

Does anyone in Los Angeles have a startup mentality? Ahhhhh.... - iamyoohoo

I'm having a hard time connecting with fellow hackers/entrepreneurs or wannabe entrepreneurs in Los Angeles. The mentality of most people is to do a day job if they are programmers. No one in tech has a startup mentality - does everyone have that problem where you are? Looks like a move to the valley seems imminent.....
======
bootload
" _... I'm having a hard time connecting with fellow hackers/entrepreneurs or
wannabe entrepreneurs in Los Angeles. The mentality of most people is to do a
day job if they are programmers. No one in tech has a startup mentality ..."_

Move

... or startup a startup group in LA to let like minded people clump. We've
had one just start in au, melb (artichoke end of the startup world) around
twitter. A twitter channel was created, MTUB (Melbourne Twitter Underground
Brigade, <http://twitter.com/mtub> ), broadcast to people living in melb and
the clumpiness began ...

\- <http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/258693>

\- <http://www.flickr.com/photos/byte/sets/72157601494320939/>

\- [http://benbarren.blogspot.com/2007/06/mtub1-when-friends-
fol...](http://benbarren.blogspot.com/2007/06/mtub1-when-friends-followers-
become.html)

I don't think this is an uncommon problem. You just have to know where to
look. A bit like at school, the computer lab, chess club or D&D groups.

Any chess clubs in LA?

~~~
iamyoohoo
Tried that - attended a lot of local tech groups as well. However, people seem
to have their weekends busy with "stuff" here. That's the bad part of being in
LA, there is a lot of "life" here and hence erodes into your time - difficult
to get focused people.

~~~
bootload
_"... That's the bad part of being in LA, there is a lot of "life" here and
hence erodes into your time ..."_

Sunny weather syndrome. who wants to be a hermit when it's nice day? That's
one plus to geography. If you live in a place (higher lats/longs) where it
gloomy "in-doors" weather for a part of the year you don't have a choice but
to concentrate-hard on things.

 _"... difficult to get focused people ..."_

Don't really have any answers to this other than Linda Stone's _"Attention:
The 'Real' Aphrodisiac"_ talk. You might be able to use your situation to your
advantage ~ "<http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail739.html>

------
chadboyda
Have you tried attending any of the tech networking events in LA? There is a
strong, small, but growing tech / startup community in LA. If you haven't
attended Twiistup, Lunch 2.0, LA Web App Meetup, or Los Angeles Open Coffee
Club, etc. than I would suggest you start there. But there are definately
people with the 'startup mentality'.

It's no valley, that's for sure, but there are those of us in the trenches
working full time on our startups in LA. Don't give up!

~~~
mhartl
I second chadboyda's comment. There's a real sense of excitement about an
emerging startup scene in LA, especially on the Westside (Santa Monica,
Venice, etc.); you just have to get out there and mix it up. (I've been to
both Twiistups, and I've added the other events endorsed by chadboyda to my
list.)

In this vein, I'd be happy to meet with any Hacker News readers in the LA
area. My background and contact info can be found via my profile page.

~~~
iamyoohoo
I've attended the last Twistup, I've also attended the last couple of geek
dinners. And - yes, I live in Venice. There are very few people that are
genuinely interested and most want to do it part time to see where it goes
(they don't have the courage to give up the cube).

I even started the startup weekend organization in LA
(startup.eventbrite.com). There are 32 signups - however only 3 developers of
which 2 I know.

I did connect with a couple of people, but they seem so busy with their
personal lives and don't seem to have that burst needed to go all the way. We
started a small project on labor day weekend and the next day one of them
replied with "it's too hot so I can't concentrate". And this is on our second
day !!!

~~~
zach
That's cool. I've been to one of the geek dinners before I acquired a
commitment on Tuesdays and it seems like over the course of this year things
have really improved. I saw recently that an OpenCoffee Club started up over
the summer and I'm looking forward to going to that too.

Zach - LA Life <http://www.lalife.com/>

------
geebee
The first startup I ever worked for was in LA - a film compositing software
company. The scene isn't nearly as big as silicon valley, of course, but I
wouldn't be surprised if tech startups related to the film industry are more
common in LA.

It's a cool area, too, especially if you have a math background. Plus, you can
get academy awards :) The founder of the company I worked for had three, and
another dude I worked with had one. Of course, these are the sci&tech ones,
not the ones you see on TV. But they do send a cute actress to host it.

One thing I'd say in favor of LA - the entertainment industry may be hard
driven, but they sure do reward talent. If you rock on the tech side, there is
trememdous opportunity.

------
chengmi
I wonder if any ad hoc teams have been funded through yc. And if so, how many?
Most (all?) of the startups I know have had founders who met in college or had
otherwise worked together previously.

~~~
iamyoohoo
Maybe pg can answer your specific question, however, Ideally you should work
on some small projects with your co-founder before you proceed full scale.
Usually you'll find out within a few weeks if the cofounder gels well with
you. Sometimes (as i found out soon enough), there is a conflict of interest,
some people are more dedicated than others etc. Hence, it is always better to
work with someone on small projects before you start a company or even apply
to YC.... that's what I think.

~~~
chengmi
Agreed. I've known my co-founder for ten years!

In "A Student's Guide to Startups," pg writes:

Most of the questions people ask Y Combinator we have some kind of answer for,
but not the co-founder question. There is no good answer. Co-founders really
should be people you already know. And by far the best place to meet them is
school. You have a large sample of smart people; you get to compare how they
all perform on identical tasks; and everyone's life is pretty fluid. A lot of
startups grow out of schools for this reason. Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft,
among others, were all founded by people who met in school. (In Microsoft's
case, it was high school.)

------
staunch
It's definitely not the worst place to do a startup, but it's only a few
hundred miles from the best place. I'm not going to work in LA ever again
myself.

~~~
iamyoohoo
Since you've been at both places, can you do a quick compare ...

~~~
staunch
Entertainment is the focus of the LA. Everything and everyone there supports
that. Technology is the focus of The Bay Area. Everything and everyone
supports that. The Silicon Valley is for tech geeks what Hollywood is for
entertainment geeks.

------
webwright
There's always Seattle, my friend. Mild and sunny summers, nearby skiing in
the winters, ocean, mountains, etc.... AND a lively startup community.

~~~
iamyoohoo
Thanks - but I guess I'd move to the valley if I decide to. You can feel the
startup vibe in the air there - I can still smell it :)

------
dappelbaum
Yeah, I do.

~~~
colortone
i don't know if you can trust this dappelbaum character

;-)

Viva Hollyweird

~~~
dappelbaum
Hey colortone be nice I work 4 u

------
green
I do. :-)

~~~
iamyoohoo
my email is iamyoohoo AT yahoo dot com - if you want to connect ...

