On February 6th, eager students crowded into a room in the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California to hear Robert Herjavec speak at an event by the Annenberg Dean Ernest Wilson III. Herjavec, a shark on ABC’s popular show “Shark Tank,” is the CEO of Herjavec Group, an author of two books, and now a Hollywood star.
The Annual TechZulu Startup Forecast is one of our most anticipated events. It’s about as close as you can get to a macro-level crystal ball for the tech industry, expressed through a rapidfire string of insights from the minds of some of tech’s biggest investors, founders, and gamechangers.
Today we bring you Plug.DJ Co-Founder & CEO, Alex Reinlieb. We discuss user acquisition, scaling issues, and get a great glimpse (and receive some invaluable lessons) into the challenges and inspiration behind Plug.DJ’s rocketship growth.
Join us February 27th as TechZulu & Gadget Review present REACH: The Connected Future. During this half day event (including an evening party), you’ll get a glimpse into the future of connected devices, courtesy of the industry’s thought leaders.
Ironically, Nicole does not refer to herself as an innovator. In her eyes, the innovators are the ones who are curing cancer and reducing the world’s impact on the environment. However this self-professed “irresistible force against immovable objects” is a Cannes-Lions Gold Lion award-winning marketer who for 13 years has gotten to play in a sandbox filled with social scientists, technology makers, and a gigantic portfolio of brands and partners.
Why do we date? To connect. To go beyond fleeting, ephemeral interactions and sharing of internet cat photos to find support, understanding, romance, etc. But what happens when we go beyond preferences to conditional? It’s an intriguing question – just what LA-based CupidRadar is hoping to answer. They operate under the premise of the chance encounter – the one run-in that could yield a deep, meaningful, long term connection.
Overall, great news for our fair city with a 25% increase in funds raised in 2013 over the year before. This last year, we saw a record high of over $1 billion raised with 200 launches and 25 successful exits which yielded $1.11 billion.
These figures, among others, indicate LA’s digital startups aren’t simply keeping pace with past years, but exceeding them.
The United States is the economic powerhouse that it is because of a culture of innovation, entrepreneurs, and the “can do” attitude that makes it so distinct. While we entertain startup strategies such as being lean or agile, it’s impossible to ignore that, for example, LA has a culture of entertainment, Nashville that of music, New York, a culture of finance and fashion, and Silicon Valley, indeed, a culture of disruptive innovation.
How it works: Every time someone connects to your Karma hotspot, both you and the connecting individual get a free 100mb of data to use. You can add additional data online through your account and Wi-Fi connections are always open to encourage sharing.
It’s a compelling thought – especially when you consider the alternative: 2 year contracts, overage charges, hours of dealing with customer service reps. Ready SIM’s scenario instantly recalled memories of Inspector Gadget’s exploding messages (the cartoon of course, not the terrible live action rehash starring Matthew Broderick *shudders*).
