We’re looking for more Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Startups here in Orange County. Do you know any? Why? We need more AR and VR Startup listings to build the most complete list of startups in Orange County! (Check the Virtual Reality Startups page of the OC Startups Directory so far. Is your company listed yet?) OCSC VR Startup Members... Read more →

Welcome to Blue C Creative Marketing Agency a new Sponsor of the OC Startup Council! Blue C Creative Marketing Agency a creative marketing and advertising agency focusing on helping forward thinking companies effectively tell their brand story and execute creative marketing opportunities. Blue C Advertising is an Orange County based, full service creative marketing and advertising agency. Since 1998, they... Read more →

Keep Calm - and Startup ON! ... working from home - the new normal.... Thinking of you, your friends, family, and your startup. Hang in there, even if you are working from home, and keep going.... Just Keep Calm and Startup On.... Your Friends at the OC Startup Council Read more →

Kyle Kamrooz and Carey Ransom broke in their new studio at OC4 and shared some thoughts on why they started OC4 Venture Studio, their excitement for the future of building great companies in SoCal, and working with amazing founders, their studio team, investors and partners in the community. They got real and raw - and they welcome feedback and follow... Read more →

Congress has passed a new $2.2 trillion coronavirus emergency relief package that can help small businesses - maybe like yours... Known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the new legislation offers many new resources available for small businesses, including money necessary for business survival during the current crisis. Of course, while the intention of the CARES... Read more →

Finding seed-stage investor funding is the critical first step for many young ventures. Unfortunately the spread of the COVID-19 virus looks to be having a significant negative impact on seed investments already, and more in coming months. CB Insights recently published new research suggesting that overall startup funding and deal activity (including later company life cycle stages) may have already... Read more →

Keeping business moving through the challenges, that is what startups do. To help the entrepreneurial ecosystem, UCI Applied Innovation is hosting a free virtual event. Join them on Thursday, April 2 for a free webinar titled "Start-up and Growth Stage Marketing in Crisis Times". John Yoon, Vice President of Marketing Practice at Mercato Partners, will talk about key areas of... Read more →

Hicham Semaan was a great guest on Accelerate OC. He had such actionable advice and insights for startup company founders with regard to fundraising and investment, among much additional wisdom he shared. He is currently the President of the Orange County chapter of Tech Coast Angels (TCA), one of the largest affiliated groups of angel investors in the country, with... Read more →

A Thought Leader Guest Post from Dan Rosen of Tech Coast Angels: How Startups Survive the COVID-19 Economic Crisis Being trained as a scientist, and having lived through several investment cycles, I’ve been asked to share my perspective on the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on startups. I firmly believe that the human and societal impact of COVID-19 will... Read more →

A Thought Leader Guest Post from Greg Morrell of OCSC Member Company Active Cypher: Coronavirus’ Remote Work Nightmare Costa Mesa Startup helps to bridge the gap in Remote Data Protection with free offer. Since being discovered in late 2019, COVID-19 has sadly killed thousands and disrupted much of the world economy. Much of the world is in lockdown, major world... Read more →

Doug Wilson is the founder, and currently the Chairman, of the CEO Leadership Alliance of Orange County, formed as a group of CEOs from some of the biggest companies here, working together to “build a thriving Orange County for all.” He shared about the formation and work of CLA (as it’s known today). Doug is also an Executive Fellow at... Read more →

We’re looking for more Software Development and IT Consulting Firms who serve technology startup companies here in Orange County. Do you know any? Why? We need more IT Firms listings to build the most complete list of resources to help startups in Orange County! OCSC Software Firm Members Congratulations to these firms for supporting the OC Startup Council: Tepia Co,... Read more →

The COVID-19 virus is spreading in the Orange County community. The OC Public Health Agency website is a good source for updated information and advice on keeping our community healthy and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Updates according to them: There is an outbreak of respiratory illness that was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in 2019 caused by... Read more →

