosting the event “The Elevator Pitch with 6 Guest Judges.”

Organizer/Matchmaker Aaron Abram runs the meetup group, which opening connects tech cofounders together and teaches them the skills to turn their startups into successful companies. The event the group is hosting in May will teach participants how to create less than 30 second pitches to investors on the fly without a laptop or pitch deck. The guests represent experts in pitching and mainly come from tech companies with some in other industries.

To find out more about this event, visit this page.

Fun fact: Tech Cofounder Dating LA has the highest % of Female tech entrepreneurs from any coed tech group on Meetup in Southern, CA!

Stage 32 – A Social Network for the World’s Creatives

Justine Gananian — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:04:44 +0000

What better way to connect with others in the film, television, and theater world than social networking? Stage 32 does just that. We caught up with Richard Botto, the CEO of Stage 32, which is a way for “the creatives of the world to be available to one another 24/7/365,” according to Botto.

Botto and his team saw a great deal of talent around the world, yet knew that there needed to be a platform for all of this talent where it could be shared globally. That is where Stage 32 came into play. As its mission statement says, Stage 32 is “a place to gather, to discuss and develop projects, to join actors with directors, directors with producers, producers with cast and crew. Here, you can grow your contact list and build a pertinent network in rapid fashion. The more you participate, the greater the results. As the saying goes, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Many users have used Stage 32 to not only educate and inform members, but to also benefit their own careers.

Botto stressed that “there needs to be a way to make the world a little bit smaller,” and he is using his social networking site as a successful tool to do it. He and his team want Stage 32 to raise awareness for the amount of talent around the world and expose people’s creative work.

Botto has previous experience with the arts – he is the CEO of Fair Warning Productions, an Associate Producer on Sam Levinson’s first feature, Another Happy Day, a screenwriter, and was previously the founder, publisher, and editor of Razor Magazine.

“We see success stories with Stage 32 all of the time,” Botto said. “It is happening every day, and it is unbelievable. People are connecting from all around the world to join in on one another’s projects.”

Previously on lalawag:

Alphabird: Flying High With New Talent

Geena Urango — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:07:03 +0000

Audience development company, Alphabird, guarantees engaged audiences for your video on premium website publishers and Youtube. They also creates social engagement by distributing these videos in-page (NOT in-banner) across premium publishers, portals, and influential blogs that reach your targeted audience. The result? Higher levels of engagement with your content, greater levels of brand recall, and higher offline purchase intent rates.

Recently, Alphabird opened their Beverly Hills offices and hired some amazing new talent. Alphabird has hired Mike Caruso, former VP of Entertainment at Viumbe LLC, who will be VP of Alphabird’s Music Production division. He is also a music producer for Lil Wayne and Drake, another other pop/hip-hop icons. Vincent Lambino, VP of Branded Entertainment and Sponsorships for A2Oproductions has also joined Alphabird as their VP of Branded Entertainment.

In addition, Alphabird announced that it has expanded its offerings as a vertically integrated global audience development company by launching an original content and development and branded video production unit run by the acclaimed programming team from worldwide entertainment leader Endemol. Edemol’s programming includes the reality television series “Wipeout”, “Big Brother” and “Deal or No Deal”.

Alphabird’s CEO, Chase Norlin, states:

By bringing aboard internationally renowned creative talent that has earned several industry awards, combined with the guaranteed viewership of millions of people around the world, we’re enhancing our capabilities to not only deliver the largest audiences to online video, we now have the firepower to develop and produce that content in-house. Furthermore, the integration of one of the most powerful production teams in branded entertainment enables us to provide brands direct access to the full lifecycle of a creative video content advertising campaign. This furthers our mission of having the broadest and deepest audience offering in the online video industry.

Follow Alphabird on Twitter to find out more information @Alphabirdvideo

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Afraid of Getting Scammed Online? WeGoLook Will Verify Online Purchases for You

Justine Gananian — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:14:20 +0000

Have you ever been nervous of being scammed on an item you are about to buy or bid on online? Behold: WeGoLook, an online verification service for items you are about to purchase via the web.

We spoke with Robin Smith, co-founder of WeGoLook, who says her goal “was to create a company which would enable anyone with any budget to be able to safely purchase items online without becoming a victim of fraud. That goal has grown to include a huge team of awesome persons working hard for our corporate clients and individuals to help them do anything they need done.”

WeGoLook gives buyers the peace of mind that the item they are about to bid on is what the seller claims it is, and proves that it actually exists. The company sends out a “Looker,” or someone in that area who can verify its authenticity. For a small fee, the Looker will travel to the item or property, give a detailed report, take photos, and answer any specific questions the buyer might have.

Smith says that WeGoLook beats the competing companies because it is located everywhere in the US, Australia, Canada (and soon the UK), it has customer service interaction readily available to ensure quality control of entire transaction from start to finish, and corporations utilize its services to perform occupancy verifications, cell tower site inspections, and verify collateral assets with the Lookers’ customizable reporting template.

Previously on lalawag:

LA CEOs May 3rd Event: Achieving Home-Run M&A & Financing Outcomes

Geena Urango — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:24:33 +0000

From 8am-10am this May 3rd in Santa Monica, CA, LA CEOs is hosting a free event for startup LA CEOs in software in digital media.

LA CEOs is an education and support group for CEOs. They host monthly free events, and on May 3rd, LA CEOs presents: Achieving Home-Run M&A & Financing Outcomes. Investment Banking veteran Kevin Covert will share insights into achieving home-run M&A and financing outcomes for digital media and technology companies. He will discuss current M&A and VC financing market dynamics, acquisition and financing interests of the large media and tech buyers and how to get on their radar. He will also illustrate the “Art of M&A” based on actual transactions and highlight common mistakes.

This free event is for CEOs only, with at least a million dollars in sales or funding. To see more details about the event, click here.

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LiveShare 2.0 App Redesign

Geena Urango — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:13:39 +0000

There’s no better mobile and web application that makes it easy for you and your friends to snap photos at parties, get-togethers and other shared experiences, and see them all in one place! LiveShare can create photo groups on the fly, make them as private as you want, and see photos flow into your group streams in real-time.

LiveShare has introduced a paradigm shift in mobile communication by going beyond the basic utility of messaging apps. The new LiveShare combines the best of free messaging and fast photo sharing into one awesome app for iPhone and web! And it’s free!

Check out the LiveShare 2.0. Completely redesigned and built from the ground up. LiveShare now uniquely blends free text messaging, unlimited photo sharing, and location check-ins into one gorgeous app with loads of smart features.

Download the app today!

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Are Mobile Apps the Future for Independent Filmmakers?

Natasha Khrolenko — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:47:30 +0000

How I made my low-budget short film, “Dumbleweed” into an interactive multi-platform brand

Around February of last year I became obsessed with tumbleweeds. Yes. Tumbleweeds. Those lifeless, scratchy shrub like creatures that invade lawns throughout America and careen at high speeds across roads and highways whichever way the wind blows. I became obsessed with them. And eventually, being that this is Los Angeles, together with a group of talented filmmakers, we made a short children’s film about a tumbleweed, called “Dumbleweed” which will see its premiere this week at The Sonoma International Film Festival.

But after making the film, and armed with lots of positive reinforcement about how cute our lead character Dumbleweed was, I became obsessed with another thought.

In today’s world, where most successful products, whether film or fashion line, are brought to our attention on a multi-platform level, what was stopping me, an indie filmmaker with no budget, from turning Dumbleweed into a multi-platform brand?

The short answer (the long answer is much too long for this article) is, really, nothing. Now-a-days major film studios will define a successful film not just by its box office records, but how much of a brand it can become. Does the name “Batman” mean anything to you? From an independent filmmaking perspective, it is impossible to match up to that sort of success, but sometimes it’s not impossible to spread the name of your product across multiple platforms. Especially when your film is for kids and about a tumbleweed.

“Dumbleweed” could have gone in several directions as a multi-platform product. It could have been a toy, a line of t-shirts, a fuzzy pillow. But really, the only thing that made sense from a monetary perspective, was to turn it into a Mobile App Game.

Creating a Mobile App, especially when it’s a small team and you’re all working for free on a concept you care about, will give you almost a full return on your investment. Even if your concept doesn’t hold up, all that you will have really lost is time. And money on coffee and bad pastries. But you will have gained friends and experience in this wild west of multi-platform branding that we’re all still getting to understand. And, if you’re lucky, your film will have the chance of being seen by a wider audience.

After arriving at the decision that I should make a Mobile App game, the next step was finding someone who actually knew something about making a Mobile App. I personally knew nothing. So much like you have to call friends and friends of friends when making a short film, I called around until I found an amazingly talented App developer named Crossman Wilkins. Crossman cared about the concept, which was most important to me, and he was okay with getting paid on the back end. And I could tell that he knew what he was talking about.

The next step was really a series of steps. Making sure that we set aside time every week for the next several months to meet and talk about the game and what it could be and what it should be. We discussed the essence of what it was to be a tumbleweed – to move about constantly – and how to translate that into a game. We also felt that the game had to be easy to play the way that Angry Birds is easy to play. And that it would have to be bright and colorful and bold so that young kids would enjoy it. Next Crossman set out to actually do the work of creating the game using his Corona App developing software, which he already owned. We continued to meet each week to discuss the progress of the game. Again. Much like making a film.

After months of hard work, the game became what was released on iTunes just earlier this week. A combination of Doodle Jump and Ski Free. And (to my knowledge) the first Mobile App based on a short film.

Writing about the process now it sounds pretty easy, even though it wasn’t. And there’s no guarantee that “Dumbleweed” the game or short film will have any success. As a filmmaker and game maker you’re more than likely to fail than you are to succeed. But still. Here we are in the Wild West. And there’s nothing from stopping us from trying again if it doesn’t pan out the first time.

You can download “Dumbleweed” the App here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dumbleweed/id515633109?mt=8.

