This month, Built In Los Angeles will be featuring some “hot” startups across the various neighborhoods that, although may feel like different worlds at times, make up LA’s budding digital ecosystem. To recommend a startup or district of LA that deserves some love, email [email protected].
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While working at CNET in 2005, Isaac Garcia and Arnulf Hsu co-founded Central Desktop to help companies share information across team members and manage projects. It all stemmed from a project in which Garcia was helping Microsoft launch Windows Marketplace in 14 countries and realized that even Microsoft even struggled with team and project collaboration. So Garcia and Hsu left their jobs, each invested $7,500 and set off to solve this problem.
Now Central Desktop has raised a bit more cash than that original $15,000, allowing it to serve thousands of customers, including American Red Cross and CareerBuilder; VP of Marketing Linda Souza sat down with Built In LA to tell the tech community about their upcoming plans and why the team loves Pasadena.
Why they do what they do: “We want to help people work together in ways they never imagined possible,” Souza said. “Our collaboration platform for marketers and agencies connects people and information in the cloud, making it possible to share files, build knowledge, inspire ideas, manage projects and more. People are no longer chained to their desks or confined to specific physical locations or equipment. They can control their work instead of letting the work control them.”
The numbers: 2,200 paying businesses use CentralDeskop. 60 employees. $6 million in total funding.
What they are working on right now: Souza said to stay tuned in 2014 for “some really innovative product initiatives the whole team is excited about” relating to solving day-to-day problems that marketers within major brands face.
Their Pasadena digs: Although the team has a product and engineering office in Irvine, they are headquartered in Pasadena close to Old Town Pasadena and the Rose Bowl with a “fairly energetic and fun” space complete with giant Jenga and chalkboard walls. Their Pasadena startup neighbors include OpenX, Perfect Market and Punchcard.
