Angel/Venture Fund Update
For the past two years, I have been associated with a company called Corporate Strategies, Inc. that has focussed on helping young R&D technology companies go public. Our focus on technology is based on our belief that the U.S. is closer to the beginning than the end of a cycle in which technological breakthroughs will create new industries and sources of wealth. Today's essential technologies have barely begun to be explored.
Corporate Strategies, Inc., acknowledging that its focus is less strategists and more as a company "launcher", has officially changed its name to Wings Fund, Inc. Here's the official statement from the company:
We have formerly changed our corporate name to better reflect our focus as an investment company. We were founded in 1990 as a planning firm and, over the years, developed business plans for more than 100 hi-tech companies. We also invested in a number of those companies and found some success. Today, our only business is investing in small, Southern California based companies with breakthrough technologies. You can learn more about our business at www.WingsFund.com.
Another reason for our name change -- many of us just couldn't seem to spell "Strategies" correctly. So far, we have had pretty good luck with Wings.
Take a look at the site and the companies we've jumpstarted over the past two years.
-Brian
E-commerce at Warp9 Speed!!
Ever been to an online retail site, ready to buy that last-minute gift, and just when you have found THE PERFECT pair of boxer shorts, the site fails for one reason or another? Considering that online sales continue to blow away everyone's expectations and projections, you would think that this kind of failure would be an exception and not the rule. How about this statistic - online shoppers in the U.S. spent $23.2 Billion over the 2004 holiday season, excluding travel!! That's $23 BILLION, with a B!! And most shopping carts break down in the middle of the shopping experience. How ridiculous!
The top 300 online retail sites account for over 55% of all online sales and they average a conversion rate of only 3.8%. That means for every 100 shoppers that go to an online site, less than 4 buy anything. Worse than that, some sites record upwards of 80% cart abandonment, meaning that after a shopper has selected an item and put it in their shopping cart, something prevented them from going through with the sale. Could you imaging walking through a Target or Old Navy and see half-full shopping carts all over the aisles? That would suck!
Ah, but there is an answer to the woes for these online retailers - and it's called Warp9. One of my many activities is overseeing the sales effort for Warp9 and I have to say, it is by far one of the most robust e-commerce applications on the market. The clients that utilize Warp9's system include Magellan's Travel Supplies (www.magellans.com), Wind and Weather (www.windandweather.com) and the newest client, Carabella (www.carabella.com).
In the wake of implementing a new e-commerce platform and increasing its Web marketing, Carabella has seen its online sales grow to 50% of TOTAL sales from 20% in just four months! And now on Warp9's platform, the cross-selling promotions and other capabilities has created an online site that rivals the best in the biz.
And now the company is about to release this really cool feature that lets retailers load up their catalogs and the customer can flip through it as if it were sitting right in front of them - a virtual catalog where they can actually click on a picture and read the description and order as if they were flipping through at home. It is VERY COOL! Let me know if you know any companies that are trying to launch an online site or want to improve their current system and we'll get 'em on the Warp9 platform. They will be blown away.
Moving at Warp9 speed,
Brian
Downtown Los Angeles
It has been a few days since I blogged on. First of all, I'd like to say congratulations to Alexander Payne for his Oscar win for Adapted Screenplay for Sideways. It was well-deserved. I understand that the reservations for wine country tours since the beginning of the year and through the summer are at record highs. And the USA is becoming the world leader in wine consumption - go figure.
On an unrelated note, I have my California Real Estate license and have been learning a bit about commercial real estate (on top of everything else I'm doing - see first blog). One of the most exciting opportunities for real estate at this time is happening in Downtown Los Angeles. You read that right. Not only is there the Staples Center and some great hotels (the Standard just opened up and it is gorgeous!), but there are new condos and artist-style lofts, a new grocery store, great public transportation, a real nightlife and a cleaner environment than one expects of a world-class downtown area. Here is an excerpt from the DowntownLA website:
Downtown Los Angeles is in the midst of a remarkable housing boom! Since 1999, over 3,500 units have been added to the market. Another 2,800 are under construction with approximately 5,700 in the pipeline. There are now more than 7,800 market rate apartments and lofts in the central business district, representing an increase of 53% just since 1998!
Downtown LA is made up of many unique and interesting neighborhoods – Financial District, Bunker Hill, Historic Downtown, Fashion District, Artist District and South Park. Each has its own characteristics and amenities for residents.
Ralphs will be opening a 50,000 square foot grocery store in late 2005. The store will be located on 9th Street between Hope and Flower streets, along with several other retailers.
If you are thinking about living Downtown but are not sure where to begin looking, then click here to sign up for our FREE Saturday housing bus tour Downtown LA Living.
You’ll visit 4 to 5 different properties from loft-style apartments to luxury digs!
Take it from me, there is something really exciting happening in downtown Los Angeles. My real estate firm, Ramsey-Shilling, has the listing on the Los Angeles Center Studios, an incredible 400,000 square feet of office space with sound stages smack dab in the middle of downtown - it is an incredible location. If you look closely, you will see the LACS in many film and TV projects and commercials, including In Good Company and the new ABC show, Numb3rs. Check out the LACS website: http://www.lacenterstudios.com/
Let me know if you'd like to check out downtown LA for yourself, I can direct you to many sources of information and even lead you on a tour of the best restaurants, among other things.
-Brian
