Why Silicon Beach Is Flourishing

Names like Tech Coast Angels, Karlin Ventures, Canyon Creek on the VC side; and Amplify, Clearstone, Launchpad and Muckerlabs on the incubator accelerator side.

From SocalTech:

“Silicon Beach, as the white-hot start up market in Santa Monica is referred to, is exploding with activity. Albeit the second fiddle to its well known uncle up north, Silicon Valley with a number of high-tech success stories to lay claim such as Google, Paypal, and Logitech, the Silicon Beach market is a fervor of action from all sides of the start up equation. Several components that make up and set the stage for a vibrant start up market to develop have to be present and strong, sort of like a perfect storm! Talent, Capital, Education and acceptance of the alternative are all conditions that have to exist and surge together in order to foster a dynamic start up environment.

Is this happening in Silicon Beach? Well let’s see…”

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LA’s Innovators Get Spotlight, But Investors Cautious

Local angel and venture investors seemed determined to avoid a repeat of the past

From SocalTech:

“The Los Angeles innovation economy is alive, well, and looks to be getting widespread recognition–finally–beyond just local high tech investors and executives, based on the turnout at an event Wednesday held by CSQ, which publishes a quarterly magazine focused on different industries (philanthropy, sports, entertainment, technology) focused on Los Angeles and Ventura County.

The magazine turned its attention this month towards the Los Angeles innovation and technology economy in a section guest edited by StartEngine co-founder Howard Marks, including a reception held Wednesday evening at the Viceroy in Santa Monica…”

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Is Silicon Beach The Next Silicon Valley? Tech Startups Flock To L.A.

Part of ROC Ventures is to provide a platform where companies, investors and universities unite to fund, back, and engineer future success stories.

From Adotas:

“Los Angeles is known for its sunshine, sand . . . and now silicon. Southern California, also known as ‘Silicon Beach’ by many, is quickly gaining a reputation for being the up-and-coming region for emerging technology startups. The area is attracting high-caliber talent and serious venture funding for tech-based startup companies looking to take their next board meeting at the beach.

Solidifying Silicon Beach’s position as the next Silicon Valley is the arrival of Google, which has moved into the avant-garde, beachfront community of Venice. Google has placed technology and sales teams inside 100,000 square feet of office space in the Binocular building, originally designed by Frank Gehry. Google is reportedly aiming to lease another 100,000 square feet of office space nearby.

Facebook also has plans to expand their presence in Southern California into a building just a few miles south of Venice…”

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Raising the Entrepreneurial Boom – Howard Marks

As wave after wave of LA’s innovative leaders make their mark by forming game-changing companies, the area once given the moniker of Silicon Beach is quietly carving its own identity.

From C-Suite Quarterly:

“The greater Los Angeles area is disparate and gigantic. There is no easy way to describe the region, its people, and its culture. Hence, negative stereotypes (the easy answers) that have come to be associated with Los Angeles must be dispelled. More important, the ludicrous assertion that Los Angeles is what Hollywood makes it out to be, is patently false. That Los Angeles is mythologized. That Los Angeles is a veneer painted on the city’s surface with the clumsy hands of a distracted world. The city that thrives beneath the false exterior, supplied by people who have never once stepped foot on LA soil, exists in such a state because it doesn’t care. Los Angeles doesn’t care that the world thinks it is full of fakers, rich rude kids, backstabbing actors, leathery nutcases, entertainment executives, surfers, soul-searchers, and immigrants. Why? Because Los Angeles is too busy being better than anyone can imagine…”

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StartEngine [web]

Silicon Beach – Best of 2012, Trends in 2013

More VC money will come down to LA as investors look to LA’s unique blend of startup culture.

From DigitalLA:

“SANTA MONICA – Our all-star startup founder panelists said LA the startup scene is very community oriented, where everyone wants to help everyone else succeed, at our Digital LA – Silicon Beach Best of 2012 panel at ROC Santa Monica. The panel featured startup founders whose companies have had a strong launch over the past year raising funding, developing key partnerships and deals, and press buzz. Pics

The seven startup founders highlighted several factors about LA’s tech ecosystem that have helped with their success in Silicon Beach…”

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DigitalLA [web]

9 Silicon Beach Office Buildings and What They Say About Their Companies

LA Weekly explains what a handful of companies’ choices in office buildings — essentially their outward projection to the world — says about their style in general.

“Since the arrival of Google in Venice last year, westside beach communities like Santa Monica, Playa Vista and others have seen an influx of tech companies, startups, investors and software businesses of all kinds burst into the neighborhood now dubbed “Silicon Beach.”

As they scramble to get a piece of what many think will be the next big boomtown, companies are snatching up all the commercial real estate they can find. But this is L.A. and appearances mean everything.

LA Weekly explains what a handful of companies’ choices in office buildings — essentially their outward projection to the world — says about their style in general…”

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LA’s Mayor Outlines Plan to Boost Silicon Beach Tech Scene

A successful start-up community would bring positive attention to L.A. and spur further job growth.

From The LA Times:

“The Los Angeles technology scene isn’t getting the respect it deserves, a situation that the city is looking to change, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday.

At an event in West L.A., Villaraigosa said that despite a boom in new start-ups, so-called Silicon Beach still suffers from perception issues and funding problems that have hindered it from reaching its potential as a major tech hub.

“We’re known as the entertainment capital in the world, but we’re not known for Silicon Beach, and that needs to change,” he told a crowd of reporters and tech enthusiasts…”

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EDGE.LA [web]
VentureBeat: LA’s Tech-focused Future [web]