Benjamin Kuo’s Blog

One of the interesting trends I’ve been watching emerge out of the new, social web has been the push toward user-generated and user-directed contests — for user-created advertising, user-driven voting, and even user-directed charity donations. The social medium seems ideally tuned towards reaching out to people based on their interests, and where their friends and acquaintances help to spread the word about different causes.

The latest– user driven charity donations — seems to be an interesting indicator of where and how nonprofits are going — where skills to tap into Facebook, Twitter, and the social web might make the difference between who does, and doesn’t get funding for their nonprofit efforts.

I was recently approached by Bill Strong, who started the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation (GSF) — a nonprofit out of Santa Barbara which helps to fund research into a disease called Spinal Musclar Atrophy (SMA) — about a new web site the nonprofit specifically created to get people to Twitter and spread the word about a contest run by the Chase Foundation on Facebook to give $5M in total to five different charities.  Chase is asking Facebook users to vote for the charities they feel ought to receive $1M each in charity funding–based solely on the number of votes received on Facebook. How to get an edge over the many nonprofits who would love that $1M for their cause? Bill tells me:

We’re two parents fighting any way we can to try and save our daughter’s life. We have a real opportunity to win this $1 Million, but we know we need something unique and creative that would give us an edge over other larger organizations.

That’s where our friend Josh and I came up with the http://VoteForACure.com idea.

We believe it’s a really innovative use of Twitter and Facebook and I refer to it as our ‘Hail Mary’ — to help us win this $1 Million, accelerate that cure for SMA, and save our daughter’s life.

VoteForACure is a site, specifically created for the nonprofit, to get people to use Twitter about the effort. Incidentally, Bill’s web site was created by Bill and Josh Lippiner (former founder of LowFares.com, now owned by Oversee.net). Josh is a long time reader of our newsletter. (Well, now site, blog, etc.–but originally, the email newsletter).

The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation isn’t the only charity using Facebook, Twitter, and the social web for fundraising and awareness efforts, but it’s an interesting case example of how nonprofits are tapping the new world of the Internet to gain exposure and support for nonprofit causes. (Other area nonprofits currently on the leaderboard in the Chase competition include Hope For Paws, Los Angeles; Invisible Children, San Diego; Center For The Pacific Asian Family Inc, Los Angeles; Trevor Project, Los Angeles; GIsen, Los Angeles, Sheckler Foundation, Carlsbad; Imaging Foundation, Malibu; American Chinese Culture And Education Foundation, San Diego; Angel Heart International, Rancho Santa Margarita; and Tiziano Project, Calabasas).

Wildcard Demo signups are now open. Here’s how it works. Any STARTUP attending Twiistup on a regular ticket can sign up for stage time at Wildcard Night January 27th 6:00-9:00 at UCLA. There are no other fees besides the attendance ticket. First dibs will go to companies that applied to be a showoff but we expect there to be a few open slots for newcomers. Time on stage will range from 5-10 minutes depending on how many companies want to demo.

We’re looking for a few MBA or business students, who wouldn’t mind
interning with us for some experience and exposure to the world of high
tech startups and venture capital. As an intern, you would research and
verify information in our venture capital database, do competitive
research, analyze companies, and other tasks which are highly relevant to
anyone pursuing an MBA and with interest in the startup and high tech
world.

Please email info@socaltech.com if you’re interested and want more
information. This is an unpaid position (but a great one for the
experience and the resume).

Last year, in the midst of a market collapse and recession, we kicked off an effort to survey the opinions of people in the high tech industry here in Southern California to get a better idea of people’s opinions and attitudes on the economy. As a followup, working with the David James Agency, we’re doing it again for the Second Annual socalTECH Industry Survey.

We’d like to invite you to answer a quick survey about your opinion and outlook on your business and the economy, which we’ll be analyzing and sharing with our readers. Thanks for your help in participating!

Go to the survey

Happy New Year everyone, and welcome back (to those who took some well deserved time off over the holidays). We’re back into full coverage now, as people gear up for the new year!