Previously on lalawag:

Must Read: Ash Maurya’s “Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works”

Justine Gananian — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:56:34 +0000

Ash Maurya’s Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works (O’Reilly, $24.99) was released in March. It is a resource for entrepreneurs, small businesses, start ups, and even corporate managers, leaders, and anyone looking to achieve more in their own career.

Maurya is the founder of Spark59 and has launched several start ups, including successful ventures such as WiredReach. His book encourages start ups, entrepreneurs and others to begin thinking about their business models. He challenges the notion that start-ups should plan based on gut, intuition and luck. Instead he applies a systematic process for rigorously stress testing your “Plan A” until you achieve a plan that works. Like many of us have heard before, it’s all about “iteration.”

Running Lean conveys techniques and exercises that shed understanding on:

. Testing if you have a problem worth solving before investing resources into building a solution
. Finding early customers through interviews
. Documenting your business model and communicating progress with internal and external stakeholders
. Setting price and getting your customers to want to pay
. Prioritizing customer feature requests
. Knowing if/when to raise your “big round” of funding
. Measuring what’s working and knowing when to change course
. “How To” Bonus Material for Startups

Running Lean is the first book in The Lean Series presented by Eric Ries, bestselling author of The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. Subsequent Lean Series titles from O’Reilly Media give readers a solid footing in a new approach and proven methodology that will help entrepreneurs, leaders, small businesses, and anyone looking to be more effective to succeed,” according to the press release.

Ash holds mentor roles with startup accelerators around the world such as TechStars, Mozilla Foundation, Year One Labs, MaRS, and Capital Factory

Visit Maurya’s site or the book’s site for more information on the book.

You can follow Ash Maurya on Twitter @ashmaurya.

Previously on lalawag:

JuntoBox Films- A Social Community for Filmmakers

Geena Urango — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:15:31 +0000

An emerging startup, JuntoBox Films, makes it easy for filmmakers and fans to connect, create and ultimately, make films. How does this collaborative film studio and social community work?

JuntoBox has merged the collaborative energy of a social platform with the more traditional in-house film development process. This includes green lighting, financing, marketing and distribution. Members simply rate and vote on projects that will be selected and green lit. Once a project is created, filmmakers rise up through the five levels of development by building their film’s profile through fan participation and completion of various tasks.

The company’s co-char is Forest Whitaker and they just green lit their first film, Passenger, and SXSW last month. Forest and JuntoBox will be green lighting 5 films this year with a total of $2.5 million in financing. Forest will play an active role in selecting, producing and marketing the chosen films with the aid of his production company, Significant Productions.

To find out more about this startup, check out their website and get updates from their Facebook page and Twitter account @juntoboxfilms

Always Wanted to Make Your Own Infographic? There’s a Startup For That [ Q&A with Visual.ly ]

Justine Gananian — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:25:02 +0000

Visual.ly (www.visual.ly) is a platform for exploring and sharing infographics. The startup recently launched Visual.ly Create, its tool for automated infographics technology. They launched the new product at SXSW, and it was used to create quite a few innovative infographics about the conference. One cool feature of the platform: users can create a specific story around a person’s behavior and history from Facebook or Twitter in seconds with cool visual style. For more customized infographics, or those requiring analysis of additional data sources, Visual.ly works with an international team of outside researchers, designers, developers, analysts and journalists.

In this quick Q&A, we chat with Visual.ly‘s Co-Founder and Chief Content Officer Lee Sherman.

1.) Pitch us your product/service in three sentences or less

Visual.ly is the world’s largest platform for exploring, sharing, and creating infographics.

2.) What made you decide to focus your company on that product/service?

Infographics are both extremely popular and traditionally hard to create. We make it simple to create beautiful infographics in seconds.

3.) How do you deal with competition and how does your company stand out from the competition?

We don’t know of another company that has such an activity community, powerful distribution platform, and fun tools. Visual.ly is an entire ecosystem built around data visualization.

4.) What are your next goals?

We will will continue to expand on the number of infographic designs, themes, and data feeds that are available within our tools. We will also open up the creation of infographic designs and themes to our community.

Make sure to check Visual.ly out on Twitter and Facebook. Sign up on Visual.ly today!

Previously on lalawag:

Julia Hutton, Founder of ExTreme ReTrailers, Takes Her Business on Wheels

Justine Gananian — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 18:15:09 +0000

We had a quick chat with Julia Hutton, founder and CEO of ExTreme ReTrailers. After realizing she wasn’t generating enough business in her store in Arizona, Julia bought a trailer, filled it with her merchandise, and went directly to larger automotive and biker festivals. Business has been booming ever since, and here is what she had to say.

Pitch us your product/service in three sentences or less.

ExTreme ReTrailers are fully equipped, fully functioning retail stores on wheels. They can be positioned anywhere a crowd has gathered as long as the appropriate permits are in place.

What made you decide to focus your company on that product/service?

The recession and gas prices for the consumer. We go to our target market instead of them coming to a brick and mortar store.

How big is your team?

We have 10 people on the team.

Can you describe your company’s culture?

It is a hard working, adventurous, off-beat, fun loving group. We are out and about in the community and do some fundraising as way to “pay back.”

Do you have any advice for emerging startups on how to deal with fundraising?

Find a LOW OVERHEAD concept that doesn’t need too much start up capital. Be prepared to get a second on your home loan, sell a car, so whatever it takes as long as it is ethical and legal.

” I know of no other retail outlets on wheels, that are not food oriented.”

Tell us a little about your background?

I am a successful entrepreneur. An example is I founded Orca Communications, a world-class PR firm that is celebrating its 10 year anniversary this year.

What made you want to start your own company?

I don’t like the limitations working for other people placed on me both financially and creatively.

What are your thoughts on the LA entrepreneurial scene?

It is just fabulous in my opinion. So much creativity and fun.

What are your next goals?

I’d love to see more ReTrailers in more industries. They are so fun and lucrative.

What one piece of advice would you give to young entrepreneurs just starting out?

Failure is not an option but get ready for the ride of your life. You’ll have to hang on for dear life, usually. No such thing as a 40 hour work week so you better absolutely LOVE what you are doing.

Make sure to visit ExTreme ReTrailers online or visit their Facebook page for more information.

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Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of The WPP Group, Chats with Jesse Draper on “The Valley Girl Show”

Geena Urango — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 22:00:34 +0000

This week on The Valley Girl Show, host Jesse Draper interviews Sir Martin Sorrell, the CEO of The WPP Group. The WPP Group is one of the world’s leading advertising companies and communication services, employing 140,000 people in 2,400 offices, in 107 countries. Sorrell has been the CEO since 1986…and he is also a knight. He tells the story of his knighthood and his conversation with the Queen during the interview with Draper. He also talks about how he only became an entrepreneur late in life and how not all entrepreneurs found their own companies, saying in the interview that “in addition to being an entrepreneur in the context of startups, you can be an entrepreneur in the context of an established company, which is sort of what we’ve been trying to do, and drag them kicking and screaming into 21st or 22st centuries.”

The WPP Group works with major companies such as Ford, P&G, Unilever, Johnson+Johnson, and Microsoft, and companies in India such as Tata, Infosys, and Smith Barney. Many of these companies are rapidly becoming some of the biggest in the world. For instance, Tata Motors post a 40.5% jump in net profit for the October-December quarter. The WPP Group also took over JWT, which is the world’s best-known marketing communications brand, and a true global network, with more than 200 offices in over 90 countries employing nearly 10,000 marketing professionals.

How did Sir Martin Sorrell become a knight? Watch the interview to hear his story!

http://valleygirl.tv/shows.php?episode=Interview-with-Sir-Martin-Sorrell–CEO-of-The-WPP-Group

Previously on lalawag:

Hulu Launches New Apps and a Fun New Facebook Timeline

Geena Urango — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 20:50:17 +0000

Recently, Hulu Plus announced that a new update of their app is available on Android Tablets that features a super deluxe Hulu Plus user interface. They also claim this is just the beginning of their Android tablet rollout.

The new Hulu Plus app on Android introduces a clean, streamlined design that makes the interface more engaging. The pages feature large thumbnails with visuals that show off your Android tablet’s graphics. In addition, Hulu Plus has already organized its content library so it’s easy to discover new shows and keep up with the shows you already love.

Hulu also just launched a newly edited Facebook Timeline. They have embraced Facebook’s new feature to share the entire history of television on Facebook’s platform. It’s a fun way to browse through TV’s past, starting with the World’s Fair in Paris in 1900 when the word “television” was first uttered. Be sure to check out the timeline around 1953 when color broadcasting was introduced or in 1975 when cable launched.

The new Hulu Plus app can be downloaded from Google Play and is compatible with: the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Motorola Xoom, Motorola XYBoard 10.1, Toshiba Thrive, Acer Iconia and LG G-Slate.

Previously on lalawag:

ParkMe Had Some Fun In Austin

Andy Yen — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:13:16 +0000

Looks like our friends over at Santa Monica startup ParkMe (formerly Parking In Motion) had some fun while they were at South By Southwest a couple weeks ago. To promote their iOS app that helps you find parking garages or meters in supported metropolitan areas (including LA!), they slapped some fake parking violation tickets and cardboard “boots” onto unsuspecting cars parked on Austin streets. To ease the pain of being “punk’d,” they taped a quarter to the fake violations.

Good thing there weren’t any actual parking violations stuck on those vehicles too, or else they would have had some pretty agro drivers to deal with. Personally, I’d probably just tip my hat at them for thinking of a clever form to “flyer’ my car. It certainly would grab my attention at least.

Would you guys be more pissed or amused if you got a fake parking violation on your car?

Find and Reserve Parking In Real Time For Free With Parking In Motion on iPhone

The Valley Girl “Checks-in” with Foursquare CEO and Co-Founder Dennis Crowley

Geena Urango — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:43:28 +0000

“How do you turn life into a game?”

