Investors, Entrepreneurs Meet in Brentwood

The Southern California Investment Forum came to Brentwood recently and presented several companies to prospective local investors. The event took place at the Luxe Hotel on Sunset. Each of these companies was seeking seed or growth capital. Alan Stone, an investor relations professional with offices in Westwood, organized the event.
eLocalListing is a Temecula-based company that provides free websites to local merchants. As part of the package, eLocalListing, headed up by Tim Judd, a top search engine optimization professional, can practically assure merchants and service providers that they will rank very high in Google search results. The service processes incoming phone calls from prospective customers; merchants and service providers are only charged when the phone rings. The company has started with one category — chiropractors — and will soon open this up to all business types. Brentwood resident Bruce Barren is advising the company on its fundraising strategies. For more information, go to:
www.elocallisting.com
Fortune Oil is run by a former Exxon executive, Jerry Bailey (president of Arabian Gulf operations), who says “there is still plenty of oil†in the United States. His company is primarily focused on opening new wells in Texas. Bailey said the demand for oil will likely continue to run high for at least another 100 years. He said “the U.S. has no energy policy†and that it makes no sense to send money overseas for oil when the solution is right beneath our feet in our own backyard. For more information, go to: www.petrofortune.com
CapitalArt recently secured the rights to thousands of previously unseen photos of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Paul McCartney, Elizabeth Taylor and other cultural icons. The company, based in Culver City, is gearing up to sell these photos to the thousands of people who hunger for more images of their idols. People are willing to pay a lot of money for these photos, which don’t cost that much to reproduce, said company spokesperson Klaus Moeller. For more information, go to:
www.CapitalArt.com
VoiceAssist provides a technology that enables users to control their various devices — cell phones, computers, tablets, etc. — by voice. This simplifies the user experience (fewer buttons to push) and makes for safer driving. A two-way speaker and microphone can be attached to a car’s sun visor and the driver, with one push of one button, turns on the device. From that point forward, all communications can be controlled by voice. Emails and even conversations can be recorded and transcribed into a text document, which can then be sent to one’s phone or laptop, according to CEO Michael Metcalf. This service costs $4.95 per month. For more information, see:
www.VoiceAssist.com
TheLatest.com is a soon-to-belaunched website that’s all about “the latest.†The key difference between TheLatest and other news and information sites is that TheLatest.com will focus only on those items that: occurred in the last 24 hours; are viewed by the site’s editors as truly important; are the types of items people will actually be talking about today. People today are drowning in information, according to CEO Jeff Hall (also publisher of this newspaper, the Brentwood News). TheLatest.com will adopt a “less is more†approach, offering “twice the scoop in half the time.†For more information, send an email to: jeffhall@thelatest.com
Elevate is a company that provides a “Geek Squad†type service that can help users with phones, security systems, computers and other electronic devices. Customers who buy the entire package qualify for big discounts over buying different services one by one from different providers. One individual from Elevate will become your ongoing representative to help you get the most out of technology. For more information, go to:
www.goelevate.com
For more information about Alan Stone & Company, go to:
www.alanstone.com