Hey guys,

To bring 2009 to a close, we wanted to review highlights of 2009 and give some thanks to a few of our friends…
Be sure to check out our:
2010 event calendar
Become a member of DMM

2009 Under the Radar Year in Review: 12 Under the Radar Acquisitions!

• AdMob | Acquired by Google
• NowPublic | Acquired by Examiner.com
• Q-Layer | Acquired by SUN
• Kiptronic | Acquired by Limelight Networks
• Plusmo | Acquired by AT&T
• Keibi Technology |  Acquired by Lithium Technologies
• Xumii | Acquired by Myriad Group
• Torch Mobile | Acquired by Research In Motion (RIM)
• Evapt | Acquired by MagnaQuest
• Hivelive Acquired by RightNow Technology
• Dial Directions | Acquired by Sakhr Software
• Heysan | Acquired by Good Technology

What We Did:

• With your support, we hosted a number of great events this year, too -  featuring presenters from Nike, AT&T, Verizon, First Round Capital, Pfizer, Salesforce, Amazon, Google, FOX, CBS, and startups like SimpleGeo, Foodzie, Yowza!!, Melodis, Twilio, Boku and more.

• We launched a new invite-only event called Unplugged – bringing together the most influential people from media, entertainment, brands, agencies and gaming.

• We helped global technology and media companies (like CBS, FOX, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, AT&T, Coca-Cola and more) foster relationships and do deals with tech’s best startups.

• We connected Angels and VCs with startups, leading to Under the Radar companies raising over $450 Million in financing through 2009.

Upcoming 2010 Events:

• Strategy Series: evening round table events & mixers in LA and the Bay Area
• Unplugged: invite-only dealmaking & brainstorming event
• Under the Radar conferences – showcasing innovation in Cloud, Mobile, Entertainment, Advertising and Gaming
• View the upcoming events calendar

Annual Partner News:

Microsoft BizSpark: The program launched last year, and already has over 25,000 startups involved worldwide. Who’s involved? SoCal starts like DocStoc, AudioMicro, Loqu8, Yammer and Coveroo. Want in? You can access the BizSpark program through Dealmaker Media. Send us an email.

Gunderson Dettmer: This year they were counsel on some of the biggest deals: Admob/Google; Pure Digital/Cisco, LaLa Media/Apple and Tidal Software/Cisco, as well as public offering work for Goldman Sachs, and fundraising work for Andreessen-Horowitz.

Manatt: Manatt was named a top firm nationally in the areas of Film, Music, Theater and Television; Marketing and Advertising, for both transactions and litigation; Mergers, Acquisitions and Buyouts by The Legal 500.  The publication also named nine Manatt lawyers as being among the nation’s leading lawyers.

GRP Partners: With Mark Suster becoming one of the most active VCs in SoCal, GRP had a very active 2009 – investing in a number of startups, including GumGum, Ad.ly and more.

Clearstone Venture Partners: Staying strong in LA, they recently funded Mimosa Software, jumped into LBS with Geodelic, invested in Apture and sold Kazeon Systems to EMC.

MediaTemple: Has a busy year! They were named one of the best places to work in LA by the Los Angeles Business Journal; made the Inc. 5000 list (again!) and launched (mt) Ventures.

Thanks to our very generous 2009 sponsors were invaluable in making Dealmaker Media’s events successful…   Microsoft Bizspark, Manatt Phelps and Phillips, Gunderson Dettmer, Qualcomm Ventures, Ericsson, Nokia, RIM, Samsung, Comcast, KPPB, Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, Strategic Law Partners, Amazon, Rackspace and SalesForce, and all of our VC Circle members.