As part of a series of interviews in New York City’s emerging tech scene, Jesse Draper, creator and host of The Valley Girl Show, “checked-in” with the co-founder and CEO of Foursquare, Dennis Crowley. Foursquare is a location based mobile app and API that allows you to connect with friends, read reviews, and earn points and badges by checking into places on your phone. Foursquare currently has around 15 million users, and it works with around 750,000 businesses worldwide. Previously, Crowley founded Dodgeball which he sold to Google in 2005.

Crowley says Foursquare “really helped people change how they experience the real world…We’re taking a lot of that ‘check-in’ data and using it to help push people to discover new restaurants, new bars, new parks, new places to shop, just really new things in either new areas or familiar cities.”

Explorer is a relatively new product that Foursquare launched about a year ago. Think of it like like Amazon and Netflix’s “recommendation engine” but places and experiences instead of products or movies.

How did Crowley come up with this location-based service/app? What’s in the future for Foursquare? Watch to find out: http://valleygirl.tv/shows.php?episode=Interview-with-Dennis-Crowley–Founder-of-Foursquare

Previously on lalawag:

Get Green or Die Trying Tour by Brett “Mr. Eco”

Geena Urango — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:57:36 +0000

Who is “Mr. Eco”?

Brett “Mr. Eco” Edwards is an Environmental Rap Superhero that incorporates sustainable living tips into rap music. He is a third year Business Major, Entrepreneurship Concentration at Cal Poly. He is also a project intern for the Alliance to Save Energy’s Green Campus Program that promotes energy and water efficiency among students and faculty.

Check out this video of Mr. Eco: http://www.youtube.com/user/MrEcoCalPoly?feature=mhee

Most recently, Mr. Eco is set to launch his parody album “Get Green Or Die Trying” (for free) on Earth Day April 22nd. He needs funding to finish the album and go on an elementary/middle school tour this spring.

Mr. Eco claims, “I am not selling my album because I do not have the permission to do so. I do however have permission under the ‘Fair Use Copyright Laws’ to use the music for educational purposes.” Which is exactly what his new album will do; it will educate youth on how they can live sustainable lifestyles in the hopes of preserving Earth for generations to come.

Not only does he make “going green” cool and fun in a special way that nobody else can, but his passion for the environment stems from his love for wild animals and from the fact that climate change is the biggest problem facing humanity on Earth.

His superpowers are educating everyone, but this superhero will not be able to save the world by himself.

If you want to help out, or find out how you can, check out this link for school bookings and other information on how you can help fund this tour.

You can also follow Mr. Eco on Twitter @Mr__Eco

Previously on lalawag:

Jesse Draper Interviews Director of Children’s Health Council

Geena Urango — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:28:11 +0000

In this interview, Jesse Draper, host of “The Valley Girl Show”, talks with Children’s Health Council director Andrew Cope about the non-profit organization. The Children’s Health Council helps children and teens find the best way to learn, develop, and thrive.

As part of the “Let’s Talk Education” series on the “The Valley Girl Show,” the interview starts off by asking Cope how he first got involved with the Children’s Health Council. Cope says, “I had worked in children’s health for awhile at the Lucille Packer Foundation. I was really interested in getting back with Children’s Health because it was some of the most fulfilling work I had done in my career.”

The Children’s Health Council has been around for 58 years. In 1953, Esther B. Clark, MC, Palo Alto pediatrician, founded Children’s Health Council to provide families access to multi-discipline, integrated care for their children.

There are four main areas of treatment that the Children’s Health Council works with: ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), autism, learning challenges, anxiety & depression. The council also has a grant that allows them to do free parent education, which is a huge help for parents and their children. Last year, they had 1,300 people come to the free parent education sessions that the council held. In addition, the organization owns and runs two schools.

Learn more about this amazing non-profit organization and how you can help fundraise for the non-profit.

Previously on lalawag:

Startup Spotlight: Q&A with Co-founder of Gidsy

Justine Gananian — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:27:17 +0000

We had the opportunity to talk to Edial Dekker, who launched Gidsy in LA on February 29. Gidsy is a place to book and offer tours, activities, workshops, and local events in places all around the globe.

Pitch us your product/service in three sentences or less.

Gidsy is a marketplace where anyone can offer and book things to do. We have retired cooks giving cooking classes at their homes, we have an ex-police officer showing people around the Red Light District in Amsterdam (where he worked) and we have a NYC technology investor showing you the best places to get dumplings in NYC China Town because he lived in China for 15 years.

What made you decide to focus your company on that product/service?

It’s incredibly difficult to find something interesting to do, especially when you are traveling. We thought one of the reasons is because it’s so difficult to organize something online. Giving tools to people to organize things to do gives travelers and locals access to unique experiences that were otherwise impossible to find.

How big is your team? Can you describe your company’s culture?

We’re not but 10 people and are based in Berlin. The two founders (my brother Floris and myself) are from the Netherlands, and the third co-founder and CTO, Philipp Wassibauer, is from Austria. We have an extremely talented team of people from Canada, Germany, The Netherlands and the States. Our company’s culture is really important to us. We have a very open decision-making process that anyone can participate in. The best argument always wins, and everyone breathes and lives the product that we’re building. Everyone here is booking, organizing and participating in activities happening on Gidsy.

Fun Fact about Gidsy: “Two of us actually found girlfriends through activities on Gidsy…”

How did your company get its initial funding? Do you have any advice for emerging startups on how to deal with fundraising?

We built a prototype first. It really helps you to explain the product to VC’s and angel investors. A good strategy in the beginning is to say that you’re not raising any money (when talking with investors). When investors like your product, they will try very hard to get the deal. And that’s where you want to be as an entrepreneur.

Tell us a little about your background — what made you want to start your own company?

My brother and I had another company before – a design studio that was based in Berlin. After studying in Amsterdam, we moved to Berlin with two friends and started the company. We did it because we thought we thought we would be better than most other interactive design studios, and we wanted to prove that. For us, the reason to start a new company was always about being unhappy about something. In Gidsy’s case, we’re up against a huge classic industry (the travel industry) and wanted to change the way business is done here.

What are your thoughts on the LA entrepreneurial scene?

I have never been to LA, but the things I heard from the guys from GOOD Magazine and from Ashton [Kutcher] were great. Preparing for our LA launch, we found a lot of small businesses around DIY, crafting, urban gardening and a lot of other exciting things. The idea of sustainability and taking responsibility seems to really bloom in LA. It will be exciting to see what people will be organizing in the upcoming weeks.

Who are your three most influential entrepreneurs? Why?

I do not have any big idols except some people that are close to me and that I know very well. Here are a few, but there are more:

1. Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten – Founder of TheNextWeb and a lot of other things

When I was still studying, Boris always let me work at the office of TheNextWeb. We’d do some projects together, but the most inspiring things were cooking together. Every year, we’d spend the entire day cooking for the speakers dinner of The Next Web. Boris is probably one of the most creative and inspiring guys I ever met. He has an amazing way of dealing with problems, and sees many opportunities other people do not.

2. Ernst-Jan Pfauth – journalist and entrepreneur

When we first met through friends, we talked for hours about all sorts of things around technology. I rarely met someone else with higher aims then Ernst-Jan and he inspires a lot of people around him. Together, we organized the first blogging conference in The Netherlands. Ernst-Jan lives in Amsterdam and I live in Berlin, but we always see each other. He’s one of my closest friends, and always manages to push me to the next goal.

3. Floris Dekker – my brother and co-founder

Having a company with your brother is great. You can have very open conversations about things and you only need half of the words to come to a decision. Together with Phil (CTO and co-founder), Floris plays a hugely important role in the company and I could not think of anyone better to have a company with. He’s an extremely talented designer and has a great vision on what the company and product should be like. He’s determined and does not go for anything less than excellence.

What’s the hardest and/or best thing about being an entrepreneur?

Probably the hardest part is taking a break from thinking / working about the company. If you love the things you do so much, it’s hard to take a distance from it when you’re doing something else. The only things that help me to relax are surfing, cooking and working in my urban garden actually.

What are your next goals?

Our goal is to build a sustainable company that is here to last. It would be great if people could make money out of Gidsy that would help them quit their boring office jobs. Gidsy is only a few months old, and we already have people who’re creating very valuable extra income by doing things they love. Bringing people together, creating happiness and making sure it’s sustainable is what we are focused on. We have a long way to go, and Gidsy is just at its beginning.

What one piece of advice would you give to young entrepreneurs just starting out?

We learned that having the right people around you can make all the difference. Experienced advisers can help you out with contacts, product vision and will have many new point of views on the things you are doing. They’ll help you to crystallize the vision of your company and protect you from making the same mistakes they made, two really valuable things.

To see a handbook on how to create the “perfect listing” on Gidsy, click here

Follow Gidsy on Twitter @gidsynews or visit their Facebook page for more information.

Previously on lalawag:

LA Startup Spotlight: Zing Checkout Makes it Easy for Small Businesses

Geena Urango — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 21:40:24 +0000

Zing Checkout brings the reporting & inventory power of Point of Sale systems to small businesses, without the hassle of expensive and bulky POS hardware. The awesome thing about Zing Checkout is that it works over your Internet on your PC, Smartphone, or Tablet.

Mike Townsend, the Biz Dev and co-founder of this recently launched startup has a degree in engineering and work experience in business development. Mike believes in making tools to help small business owners’ lives easier. Read below to see what else Mike has to say about Zing Checkout and being an entrepreneur!

Pitch us your service in three sentences or less.

ZingCheckout is a web based Point of Sale that aims to replace old, expensive, legacy POS software. Business owners can now accept payments, see reports, and track inventory from any device with an internet browser instead of having local servers and installed software.

Our vision is to provide businesses impressive software that provides the opportunity to manage, promote and grow online and offline.

What made you decide to focus your company on that service?

