Thank you to Blue C Creative Marketing Agency, a renewing Sponsor of the OC Startup Council! Blue C Creative Marketing Agency is an Orange County based, full service creative marketing and advertising agency. Since 1998, they have been transforming brands by helping them solve marketing challenges, developing strategies that allow them to outshine the competition and repositioning them for the... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Egan Montgomery of High Alpha: WHY EVERY FOUNDER SHOULD SELL BEFORE THEY HAVE A PRODUCT It’s difficult to bring a SaaS company to market these days. Buyers are complicated. Marketing channels are multiplying. New competitors emerge seemingly overnight. Meanwhile, customer expectations are getting higher. Software users need more functionality from our products. They... Read more →

Tommy Tallarico is CEO & President of Intellivision Entertainment, a name many of you may recall from a prior era. 40 years ago it was a household name as a pioneer in the video game industry. Tommy and team have built on its legacy to bring back its simple, affordable family-focused games and entertainment. They are launching under the Amico... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Emma McGowan on Startups.com: 10 Real-World Startup Valuation Methods Startup valuation is more art than science - but let’s explore both. Here are 10 tried and true methods for figuring out what your startup is worth. The question of startup valuation is one that founders struggle with, especially in the early stages. If... Read more →

A Thought Leader Guest Post from The Hub: How to Value Your Startup? 8 Effective Formulas To Get You Started Nordic startups have been doing well in 2019. Finnish company IQM raised €11.45M for their quantum computing hardware, Fintech Pleo raised $56M from a US investor and Minna technologies from Sweden obtained €5.6 M in another round of funding. And... Read more →

Software Development Firms Members: Orange County offers lots of software development, engineering, IT consulting, app development, and related technical expertise to help new software and technology startups grow. Review the list below to find local resources to help your new startup idea or early stage company get to the next level. These local companies serve as valuable resources for our... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Niall McSheffrey of Orange County's own Elementz Ventures: Software Technology Trends in 2021 The year 2020 impacted the entire global way of life like never before as every business trend that we knew has been turned on its head. One huge benefit that came from the pandemic in 2020 was the acceleration and... Read more →

LearningFuze Launches Data Science Program Designed for students looking to enter the fast growing field of professional Data Science LearningFuze today announced the launch of their full immersion Data Science program starting on May 24th. The program will teach deeply the core data science principles. Students will delve into artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning concepts and will come... Read more →

Does AWS power your Orange County startup? The OCSC can help your startup get $10,000 or even $25,000 of FREE service credits for Amazon Web Services. If your business is an AWS customer (or would like to be) these FREE AWS SERVICE CREDITS are essentially non-dilutive funding that Orange County startup company Members can use to grow their businesses. LEARN... Read more →

MasterMinds Startup Fundraising Video Office Hours help early stage company founders raise money for their startups. The fun, friendly live video Q&A sessions answer financing and strategy questions from entrepreneurs from all over the world with FREE expert startup advice. Startup Founder Discussion Questions This month Startup Council CEO Scott Fox took questions from startup founders live on camera and... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Jason Lemkin of SaaStr: Yes, You Need to Fundraise 52 Weeks a Year. The 1-and-30 Rule. “I don’t want to meet [That VC]. I don’t need money now and it’s distracting.” — most founders, post Seed round There’s a superpower some founders have. When they are ready to raise the next round, be... Read more →

Tech Coast Angels Orange County Reports Successful 2020 Even in Uncertain Economic Climate; Looks Ahead to its 2021 Fund with Optimism One OC Fund 20 company has already generated a 3.5x return and 250% IRR to investors Tech Coast Angels Orange County (TCA OC) today announced that its inaugural annual fund, TCA OC Fund 20, exceeded expectations even in the... Read more →

A Thought Leader Guest Post from Calvin Benton of Spill: How to prevent and cure burnout in your team Almost half of all sick days in the UK are down to burnout. Calvin Benton, founder of Spill, explains how employers can help. Startup life is a lot. We expect big things from small teams. We wear many hats. And we... Read more →

