I love LA. There, I said it. Yes, I made my entire career and life up here in the Bay Area, and the Dodgers bother me immensely. But I was born in LA, I grew up there, and every time I get back, I get homesick for the light, the warm air, the heady nonsense, and – lately – the extraordinary business culture that’s been brewing these past five or ten years.
That culture will be well on display at NewCo LA this year – our first festival in Los Angeles, and our eighth and final festival of the year (holy shit, right?!).
More than 60 companies are opening their doors in LA, but there are only six time slots, which means I have to pick well. Here’s where I will be on November 19th. I hope to see you there as well!
9.30 am – LA River Revitalization Corp.
What?! How is this a NewCo? Well, you need to know the story of LA’s ill fated river (yes, there’s a river running through LA, or rather, there *should* be!). And what kind of a wonderful mission might it be to get that river flowing again? A very NewCo mission, indeed. I’m in. Runners up: Oblong Industries (killer demo) and Bear State Coffee (killer coffee).
Oliver Luckett is one hell of a promoter – a classic LA business success story, blending FM-style models with Hollywood agency and scaled social executions. His company is super hot, and his offices are reportedly epic. A must see. Runners up: VEEV Spirits (early to drink but still) and LA CleanTech Incubator.
1.30 pm (lots of time for traffic!) Factual
Founder Gil Elbaz has a huge mission, to inform the world through structured information. I want to see how it’s coming along. Runners up: Participant Media (major producers of film) and MediaLink (uber connectors in media and tech).
I’m very curious to learn how this Santa Monica startup, in partnership with National Geographic, managed to scale a business that supports artisans around the world. Runners up: Rubicon Project (adtech – big, public, important), and NewzCard (big new launch from the folks behind Getty Images.
Founder Jason Nazar is a pal and sold DocStoc to Intuit, which has a uncanny ear for SMB. I’ll be listening too. Runners up: GumGum and Science.
6.00 pm: Festival Party/MeetUp at Tastemade! Love that we’re going to have a party for everyone at the end of the day, thanks to TasteMade.
Join us for LA’s first ever NewCo – I’ll see you there! (You can still sign up for our VIP passes, which get you into the opening party/kickoff event downtown).
One thought on “My NewCo Los Angeles Picks”