The company was born from a repeated request in the market. Existing customers wanted to run their business on Mac, PC, and do it from anywhere so we developed a solution that worked and ran with it.

How big is your team? Can you describe your company’s culture?

We have a well balanced team of 4. Each one of us is extremely motivated to have the opportunity to improve the work lives of business owners and the thus the economy. We emphasize and focus on creativity in building tools (social network integration, geo location loyalty programs, etc.) to test the response from the market in hopes of finding solutions that resonate with business owners and encourage customers to buy and share.

We have a lot of fun doing what we do.

How did your company get its initial funding? Do you have any advice for emerging startups on how to deal with funding?

We are self funded at this point and I would encourage startups not to raise money until you need it to grow.

Has your company ever had to pivot? If so, what was that like?

We haven’t done any significant pivots away from the Point of Sale, but certainly with features we’ve built. When we brainstorm new ideas and build prototypes we have high hopes of improving the way the world does business, but of course this isn’t always the case… When we built ZingPromote.com, we thought we could drastically simplify the SEO process for businesses and create an internal SEO employee contribution program, but the product never took off so we dropped it.

How do you deal with competition? Do you keep tabs on other companies that are doing similar things?

Web based Point of Sale is still an emerging trend and our web based competitors help us by promoting the advantages of using web based systems. We don’t keep track of competitors because it never helps us. Following competitor news will only hurt you. Startups are a huge emotional roller coaster and competitors are very rarely the reason why they fail.

Tell us a little about your background? What made you want to start your own company?

Nate Stewart had been doing web development for apparel retail companies who were going to events and looking for a web based Point of Sale. They were extremely disappointed with the products on the market and asked Nate if he could build something better. Nate quickly saw the opportunity and built a prototype which was a big success, found Mike Townsend at the Coloft coworking office in Santa Monica and partnered to build the ZingCheckout company.

It’s been said, but we truly live in an amazing time in which the internet provides business model opportunities that have never been available to people before, and once you see that it’s hard to pass up an opportunity to build something and make a difference in the world in a big way.

What are your thoughts on the LA entrepreneurial scene?

LA is exciting for startups right now, and we are right in the middle of it. This weekend Coloft is hosting Startup Weekend, which has produced a number of successful venture backed startups. Startup incubators and accelerators are growing faster than any other city and Santa Monica is quickly becoming the hub for tech in L.A.

Who are your three most influential entrepreneurs? Why?

Ralph Spinnler, Avesta Rasouli, and Clark Benson have been very helpful and influential in providing the mentorship, introductions, and strategic advice that contributed to our success.

What’s the hardest/best thing about being an entrepreneur?

The ups and downs are mentally tough and before you do a startup it is important to be sure you’re ready for the rollercoaster. Not everyone can handle the ride, and the simple fact is that most startups don’t work out. It’s essential to be focused on the most important thing which helps you fulfill your vision.

What’s one of your most successful decisions? Can you share something that’s worked really well for you that you think other entrepreneurs could learn from?

Going out and talking to customers, wherever they are, is just so so important. You’ll learn to think like your customer, speak their language and be where they are. If you learn what the typical customer goes through in a day and at what point they identify problems and decide to act on them then the chance of being in the right place at the right time is drastically increased.

What are your next goals? (Either for the current venture or for the company as a whole)

Our goal is to help more and more business owners while continuing to build on the product that uses the emerging power of social networks online to promote local businesses. Exploring new avenues and opportunities to make awesome software products for business owners is always the goal.

Find out more information about this startup by following them on Twitter @zingcheckout and Facebook.

You can also follow Mike on Twitter @mikettownsend.

Previously on lalawag:

BakeSpace.com Launches Cookbook Cafe

Geena Urango — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:10:27 +0000

BakeSpace.com has just announced the launch of their ‘Cookbook Cafe’–the first do-it-yourself publishing platform that enables anyone to create, market and sell their very own cookbook as a native iPad app, as well as an interactive web-based ebook. All for FREE, you are able to create a cookbook and market it in the Cookbook Cafe storefront.

The IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) Awards announced last week that the beta test various of Cookbook Cafe has been nominated as a finalist in the “Most Intriguing Use of Technology” category. The IACP Awards is akin to the Oscars for the culinary world.

BakeSpace.com founder Babette Pepaj said, “We’re using technology to democratize cookbook publishing. Why should only ‘big name’ culinary stars have an opportunity to publish and sell a cookbook to the world? Our goal is to make publishing and distributing a cookbook easy for every home chef, group, company and nonprofit organization with great recipes to share!”

How it works:

The Cookbook Cafe platform is built upon 3 core components:

A free Cookbook Cafe iPad app with the cookbook storefront and reader.
A web-based version of the storefront and reader accessible through any web browser.
A web-based cookbook builder that automatically creates both a native iPad app and a website version of each cookbook.

There are now so many opportunities for cookbook authors!

To get started, if you have an iPad, visit the App store and download the free Cookbook Cafe app. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bakespace.coms-cookbook-cafe/id467167455?mt=8

To check it out on the web, visit http://cookbookcafe.com for an overview, and to build your own cookbook go to http://bakespace.com/cookbooks

Previously on lalawag:

The Offspring: Rock Prodigy App Launches

Geena Urango — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:30:05 +0000

The Offspring band has partnered with the award-winning creators of Rock Prodigy to design The Offspring: Rock Prodigy App. This interactive app plays like a game but uses any real guitar to teach real music skills. The app acts as a personal music teacher, walking through each song note-for-not as transcribed from The Offspring. The app also gives you tips directly from Dexter Holland and Noodles. With multiple skill levels, the app provides you with instant feedback.

Dexter Holland says, “We have the greatest fans in the world and we’re totally stoked for them to get their fingers on the frets and try this out.”

With over 2.5 hours of songs and lessons, the app includes “Come Out and Play,” “The Kids Aren’t Alright,”, and “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid.” ‘Micro Lessons’ are also available to get fans playing the songs faster than ever. Each lesson covers subjects like punk rock rhythms, power chords, and East Indian scales. The app even features a leader board to see how you stack up against other fans.

Click this link to join in on the special contest tied into the launch of the app. The winner will receive a signed guitar and iPad.

Previously on lalawag:

QwikTalk has a “Quick Talk” with the Valley Girl

Geena Urango — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:44:13 +0000

Ever have trouble getting someone on the phone? Well, forget about being put on hold because QwikTalk gets you talking to an expert, IMMEDIATELY!

Jesse Draper, host of The Valley Girl Show, just released her interview with founder of QwikTalk, Josh Breinlinger. Josh is a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, and he founded QwikTalk when he realized how hard it was to get expert advice. QwikTalk is a tool that connects people with experts instantly on the phone.

Qwiktalk covers all different industries with a roster of diverse experts, and they’re adding more constantly. It’s as simple as typing in your question on the website, and an expert will call you in only a couple minutes.

As an investor Josh says, “I look for companies that really lower the customer effort. That’s what I’m trying to do with getting a doctor’s opinion, getting a legal opinion, talking to an expert. It shouldn’t be a process where you have to go ask all your friends. It takes a user 30 seconds now to enter their question, and two minutes later they’re talking to an expert.”

Find out what other entrepreneur advice Josh has (read “The Lean Startup”), and see how fast he can talk!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R15uBc6qxoI&feature=player_embedded

Previously on lalawag:

Wittlebee Makes Shopping for Children Easy

Geena Urango — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:13:44 +0000

Wittlebee announced the launch of its customer experience-focused commerce company this week. This new experience automatically sends parents a supply of kids’ clothing essentials each month.

Customers will regularly receive an entire box of amazing kids clothes based on their child’s size, favorite colors and personal preferences. Family can now save time and money…AND avoid the stress that comes with in-store shopping with kids.

Wittlebee aims to keep up with growing children’s needs by providing families with unique products and a simple online shopping experience. Each member receives a beautifully wrapped box of children’s clothing essentials like shirts, pants, onuses, socks, legging and more! Every month, parents are prompted when their next shipment is ready, and given the ability to designate new clothing sizes to keep up with their growing children.

Wittlebee ranges in apparel for newborns to five years old. Parents can sign up for the service and set it and forget it, feeling confident that each month they’ll have the clothes they need to fit their children’s lifestyles!

The CEO of Wittlebee, Sean Percival, stated,

“As a parent and a technology entrepreneur, I appreciate any product or service that makes my

life easier and gives me more time to focus on my family. Parents today are already pulled in a

million different directions, I saw an opportunity to automate shopping for basics by giving families

access to a new way to keep up with their clothing needs. Any parent knows taking your children

into a store is a scary task, and trying on clothes for toddlers can be an impossible mission. By

updating children’s wardrobes regularly with the clothes they wear the most, we hope to free

parents up of the hassle of shopping so they can do want they want most, have fun with their

kids.”

To find out more information follow Wittlebee on Twitter @Wittlebee or check the company out on Facebook.

Previously on lalawag:

Docstoc, Inc. Growing Quickly

Geena Urango — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:19:08 +0000

Docstoc, Inc. operates an online community and marketplace to search, upload, and share professional documents. It enables to preview, purchase, and download legal, business, personal finance, technology, education, jobs and career, tax, real estate, current event, politics and history, science, entertainment, health and fitness, medicine, conference, art and literature, lifestyle, and travel documents, templates, and guides.

There are currently more than 80,000 paying subscribers and 20 million members. Since it’s launch in November 2010, Docstoc’s premium subscription service has become a great success with small business owners.

Docstoc has also released a new iPad App focused on helping SMBs streamline their businesses, and its content can be found on websites such as Yahoo Small Business, HP, BusinessWeek/Bloomberg, Inc., Entrepreneur, BusinessInsider, SCORE, and more. There are more than 5,000 websites that now feature Docstoc content.

