TRAVIS OBERLANDER

The Startup Cafe was recently given the opportunity to talk with the founder of TVtracker.com, Mark Hoebich. Mark recently sold his business to Variety Group. TVtracker tracks and analyzes all aspects of U.S. filmed entertainment, including television, feature film and digital entertainment, with coverage of everything from pilot pickups and series orders to motion picture development and post-production.

This fall, Mark will be a mentor at the LA-based startup accelerator, upStart.LA. Second video after the jump.

The ballers at LeanLA have put together another fantastic event. Brett G. Durrett, the Vice President of Engineering & Operations for IMVU, will explain the basic mechanics of Continuous Deployment and discuss the value it creates for lean startups.

With continuous deployment, every commit go live to production servers. Kind of puts a new spin on “ship early, ship often.”

IMVU is a leader in Continuous Deployment, with over 5 years of experience scaling this process to support a technical staff of 50 and a business of more that $40 million in annual revenue. By the end, you should understand that releasing to customers 20+ times per day is possible and that it does scale from individual developers to large companies.

The event is going down at Coloft, tonight at 7pm.

Equal parts clairvoyant, entrepreneur and hustler. Matthias Galica can see the future, and it is peppered with ShareSquare’s QR codes on posters, flyers, billboards, packaging, even TV screens, connecting the offline world with the mobile web. After that, it’s pretty dystopian.

As a first-time entrepreneur, it brings rare pleasure to see my team’s herculean efforts usher us into the home stretch of closing a second funding round on AngelList. Our project, ShareSquare, is a platform for connecting offline audiences with the bands and brands they love, via the mobile web & QR codes, with real-time analytics. We’re positively elated to be able fortify an early lead in the music & entertainment verticals, in addition to building out mCommerce features so highly requested it keeps me up at night.

Raising money for your startup is always a character-building experience, but doing it without a car in a city like Los Angeles adds some unique challenges. In the interest of passing along some wisdom to those of you who intend to take the concept of “bootstrapping” VERY literally, here’s a few critical tips based on my experience:

• Under no circumstances allow anyone to know you don’t own a car, which is Hollywood shorthand for “loser”. See this Slate article for the origins of the sentiment, captured well by the Art Buchwald quote: “People are broad-minded. They’ll accept the fact that a person can be an alcoholic, a dope fiend, a wife beater and even a newspaperman, but if a man doesn’t drive, there’s something wrong with him.”
• Make frequent use of hooded sweatshirts to avoid being spotted in the act of walking or riding the bus. In LA, these activities can only ever be one of two things: an indicator of your socio-economic status or a political statement. For safety, prepare a cover story concerning the latter in case you’re discovered.
• When choosing a home base for your startup, strongly consider downtown (aka “Skid Row Tech”- home to LA’s leanest startups) as it is the point of origin for most public transit in Los Angeles. Bonus: cheapest rents in town.
• If you’re meeting a VC with an in-building parking lot and you’re offered validation, say the following: “It’s ok, I’m down the street”. This does well to deflect without explicitly lying about the car you don’t have.
• Never take a meeting further than half a mile from a bus stop, give yourself plenty of time to spare, and beware unforeseen changes in elevation. Not heeding this rule can result in arriving at (Ad.ly founder) Sean Rad’s house bathed in your own sweat (and nearly killing yourself on the way down if you’re riding fixie with no brakes). Fyi, Sean will not invest if you’ve sweated through all your clothes.
• If it’s absolutely necessary to be in an area inaccessible by bus or bike (like picking up a check at Paige Craig’s mountain fortress) I highly recommend Rent-A-Wreck. I suppose you could also borrow a friend’s car, but as my favorite Founder Institute quote (courtesy of Burstly founder Evan Rifkin) goes: “If you’re running a startup and you have friends, you’re probably doing it wrong.”
• Use AngelList. On the AngelList, nobody knows you’re a dog without a car.
• Finally, when your girlfriend dumps you because you’re spending too much time on your startup and you don’t own a car (even if she may have been indirectly responsible for losing the car you did have) the best advice is: put your head down and paint that sh** gold.

An aside to all ShareSquare investors: I plan on not getting a car until we’re cash-flow positive, though I’ll probably be copping a sweet new Aerospoke for the fixie so I can get around in style.

Making daily finances hassle free for online users is still an open race and there are many startups and established companies vying to help their customers reach their financial goals in a fun and easy way. Los Angeles-based Payoff is one of the those companies and its mission is simple: “Taking control of your money is the first step towards living a positive, fulfilling life.”

Adam Zarlengo, a proud Louisville, Colorado, native and a big Miles Davis fan, is the company’s Product Development Lead. Before joining Payoff he worked at Yahoo! and he also helped with web and social media strategy for Conan O’Brien and Team Coco‘s “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour.” We were able to catch him between deadlines to tell us more about Payoff and their crusade against the boredom of daily finances.

