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/
This blog has been a great release for me over the past few years and I’m happy I got back into blogging. It’s hard to believe that it was December 2009 when I dusted off the keyboard with a fresh enthusiasm for blogging. Fast forward to today, and I think it’s time to take another break / press the pause button. Our company continues to grow and I feel the focus more time and attention on our customers, product, and content partnerships and kill of anything that’s in the way (personal blogging included). We’ve got a 6 month old baby girl at home that’s brought so much love and joy into our lives. From time to time this blog has felt like a great release. At other times, it’s felt like a distraction from things that are much more important.
I don’t know if it’s something about the new year or what, but lately there has certainly been noticeable a seachange in my digital life. The stream (i.e Facebook, Twitter, etc.) feels like a burden. While I do continue to post on social media outlets from time to time, it’s much more sparingly than in the past and what’s become almost totally un-existent is my own attention to the stream. Meaning, if we’re connected to one another on one of these platforms, whether it be as a friend or follower, I’m really not paying much attention to what’s being posted and maybe you’re not either? I know that there’s meaningful content in the stream, but lately it just feels like such a task (as opposed to a pleasure) to check and keep up with. The latest Twitter for iPhone app is a total piece of garbage, and certainly doesn’t help the cause. I just find it much more pleasurable to digest the latest news and opinions via RSS through Google Reader, which I feel is still the easiest way for me to consume long form news content (sorry Flipboard fans).
So long story short here, I’m taking a break from blogging and “the stream” to focus more on company and family. The hiatus could last a week, or it it could be a year…I really don’t know. In the meantime, I’ve left some links to the most popular posts here (in terms of Facebook likes and Retweets) from the past few years:
I recently sat down for a series of short videos as part of the docstoc videos’ expert speaker series. For those of you not familiar with docstoc, it’s the premier resource for small business with thousands of legal docs, videos, and other resources useful for any entrepreneur that starting / running a business. Be sure to check them out. Among other things, we use Docstoc to embed all legal docs (license agreement, terms of service, etc.) across each of our sites. I’m a big fan of the service.
The expert series videos we created are around 1 to 2 minutes each, and cover a variety of topics from accounting basics to networking, to SEO. Above I’ve linked to one about networking, a topic that’s a personal favorite to me. If you’re interested in watching them all, go here, or follow the links below to any one of the individual videos. Enjoy!
So lately, I’ve been suffering from a case of writer’s block . The blockage has caused what I would consider 2 recent post that were really not up to standard, one of which was a Netflix rant (thanks for listening Reed!).
To help put a stop to the writer’s block, I’m reaching out for assistance (I figure that by putting myself on the spot, it’ll create the momentum needed to get over this).
So please…if you have a moment, help me choose a topic for my next post. Choose from the among the following topics and let me know in the comments section which one you’d like me to write about next:
1. Entrepreneurial oversupply and the abundance of startup incubators (LA included)
2. The primary differentiator between a good VC ‘s / angels and bad VC’s / angels in terms of portfolio returns
3. How Google Analytics should ignore Digg, Stumbleupon, and Reddit traffic
4. A simplified explanation of how VC’s determine valuation in a seed / A-round
5. Taking stock options in lieu of compensation – when it can be a bad idea for both you and the company
If any of these topics sound interesting, please let me know which one(s) you’d like me to write about first and help me get over writer’s block.
Ryan Born is the Founder & CEO at HAAWK, Inc., which ranked as the USA's #16 fastest growing media company on the 2024 Inc 5000 and was acquired by SESAC Music Group (Blackstone) in 2024. He is also the Founder & Former CEO of AdRev (AudioMicro, Inc.), a VC backed rights management and content licensing network, which was acquired by Zealot Networks in 2014-15 for $25M cash and which today is part of Downtown Music Holdings / FUGA. AdRev ranked as the USA's #5 fastest growing media company on the 2015 Inc. 500 (#162 overall, #5 in LA). Previously, Ryan was an investor in and VP of Finance for WireImage (acquired by Getty Images in '07 for $208M) and an angel investor in NewCondosOnline and InternetMarketingInc. He has been a guest lecturer at Emory University, UCLA, UCSB, Loyola Marymount and various industry conferences and events. Learn More.