This company does more than just documents. There are thousands of original expert articles and videos for SMBs too. Docstoc features these articles and videos, which are designed to enhance the Internet’s widest and best collection of exclusive documents, forms, agreements and templates needed to start, manage and grow a small business.

Docstoc is growing quickly. Follow the company on Twitter to find out more information and updates: @docstoc

Previously on lalawag:

“The Valley Girl Show” Features Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos

Geena Urango — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:31:01 +0000

Jesse Draper, host of “The Valley Girl Show,” takes the show on the road to Las Vegas to interview Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos. Hsieh is not only the current CEO of Zappos and a successful serial entrepreneur, but he’s also the author of the bestselling book “Delivering Happiness,” a book that outlines the way that he became known as the king of customer service.

Zappos, the largest online shoe store, was acquired by Amazon in 2009. It has grown from $1.6 million in revenue in 1999 to well over $1 billion today. In the interview, Hsieh chats with Draper about Zappos’ unique culture, core values, and customer service. He also talks about how Zappos’ company culture is always evolving and how he encourages his 3,500 plus employees to continue to grow both professional and personally.

Hsieh iterates that, “We aimed to make the Zappos brand the very best in customer service and customer experience.” This success of this idea, along with his emphasis of establishing a positive company culture, ultimately led Tony to share his insights in his book.

Zappos will be moving its headquarters to the Las Vegas City Hall very soon, as part of Hsieh’s new project: re-developing downtown Las Vegas. Hear more about Hsieh’s new initiatives and take a tour of the zany Zappos offices in the new episode of “The Valley Girl Show” below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc4GlHYYekE&feature=player_embedded

Previously on lalawag:

Wikipedia Co-Founder Jimmy Wales Talks Business with the Valley Girl

Geena Urango — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:44:57 +0000

This week on The Valley Girl Show, host Jesse Draper interviews Jimmy Wales, co-founder of the non-profit encyclopedia Wikipedia. Wales shares how Wikipedia developed from a failed company to become the fifth most popular website online. Currently, more than 421 million people visit every month, and the site is now in over 200 languages. It’s an incredible growth story for a website that was first launched in 2001.

Wikipedia has now also expanded to other “wiki” sites such as Wiktionary, Wikinews, and Wikibooks. Wales claims that, “The community is healthier the more we have people with a very diverse range of interests in their personal lives,” and he discusses the efforts that the non-profit organization is making to draw in new contributors. Wales also talks about how Wikipedia is changing the world, and what he’s learned from the non-profit encyclopedia.

Check out the interview with Wales below to learn more from Wales about the future of Wikipedia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmqDo_AIMcI&feature=player_embedded

Previously on lalawag:

Learn About the New L.A. Tech Incubators Tuesday, Feb. 7

Geena Urango — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:19:12 +0000

Nearly a dozen tech incubators have opened their doors in L.A. over the past six months. This Tuesday, Feb. 7, six of the best known incubators will pitch an audience of 200-plus to explain how they can help local entrepreneurs.

The event is part of the LeanLA event series, which is dedicated to the “Lean Startup” movement.

Moderating the discussion will be Silicon Valley iconoclast and “PayPal Mafia” member Dave McClure of 500 Startups. Dave is one of the most disruptive guys in the startup business, and he promises to cut through the hype.

What: Learn about the new L.A. tech incubators

Who: Presenters include founders of L.A.’s leading incubators — Amplify, Idealab, K5, Launchpad LA, Mucker Labs, Originate, Start Engine and Upstart

When: Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 7:00 PM

Where: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium (1855 Main St, Santa Monica)

To find out more information about this event and RSVP, click here.

Previously on lalawag:

The Valley Girl Interviews Beth Cross, CEO of Ariat

Geena Urango — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:37:06 +0000

It’s important for entrepreneurs to follow their passion. Growing up on a horse farm, Beth Cross has been a horse lover her whole life, and her company, Ariat, caters directly to equestrian athletes all over the world. In a recent interview with Jesse Draper, host of The Valley Girl Show, Cross discusses how she started the leading footwear and apparel brand. They now make everything from boots to Breeches with an emphasis on performance and new technology. Cross states, “We think about the use of technology in footwear, and footwear is a great place to offer technology.”

During the interview with Draper, Cross showcases some of the Ariat products, describes the difference between Western and English riders, and gives advice for fellow entrepreneurs.

Watch Draper “lasso” Cross in the interview as well!

Previously on lalawag:

Super Bowl: Hulu Turns Your Brain Into #MushyMush

Geena Urango — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:20:24 +0000

Hulu is using the Super Bowl to turn your brain into #mushymush. What is #mushymush?

In 2009, the Evil Plot to Destroy the World was revealed by Alec Baldwin (and later Seth MacFarlane, Eliza Dushku, and Denis Leary). Now in 2012, Hulu’s advertising campaign advances the notion that the entire TV industry is populated by aliens. These aliens are in disguise using TV to turn human brains into “mushy mush.” Hulu has been revealed as the secret weapon in their arsenal.

When watching the Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5th, “TV star” alien Will Arnett will step into the spotlight to tempt with humanity with details of the latest, slam-dunk, brain-rotting, alien-nourishing innovation…Hulu Plus.

Hulu is making sure that your TV will rot your brain with an Evil Plot to provide brain-rotting TV shows on numerous devices through Hulu PLus.

Want to join the Evil Plot? Use the #mushymush hashtag and follow @Hulu on Twitter.

Watch the teaser ad here: http://www.hulu.com/adzone/watch/324548/adzone-will-in-huluwood

#mushymush!

Previously on lalawag:

LA Startup Spotlight: Little Black Bag Releases Today

Geena Urango — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:54:23 +0000

Today is the official release date for the new startup Little Black Bag! Let’s just say mystery bag shopping has gone viral AND social. Little Black Bag is a new cutting edge social commerce site that offers a personalized collection of brand name women’s merchandise. From choosing between popular brands and products, to trading with others, Little Black Bag allows you to assemble a bag of products, and all for a very reasonable price!

The CEO of Little Black Bag, Dan Murillo, answered a few questions about himself as an entrepreneur and about his startup company. Learn more about Little Black Bag and Murillo by reading below:

Pitch us your service in three sentences or less.

Little Black Bag is a new eCommerce site that draws inspiration from the Japanese shopping trend fukubukuro, or “lucky bag sale”, where shoppers buy a mystery bag of fashion products and trade the items with friends. On Little Black Bag, customers get a mystery bag of brand name accessories, jewelry, beauty, and home goods, and then they trade the items in their bag until they assemble their perfect bag of products. All trading is done virtually and we ship the items from our warehouse.

What made you decide to focus your company on that service?

We believe there’s an opportunity in eCommerce to create a shopping experience that is truly social – meaning that there is interaction between friends and members of the community. If you look at companies in the “social commerce” category today, there is almost nothing social about them – you shop by yourself! The trading aspect of Little Black Bag is the first step towards creating a vibrant social shopping community online.

How big is your team? Can you describe your company’s culture?

Little Black Bag has a team of 8 people at our headquarters in Los Angeles and has a buying team in New York City. Our advisors include notable retail executives such as Mindy Meads, former CEO and president of Victoria’s Secret Direct, and Brad Martin, Chairman of the Board at Saks Fifth Avenue.

The company culture is fast paced and fun. We’ve got floor-to-ceiling whiteboards and there’s always frenetic scribbling and debate about designs and functionality. We’re deeply passionate about the product and highly social.

How did your company get its initial funding? Do you have any advice for emerging startups on how to deal with funding?

I used to be a venture capitalist before I started the company so I already knew some folks in the investor community. This helped a lot since it’s always easier to invest in someone that you know and trust. My advice to emerging entrepreneurs is to develop relationships with potential investors significantly before you need to raise money. It’s much easier this way.

How do you deal with competition? Do you keep tabs on other companies that are doing similar things?

The Little Black Bag mystery bag and trading concepts are unique to the marketplace, so we haven’t have had to adjust our strategies to compete. There are certainly other subscription sites our members shop from, but we consider our brand name products and exceptional pricing to be an unmatched shopping experience.

What are your thoughts on the LA entrepreneurial scene?

I moved to LA in the summer of 2008. The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy happened shortly thereafter and there was little activity in the entrepreneurial & investment community here in LA. The last year and a half has been explosive, with a number of high profile breakout companies – several of which are in the eCommerce & fashion categories. All the new incubators that have popped up recently have created a lot of excitement as well. It’s a great time to be in LA!

What’s the hardest/best thing about being an entrepreneur?

The best thing is hearing a customer talked excitedly about the product. It’s great to see that this totally new idea that’s never been done before is taking hold.

What’s one of your most successful decisions? Can you share something that’s worked really well for you that you think other entrepreneurs could learn from?

The first real turning point for the company was when I convinced an old friend of mine, Sasha Siddhartha, to join as our CTO & Co-founder. Bringing somebody on board that you’ve known for a long time and really trust is incredibly powerful. You’re now in it together – so go and build a great company.

What are your next goals? (Either for the current venture or for the company as a whole)

We’ve got so many exciting new features planned for the product – I can’t wait until we roll them out!

Well they’re starting to roll out now! Check out Little Black Bag today. Don’t forget to also Like Little Black Bag on Facebook and follow the company on Twitter @lbbag!

Previously on lalawag:

Rockin’ Women Series on “The Valley Girl Show” Features Interviews with Inspirational Women

Geena Urango — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:04:16 +0000

Jesse Draper, creator and host of The Valley Girl Show, recently released a series of interviews with some of the most successful, entrepreneurial, and inspirational women in the country.

The “Rockin’ Women” series started off with COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg. During the interview, Sandberg discusses her early career, her thoughts on time management, and her role at Facebook. She also gives great advice to women in business and talks about the impact that Facebook is having on people’s lives, including her own. In addition to being the COO of Facebook, Sandberg currently sits on the boards of Starbucks and Disney.

