Los Angeles is known as the city of dreams. The glitz and glamour of Hollywood are often assumed to be the only attraction of the town of sunny climes. This, however, is not the truth. New York, London, Berlin, and Seattle have all been outranked by Los Angeles, and the city has been deemed as a high-ranking startup ecosystem extensive research published by Startup Genome.
The Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv alone have been rated higher for optimum characteristics required for the successful launch of businesses. The aspects of easy access to capital, the broad market size and expanding talent pool are few things to mention. LA has become the space-center for launching trailblazing startups such as Hulu and Maker Studios, LegalZoom, and Beach Mint.
These success stories arouse curiosity and attraction about the city. Here is our take on the reasons behind the glory of Los Angeles.
Accessibility of dreams
One can’t doubt the fact that LA is the American city where no desires are beyond grasp. It is the land where the big ideas are seen, hear, and if handed to the right people, could become a groundbreaking reality.
The Hollywood vibe of living in a glossy-paged magazine and the high-end life of spas and business mergers add up to the LA spirit. The unbelievable access to the entertainment industry, presence of luxury brands, and living along with the abundance of distribution companies, equipment, and production teams all make the city surreal enough to be one’s imagination. When entertainment channels such as the Machinima are centered in a town, the success of startups could only follow suit.
For those who do not know Machinima, it is an entertainment channel for the age bracket of 18-34, it is the Hollywood dream encapsulated in a view. The channel has over 200 million gamers in association and viewing their 17.5 billion videos. Such gigantic figures could cause a ruckus in the earlier days.
Celebrity Galore
From Kim Kardashian West’s ShoeDazzle to Jessica Alba’s Honest Co; LA has all the residents that would blowup tabloids and boost any new business. In a city where any publicity is good publicity, any company would kill to have Idris Elba or Chris Hemsworth on at the table instead of a Paypal billionaire or a team of learned engineers from a university as Stanford. The association of Thor would bring far more financial support due to the celebrity-endorsed publicity. The success of Kylie Jenner’s cosmetic line is definite proof of how a celebrity face could amass millions. Alternatively, a closer inspection of ShoeDazzle is another prime example of the case of celebrity endorsement boosting business.
ShoeDazzle is a subscription-based ecommerce venture that brings the luxury of Beverly Hills to the kingdom of sweatpants and baggy tee shirts. The brand has appointed Kim Kardashian West as a chief fashion stylist. Everything else is right in front of you.
The Real Shark Tank
Los Angeles has a long list of angel investors like Mike Jones (the former CEO of Myspace) at Science, Troy Carter (Lady Gaga’s manager), Chris Sacca at Lowercase are all people with thick wallets who are looking for audacious and ardent talents. Brian Lee is another attorney turned entrepreneur that invest in up and coming businesses and helps them cash up. The former CIO from Google, Douglas Merrill decided to relocate to Los Angeles and made over $73 billion from the LA-based partners for his startup, ZestCash.
Teamwork makes the dream work
Los Angeles is the city of many, multi-star teams such as UCLA, USC, JPL, and Caltech that are geek fish in the pond of high investment startups. Digital LA’s Kevin Winston has created the most extensive organization network for the digital entertainment industry.
The addition to co-working and hackerspaces along with consulting firms, events for startup capital and also monthly breakfast series all add up to create an interactive hive of ideas that boom. LA digital marketing is another world of its own. The use of SEO and Social Media has brought many Los Angeles based startups to light.
The sunny climes and sandy beaches
There is no denial in the beauty of Los Angeles’ weather. The sun, palm trees, and sea breeze make L.A the optimal location for anyone sick of the gray winters or muggy heat of June. The weather plays an integral part in celebrity settlements in the city. Why do you think would Jared Leto settle in the warm town of beaches, beers, and business?
The takeaway
At present, Los Angeles is the ideal place for any startup, regardless of entertainment or ecommerce. The city has easy access to capital, multiple avenues to pitch your ideas, and an abundance of celebrities from silver screen to social media. All you need is to immerse yourself into the dreamy LA spirit, and you are all good to go!d!
About the Author:
Alma Causey is a Freelance writer by day and sports fan by night. She writes about tech education and health related issues. Live simply, give generously, watch football and a technology lover.
