4. INTRODUCTION 4
LOS ANGELES STARTUPS
TECH + [ ]
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5. INTRODUCTION 5
WHAT DEFINES A STARTUP ECOSYSTEM?
‣ Startups
‣ Talent
‣ Investors
‣ Mentors
‣ Partners
‣ Service Providers
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6. STARTUP COMMUNITY 6
WHAT CREATES A GREAT STARTUP COMMUNITY?
Startup
Community
Physical
Human
Capital
Capital
Capital
Social
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$
7. STARTUP COMMUNITY 7
WHAT CREATES A GREAT STARTUP COMMUNITY?
Physical
Capital $ $
Human ANGEL INVESTORS VENTURE CAPITAL
Capital
Social
Capital $ $
LARGE COMPANIES RECYCLED CAPITAL
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8. STARTUP COMMUNITY 8
WHAT CREATES A GREAT STARTUP COMMUNITY?
Types of Talent
Physical
‣ Business
Capital
‣ Technical
Human
Capital
Social
Capital
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9. STARTUP COMMUNITY 9
WHAT CREATES A GREAT STARTUP COMMUNITY?
Where do they come from?
Physical
‣ Large Companies
Capital
‣ Universities
Human ‣ Non-local
Capital
Social
Capital
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10. STARTUP COMMUNITY 10
WHAT CREATES A GREAT STARTUP COMMUNITY?
Social capital refers to the economic benefit, both on
Physical an individual and community level, of social networks.
Capital
Human $ $
Capital
Social
Capital
$ $
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11. STARTUP COMMUNITY 11
WHAT CREATES A GREAT STARTUP COMMUNITY?
Benefits
Physical
‣ Connecting co-founders
Capital
‣ Connecting talent with startups
Human ‣ Connecting mentors with mentees
Capital ‣ Connecting investors with entrepreneurs
‣ Connecting businesses with customers
Social
Capital
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12. LOS ANGELES 12
STARTUPS
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13. LOS ANGELES 13
CO-WORKING SPACES
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14. LOS ANGELES 14
ACCELERATORS
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15. LOS ANGELES 15
INCUBATORS
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16. LOS ANGELES 16
EDUCATION
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17. LOS ANGELES 17
EVENTS
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18. LOS ANGELES 18
DEVELOPER MEETUPS
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19. LOS ANGELES 19
OTHER MEETUPS
Los Angeles LA Web/Mobile Startup Nights
Lean Startup Software
Circle Entrepreneurs
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20. LOS ANGELES 20
ANGELS
Tom Paige Craig Kamran Farhad
McInerney Pourzanjani Mohit
Troy Jason Brian Gil Elbaz
Carter Calacanis Lee
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21. LOS ANGELES 21
VC FIRMS
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22. LOS ANGELES 22
PRESS
Michael Carney Benjamin Kuo Ryan Lawler Lori Kozlowski
PandoDaily SoCal Tech TechCrunch Forbes.com
Amanda Coolong Andrea Chang Mark Milian
Techzulu LA Times Bloomberg
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23. GET INVOLVED 23
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
FOUNDING A
COMPANY IS THE
BEST WAY TO GET
INVOLVED
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24. GET INVOLVED 23
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
SILICON VALLEY
IS ALL THAT
MATTERS!
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25. GET INVOLVED 23
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
THE LOUDEST
PEOPLE ARE THE
SMARTEST!
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26. GET INVOLVED 23
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
TOO HARD TO
GET “IN” OR
CATCH UP
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27. GET INVOLVED 23
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
IS TOO RISKEY OF A
CAREER PATH.
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28. GET INVOLVED 23
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
NDAs -
“PEOPLE WILL
STEAL MY IDEA”
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29. GET INVOLVED 23
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
ONLY DEVELOPERS
CAN GET A GOOD
JOB AT STARTUPS.
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30. GET INVOLVED 23
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
JUST NEED A
CODER TO BUILD
MY PRODUCT.
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31. GET INVOLVED 23
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
WRITE A
BUSINESS PLAN
= GET FUNDING
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32. GET INVOLVED 24
EXAMPLES OF STARTUP JOBS
‣ Front-End Developer (CSS,HTML) ‣ Data Scientist (Hadoop, Matlab, SQL)
‣ Back-End Developer (Ruby, Python, Java) ‣ Sales (Willingness to find and follow leads)
‣ UX/UI Designer (inDesign, Photoshop)
‣ Community Management (Social Media)
‣ Product Manager (Light Front-End Developer,
Design) ‣ Operations (Customer Services, Office
Management)
‣ Business Development (Sales, Partnerships)
‣ Other roles depending on vertical
‣ Marketing/User Acquisition (Email Marketing,
Social Media, SEO, Data Analytics)
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33. GET INVOLVED 25
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A STARTUP JOB
‣ Challenge
‣ People
‣ Environment
‣ Purpose
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34. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE LOS ANGELES STARTUP COMMUNITY I DO THIS 26
DO
• Learn the lexicon and how to best position your skillset
• Make it easy for people to help you
• Think long and hard about what kinds of environments best suit you and
seek those out
• Roll up your sleeves and learn new skills
• Remain humble and figure out ways to give back to the community even
when you’re a giant success
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35. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE LOS ANGELES STARTUP COMMUNITY I DON’T DO THIS 27
DON’T
• Think everyone knows something you don’t
• Be afraid to ask for help, guidance, and introductions
• Hesitate to offer whatever it is that YOU do best
• Get discouraged
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36. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE LOS ANGELES STARTUP COMMUNITY I FIRST STEPS 28
HOW DO I GET STARTED?
ASK YOURSELF (BE HONEST):
• What am I passionate about?
• What types of environments suit me?
• What am I good at?
• What part of the tech community best matches up to my passions and
skills?
• How do I best hone these skills and communicate them to others?
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37. GET INVOLVED 29
HOW DO I GET STARTED?
ASK YOURSELF (BE HONEST):
‣ What am I passionate about?
‣ What type of environment suits me?
‣ What am I good at?
‣ What part of the tech community matches up to my passions and
skills?
‣ How do I best hone these skills and communicate them with others?
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38. GET INVOLVED 30
READING LIST
‣ VentureHacks — venturehacks.com
‣ TechMeme — techmeme.com
‣ Paul Graham — paulgraham.com
‣ Fred Wilson — avc.com
‣ Mark Suster — bothsidesofthetable.com
‣ Chris Dixon — cdixon.org
‣ PandoDaily — pandodaily.com
‣ TechCrunch — techcrunch.com
‣ Hacker News — news.ycombinator.com
‣ General Assembly — generalassemb.ly/blog
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39. GENERAL ASSEMBLY I INTRODUCTION TO THE LOS ANGELES STARTUP COMMUNITY I GO 43
GO
• Sign up for event newsletters
• Attend meet ups, happy hours, panels, and classes
• Learn how to code / design
• Check out hackathons and Startup Weekends
• Take interesting people you meet out for coffee
• Be useful – make introductions, give feedback, help people you meet, keep
an open mind
• Blog about our experiences and adventures
• Engage on Social Media
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40. GET INVOLVED! 32
FINAL TIPS
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41. GET INVOLVED! 33
FINAL TIPS
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42. GET INVOLVED! 34
FINAL TIPS
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43. GET INVOLVED! 35
FINAL TIPS
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44. INTRODUCTION TO THE LOS ANGELES STARTUP COMMUNITY 36
ATTRIBUTION
General Assembly
Sam Teller
Angel designed by Henry Ryder from The Noun Project
Thursday, February 21, 13