Does your startup use AWS? Or would you like to? We are working on getting a special deal with Amazon Web Services for OC Startup Council startup company members. Will you please fill out this quick survey so we can show Amazon that Orange County startups like yours want to use AWS if they offer us a big group discount?... Read more →

A Thought Leader Guest Post from Aaron Harris of Y Combinator: Why Toys? Some of the biggest technology companies look like toys in the beginning.1 From a classical business building perspective, this shouldn’t happen. Toys are for fun. Businesses, especially huge ones, are for making money. Toys are small and of limited use. Large companies contain multitudes and perform a... Read more →

We’re looking for more Space Startups here in Orange County. Do you know any? Why? We need more Space Startup listings to build the most complete list of startups in Orange County! (Check the Space Startups page of the OC Startups Directory so far. Is your company listed yet?) OCSC Space Startup Members Congratulations to these space firms for supporting... Read more →

A Thought Leader Guest Post from Tristan Handy of ThinkGrowth.org: The Startup Founder’s Guide to Analytics You need analytics. I’m very confident of that, because today, everyone needs analytics. Not just product, not just marketing, not just finance… sales, fulfillment, everyone at a startup needs analytics today. Analytics powers every decision, from the strategic to the tactical, from the board... Read more →

Jeff Bocan is currently a Partner at Okapi Venture Capital, which is his second stint in Venture Capital. Prior to Okapi, he joined one of his investments, Mophie, here in Orange County, and helped lead it from $10MM to over $250MM in revenue and an eventual strategic sale in 2016 to a publicly listed company, ZAGG. Before Mophie he was... Read more →

We’re looking for more Startup Advisors who serve technology startup companies here in Orange County. Do you know any? Why? We need more Startup Advisors listings to build the most complete list of resources to help startups in Orange County! OCSC Startup Advisors Members Congratulations to these firms for supporting the OC Startup Council: Knobbe Martens (Bronze Sponsor) Black Dog... Read more →

Tech Coast Angels is an important part of the Orange County tech startup ecosystem, and a Gold Sponsor of the OC Startup Council. Enjoy this exclusive interview with Jim Pickell, Fund Chair for the TCA OC Fund 20, on behalf of Tech Coast Angels Orange County. Read on to learn more about what they do and how their work is... Read more →

We’re looking for more Software Startups here in Orange County. Do you know any? Why? We need more Software Startup listings to build the most complete list of startups in Orange County! (Check the Software Startups page of the OC Startups Directory so far. Is your company listed yet?) OCSC Software Startup Members Congratulations to these software firms for supporting... Read more →

Marinela Gombosev is currently President and CEO of Evoke Neuroscience, a medical diagnostic technology company focused on memory loss and other cognitive disorders. They have twice been ranked in the Inc. 500|5000 fastest growing private companies. She described the company's initiative to create the equivalent of a "blood pressure cuff for the brain." Previously she worked in other regulated industries... Read more →

A Thought Leader Guest Post from Shane Parrish of Farnam Street: First Principles: The Building Blocks of True Knowledge First-principles thinking is one of the best ways to reverse-engineer complicated problems and unleash creative possibility. Sometimes called “reasoning from first principles,” the idea is to break down complicated problems into basic elements and then reassemble them from the ground up.... Read more →

We’re looking for more Real Estate Firms who serve technology startup companies here in Orange County. Do you know any? Why? We need more Real Estate Firms listings to build the most complete list of resources to help startups in Orange County! OCSC Real Estate Firms Members Congratulations to these firms for supporting the OC Startup Council: Savills (Bronze Sponsor)... Read more →

A Thought Leader Guest Post from Jackie Bavaro of Medium: How to Learn Product Sense Product Sense (also called Product Intuition or Product Judgement) is the ability to understand what makes a product great. It’s the ability to hone in on the important problems a product solves and come up with ideas to make it even better. While the name... Read more →