Startups

I’m pleased to announced our second partnership with Microsoft, this time with the Windows Live Movie Maker product where AudioMicro.com is featured in the newly updated release of the software, which can be downloaded here, free of charge.

Our previous partnership with Microsoft was announced last year, whereby we supply Office.com with music and sound effects.

Full details in the press release below. Cheers!

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HEADLINE

AudioMicro featured in Windows Live Movie Maker

SUMMARY

AudioMicro’s royalty free music and sound effects featured in the latest release of Windows Live Movie Maker

BODY

LOS ANGELES, August 22, 2012 – AudioMicro announces the inclusion of AudioMicro.com as a featured music partner in the newly updated version of Windows Live Movie Maker.  Users of the latest version of the software can navigate to AudioMicro.com directly from the program’s home tab to license royalty free music and sound effects for video projects.

“We launched AudioMicro in 2008 with a heavy emphasis on the needs of independent video creators.  To strike a second deal with Microsoft® is really a dream come true and a tribute to all the hard work we’ve put into our library over the past four years”, said Ryan Born, founder and CEO of AudioMicro. “Over fifty percent of the entertainment value of a visual presentation comes from the music and sound.  With one click access to our library, Windows Live Movie Maker users are able to create more compelling, attention grabbing videos to better engage their audience.”

Last year, AudioMicro announced a licensing and distribution deal with Microsoft® Office 2010 whereby Microsoft® Office users are able to select from a hand picked collection of over 1,500 royalty free music and sound effects tracks to use with any Microsoft® Office project.

About AudioMicro, Inc.

AudioMicro, Inc. operates a network of digital content licensing brands, each targeted at a specific vertical – stock music, royalty free sound effects, celebrity pictures, and YouTube monetization.  The company is venture-backed by DFJ Frontier and Fotolia LLC.  For more information, visit AudioMicroInc.com.

About Microsoft® Corporation

Founded in 1975, Microsoft® (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Microsoft and Windows Live Movie Maker are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

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If you’re a startup in LA and presently seeking a round of funding, you should check out the LAVA Investment Capital Conference on June 13th (this Wednesday) from 1pm to 8pm at the Skirball Center. Many of LA’s top startups, venture capitalist, angels, incubators, accelerators, and advisors will be there so if you’re looking to get your “pitch on” or otherwise grow your network, it’s a great place to be. More details and registration info here –>  http://icc.lava.org/

We’re pleased to announce that today we’ve added Sean Percival as an advisor at AudioMicro, Inc. For a little background on Sean, he’s been an integral part of some of the most successful LA internet companies including Mahalo, DocStoc, Tsavo & lalawag and today he’s the VP of Online Marketing for MySpace.

Sean and I re-connected recently at The Launch Conference, where we (AudioMicro)  released our new sites.  Being an extremely talented graphic designer and artist, Sean’s took a natural interest in our new content marketplaces – ChooseTattoos (tattoo designs), ImageCollect (celebrity pictures), and Cartoonsy (cartoons).  He’s been offering such valuable advice that we decided to make it official and bring him onto the team as an advisor (stock options and all).

Sean was once asked about giving advice to people starting out in the online marketing world, to which he responded…”Know two things, SEO and Photoshop.”  Having gotten to work with Sean a bit over the recent weeks, he knows SEO, Photoshop, and a heck of a lot more and we’re excited and humbled to have him assist.  Welcome to the team Sean!  We’re very grateful to have you on board and look forward to continuing to build AudioMicro with you.

Louis Gray recently posted a great piece about Digg and it’s founder Kevin Rose.  I’ve been a fan of Kevin since I first saw him on The Screen Savers on TechTV a little before Digg was even live.  I think that there’s really one over arching takeaway from all the talk about Kevin and Digg this week.

HOP OFF THE TRAIN AT THE RIGHT TIME!

What I mean by this is that a financially successful exit is a lot about timing. Just think of how many companies that are on the downswing or no longer even exist today, yet they made such great returns for their initial founders and shareholders because they sold out while they were on the top of their game.  On the flip side, there are many circumstances when companies have sold out to early, only to have their acquirers go on to grow the business 10x after the acquisition (still a better position to be in than having not exited at all).

Businesses and industry move in cycles and technological progress happens extremely quick these days. Companies, particularly those on the web, can so quickly fall in and out of favor. It’s crucial to exit at the right time.