What was the idea behind Payoff?

The idea behind Payoff.com is to give people context and reason to care about their money. Many sites function as if money is the end, when in fact, money is a means to an end, whether that end is a short-term goal or a life-long dream. Payoff asks people to first think about and document their dreams and goals, and then manage their money within that context to better understand how to reach them.

Describe the first 6 months of Payoff in 6 sentences.

The first six months have been a whirlwind. It has consisted of iterative product development, customer feedback, data analysis, marketing strategy, and fundraising. It’s also been a lot of teamwork, long hours, thought-provoking conversations, ping-pong, and Nerf guns. In the next few weeks, we’ll be coming out of beta and launching some new features, so stay tuned.

What made you decide to focus on gamification of daily finances for your startup?

We’re still early in the development of our gamification framework, but the reason for focusing on gamification within the product was due to the fact that for most people, managing money is the exact opposite of fun… it’s a huge hassle and a chore. So, if we can reach people using gamification in a way that is fun and motivating, for a laborious task, the chances that they are more successful in staying engaged to achieve their stated goals and dreams through smart money management is much higher.

What are 3 trends in startups that excite you?

There is so much cool stuff going on, but I am specifically excited about a lot of the cloud work, near field communication, and anyone building something that can help others (ex: Kickstarter, Kiva, Jumo, Causes, etc).

What are 3 trends in startups that bore you?

I have a lot of respect for anyone that tries to do something entrepreneurial and create value, but I am turned-off by those who are building with the aim to primarily create value for themselves.

What mistakes did Payoff make early on and what did you learn from them?

It’s a startup, so you make a lot of mistakes and learn from them constantly. One difficult area at the beginning was trying to do too much and not finding the single or few items to really double-down on and nail. Now that we’ve launched, we’re also trying to spend much more time analyzing data and customer feedback to inform product development.

Where do you go for your inspiration?

My wife and family (dad, mom, brother, and sister) are all very inspiring for me because they are amazing people and I respect them very much. I love the beach, but don’t get there nearly enough. I also really enjoy reading business books and biographies, the Bible, and I get inspired anytime I’m around other entrepreneurs.

How do you balance work-life and personal-life?

It hasn’t been too much of a challenge because I really enjoy what I am doing. With that said, I generally come home and eat dinner and spend time with my wife and then open the laptop back up when she goes to bed and work for a few more hours.

What advantages do you think Los Angeles offers startup entrepreneurs?

I love Los Angeles for startup entrepreneurs because I think there is a great tech scene here with an amazing combination of talent, lifestyle, resources, and proximity to large industries. The tech community in LA is also very inclusive and welcoming, which is awesome.

What are some other Los Angeles startups that excite you or you admire and why?

There are a bunch, but a couple that I admire are:
- Docstoc: I went to business school with Jason Nazar and first heard about the idea there. I respect him for not only building the company to where it is now, but also for what he has done for the tech community.
- Betterworks: I don’t know Paige Craig personally, but I admire what he has accomplished and love Betterworks’ mission to “Make Work Rewarding!” because employee happiness is critical to the success of any business.

How can people connect with you?

You can connect with me in the usual ways:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/adamzarlengo
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/adamzarlengo

And connect with us on Payoff:
Site: http://www.payoff.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/payoff
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Payoff

If you’ve read about online business at all in the past decade or so, you’ve likely come across an article from Chris Yeh. From concepts like the Chinese Landlord Principle to whether we can ever have too many startups, I’m always amazed at the powerful insights he provides. Chris has been in the internet game since 1995. He has been a founder, founding employee, or seed investor in almost a dozen startups. He’s currently the Vice President of Marketing for PBworks.

Can you provide a brief background of yourself?

I was born and grew up in Southern California, went to college at Stanford, spent the early part of my career in Boston, went to Harvard Business School, and have been here in Silicon Valley ever since. I’ve been working in the startup world since 1995, and I’m fond of saying that I’m one of the few people who can claim to have 15 years of Internet startup experience.

What was the idea behind PBworks?

David Weekly started PBworks for the best reason of all—to solve a pain. His friends kept asking him to set up MediaWiki servers for them, and he thought, “Why not just offer hosted wikis?” He built the original PBwiki product in a single all-night hackathon, and the rest (6 years, a name change, and a ton of corporate customers later) is history.

Describe the first 6 months of PBworks in 6 sentences.

PBworks is the original lean startup. In fact, Eric Ries was one of the first shareholders in the company, before he formalized the idea! The startup was David Weekly working by himself. He’d wake up, read user emails and forum posts, and build what they asked for. Within 6 months, the company was hosting over 50,000 wikis.