There’s a lot of folks gambling on the IPO market this week, with a bunch of IPO news — both from local VCs as well as one local company.

This morning, ReachLocal filed for an IPO,  in what has been a long-anticipated move for the firm. ReachLocal started releasing financial information as a private company earlier this year, saying in August it hit $147M in revenues; and has been rumored  among local tech execs to be prepping for an IPO for much of this year. Among the investors who will benefit for an IPO there are VantagePoint Venture Partners, Galleon Group (yes, that Galleon), and Rho Ventures.

On the VC side, two prominent local venture capital firms both have their hands in one IPO each. Late Friday night, a Silicon Valley firm, Meru Networks, whose major backer is Santa Monica-based Clearstone Ventures filed for an IPO. Clearstone owns 21 percent of Meru, and is represented on that firm’s board by local VC William Quigley.  Another local venture capital firm, Redpoint Ventures,  which is split between Los Angeles and Palo Alto, also has a portfolio firm in the IPO lineup, Solyndra (also in the Bay Area). Solyndra also filed for an IPO this week, looking to raise up to $300M for the firm’s solar panels.

In any case, it looks like investors are anticipating a lot of potential IPOs in coming months, which might unclog some of the backlog of portfolio companies looking for exits who had held off due to last year’s market crash. (Full disclaimer: both Clearstone and Redpoint have or are current sponsors of socalTECH, though our coverage is always independent of our advertisers and sponsors.)

Last week, AlwaysOn published a list of their top 25 women in Tech — their list of the top 25 women currently driving technology companies. For some reason, women tend to get short shrift in the often male-dominated technology business, and it’s good to see some recognition from AlwaysOn. (though, having come from an engineering background where things are a lot more merit driven and gender-neutral, it’s disappointing to see how much less so the business side of things tends to be…)

In any case, one person — Julie Mattern, founder and Chief Technologist at the Rubicon Project — was the only So-Cal executive highlighted on AlwaysOn’s list, so I started compiling my own list below of some of the top women in technology in Southern California:

Kirsten Mangers, Founder and CEO, WebVisible

Louise Wannier, Founder and CEO, MyShape

Julie Schoenfeld, President and CEO, Perfect Market

Lynda Weinman, Co-Founder and Executive Chair, Lynda.com

Sherry Gunther, Founder and CEO, Masher Media

Babette Pepaj, Founder and CEO, BakeSpace

Eden Jarrin, CEO,  eDivvy

Anne Walls, Co-Founder, WordHustler

Lisa LeVassuer and Sce Pike, Co-founders, DialPlus

I know I’ve missed many women serving the technology industry, probably a ton of women in VP spots, and more. Anyone care to add some names? (also, hat tip to Nicole Jordan at Rubicon–a powerhouse herself– for link to the original article…)

Some links worth sharing this morning:

• Tax Extenders Bill Will Stifle Innovation In The US (Robert Kibble, Mission Ventures)
• Is Facebook unethical, clueless or unlucky? (Jason Calacanis)
• LA Goes Google (Google blog)

One of the things I first discovered when I started tracking the high tech industry here in Southern California, is — due to how many people are here, and how spread out we are — it’s often much harder for entrepreneurs to find service providers, whether that is a web design firm, an attorney, a commercial real estate broker, software developer, etc. Unlike some markets, you can’t easily find out who’s doing what in town, and most importantly, how much experience they really have in what you’re looking for.  If you’re in Palo Alto, it’ s fairly easy to pick up the phone book and know that the business attorney you’re calling most likely has done at least a few venture deals–or maybe hundreds–not so anywhere in SoCal. In a town like Boulder, Colorado, for example, you probably can show up at local technology networking events and all of the web development shops in town show up. Not ever the case here!

So, a few years ago, we started tracking — as part of our database of deals and companies — who was servicing various high tech startups (mostly venture backed, but not exclusively). It was mostly a way for us to understand who the “real” players in the industry were, and because we were exposed to most of the data. That now shows up in our Services Directory. Unlike the Yellow Pages, or most of the directories you see, it’s not how much you pay for that gets you listed here, it’s entirely derived from our database data. (i.e. the top listing on Recruiting and Staffing firms, for example, is the provider with the most clients they have reported to us, and for Marketing and Public Relations are the most number of clients we’re aware they’re representing.)

