1. Inspiration, Innovation and Agitation: The Essence of Entrepreneurship
by Rohit Shukla, larta CEO
While we herald the return to fundamentals, the essential issues that confront entrepreneurs have to some extent stayed the same, and to some extent have changed radically. Entrepreneurial spirit is no longer restricted to small companies, nor is the entrepreneur a solitary creature toiling away in relative obscurity. The impact of technology and the breathtaking pace of change that has marked our lives has also unleashed three necessary ingredients in meeting constant competition, rapidly-diminishing competitive advantage and increasing noise of the contemporary marketplace for companies large and small: inspiration, innovation and agitation.
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2. Management Construction
When technology startups try to take an innovative product or service into the marketplace, several find themselves in alien territory--having to sell and market their innovation. Then there's the matter of actually running a thriving company if it is met with any interest. The people who inspire and create the technologies and innovations behind startups are usually not the ones who can juggle the business aspects on their own, from developing and managing the business and its processes all the way to an IPO. When investors, recruiters and entrepreneurs intersect to match a startup with experienced business management, it's a delicate dance of communication, ego and power struggle that can make or break a company.
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3. larta Forum: Candidate Comments
As the 2001 elections approach, city attorney candidates Rocky Delgadillo and Mike Feuer tell larta about their plans that are pertinent to the Los Angeles technology community.
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Related Articles

What Makes a Good Entrepreneurial Leader? Ask Middle Managers
The demands a CEO must meet are changing as fast as the technology marketplace itself, where managers must operate in a highly unpredictable atmosphere in which competitive advantage may dissolve at any time.
Click here for the full article from Knowledge@Wharton

A Brand of New Tech Cities
Newsweek profiles the country's most wired cities, citing information from larta's How Green Is Our Valley? Technology and Transformation Along the Ventura Freeway Corridor for their coverage of the 101 Corridor region.
Click here for the full article from Newsweek

Tech Transfer: High-Tech Prospectors Dig for Gold In Troves of Big Defense Contractors
The Wall Street Journal highlights the tech transfer dilemma in a front page story about Lockheed Martin Corporation's efforts to move their telecommunication technology from the labs to the marketplace.
Click here for the full article from The Wall Street Journal

CalTIP 1999 Winners DemoGraFX's acquires $10 million in funding
Baker Capital financed video compression software company and CALTip 1999 winner DemoGraFX for $10 million. CEO Robert Rast told Red Herring the funding should keep the Santa Monica-based DemoGraFX in business for the next 18 months.
Click here for the full article from Red Herring

What they did for venture capital: Local Business.com's article on the 7th Annual Southern California Technology Venture Forum's luncheon panel of Internet-era survivors who shared-- and bared--lessons from the new economy.
Click here for the full article from Local Business.com

Orange County startups among apples of VC's eyes
A company named Hybrid is making plastics out of sand. But the Fountain Valley, California-based startup can't grow money on trees, so it picked the next best thing--venture capital.
Click here for the full article on the Venture Forum from Local Business.com

Meet, Mix and Mingle:
Highlight of Featured Events
This event bulletin is provided as a service by larta on behalf of various partner organizations and about events vetted and endorsed by larta.

April 30: Deadline for Speaker Submissions for FilmIT
Do you have ideas, insights, and experiences that are beneficial to professionals confronted by the convergence of the film and technology industries? Are you interested in presenting your expertise, vision and skills to these decision makers and leaders? Then you will want to participate in the Film Information Technology Conference & Exposition Conference Program. The FilmIT Conference Program will feature more than 20 sessions covering the latest tools, technologies and e-business practices used by the motion picture industry, and how the Internet and digital technology are impacting content creation, marketing, distribution, and asset management in the film industry.
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May 3: Town Hall's High Tech Series "Beyond the Box: The Coming Convergence of TV and PC in the Online Era"
Featuring Odie C. Donald, President DIRECTV, Inc.
"Boob tube", "idiot box": Pejoratives have plagued the passive process of TV watching from the time the first set flicked on more than 50 years ago. All of that's ending as TV moves not just "outside the box," but beyond the box into a new era of interactivity, where the passive experience of viewing gives way to a radical increase in consumer choice and control. Odie Donald will share his vision of the coming convergence of TV and PC, and its implications for entertainment, education and our society.
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May 8: Selling Up - Selling Out
A one-day seminar for senior software and IT executives geared to help you position, value, prepare, and negotiate a merger, sale or divestiture of a software, IT or Internet company. Learn how to translate years of hard work and technical genius into real personal wealth. larta newsletter recipients receive a $100 discount.
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May 10: "Hackers at the Gates--Data Dilemmas" Network Security, Protection and Data Management
Heightened by the Internet explosion and data growth, small to medium sized businesses (SMB) have become incredibly vulnerable to computer attack and network data-loss. Long neglected by the computer industry in the field of network security, small to medium businesses like yours have now become the fastest growing sector of the market. Network security solutions are now affordable to businesses of any size. This timely seminar targets critical computer network security and data management issues for the needs of businesses who seek affordable solutions. For more information contact Tony Nejad at Tony@nemonic.com at 800.237.9191

May 14: An Inside Look at the Tech Coast Angels
Come for the evening and network with 100 Tech Coast Angels. Enjoy a 'walk-around' dinner and networking reception. Submit your company's elevator pitch and get immediate feedback from a TCA panel; or just watch the process as other early-stage companies pitch. See a live 25-minute TCA screening, where a company does a full PowerPoint presentation, fields questions, and receives feedback from TCA members. The evening is designed to be an enjoyable and efficient way for entrepreneurs to learn how to pitch TCA, for investors who may be considering joining TCA, and for anyone who wants to experience key parts of the TCA process.
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May 14: Harvard Business School's Annual Entrepreneurs Conference
Join your business colleagues in the learning and networking experience that has had a major impact on Southern California companies for sixteen years. This all-day conference will offer new insights and thought-provoking discussions with guest speakers and panelists, who will share their experience and expertise. Learn from real-life case studies -- the hallmark of the Harvard Business School education. The Harvard Business School Association of Orange County (HBSAOC) is pleased to host this popular annual event, which has become the conference for gaining the perspectives and making the contacts needed to build and grow new business ventures.
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May 16 and 17: larta University begins with "Strategic Planning For Your Venture"
larta's entrepreneurial workshop, larta University, begins with the first class, taught in Costa Mesa on the 16th, and in Santa Monica on the 17th. This first session, "Strategic Planning For Your Venture," features leading entrepreneurs sharing their business stories--the peaks and the valleys--in an interactive panel session, to a preliminary overview of the series? topics. Each entrepreneur will discuss the challenges they faced in taking their concepts and turning them into profits. Initial funding, management recruitment, and marketing strategies will be some of the many topics covered.
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LA VOX is provided weekly as a free service to you by larta - the technology alliance for Southern California. LA VOX is made possible by the generous support of: Ernst and Young Akin Gump Technology Ventures Grubb and Ellis Mission Ventures State of California Technology Trade & Commerce Agency

Copyright © 2001 larta. All rights reserved. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to those who may be interested. Permission to quote any proprietary part of this material is granted given proper credit. Distribution is allowed provided that no modifications are made to the original content.