CELEBRATE SUCCESS AT THE TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY AWARDS
Mark Your Calendar For February 28, 2008
Technology Industry Awards is celebrating its 14th year of recognizing individuals and companies that have made significant, superior contributions to Southern California's technology industry. This event brings together diverse interests and provides an outstanding opportunity for networking. The awards will be presented during a gala dinner ceremony at the historic Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles on February 28, 2008.
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HOW TO VALUE YOUR START UP
By Al Schneider, vice president of the Tech Coast Angels Los Angeles Network
I think there are three fundamental truths regarding the valuation of early stage businesses by potential investors:
1. The first is that a pre-money valuation is ultimately an outcome of
negotiation, rather than a mathematical calculation of discounted cash flow
or any other metric of potential company performance.
2. The second is that, despite the typical non-reliance on formal
calculation, investors’ views on valuation are in some way based on a
perception of risks and potential return of the investment—or, put
another way, of the interaction of fear and greed.
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THE NEW STATE OF SAAS - INTEGRATION PLATFORMS
By Julie Citroen, President & COO, OnDemand Solutions, Inc.
Unsurprisingly, and like most things in today’s technically savvy world, the delivery and adoption of “Software as a Service” (SaaS) is occurring and evolving at an incredible pace. At the start of a new year, when most of us are assessing the year past and looking forward to the year ahead, SaaS, and where it is headed, is a worthy topic for our musings.
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6 COMMON MISNOMERS ABOUT SALES AND MARKETING
By Feyzi Fatehi, CEO, Corent Technology, Inc.
Sometimes we think we know something when we don't. After twenty years of work in Fortune-50 and multiple start-ups, I have concluded that much of the frictions and mis-alignments in corporate operations emanate from six common mistakes and misnomers around the terms Sales and Marketing. As a close and personal witness in multiple instances, I can testify that not clarifying and delineating these has led to huge costs including pervasive organizational mis-alignments, mis-hirings, mis-expectations and ultimately missing the mark in the marketplace.
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ARE YOUR TRADE SECRETS AT RISK?
By Vito A. Costanzo, partner, Holland + Knight LLP
Many technology companies abide by the warning that the company's most valuable assets -- its employees -- walk out the door every night. Many employees carry company expertise and trade secrets in their heads, and sometimes in their pockets and briefcases, when the leave. Trade secrets are also at risk when technology companies exchange information during a "due diligence" period prior to a merger or joint venture discussion. How should technology companies protect themselves against the possibility that employees or business partners will use their trade secrets for the benefit of another company?
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MARKETING EPISTEMOLOGY . . . ANSWERED
By Bill Hammer, Senior Integration Consultant, ExactTarget
I was recently asked to outline the business case for integrating online marketing systems into a single database of record. First, I want to identify the problem with one ancient word: Epistemology. Then I will explain the solution: Integration.
As defined by Wikipedia: Epistemology, or theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy which is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge.
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