When asked about what advice she would give women in businss, Sandberg said: “I think the number one thing we need to do is change the ‘Stalled Revolution’…women in corporate America are about 15-16% in the top jobs, and its stopped moving…If we keep making progress, but we don’t make progress at the top, that’s a stalled revolution. I think the most important thing we can do is get women to start out in their career assuming they want to stay in.”

Last week, Sandberg was a Keynote at the (pre-DAVOS) DLD Conference in Munich, Germany, where Jesse Draper also spoke. Facebook is widely rumored to be filing for its IPO this week, making this interview especially timely.

Check it out below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzki5iUwF4w&list=UUhTjPLxm4TvI5LfaS4TiR8A&index=2&feature=plcp

The next guest in the “Rockin Women” series was Pooja Sankar, CEO and founder of Piazza. Piazza is an education startup that helps students communicate about courses online in an interactive, social, and engaging way. Before founding Piazza, Pooja worked at Facebook.

“The idea of giving women a better support group while their still in college was something I was very passionate about,” said Sankar. “I started speaking to many students, and it turned out that Stanford undergraduate students were also telling me that they felt alone; they didn’t think that they had a support group. So that really inspired me to think about what a solution would look like.”

Hear more of this woman’s amazing entrepreneur story below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8oGX_6M4TY&feature=player_embedded

Jesse Draper also had the honor of interviewing Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female Supreme Court Justice of the United States of America, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan. In the interview, Justice Sandra day O’Connor talks about her life growing up, her struggle to find a job in the early part of her career, what it took to make it all the way to the Supreme Court, and her current project iCivics.org, a gaming platform designed to help teach kids lessons in civics.

One piece of advice from Justice O’Conner: “Work at work worth doing.”

Hear her great story below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjARDxv0FwA&list=UUhTjPLxm4TvI5LfaS4TiR8A&index=1&feature=plcp

“The Valley Girl Show” Rockin’ Women series continued with an interview with Lori Steele, CEO of Everyone Counts. Everyone Counts is a leading provider of software-as-a-service solutions for voting systems. Their goal is to create secure electronic voting systems worldwide, giving everyone access to ballots.

Steele came up with the idea for Everyone Counts when she was speaking at a UN Conference on technology: “I was thinking back to other elections that seemed to matter…and thought, elections are important and people care, one of these companies here should do something to make this better. They should take the technology being used in the rest of the world and bring it to elections.”

Just last Wednesday, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced their partnership with Everyone Counts. The electronic voting system will handle ballots for the 2013 Oscars. Lori stated, “We are honored to have earned the trust of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in bringing online voting to the Oscars starting next year.”

Watch the 2011 nominee for Forbes Most Powerful women talk more about herself and her company with Draper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUdDqIDmkio&feature=player_embedded

Julia Allison is a journalist and media personality. She was one of the first bloggers to make the cover or WIRED magazine, but she’s also dealt with her fair share of negative press. Radar Magazine called her the #3 most hated person on the internet. Jesse talks with Allison about her career, her online haters, and how to deal with internet bullying.

Allison talks about her career and said, “I think there’s a new kind of entrepreneurial journalism that I’m really interested in, and I’m really interested in talking to young women entrepreneurs. Whether it’s speaking to them as a public figure, or whether it’s advising them on how to deal with the press, because I’ve made every mistake known to human kind with that.”

Currently, Allison is filming a reality show for a major network. Look out for that in the future! Until then, listen to what other advice Allison has below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nfmWNX1ZRs&feature=player_embedded

The Rockin Women series concluded with Sharon Vosmek, CEO of Astia, a non-profit organization that helps propel women’s full participation as entrepreneurs in high growth companies.

“Fundamentally Astia is a community,” says Vosmek. “A global community that is committed to the success of women-led companies… Innovation = men + women!”

Vosmek explains how Astia is that safe place that allows you to learn and strive towards your goals and success as an entrepreneur.

Watch what else Vosmek has to say encouraging female entrepreneurship…and watch Jesse and her dance!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6dlWBdHFjw&feature=player_embedded

Previously on lalawag:

LA Startup Spotlight: Network on Shopience

Geena Urango — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:14:17 +0000

There seems to be social networks for everything on the web today, but Shopience takes the social media experience to a different level. Simply put, Shopience helps organize shopping needs, deals and personal preference.

Shekhar Yadav from Shopience answered a few questions about himself and the company. Read below to find our more behind the making of this new startup.

Pitch us your service in three sentences or less.

We believe that real shoppers find real deals. Shopience is network of people who love to shop and find bargains. On Shopience you can follow other shoppers just like you, or post deals/products that excite you and others can find/ follow/comment on your finds.

What made you decide to focus your company on that service?

Daily deals sites are becoming boring or monotonous with same/similar deals/offers in mailbox. The shopper is no longer excited about deals or at least most of the times, because most deals are sourced by sales people who are paid commissions. In most likelihood they are not someone who match your shopping taste and may not be excited about shopping as much as you.

So I decided to work on this idea of letting shoppers find and subscribe to deals from each other. I think as social/local is converging – discovering new products real time at great prices from your circles is going to be big.

How big is your team? Can you describe your company’s culture?

Since I am bootstrapping, I am working with a lot of contractors/or-outsourced workers. We are Googley in our way of doing things – do no evil, and have fun. Though it sound cliché, but it really works.

How did your company get its initial funding? Do you have any advice for emerging startups on how to deal with funding?

I am putting in the initial investment.

It is relatively cheap to start company nowadays. So even if you have access to capital do not reach out for it as soon you conceive the idea. My advice to startups is to focus on getting to the first few users, or sales if you are a B2B Company, without using external money. You should raise money only if you want the capital to scale after you have the initial set of customers/users.

Has your company ever had to pivot? If so, what was that like?

No, we have been working on this project only for few months and so far did not have to pivot.

How do you deal with competition? Do you keep tabs on other companies that are doing similar things?

I spend at least 30mins everyday looking at competitor products, any market news, twitter updates from the competition or mentions from followers. It helps me understand not only what the competition is doing, but also where the market is trending.

Tell us a little about your background? What made you want to start your own company?

I am an engineer with MBA from Columbia Business School. I have 15+ years of experience in building innovative products with small teams.

For number of years, I used to work with product Development Company out of India. We worked with entrepreneurs who had seed capital and limited/or no product/engineering resources to launch their products. During that time, I met with a lot of founders, and we launched quite a number of products/companies. Then I moved to US, as the co-founding engineer with StrongMail (Sequoia backed Email Marketing startup). After spending some time at Google, I decided I needed to go back to the startups, but this time as the Founder.

Who are your three most influential entrepreneurs? Why?

Google Founders – mostly because coming from inside Google, and knowing what they have done to keep the entrepreneurial zeal alive in Google is amazing.

Of the people in shopping space, I like Tony Hsieh of zappos. He built really innovative company around selling shoes online.

What’s the hardest/best thing about being an entrepreneur?

Hardest thing as an entrepreneur is patience, you want everything yesterday and it takes time.

Best thing about being entrepreneur is the feeling that your idea is going to change the world, and you are in control of it. No politics, or no corporate will come between your idea and the execution.

What’s one of your most successful decisions? Can you share something that’s worked really well for you that you think other entrepreneurs could learn from?

I did some iPhone apps for first version iPhone out of interest before launch of the Appstore. I decided to launch them sooner then later with all features, and managed to successfully get 9 apps on first day in AppStore (3 of them were in top 100 for first 3 weeks).

Put yourself or your product out sooner than later, and let the users tell you what they want. Do not be worried about critics. The sooner you can get to the users, the better product you will end up building overall.

What are your next goals? (Either for the current venture or for the company as a whole)

2012 is going to be a big year for social commerce, with the newer better networks (4G) and more smartphones usage – realtime sharing is going to skyrocket. After our planned public launch in early Feb, we want to focus on getting users and learning from the feedback to iteratively build the best product to make shopping for deals fun.

Be sure to follow this company on Twitter for more updates @shopience

Previously on lalawag:

Samsung Hit 300 Million Mobile Sales in 2011

Lalawag — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:07:50 +0000

Samsung’s annual mobile handset sales for 2011 exceeded 300 million units for the first time in the company’s history. The world’s second largest handset maker by volume said in a statement it had broken its sales record by the end of November 2011, compared to handset sales in 2010 which were about 280 million.

Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S smartphone series — Galaxy S and Galaxy S II — have both contributed significantly to the results, the company also reportedly said. Launched in April, the GALAXY S II has set a new sales record for Samsung with 10 million-unit sales.

SoCal Companies Raised Over $700M in Q4 2011

Mollie Vandor — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:29:18 +0000

According to SoCal Tech, new numbers from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree survey show that a grand total of $738.34M was invested in Socal companies during Q4 2011.

That number is up from $528M raised in Q4 of last year, and is on track with the nationwide numbers, which went up 22% from 2010 to 2011. Of course, money in the abstract is all well and good — especially money in those amounts. But, it’s much more interesting to talk about where that money came from, and where it went. Here are a few of the most fascinating financial facts on that front.

San Diego companies raised the most in the region, taking in a total of $262.1M compared to the $226.75M invested in companies in Los Angeles.

The investors most actively putting money into SoCal were Dave McClure’s 500 Startups, Versant Ventures, Frazier Healthcare and Technology Ventures and New Enterprise Associates, all of which coincidentally had three investments each in SoCal.

The most active SoCal-based investors include Avalon Ventures, Revolution Ventures and GRP Partners.

Fisker Automotive, Razer USA, AcuFocus and SolarReserve were among the biggest recipients of investment funds during the quarter. Of those, the only company based in LA proper is SolarReserve, which raised $27.0M. The other companies are located in San Diego and the OC.

The Biotechnology industry had the most investments with $207M. In contrast, Media and Entertainment only say $55.3M in investment deals.

