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- A Look Back at Upfront, the Coachella of Venture Capital (copy 02)
A Look Back at Upfront, the Coachella of Venture Capital (copy 02)
A Look Back at Upfront, the Coachella of Venture Capital
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A Look Back at Upfront, the Coachella of Venture Capital
It was a wild week at the Upfront Summit in Pasadena, where Hollywood A-listers rubbed shoulders with the West Coast's wealthiest investors and inventors. Senior reporter Ben Bergman kicked off our coverage with an overview of the event, and he closes it with a look back at the odd circus of dealmaking, dining and schmoozing. You can read our full coverage of the week's coverage here.
Today's stories
Mark Suster, managing partner of the granddaddy of L.A. venture capital firms and impresario of the annual Upfront Summit, could have chosen from any number of venues to host this year's version of the Coachella of venture capitalism. But why pick an ordinary conference center or hotel when you can rent out the entire Rose Bowl?
Save for the Westsiders grousing about having to trek to Pasadena, it seemed like a good enough idea until winds approaching 40 mph shook the tent Suster had erected to host two days of speakers. And the low wind-blown rumbling got so loud that those on stage, including an ordinarily boisterous Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, had to pause mid-sentence and look up, as if to see if the structure was going to come crashing down. >>
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has stepped into the fight over whether a private equity firm should be allowed to purchase control of the registry for all dot-org internet domains in a deal that's worth more than $1 billion.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which oversees what's essentially the address book of the internet from its Playa del Rey, California offices, announced Friday that it was notified by Becerra's office last week that the AG wants to analyze the impact of the sale to the nonprofit community. >>
Less than a year after Disney took control of Hulu, its chief executive Randy Freer is stepping down in a move aimed at consolidating the streaming services operations with the entertainment giant's direct-to-consumer wing.
"I want to thank Randy for his leadership the last two years as CEO and for his collaboration the past several months to ensure an exceptionally bright future for Hulu," said Kevin Mayer, chairman of Disney's direct-to-consumer & international operations. >>
Most of America knew Kobe Bryant as an NBA superstar, a shooting guard who led the Los Angeles Lakers to countless championships. Jeff Stibel knew him off the court.
In an emotional Instagram message, Stibel broke his silence and lamented about "what was ahead" for Bryant. The duo struck up a friendship, and later a venture capital firm baring their names, as Bryant was plotting his retirement from professional sports. Venture capital — and just being an entrepreneur — was the hoop star's second act. >>
After waiting out high winds, Rocket Lab's low-cost Electron rocket launched a top-secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office from New Zealand, halfway around the world from the U.S. spy satellite agency's headquarters. >>