Shout-outs, Congrats and thanks to the friends of Dealmaker Media:
* Adam Hirsch, Mashable and Sharon Feder- the soon to be “power-couple” of NY’s social media world.
* Alex/Dan, Cloudkick – for landing funding AND girlfriends in 2009!
* Alison Murdock – for starting Silicon Valley Rocks – a battle of the bands for the geek community
* Allen Hurff – for starting LA’s next big success story…..investors pay attention, this is going to be huge.
* Andrew Warner, Mixergy – For becoming the “Barbara Walters” of entrepreneurship interviewers.
* Babette Pepaj, Bakespace – for seeing a sweet opportunity, and going for it!
* Bill Maris, Google Ventures – for sharing our love of bad reality TV.
* Brian Solis – for his book, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and his new book, Engage.
* Brian Zisk – for building SFMusicTech Summit, one of the top music and technology events in the bay.
* Cathy Brooks 3.0 – launching her new Storytelling company and just being awesome.
* Chris Sacca – for being able to tweet while peddling a bike and riding a chairlift.
* Chris Tolles, Topix – being a rockstar, an amazing host and great supporter of DMM
* Dan Gould – for being an active angel and advisor – and an all around stand-out guy.
* Dana Settle, Greycroft – for being the hardest working and best connected VC in LA.
* Danny Robinson, Bootup Labs – for fostering the startup community in Vancouver (while keeping tabs on the Valley)
* Dave McClure, FoundersFund – for taking geeks global.
* David Travers, Rustic Canyon – For hosting one of the coolest mixer parties for us in the water garden.
* Don Dodge – Google is so lucky to have you! Congrats.
* First Round Capital team – Sending the best xmas card video, the Mint acquisition, mom-to-be Christine Herron and great rock shows with Rob and Kent.
* Greg Grunberg/August Trometer. Yowza – winning best in show for Under the Radar and landing a deal with The Price is Right!
* Gunderson Dettmer – Jonathan/Ivan/Josh, for being the coolest lawyers in the Valley.
* Hale Boggs, Manatt – for your constant support of Dealmaker Media, and being our biggest champion, we couldn’t have done this without you.
* Ian Sometrics – For leading a killer discussion at our Unplugged event!
* Jason Nazar, Docstoc – becoming the unofficial godfather of the LA startup community.
* Jason Oberfest – Congrats on your new role at ng:moco
* Jeff Clavier – one of the most active seed investors in the Valley and your unwavering support of Dealmaker Media.
* Jeff Pulver – launching 140con, one of the best real-time conferences of 2009.
* Jeff Smith, Smule – for trying to walk in our shoes…i mean slippers.
* Jeffrey Hazelett, Kodak – for supporting the real-time movement and the influencers who are driving it.
* Larry Marcus, WaldenVC – for bringing music, tech and venture together.
* Len Brody – Congrats on Now Public getting acquired by Examiner.com
* Mark Silva, Real Branding – for leading the way for what todays? innovative ad agency should look like.
* Mark Suster, GRP Partners – Giving credibility to the LA Venture community and creating Launchpad LA.
* Matt Galligan/Joe Stump, SimpleGeo – the new faces of Silicon Valley cool.
* Matt Van Horn, Digg – being the best “connector” in silicon valley
* MediaTemple team – Thanks for hosting an off the hook party to wrap up our Startonomics LA this year.
* Microsoft Bizspark team – for the continued efforts in creating valuable tools and events for the startup community.
* Mike Jones, MySpace – congrats on joining MySpace and attracting an all-star team
* Mike Marquez, CBS Interactive – for taking a chance on us and helping launch Unplugged.
* Mike Prasad, Girlgamer – for bringing gourmet BBQ to twitter.
* Mike Sigal, Guidewire Group – for cutting the cord and building your dream company.
* Mitchell Kertzman – getting that hot new Tesla and hoping one day we’ll get a ride.
* Navin Chadda, Mayfield – voted “most likely to be a late night talk show host” (if this VC thing doesn’t work out).
* Nicole Jordan, Startup PR Guru – for giving her heart n’ soul to raising awareness of innovative founders.
* Peter Pham, Billshrink – for getting Catherine Zeta Jones to promote your startup to the world. Wow.
* Rafe Needleman, CNET and Jeremy Toeman, Stage Two – for being the best Under the Radar hosts year after year.
* Rob Gelick, CBS Interactive – for being a corporate suit who embraces innovation and can hang with startups.
* Robert Scoble – for your ongoing love, support and enthusiasm for startups.
* Robin Chan – becoming the “super-connector” between the US and China
* Ron Hirson, Boku – for reaching over 1.6 billion consumers and loving us just the way we are.
* Ryan Born, AudioMicro – For always representing the startup community and hanging out at all of our events!
* Sean Percival – for starting LaLaWag, the insiders guide to the LA tech scene, it’s a must read.
* Tim Chang, Norwest – for being a musician first and a VC second.
* Tom Beddecare, AKQA – for your long time support and not ever missing and Under the Radar event.
* Valerie Buckingham, Nokia & Gary Bolles – for putting together IdeasCamp, of the best events of 2009.
* Will Jessup, Citrusbyte – for launching the LA web developers meetup.
* William Quigley, Clearstone – being one of the first supporters of Dealmaker LA and an all round great guy.

There are plenty more all stars worth mentioning. You know who they are. Be sure to give them all a high-five at our next event. Speaking of which, here?s our  2010 Event Calendar – (more details soon!).

Stay tuned guys – more to come….. Happy holidays and Best wishes for a great 2010.

Debbie, Jasmine, Stephanie, Giselle (and Jennifer – who just went on maternity leave)