Thursday, March 1, 2012CHNL Boosts BoardSanta Monica-based CHNL, a new, pre-launch startup which is focusing on social content and content curation, said this week that it has named Rod Perth to its board of directors. Perth is a television executive, who has worked on projects for CBS Television, the USA and SyFy Channels, and Jim Henson Studios. He also co-founded cable network ReelzChannel, and runs consulting firm RHP Media Consulting. CHl said it is creating a social platform which provides content owners, publishers, and consume (More info...)
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JuntoBox Names Forest Whitaker Co-ChairSanta Monica-based startup JuntoBox, a new startup social community focused on independent filmmakers, said today that it has named actor, producer, and director Forest Whitaker as its co-chair. The startup--which is headed by Rachael McLean and Megan Westerby--is looking to create an online site which helps independent filmmakers shape their projects, and collaborate with users to create films. The startup said it is looking to provide a total of $2.5M in financing to five films this year. Whit (More info...)
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Insights and Opinions: Building a Team to WIN!Today, for our community-contributed article in our Insights and Opinions section, we have Building a Team to WIN!, from Rubicon Project CRO Nick Hulse. Nick talks aout the best way to build a customer facing team. Rubicon Project is based in Santa Monica.
One of the keys to any successful business venture is the ability to keep, attract and retain a team that few in your industry can compete with. Experience, chemistry, energy, and passion are all important aspects to watch for when buil (More info...)
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Shea Ventures Backs SolarCityShea Ventures, the venture capital arm of Orange County homebuilder Shea Homes, has boosted its solar installation partner SolarCity, as part of an $81M equity investment in SolarCity. According to SolarCity, the big funding round was led by The round was led by Silver Lake Kraftwerk and Valor Equity Partners, and also included Nicholas J. Pritzker, partner at Tao Ventures and senior development advisor for Hyatt Hotels Corp., in addition to Shea Ventures. SolarCity is an installer of residentia (More info...)
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Breitbart.com's Andrew Breitbart DiesConservative commentator, and Internet publishing startup founder Andrew Breitbart has died, according to Breitbart.com, his publishing company, after dying unexpectedly from natural causes shortly after midnight this morning. Brietbart, who was well known for his politics and political blogging, apparently died at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center this morning. Brietbart headed up Brietbart.com, the online publisher of a network of online content sites, including BigHollywood.com, BigJournalism (More info...)
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Interview with Andy Steuer, PunchcardLast week, Pasadena-based Punchcard (www.punchcard.com) launched its mobile apps, which help local retailers provide rewards to loyal customers. The firm is backed by Idealab, and is headed by Internet veteran Andy Steuer. We caught up with Andy, whose executive experience ranges from ZeroDegrees, NBC Internet/Xoom.com, Infoseek / Go Network, to CNET and Snap.com, and whose last firm was MerchEngines, which he sold last year, to hear more about his new startup.
What is Punchcard?
Andy Ste (More info...)
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DogVacay.com Launches Marketplace For Dog BoardingEver wish there was a better place than that huge, impersonal kennel for your dog to stay on vacation? Well, Los Angeles-based Dog Vacay, a new person-to-person marketplace startup, is looking to help connect pet owners with other dog owners and pet sitters, who are willing to watch their pets when their owners are on vacation. The startup--founded by Karine Nissim Hirschhorn and Aaron Hirschhorn--helps dog owners connect with both professional pet-sitters and dog lovers, via an online marketpla (More info...)
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j2 Global Buys Australian Voice Services FirmContinuing its flurry of international acquisitions, Los Angeles-based J2 Global reports today that it has acquired Zintel Communications, and Australian cloud voice services provider. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. j2 Global said the acquisition will bring its skilled employees and a local office in Australia. j2 Global, which is run by Hemi Zucker, has been on an aggressive acquisition roll lately, acquiring a number of international cloud services firms. Those acquisitions hav (More info...)
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OpenX Adopts New IAB Ad UnitsLos Angeles-based OpenX, the developer of ad serving software and an ad marketplace, said it is adopting the new advertising units from the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The firm said its product, OpenX Enterprise, will support the new IAB Rising Stars" Ad Units, the six new ad units which were recently approved by the IAB. The six new units are the first approved by the IAB since 2003. The IAB defines standard dimensions for Internet display advertising, which helps both advertisers and publi (More info...)
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QLogic Completes Sale Of InfiniBand Assets To IntelAliso Viejo-based QLogic, the manufacturer of networking adapters, switches, and ASICS for the storage networking market, said last night that it has completed its sale of its InfiniBand product lines and assets to Intel Corporation. The deal was worth $125M in cash. QLogic had originally announced the sale on January 23rd. QLogic had entered the Infiniband market in 2006, when it paid $109M to acquire PathScale.
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