What mistakes did PBworks make early on and how did you learn from them?

PBworks had to deal with a classic “Crossing the Chasm” challenge. Hosted wikis were a great launchpad, but in order to become a business-critical product, we had to focus on meeting the needs of a number of critical beachhead markets like advertising agencies and law firms. It’s hard to focus on a tiny slice of your user base—it feels like you’re foregoing so many opportunities—but it’s often the only way to succeed.

What is one piece of advice that you got when starting out that really helped you?

One of my early mentors told me, “Chris, you’re a shameless self-promoter. That’s a good thing. Keep it up.” In the startup world, you can’t let convention or the possibility of embarrassing yourself hold you back. Just go for it.

What are 3 trends in startups that excite you?

I think touchscreen computing changes the game. For the first time, computers are adapting to us, rather than vice versa, and I think the impact will be huge.

I’m really excited about how much more well-educated entrepreneurs are these days. With so many great sources of information (Hacker News, Venture Hacks, etc.), the average entrepreneur these days knows so much more than I did when I was starting out.

I see more and more people trying to apply the startup model to social issues. Things like Kiva can help change the world. What’s better than that?

What are 3 trends in startups that bore you?

Way too many copycat deals. How many daily deal sites do we really need? Too many decks that seem like they came off an assembly line. Everyone has to say they’re a lean startup at ramen profitability with an outstanding viral coefficient. Those words sound great, but show me some results. Too many people focusing on raising money rather than building great products. Fundraising is a necessary evil and should be treated as such.

You’re originally from Los Angeles, have you ever considered returning?

I love spending time in LA, and the startup scene there is really growing thanks to folks like Mark Suster and Paige Craig. But even though I’m a native Angeleno and die-hard Lakers fan, I’m probably in Silicon Valley for the duration. Besides, my wife doesn’t like LA that much.

What advantages do you think Los Angeles offers startup entrepreneurs?

LA has massive advantages for any startup that is in the entertainment space. Silicon Valley startups don’t get the entertainment industry. LA startups do. There are also advantages for people who are doing importing or light manufacturing—things that are major industries in LA that simply aren’t up in the Valley. And of course, LA is the world leader in adult entertainment, though most of those businesses are self-funded!

What big thing (that you can share) are you working on next?

I have so many friends who have written books that I really want to do the same. I’ve got a proposal or two lying around that I really need to revisit at some point. In my copious free time.

How can people connect with you?

They can read my writing online on my various blogs:
http://chrisyeh.blogspot.com/
http://www.asktheharvardmba.com/

They can also follow me on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/chrisyeh

Mike Mothner, Founder and CEO of Wpromote, started his business out of his dorm room in college. Today, Wpromote is a leading search engine marketing agency with 70+ employees managing more than 3,500 clients spanning a wide range of industries and verticals in over 70 countries worldwide. Mike was excited to stop by The Startup Cafe to chat about the early days of Wpromote and to provide some SEM tips for Startups.

There has been a lot of attention this week about California Film Commission’s decision as to what projects will be receiving subsidies from the state’s $100 million fund.

Naturally, I immediately started to think about the fairness of this fund and why a fund like that does not exist for startup sector. Playing favorites should not keep city officials from exercising some foresight. They should be thinking about brand new ways to ensure our city’s dominating position in the future – especially in the times of budget shortfalls.

I am sure that a startup fund, created by the City of Los Angeles with even a small portion of the $100 million offered to film productions by the state, would result in a lot of positive attention from the tech circles and more interest from entrepreneurs. Such a decision would also present our city as one that wants to tap into its full potential and not only be riding on the fortunes of established industries.

When you go to any film festival or market, you will meet many states’ representatives trying to one up each other with incentives for doing business within their state’s borders. Ultimately, it is a race for more economic activity which translates into more federal funding. Tax credits from California’s Film Commission ranged from $190,000 to $7 million and were awarded to 30 separate projects this year. That is a lot of seed money that could support a lot more than just 30 startups.

I have not explored this subject as much as I would like to but, apart from San Francisco offering tax breaks to certain tech companies in order to keep them doing business in their city, I am not aware of many other incentive programs for tech startups. If the City of Los Angeles had to justify such a fund, then it could target startups that are trying to disrupt public services with their imaginative and new approaches.

Whether you establish such a fund for startups that could affect city’s services or simply create a startup lottery where entrepreneurs vie for the seed money, the city will come out a winner in the end. I personally think that Los Angeles would benefit from a startup lottery by creating another strong part of its future economy.

