TechZulu

10/10/2018

The Magic Leap keynote is here! We've played it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV8oGahOSgc

What you are about to see is real. No tricks, no clever edited video fx. The hype is real and more importantly the technology is real. Untethered mixed reality through spatial computing. This is not an ad. This is a believer.

Watch the greatest minds in spatial computing, live from the Magic Box in Los Angeles. Our keynote speakers include… John Donovan: CEO of AT&T Communications...

08/02/2018

With Apple now a trillion dollar company, here's the real story of how it started. Told by Steve Jobs himself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AefX4Gm3eC0

Taken from multiple interviews over the years, the two co-founders of Apple describe working together and building a business. Hints of Jobs famous revisioni...

07/28/2018

Viacom has acquired AwesomenessTV for $25M.

Dreamworks bought it in 2013 for $33M, then sold 49% for $240M. Comcast Universal bought DWA in 2016. This deal is a full exit from Comcast, Hearst and Verizon into the loving arms of Paramount.

Viacom today confirmed it’s acquiring digital media company AwesomenessTV, whose network reaches 158 million subscribers and approximately 300 million monthly views. The news follows a report from earlier this week that said the two were in talks about an acquisition, which priced the deal at…

07/09/2018

Free pizza tomorrow in LA to celebrate LeBron feels like an episode of the Simpsons.

https://twitter.com/greatdealsinla/status/1015602965061644288?s=21

“Blaze Pizza to offer free pizza in Los Angeles to celebrate LeBron James' arrival https://t.co/yRpdRJyDTI”

07/05/2018

‪Hollywood is getting over 6,000 new apartments and 1,000 new hotel rooms in the next few years, aiming to be the ultimate live-work-play destination of L.A. These are all city-approved or close to permitted, on top of the Red Line Subway which connects Hollywood to Pasadena, downtown and the beach. Its time you start thinking inland from https://la.curbed.com/maps/hollywood-development-hotels-apartments-construction‬

When complete, these 30-plus projects will change the neighborhood.

06/09/2018

With Pixar in the news today, wouldn't it be cool to see its early tech startup founding documents generated by the sale of Series A shares from George Lucas to Steve Jobs.

Here you go: http://alvyray.com/Pixar/

Plot twist: John Lasseter is *not* a founder of Pixar

05/31/2018

Watch: the biggest foodie influencers eat, laugh and learn aboard Princess Cruises with Chef Curtis Stone and BakeSpace.com https://youtu.be/kQcJ5AOIau0

On March 31, 2018, 50 of Southern California’s top food Instagrammers attended a special TECHmunch workshop at Chef Stone’s SHARE Restaurant (onboard the Rub...

04/16/2018

Many silicon beach events have taken place at GA, now they have new European owners.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/15/new-yorks-programming-ed-tech-startup-general-assembly-sells-to-adecco-for-413-million/

The European human resources services company Adecco Group said that is acquiring the New York-based, programming, design, and management training startup General Assembly for $413 million. With th…

03/31/2018

The at sea event is packed with the best food grammers! Folks like The Fresh 20 and Digital LA are enjoying an 8 course meal from celebrity chef Curtis Stone and instagram tips from Not Without Salt. Its even trending on Twitter!

03/27/2018

Playa Vista’s first major tech exit (biggest?) is Belkin networking! Foxconn is acquiring the based owner of Linksys and Wemo IoT brands in an all cash transaction.

The LA tech millionaire scene just grew in ranks.

https://www.ft.com/content/5b8f59b6-314e-11e8-b5bf-23cb17fd1498

A Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of Taiwan-based iPhone supplier Foxconn said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy US consumer electronics maker Belkin International for $866m by way of a merger.

03/14/2018

Disney reorganizes it’s entire corporation effectively immediately. There’s a lot to unpack here but it sets up Disney to better integrate FOX studios and compete with Netflix.

- 4 corporate divisions.
- Consumer products, video games & licensing now under Theme Parks.
- All ad sales, including TV ads, now under Direct-to-Consumer Tech & Platforms.
- Film Studio unchanged (Pixar, Lucas, Marvel, Fox, etc)
- Media Networks to stay in their own lane of TV & Cable.

This sets up the future if VR / AR in the theme park and retail business as it should be. The FOX deal will more than double the number of TV cable channels under Disney so this is a way to bring in that stable of talent smoothly. The biggest change is the creation of DTC, and moving all international sales and and tv ad sales there. It’s Disney saying they are a digital first company with global scale.

Disney is attempting to teach the entire programmatic advertising industry how to be digital first. This can mean we will start to see pricing parity across digital, social, legacy OTT platforms,

https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/walt-disney-company-announces-strategic-reorganization/

New Structure Consolidates the Company’s Direct-to-Consumer Services, Technology and International Media Operations into a Single, Worldwide Business to Capitalize on Growth Opportunities Parks …Read More

03/14/2018

SEC forces Elizabeth Holmes to return her shares, and is prohibited from being an officer of any company for 10 years, for running a ponzi scheme masked as a blood testing health startup.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/03/14/theranos-ceo-holmes-and-former-president-balwani-charged-with-massive-fraud.html?__twitter_impression=true

The SEC said Theranos deceived investors.

03/13/2018

The city of Los Angeles now has a CDO - Chief Design Officer.

So much hangs in the balance as L.A. tries to establish a coherent post-suburban identity and deal with housing and homelessness crises, among other challenges. That's why I will be working in the mayor’s office to raise the quality of public architecture and design across the city.

03/10/2018

Some of you may have Toys R Us gift cards. Use them this weekend!! They will be declaring bankruptcy within days, which will cancel the redemption of all gift cards.

03/07/2018

Silicon Beach expands to Westwood as Westside Pavilion converts to office space. Keep the growth going, startups!

P.S. this is a GREAT location and is walking distance to the train. Companies leasing space could attract train commuters from Downtown to Santa Monica.

https://la.curbed.com/2018/3/5/17081256/westside-pavilion-office-space-hudson-pacific-properties

The iconic 1980s-era mall appeared in "Clueless" and the music video for "Free Fallin.’"

03/01/2018

Twitter has issued an RFP for making its platform healthier for all mankind. Huge opportunity for LA-based agencies born and bred in the world of social. https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/company/2018/twitter-health-metrics-proposal-submission.html

We’re committing to helping increase the collective health of public conversation and are opening up a request for proposals for help from outside experts.

02/19/2018

Ice Cube, Chris Paul, and the founder of Lyft hosted a Tech Startup investing 101 course during the NBA All-star weekend here in LA.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/19/nba-all-star-baron-davis-wants-to-prep-athletes-and-entertainers-for-the-startup-game/

Last Saturday afternoon in the penthouse suite of the London West Hollywood, two-time NBA all-star Baron Davis was providing assists in a different kind of..

02/15/2018

Peter Thiel is moving to LA and guaranteed to shake up Silicon Beach. Did you know that LA was one of the first metro cities in the country to license Thiel's Palantir Technologies?

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/02/thiel-spurns-silicon-valley-the-region-that-made-him-rich-decamps-for-la/

Well-known investor reportedly now finds Bay Area "intolerant."

02/07/2018

Our Top 7 Tech Trends of 2018

We already know that bitcoin is the hottest trend since those self-balancing scooter batteries exploded, but what about tech hardware and gaming? Read on to find our top 7 tech trends of 2018 brought to you by the nerds at Gadget Review. 1. Oculus Go This will be Facebooks first, dedicated VR headse...