An article we liked from Sumukh Sridhara of Angel List about a new way of raising money for startups: Introducing Roll Up Vehicles to simplify startup fundraising. Streamline your closing with one entity for angel investors. With Roll Up Vehicles, founders get a single link that allows investors to commit and send funds online—and AngelList takes care of the rest.... Read more →

Software Startups: Software developers love Orange County. And so do software startup company founders. Learn more about the many early stage software companies innovating in the OC in the Directory listings below. These local startup companies are busy solving problems, developing new software products, and creating great new jobs right here in Orange County. Premium Startup Members Trio Rewards, Inc.... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Alex Iskold of Startup Hacks: The perfect investor deck for raising a seed round There are several ways to build an investor deck for your seed round, but there is no perfect way, of course. The common thing between all successful decks is that they are short and clear. Be sure to read... Read more →

Female founders are gaining ground in venture capital, but the funding gap between genders remains broad. Watch the virtual panel replay here. In a recent online session, ILIA founder Sasha Plavsic, Rael CEO and co-founder Yanghee Paik, Bank of America Senior Vice President and Market Manager Grace Kangdani, and Upfront Ventures Partner Aditi Maliwal explored how female founders and investors... Read more →

Next free MasterMinds Startup Fundraising Office Hours livestream is Tuesday, April 6 at 12 Noon PT. Join us LIVE and bring questions about raising money for your startup! Register FREE here now on EventBrite: https://mastermindsofficehours.eventbrite.com Want to know how to find investors? Or practice your investor pitch to get some friendly feedback? Or maybe you have questions about venture strategy,... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Norberto Santana Jr. of Voice of OC: Santana: Local Taxpayers Deserve To Be Heard At Local Public Meetings They Pay For Local taxpayers should be able to comment at any public meeting they are paying for. Yet it seems that many Orange County local politicians aren’t too keen on that. Since the pandemic... Read more →

Libby Duane Adams is co-founder and Chief Advocacy Officer of Alteryx. She and her co-founders, Dean and Ned, have built one of the biggest analytics software companies in the world, with a multi-billion dollar market cap, and they’ve done so right here in Orange County. She is also one of only a handful of female founders to take a technology... Read more →

An article we liked from Thought Leader Hunter Walk of Homebrew: Three Types Of Startup Advisors You Might Not Have Thought About (But Will Help You Win) Advisors can be so much more than social proof and tactical advice “Can we put you as an advisor in our deck? You don’t even need to do anything and we’ll give you... Read more →

Deepa Krishnan is the co-founder and CEO of Spoonful, a company focused on leading the “food as medicine” movement. Deepa, her co-founder, Sam, and her team have developed a leading and fast-growing application that helps consumers increase their confidence and safety when selecting foods to eat, based on health restrictions, allergies or their diets. Thay talked much more about her... Read more →

Marketing, Design, and Communications Firms Members: Orange County offers many innovative advertising, branding, creative, design, graphics, publicity, and communications firms that specialize in helping early stage high tech startup companies. These local companies serve as valuable resources for our Orange County startup community. Their services and expertise are helping our ecosystem grow. Supporting Members Gigasavvy General Members Blue C Creative... Read more →

The Orange Fellowship program has just opened applications for the second class of Orange Fellows. Orange Fellowships are for young rising professionals (newly graduated students, i.e., with a bachelors degree in 2019, 2020, or 2021) who are presently employed in an Orange County company and who value personal and professional growth, while also being interested in the future of Orange... Read more →

Apply Now to the Long Beach Accelerator's 2nd Cohort The Long Beach Accelerator is not your typical accelerator. It was established with the entrepreneur in mind with full support from the city, private investors, and CSULB. Program participants have access to $100K in capital to support them through acceleration and expansion. Cohort members have real government access to help navigate... Read more →