Today, as part of our ongoing series of interviews with Los Angeles-based entrepreneurs, we’re interviewing Brian Norgard, founder and product lead of Namesake. Brian is a mainstay in the Los Angeles startup scene. Prior to Namesake, Brian founded Newroo (acquired by FOX Interactive Media) and Ad.ly. He graduated with honors from Brown where he was awarded a National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance grant. Impressive stuff.

What was the idea behind Namesake?

Namesake is a global conversation community. We’re enabling meaningful conversation around topics that people love and areas of expertise. Strangely, open conversation is done extremely poorly on the Web and we want to change that as conversation is fundamental to the progress of humanity. It’s a simple yet powerful mission if we succeed.

What differentiates Namesake from other Q&A sites like Quora and Aardvark?

Namesake is not a Q&A site—we’re focused on conversation. A byproduct of conversation is sometimes an answer, but not always. Quora and Aardvark are both great technologies and we’re humbled to be mentioned in the same class as these technologies. I was told by Paige Craig once,

“Quora is the library and Namesake is the quad.”

I thought that was a funny way of sizing up the world. I am not all focused on competition nor comparisons. What matters to me is customer experience and continually pushing the product to new, cool vistas. Why worry about something you can’t control?

The next 3-6 months of product development at Namesake has the potential to rewrite some of the oldest rules in the Internet playbook. I can’t speak to the specifics but it’s going to be amazing for customers.

What is your marketing plan for Namesake? How are you getting users to join up?

Build a great product that people will love and talk about with their friends. The Internet is so vast now, I believe we’re finally on the cusp of a fully connected system.

I believe in creating local density around products in the early phases of development. It helps to be close to customer in real life.

What big thing (that you can share) are you working on next?

We’re super excited about some of our machine learning that’s being developed. It has the potential to make conversations really special. I am also tremendously bullish about the direction we’re heading in mobile. The phone is not the future, it is the now. Imagine what the possibilities of real-time conversation are when you have location, topics and trust. It’s going to be amazing. There’s a special project in the works that I can’t discuss that’s, just, insane.

Describe the first 6 months of Namesake in 6 sentences.

Evolutionary product development and an obsessive focus on the customer. We put the customer first and design for them. Social design at core is about interactions that put the customer first.

What mistakes did Namesake make early on and how did you learn from them?

Too many to name. We fail multiple times per hour. That’s what a startup is about—failing, learning and momentum. Dealing with failure is the tricky part. I think we’ve become accustomed to challenging our belief system everyday.

What are 3 trends in startups that excite you?

Mobile. Demand side platforms. The unbundling of traditional finance.

What trends in startups that bore you?

I can’t stand startups that don’t put the customer first. That’s not what the Internet is about—never was.

What about founding a tech startup excites you?

There’s nothing better than shipping a feature with Scott Hurff (UI/UXgenius) and Michael Viamari (front end magician) and hearing our customers come back and say, “I love this.” Dan Gould and I take great pride in craftsmanship and as long as we’re at the helm of Namesake that will be never change.

How can people connect with you?

To join the invite-only Namesake community click on this link: http://nmsk.co/gRsIvp

A new Los Angeles startup is set to be the first daily deals site for sports fans. Crowd Seats, which launches today, will offer sports tickets at huge discounts, up to 90% off face value. Fans who want to receive offers can simply sign up for the Deals Newsletter on their site.

There is a proven market for these kinds of deals. A handful of teams have experimented with Daily Deals/Group Buying websites in the past two years with great results.

“Sports ticket inventory is very similar to hotel inventory – if you don’t sell it, you lose it. Crowd Seats enables teams to generate significant revenue from otherwise perishable inventory.” Said Justin Cener, CEO and Founder of Crowd Seats. ”Moreover, unlike traditional businesses, sports teams generate large supplementary revenues after the ticket is sold through parking, concessions, and merchandise.”

Popular daily deal/group buying sites like Groupon and LivingSocial have been criticized for being more damaging than helpful to small local businesses. The promise of a wave of new customers in exchange for deep discounts has made these sites irresistible to local business. However, the wave, more often than not, turns out to be a tsunami. As a participant in a study run by Utpal M. Dholakia of the Rice School of Business said, “The types of customers that were attracted were not here to genuinely try our restaurant.  Instead, they were here to get a deal. They knew they were getting a deal and that was the only reason they came.”

Crowd Seats’ merchants won’t have to worry about this problem since their business model depends upon repeat customers less. Each ticket sold on Crowd Seats will lead to more revenue through supplementary purchases such as parking, concessions and merchandise purchases.

In a case study produced by Crowd Seats, deals involving tickets for NBA, NHL, and MLS games were reviewed. The combination of revenue generated through ticket sales via various Daily Deals sites and supplemental revenue generated at the stadium (Fan Cost Index) has resulted in NBA teams taking in an average of over $50,000/deal. The NHL and MLS based deals also did tremendously well.