Santa Monica-based Zag, the online car buying software firm headed by former CarsDirect CEO Scott Painter, has spun out a new company called TrueCar, the firm said late Wednesday. The firm said it has scored Series A funding from Zag, Anthem Venture Partners, Global Retail Partners, Capricorn, Capital One Auto Finance, ARcturus Capital, Scott Painter, and co-founder Tom Taira. All According to TrueCar, it will provide information about new car pricing, using the actual price people have paid for cars. Painter was most recently CEO of Zag, Taira was Chief Strategy Officer

Los Angeles-based Zag , the online car buying software firm headed by former CarsDirect CEO Scott Painter, has scored an investment from financial services firm USAA , USAA disclosed Thursday. According to USAA, it is taking an equity position in Zag, which is also providing the firm with its car buying services. Zag develops technology which allows members of groups USAA did not provide financial details behind the investment. USAA has been offering Zag's services to its members since 2007.

Santa Monica-based Zag, which is developing software for auto buying programs, has signed on another AAA group as a customer. According to Zag, AAA Mid-Atlantic has just unveiled a auto buying program which is powered by the firm's software. Zag has developed a software product which allows users to fully configure and price cars for car buying programs and affinity groups; the firm's software is already being used by a number of other AAA clubs. Financial impact of the latest AAA win was not disclosed, however Zag said that AAA Mid-Atlantic is the fifth largest AAA-affiliated club in the nation, and has 3.8

Zag has previously received venture capital from such firms as Anthem Ventures, GRP Partners, the Tech Coast Angels, Capricorn Management, Capital One, and Arcturus Capital. Painter was previously CEO of CarsDirect, and is now involved with such firms as TrueCar and SharesPost. Santa Monica-based Zag.com , the online automobile buying service headed by Scott Painter, is reporting today that it had what is calls its "strongest sales so far this year" in June. The firm--which provides its car buying service as a private-label offering through affiliate groups such as the AAA and

Brighthouse is a technology incubator headed by both Brogger and Scott Painter, who also co-founded Zag and CarsDirect. Santa Monica-based SharesPost , which has created on online marketplace for sellers and buyers of private company stock, reported to its users late Friday that the firm now has sales of LinkedIn, Linden Lab, Tesla Motors, and SugarCRM going into escrow. The firm--which launched in early June--also said that that it now has offers to sell Facebook, Tesla, XDx, eHarmony, and LindenLab shares, as the firm's marketplace starts to gear up.

SharesPost was founded by Greg Brogger; the firm is one of the companies incubated by Scott Painter and his BrightHouse incubator; Painter is the former CEO of CarsDirect, currently founder at Zag, and has been quietly helping to fundraise and incubate a number of local startups through BrightHouse. Santa Monica-based SharesPost , a new startup out of Scott Painter's BrightHouse incubator, said Tuesday morning that the firm has launched on online platform which will match buyers and sellers of private equity. According to the firm, it will allow buyers and sellers of privately

Scott Painter , founder of CarsDirect has created two new generation LA startups (Zag and TrueCar, both backed by GRP Partners). Los Angeles.  People People either love it our hate it.  All All the stereotypes and caricatures are overblown.  And

With the economy in shambles, people scared for their jobs, and layoffs to the left and right, I was struck by a story that Scott Painter (currently CEO of Zag and TrueCar, and prior CEO of CarsDirect) made in a recent private gathering I was at of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and service providers. He explained how he often speaks at classes at business schools and entrepeneurship classes, and asks the audience to stand up, asking: Are you an optimist or a pessimist? If you’re a pessimist, sit down.

We co-founded Zag together, and I was the COO of CarsDirect. Towards early 2007, Scott and I had taken Zag to a level of some measure of stability, and we were thinking about the next thing. Yesterday, Santa Monica-based SharesPost (www.sharespost.com) launched a new service of particular interest to the venture capital and high tech startup market, a new, online service which facilitates the buying and selling of private company stock. We caught up with Greg Brogger , the firm's CEO, to understand the service and how it might help private investors. Explain