When I drill down on that term, you can see why with posts like: Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals Lops A Third Of Company THQ Lays Off 100 Employees, Closes San Diego Office Citrix Cuts 10 Percent; Santa Barbara Hit And it's also interesting to see what geographies are being associated with "Layoffs" more often than others: Layoffs Woodland Hills Layoffs San Diego Layoffs Santa Monica Layoffs Los Angeles I guess this is a sign of the times. The Scott Sanfilippo Interview Media Optimization Firms Are Red Hot In Southern California in 2009 Proliferate

This was evident at the Twiistup pre-event company pitch last week at UCLA.  Francisco Francisco Dao came up with the idea of letting 10 companies that weren’t selected for Twiistup to do a presentation the night before to a group of people and let the audience pick one company to win the final slot at Twiistup.  I I’m not saying the companies were bad – many were not.  But Most people suck at presenting to big groups.  It’s It’s a shame because the ability to nail these presentations at key conferences can be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities

No details on the funding have been announced by the company yet. Mochila is venture backed by Charles River Ventures, Greenspun Corporation, Jerry Colonna of JPMorgan Partners, Mission Ventures, and A.H. Tags: capital venture marketplace content online mochil Carlsbad-based Mochila , which operates an online content marketplace for publishers, has raised $1.0M in an ongoing $2.0M

The funding came from the company's existing investors, Enteprise Partners, Mission Ventures, JK&B Capital, and ATA Ventures. VMIX said the new round brings the company's total raised to $23.5M. Tags: hosting video online capital venture vmi San Diego-based VMIX , which provides online video hosting and management, has confirmed that it has raised $2M in a Series B-1 financing, the firm said this morning. The funding had first been reported by this publication Tuesday.

Details on the funding have not been announced by the company. The filing shows representatives from JK&B Capital, Mission Ventures, ATA Ventures, and Enterprise Partners--all prior investors in the firm--remain on the board of directors. The funding brings the company's total raised to around $23.50M. San Diego-based VMIX , which provides software-as-a-service for video hosting, has raised $2.0M in a new funding round, according to a regulatory filing by the firm today.

San Diego-based Nirvanix confirmed today that the firm has raised $5M in a new venture funding round. According to the firm, the new round came from original investors Intel Capital, Mission Ventures, Valhalla Partners, and Windward Ventures. According to Nirvanix, the funding brings the company's total raised to over $23M. The funding was first covered by socalTECH M last week . The firm said the funding would go towards expanding its enterprise service offerings.

According to the company, the funding came from Mission Ventures, Selby Ventures, and the Tech Coast Angels. The company said the new funding will go to accelerate research and development, along with sales and marketing. Tags: capital venture entertainment stag Los Angeles-based Big Stage Entertainment is announcing this morning that it has raised an additional $2.7M in a Series B funding for the firm.

Pasadena-based LeisureLink has signed on a loyalty and incentive company, Destination Rewards, as part of its travel services, the firm said earlier this week. The company is venture backed by Clearstone Venture Partners, Mission Ventures, the Pasadena Angels, the Tech Coast Angels, and others. LeisureLink, which provides online distribution and marketing of vacation lodging, said that it will offer consumer rewards and loyalty programs that can be used for vacation travel and merchandise. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MaxLinear is one of the Southern California companies in the midst of an IPO effort, hoping to list on the NYSE; the firm is venture backed by USVP, Battery Ventures, Mission Ventures, and UMC Capital. Carlsbad-based MaxLinear , a developer of integrated radio frequency (RF) and mixed-signal circuits for the communications market, said today that it has certified the performance of its MxL241SF MPEG tuner with industry group CableLabs. The firm said the certification came through the certification of an SMC Networks cable gateway, which uses the firm's components.

The IPO is being underwritten by Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank Securities, UBS Investment Bank, Thomas Weisel Partners, and Needham & Company. MaxLinear is venture backed by USVP, Battery Ventures, Mission Ventures, UMC Capital, and others. Carlsbad-based MaxLinear , a developer of radio frequency analog and mixed signal semiconductors, set its pricing range on its IPO Friday, saying that it will offer 5.43 million shares of its stock at between $11 and $13 per share.