Previously on lalawag:

Nerve Dating Goes Live in LA Today

Geena Urango — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:49:52 +0000

Nerve.com is introducing Nerve Dating today in Los Angeles.

Essentially, Nerve Dating aims to rid online dating of the awkward first message, and contrived communication that takes place on regular dating sites – in lieu of making it really easy to start conversations. In other words, Nerve Dating doesn’t give you the feeling that you’re on a blind date.

Gimmicks, algorithms, love formulas, or pseudoscientific references have been kicked to the curb, in favor of the kind of conversations that get real relationships going. The Nerve Dating Team thought about best way to meet people offline, and built a site to reflect this – similar to being at a party, where it’s easy to meet interesting people and start chatting to them about different topics – gigs, books, films, favorite LA bars, whether or not they think Little Bear is overrated, or whether The Jersey Shore is a depressing reflection of today’s society or reality TV gold.

The look, feel and overall experience feels different. The features users can interact with, read and answer are editorially curated by journalists. The Nerve MD Sean Mills, was President of The Onion prior to starting at Nerve, and his time there greatly influenced the look, feel and tone of Nerve Dating. Suffice it to say, it doesn’t feel or sound like many other generic dating sites.

Signing up is simple and painless. The ‘mini bio’ allows members to share a little about themselves in 141 characters, so there’s no need to hone your essay writing skills. Your profile builds up based on your interaction with the site.

The latest round of investors include Lerer Ventures, Firstmark Capital and Steven Johnson.

For more information on Nerve Dating, check out their site here.

You can also follow Nerve on Twitter @Nerve and Facebook.

Previously on lalawag:

Startup Spotlight: Nyoombl Takes Conversations Public

Geena Urango — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:50:55 +0000

Video chatting has been made even easier than before. Founder and CEO, Oladayo Olagunju, did a Q&A with Lalawag about his new startup that allows any 2 persons to take their conversations public (live, and recorded). In other words, its a hybrid of Skype and YouTube.

(Click on the image to watch this conversation)

Pitch us your service in three sentences or less. Nyoombl (pronounced like “nimble”) allows any two people to take their conversation public.

What made you decide to focus your company on that service? Transparency. Initially, I wanted to solve my own problem: to sort of connect my family members and friends visually regardless of location. Eventually, it hit me that the most interesting or even most useful or relatable conversations and dialogues in society are, sadly, never heard because they’re between two ordinary people or had over coffee or at the dining table. Nyoombl is about broadcasts and shifting power away from the elite. We are democratizing conversations by letting everyday people to do what Larry King did and empowering the unsung Oprah Winfreys in our midst.

How big is your team? Can you describe your company’s culture? Four. We don’t separate work from play or personal life from professional life. We don’t even call it work. If it’s not fun and purposeful, it shouldn’t be your job. It has to be what you love. Your hobby. That’s how I think of it. When you get paid to work on your hobby, it’s clear you’re not driven by external factors. We live in a hackpad together. We have no work time or play time. It’s all one and the same. Just have fun and get it done, solemnly keeping in mind the ultimate vision. I’d say autonomy and purpose best describe us.

How did your company get its initial funding? Do you have any advice for emerging startups on how to deal with funding? An adviser and good friend introduced me to a friend (and now, adviser) who introduced me to our seed investor. It couldn’t have been orchestrated but it was a match made in heaven. At the time, I had a very buggy but working product and helpful feedback from a few users and friends, but it was not the product sealed it. It was other intangible things. I advice entrepreneurs to speak openly about what matters most to them, and to do it sincerely. The passion and vision matter most. The best investors invest in those.

Has your company ever had to pivot? If so, what was that like? Yes, it was gut-wrenching but exhilarating afterwards.

How do you deal with competition and how does your company stand out from the competition? Although aware, I don’t worry about competition. One doesn’t win a race by looking around instead of staring intently at the finish line. By staring at the finish line, I mean focusing maniacally on the customer experience and solemn promise you deliver to your users. I’m more paranoid about what we’re doing that we should not be doing than by what we are not doing that we should.

Tell us a little about your background? What made you want to start your own company? I don’t think I wanted to start a company per se, but by nature, I think I have a low tolerance for things or conditions with which I am dissatisfied. I always want to do something about it, even when I can’t. I fell in love with pictures and the notion of motion pictures. How sound and movement hit the human senses and end up conveying comprehensible meaning. I appreciated video technologies and pondered why, at the time, TVs did not have a webcam. I had my grandmother in mind. She’s not into PC, Skype, and the like, but she’s very skillful with her TV remote control. I thought it would be useful if she could push one button and see me on her TV screen and communicate with me that way instead of just by telephone. So I thought I should do this. One thing led to another, and I saw there’d be value if my parents could see and hear me conversing live with my grandmother, or if a classroom of pupils could watch two other students discussing live from separate locations. Today, Nyoombl is very different from what it was and it will change more, but what I just narrated is like the seed of how it started. Fortunately or unfortunately, as things evolved, it had to end up as a company.

What are your thoughts on the LA entrepreneurial scene? I honestly don’t know much about it beyond what I read and hear. Nonetheless, my thoughts are that it’s burgeoning impressively with the needed support network including great individual investors, venture capitalists, and celebrities whose value and clout are undeniably apparent even to us here in Silicon Valley.

Who are your three most influential entrepreneurs? Why? Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg. I tend to like people, entrepreneurs or not, with an unwavering determination an almost stubborn insistence on eventual purpose. Of course, an insistence on purpose or vision does not mean that different missions to that vision aren’t explored or considered. It just means one knows unambiguously where one is going. I like that — especially because there are many ways to Rome, but at least you feel that you are going to Rome. Not Venice. Not Milan. Rome.

What’s the hardest/best thing about being an entrepreneur? It’s the thrill and humbling effect that come with the realization that one as daring to change the current state of things. It’s empowering but delicate. The fact that one or two people think you’re not crazy, all others doubt you, several leave you to your own devices, or just frankly don’t even care or notice…all of this is like a blank slate. You could write the future on that slate or just sit there and mope that it’s a blank slate.

What’s one of your most successful decisions? Can you share something that’s worked really well for you that you think other entrepreneurs could learn from? Trust. It has hurt me before but I find that you only get trust when you give trust. The toughest decions, or even life itself, can’t always be cerebrally modelled or perfectly sorted out. You just have to trust since no one is an island unto himself or herself. I don’t think decisions are either successful or not. Outcomes are. I do many things poorly, but I’m often described as very trusting. It comes naturally to me, alongside its downsides. Perhaps it’s more of a trait than a decision, but I think all humans can make a conscientious effort to be trusting.

What are your next goals? (Either for the current venture or for the company as a whole)The journey is a continuum. That means I’m always in that mode; always looking for passionate people to partake in our dream and to help us, whether it’s a hacker, a lover of social media…or whatever. I know where we’re going but I don’t have it all segmented into steps per se. It’s all one focus. No need to lie to you. Only when you look back can you see the steps clearly. To be frank, it’s like a voyage. When you wake up the next day, just keep moving forward.

To find out more about Nyoombl, follow the startup on Twitter @nyoombl and Facebook

Previously on lalawag:

Elon Musk To Take The Stage At Caltech Commencement

Mollie Vandor — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:10:11 +0000

Forget awards season. For LA techies, it looks like Caltech’s June commencement ceremony might be the hottest ticket in town, now that the Pasadena-based university has announced Elon Musk as the official commencement speaker.

Musk, who co-founded PayPal and is also the founder behind SpaceX and Tesla Motors, will be keynoting the school’s graduation ceremony on June 15th. According to SoCalTech, Musk will be discussing the ways ”brilliant, big ideas can and will have a positive impact in the world.”

Caltech President Jean-Lou Chameau said the university reached out to Musk because of his game-changing work. “Elon Musk is a visionary business leader and innovator who is spearheading revolutionary ideas in three global industries—automobiles, energy, and space exploration. He is a powerful proponent of science and technology, and will share with Caltech graduates his perspective on how their brilliant, big ideas can and will have a positive impact in the world,” Chameau said. ”Musk has demonstrated how talent, intelligence, and active leadership—notable traits that Caltech graduates also share—are vital to shaping the future of our world.”

SoCal Tech also pointed out that Musk is a great fit for Caltech thanks to one of his pursuits in particular — SpaceX. SpaceX develops commercial rockets, and is currently gearing up for its first mission to the International Space Station, to commence in February. Caltech runs the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which helped develop some of America’s first rockets.

Angelenos — and the world — can watch Musk talk about SpaceX and much more when he takes the stage on June 15, as Caltech live streams the ceremony on their website. No caps and gowns required.

Previously on lalawag:

Facebook Launching Service to Help Prevent Suicide

Lalawag — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:38:47 +0000

Facebook recently launched a program that will help make it it easier for people who express suicidal thoughts on the social networking site to get help. The service will reportedly enable users to instantly connect with a crisis counselor through Facebook’s “chat” messaging system.

Here’s how the service works: if a friend spots a suicidal thought on someone’s page, he can report it to Facebook by clicking a link next to the comment. Facebook then sends an email to the person who posted the suicidal comment encouraging them to call the hotline or click on a link to begin a confidential chat.

The service is the latest tool from Facebook aimed at improving safety on its site, which has more than 800 million users. Earlier this year, the giant social network announced changes to how users report bullying, offensive content and fake profiles.

Google Starts Blacklisting Torrent Websites

Lalawag — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:43:27 +0000

Next time you search for “torrent” or “RapidShare” don’t be surprised if Google offers you no suggestions and search results. That’s because Google has started blacklisting torrent websites on its search engine. Google has reportedly started blocking results to The Pirate Bay, isoHunt, 4Shared, etc., blocking the names of these websites in their auto-complete search services and within the indexed results of the search engine.