So why do I mention this now? Well, we’re always maintaining our data, and if you aren’t listed (in particular, if you’re in web design, software outsourcing, business consulting, etc. — as an individual or a firm — and have a roster of local, high tech clients) we want to know… Email us at info@socaltech.com with your info and we’ll get it into the database. All we need is your full contact info and profile (name, address, web site, phone, etc.) and the names of your high tech clients here in Southern California.

Dear readers: We’ve got offers for three different events today — a discount to tomorrow’s Digital Family Reunion, a chance to win a ticket to digiday:APPS next week, and a 50% discount to the new Schmoozd Social Media Mixer. Read more below for details.

It’s time again to come together for the holidays!

We invite you to the Second Annual Digital Family Reunion on Wednesday, December 2nd at Wokcano Restaurant in Santa Monica from 6-11pm.

In association with some of the region’s top trade associations/social networking groups and industry hosts, DFR ‘09 promises to be the largest holiday party of the season and help weave our various communities of interest into the larger collective family of professionals working in and around the technology industry.

Join us as we kick off the holiday season in grand style and bestow the Digital Family Outstanding Achievement Honor
on Scott Painter, Founder of CarsDirect and Entrepreneur.

Tell a friend, and purchase your ticket at www.digitalfamilyinc.com .
Use discount code: DFR30 to receive $30 price.

Win a ticket to digiday:APPS

digiday:APPS * December 10th * The Renaissance Hollywood Hotel

Toyota, Pizza Hut, NBA, Fandango, and More Share Their Success Stories with Mobile and Social Apps.
Please join us at digiday:APPS on December 10th, in Los Angeles. During this high-level event, Top Brand Marketers, Agency Executives, Publishers, and App Developers will come together to discuss and explore how brands can harness the power of the billion dollar app boom. The event will dive deeply into the challenges and success stories of the explosive mobile and social app market. This is an event you can’t afford to miss!

REGISTER TODAY! www.digidayapps.com

SOCALTECH READERS RECEIVE $100 OFF * DISCOUNT CODE: SOCALTECH

High-Level Sessions Include

Should Every Brand Have an App?

The Dollars and Sense of Apps as Commerce

Build vs. Buy: The Biggest Question

Customer Conversations: Are Apps A Shout Out or a Deep Discussion

Survival of the Fittest: Darwin’s Law of Apps

and packed with case studies!

Industry Leading Speakers Include

Doug Frisbie, National Social Media & Product Integration Manager, Toyota Motor Sales

Darren Cross, Director of Business Development, Fandango

Bernard Acoca, Senior Director, Digital Marketing & Loyalty, Pizza Hut

Mark Levien, Executive Dir of Digital Home Entertainment, 20th Century Fox

Bryan Perez, Senior Vice President and General Manager, NBA Digital

Marty Collins, Group Marketing Manager, Windows Digital Marketing, Microsoft

“digiday:APPS is a one of a kind event. Nowhere else can you find the top app experts converging with the biggest names in advertising and marketing. If you have an app, are thinking about building one or better, yet, parterning with one, this is a must attend conference. It will change the way you thinkand the way you connect with your customers.”
- Chris Cunningham, CEO / Co-Founder, Appssavvy

To enter to win a ticket to digiday:APPS, send your name, title, company, city, and email address to: info@socaltech.com with the subject “digiday tickets”

Schmoozd – Social Media Mixer – January 14th

The first-ever Schmoozd event, a new Social Media Mixer event in Los Angeles will be held at the Xbar in Century City, CA on January 14th, 2010. X bar’s environment is the perfect place to network – a lounge designed with spots for hanging out as well as socializing and action. Whether closing the deal or sharing ideas, X bar’s renowned design, cuisine and location means X marks the spot. For more information, please visit www.schmoozd.com.

socalTECH readers get 50% off ticket price. Discount code is “socaltech”.