News, Business, Santa Monica, Technology

The Temperature Is Rising In Silicon Beach

Photo by Jeff Hall

Ronen Olshansky, Burton Goldfield, and Eric Sikola.

Posted Oct. 24, 2013, 8:06 am

Special To The Mirror

By Jeff Hall

The digital startup movement in Los Angeles continues at a brisk pace.  

Last month, BeGreatPartners announced it was opening nine accelerator facilities across Los Angeles and would be investing up to $6 million in local startups. BeGreat hosted a recent event at which Managing Partner Lin Miao gave a check for $25,000 to Pencils of Promise, a group that invests in educational initiatives.  

At this event, Manish Goyal from Brentwood presented “FriendBuy,” a social media-based e-commerce concept.  

At Cross Campus in Santa Monica (8th and Broadway), a recent forum on venture capital was moderated by Andrew Roman, author of “The Entrepreneurial Bible to Venture Capital.”  

Fellow panelists included Jon Kraft, a co-founder at Pandora Media, Lou Kerner of the Social Internet Fund, Mohanjit Jolly of DFJ and Paul Bricault of Greycroft.

Finding capital is like dating, suggested Lou Kerner. You can only push so fast and so hard, one needs to take the time to forge a relationship.   

“It’s a process,” added Jon Kraft. “You have to see lots of people and face lots of rejection.”

Moh Jolly said it’s important to “think big, think change the world.”  

He said many pitches he sees these days are more about features than real companies.   Building an advisory board is key, added Romans.  

The quality and energy of LA startups is “striking,” everyone agreed. The quantity of startups is apparent as well; the room was filled with wall-to-wall entrepreneurs, hungry for tidbits (and the ample food, wine and beer available).  

Another Cross Campus event, on how to create value in a company (and achieve a good selling price), focused once again on the importance of working with the right people who share the same passion and values. Burton Goldfield of TriNet and Eric Sikola of ExpenseCloud (which was just sold to TriNet) were featured speakers; Ronen Olshansky of Cross Campus moderated. Cross Campus provides co-working space and hosts events.  To learn more, go to www.crosscamp.us.

Digital Hollywood returns to the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey Oct. 21-24. This is where technology, money, and show biz converge. Panelists go over new technologies, new developments and trends in getting companies financed, with a big emphasis on the entertainment business.

Digital Hollywood is a huge event; it’s easy to feel exhausted after hanging out there for several days because it’s just

so comprehensive. It is, as the old saying goes, like drinking water out of a fire hose. For more information, visit digitalhollywood.com.