The search giant’s move was most likely prompted by its interest to be in friendly terms with copyright holders, such as major movie and music studios. “While there is no silver bullet for infringement online, this measure is one of several that we have implemented to curb copyright infringement online,” stated Google manager of global communications and public affairs Mistique Cano in an interview with TorrentFreak. “This is something we looked at and thought we could make some narrow and relatively easy changes to our Autocomplete algorithm that could make a positive difference.”

Google has been filtering “piracy-related” terms from its ‘Autocomplete‘ and ‘Instant‘ services since January 2011.

Patent Battle: Motorola Wins Ruling Over Apple

Lalawag — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:38:32 +0000

Apple recently suffered a significant blow in a German court after a judge ruled that the company is in violation of a Motorola Mobility patent. According to Foss Patents, which obtained the ruling, the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany ruled today that Apple violates Motorola Mobility’s patent on a “method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system.” The patent plays a key role in General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), and according to the court documents, is violated by Apple’s entire iPhone and iPad 3G line.

While the preliminary injunction doesn’t appear to limit Apple’s sales in Europe for now, its German sales “will be impacted,” according to Foss Patents’ Florian Mueller, if the company fails to get a stay on the ruling.

The court says that Motorola can pay 100 million euros ($134 million) as bond to enforce the ruling against Apple Sales International, an Ireland-based division of the company that handles its European sales, while it makes its way through the appeals process.

“We are pleased with the court’s ruling,” Motorola Mobility senior vice president and general counsel Scott Offer said in a statement. The decision “validates Motorola Mobility’s efforts to enforce its patents against Apple’s infringement.”
READ MORE

Previously on lalawag:

Google Enhances Movie Search Experience on iOS and Android

Jonathan Polenz — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:31:07 +0000

Google recently announced a new movie related feature to make searching faster and easier on Android and iPhone. Now every time you search for movies or your favorite theater on Google.com using your phone, you’ll be offered interactive results for movies in a new swipeable ribbon, with the most relevant information displayed at the top of the page.

In addition, you’ll also see the movie poster, a short summary, ratings and the nearest theaters and showtimes for each movie. This information instantly updates as you slide through the movie posters – no need to wait for a page to load or to use the back button. Tap the movie title to find details like the cast and a full summary. A play button on the movie poster means you can tap to view the official trailer. Plus you can purchase your tickets directly from your smartphone by tapping on underlined showtimes.

You can try the new interactive results for movies by visiting Google.com on your iOS or Android phone’s browser.

READ MORE

Previously on lalawag:

Six Observations from CES 2012

Tomasz Tungz — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:50:37 +0000

This article has been re-posted courtesy of Ex Post Facto.

Samsung is the big man on campus. Thin laptops, the Galaxy Note, beautiful TVs decorated their expansive booth. Galaxy Note Ateliers were sprinkled around in which artists used Galaxy Notes to sketch conference goers – lines were miles long.
Gesture driven TV control is here. FruitNinja demos had users chopping apples and passion fruits using their arms and legs all over the place. Many OEM companies are eyeing the casual interactive gaming market, inching toward Microsoft territory.
TVs, in search of the next reason to drive consumer upgrades, have made some big steps. Super OLED displays are lovely but expensive at $8k for a 60inch. Thin bezels are in. Samsung has just a quarter inch bezel on the Series 8. 3D TV is getting better and gaming is the killer app. Playing EA’s NBA 2012 in 3D was a revelation.
Verizon’s consumer booth was an afterthought. Instead, the carrier focused on selling the value of it’s 4G LTE network to enterprises, retailers, healthcare institutions and security customers. Quite a departure from last year’s consumer Android bonanza.
Motorola also focused on enterprise use cases, releasing a tool to compete with Dropbox for remote file access and demonstrating video conference integration with Polycom. Motorola’s XYBoard Android tablets are compelling.
Mobile OSes are influencing desktop OSes and TV OSes. Microsoft Windows 8 is refreshingly simple. The best interactive TVs are powered by Android. Everything is app driven. Filesystems have vanished.

Previously on lalawag:

Let’s Talk Travel with The Valley Girl

Geena Urango — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:49:10 +0000

Take flight with Jesse Draper, host of “The Valley Girl Show ,” as she releases three new interviews this week with travel-related entrepreneurs and business leaders.

The first episode features an interview with the CEO of XOJET, Blair LaCorte. Founded in 2006, XOJET became one of the fastest-growing private aviation companies in history, growing 130% in the past 3 years. Today XOJET serves more than 3,500 customers by operating their own aircraft and combining private jet membership and on-demand jet charter with the highest levels of service at every point of their customer’s experience.

LaCorte states that XOJET is all about technology: “We wired all of our planes as active routers. So all of them are wireless…We also issued all of our pilots with iPads, and we are the first in the world to do that. So they can actually FaceTime, video conference for questioning…and we’re also the largest owner/operator of jets in the world.”

Watch what else LaCorte has to say about XOJET, and also see Draper and LaCorte practice the Valley Girl fire drill!

The second episode in the series features an interview with Stefanie Michaels, also known as @adventuregirl. Michaels is a Twitter phenomenon with over 1.5 million Twitter followers and has been named one of Vanity Fair’s “Tweethearts.” She’s the go-to gal for all things and adventure, and has created an amazing brand by using social media.

“In the early 90′s I launched a website called TravelPartners.com. I had a nice male demographic that started calling me adventure girl because they were following my real life adventures and where I was going and what I was doing…It kind of premised a web show based off my adventures.”

To see what adventures Michaels has had and to hear some great travel advice watch the episode here:

Travel week for “The Valley Girl Show” finishes off strong with Adam Goldstein, co-founder of Hipmunk, a startup that recently raised a $4.2 million Series A from such investors as Ashton Kutcher. Goldstein speaks with Jesse about the company and how it simplifies booking travel online by cutting through the noise. According to Goldstein, “The process of traveling is agonizing enough. You shouldn’t have to go through even more agony when you’re searching for travel.” Draper and Goldstein have some fun talking like “hipmunks” and playing with “hipmunks”.

But why is this company called Hipmunk you might be wondering? See what Goldstein says in the interview:

Previously on lalawag:

Jupiter Moon Launches Bunny Popper Today

Geena Urango — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:53:33 +0000

Jupiter Moon (which was written about in this post on Lalawag) just released their new game Bunny Popper today!

Bunny Popper tells the story of mischievous inflatable bunnies from outer space that invade a carrot farm in order to feed their tyrannical overload. It’s up to you to pop all of the bunnies and save the crop.

This game offers you 20 different levels to play with 16 unlockable rewards. Some of the features include: high resolution 3D graphics, whimsical sound design, a variety of comical characters, and game-play that is engaging for players of all ages.

The creators, Christopher Cherubini and David Chiapperino, are industry veterans (worked at Infinity Ward and Disney respectively). Together they established Jupiter Moon Entertianment LLC in order to bring their original ideas of story and game play to life.

Bunny Popper is available on the iPad App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bunny-popper/id490447459?mt=8&ls=1. Be one of the first to get this new game.

Previously on lalawag:

Spire.io Beta Launch

Geena Urango — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:44:46 +0000

Spire.io is a platform (group of APIs) for developers to build awesome apps. They are going for nothing less than being the most cutting edge tech company in SoCal (and beyond!). Just at the start of this new year, Spire.io had their official “launch to beta”.

CEO and Founder of Border Stylo, Diego Prats (check out the Lalawag post about Border Stylo here), answered a few questions about the beta launch of his new product Spire.io.

Give us a brief description of your company.

We’re an LA-based startup that makes building Web and Mobile apps easier for developers by providing the industry’s premium REST-based APIs and client libraries (www.spire.io).

Remind us about your products GLASS and the app RETROLLECT and what they are exactly.

We are still maintaining GLASS and Retrollect, and even launched iPhone and iPad versions as well as other goodies, but our focus is entirely on Spire now. We’ve done a lot of work around Web and mobile applications in the past with the idea of eventually introducing APIs for developers.

What is the new product your company is introducing?

Spire: www.spire.io.

Our first API is for a realtime messaging service and we’re rolling out a registration and login service soon. All our APIs our REST-based with platform and scenario-specific client libraries to help accelerate development. Our goal is to make the developer experience as smooth and enjoyable as we can. We’re currently in open beta and we love to hear from developers about how we can make our services even better.

What was your inspiration behind this new product?

Our dedication to a platform move was always the end-goal (http://lalawag.com/2011/01/25/la-startup-spotlight-diego-prats-ceo-of-borderstylo-glass/). That being said, three thing stand out:

1. We wanted to have a real impact in the world. We could either build a successful product which moves the industry or we could help improve the way that apps are built across the industry. We chose the latter.

2. We dedicated a lot of energy, research, and work into some small details of Glass and other apps which we could really help others more, so we should share them.

3. We actively use other services to helps us dedicate to what we do best, ever more every year. We are all the better for it. If we can save someone headaches like people have saved us, then we did well.

How does this product stand above the competition or what special features about it make it unique?

1. Quality: our APIs are truly REST-based, powered by a state-of-the-art evented worker architecture, built on Node.js, designed to grow and evolve with you as a developer.

2. Comprehensiveness: We support both Web and mobile development, and our APIs and client libraries increasingly support a variety of common scenarios that developers face. It’s not one-size fits all.

3. Security: This is really part of quality, but one of the hardest things to provide. We do EVERYTHING over HTTPS – it doesn’t cost extra. And we use a state-of-the-art approach to security based on capability security.

What’s the hardest/best thing about being an entrepreneur?

Hardest thing: Channeling creativity via simplicity and clarity creativity into doing just one thing. And making sure everyone from the Board of Directors to Engineering team to Biz Ops know what that one thing is.

Best Thing: The people I work with.

What’s one of your most successful decisions? Can you share something that’s worked really well for you that you think other entrepreneurs could learn from?

Something which has worked well: To cut out anything that I cannot explain or appreciate simply and clearly.

also listening Thomas Dunlap’s adventures (@spladow).

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