opportunity__cost

May 26 2010

The best and the worst beaches in LA

Still, five of the worst beaches in the state were in L.A. County: Avalon Harbor Beach on Catalina Island, Cabrillo Beach harborside, Santa Monica Municipal Pier, Colorado Lagoon and Sunset Blvd. and PCH at Santa Ynez drain. Poche Beach in Orange County was also listed.

But a good number of local beaches earned perfect A+ scores:

Nicholas Beach at San Nicholas Canyon Creek mouth
El Pescador State Beach, between Lachusa and Los Aliso creeks
Will Rogers State Beach at Temescal Canyon drain

Santa Monica Beach at Strand St. (in front of the restrooms)
Venice City Beach at Topsail St.
Dockweiler State Beach at Imperial Hwy drain
Malaga Cove, Palos Verdes Estates
Long Point, Rancho Palos Verdes
Abalone Cove Shoreline Park
Wilder Annex, San Pedro

via laist.com

beach la los angeles santa monica

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Mar 17 2010

Starting an IT company in LA?

We’re not all about the beach and sun – although we enjoy that, too. We have started to build initiatives like Launchpad LA to help bring this community together and make it easier for first time entrepreneurs. I will talk more about LaunchPad in my next post. Basically, it doesn’t suck living and working in LA. Come join us. And for those that are here – let’s stop comparing ourselves to Silicon Valley. In Brad’s words, “Get over it.” We have much to be proud of in our own right. And still much work to be done.

via bothsidesofthetable.com

Mark rocks again. This is an awesome post about how LA is different from other places, but still provides all tools to build high tech company here. Go for it.

la los angeles mark mark suster startup suster tech

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Mar 2 2010

Why You Should Start a Company in... Los Angeles

Red-carpeted premieres, sun and beaches, smog, Pauly Shore. Okay, maybe not Pauly Shore. But let's face it, when you think of Los Angeles, Internet startups are not the first things that spring to mind.

The city has, however, quietly been home to some of the most successful online companies to date, including CitySearch (sold to Ticketmaster for $260 million in 1998), Overture (acquired by Yahoo for $2 billion in 2003), eHarmony and LowerMyBills (bought by Experian for $330 million in 2005). And that's not even counting MySpace, which Rupert Murdoch famously paid $580 million for in 2005.

The Southern California locale benefits from its easy proximity to Silicon Valley, just an hour's flight away, as well as from the many universities in the area, including Cal Tech, where Intel founder Gordon Moore went to school.

Surprisingly, Hollywood hasn't played a major role in the formation of new companies, which have tended to be in less glamorous though more lucrative areas like lead-generation and service (with obvious exceptions like JibJab and Hulu, a joint venture of Fox and NBC).

Mark Suster, a partner at GRP Partners in Los Angeles, spoke with Fastcompany.com about what makes L.A.'s startup scene so hot.

via fastcompany.com

Mark Suster tells why it could be a good idea to start a startup in LA. Mark, thank you for such a great interview!

la los angeles socal startup

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Feb 22 2010

It's the writers junction in Santa Monica, CA. While it looks like they target writers auditory, they do provide coffee, tea, printing and wireless Internet - so this sounds like a pretty good match for tech community also. 24x7, unlimited access is $140 on a 6 months commitment and $125 on 1 year contract. But they also impose one-time $75 initiation fee. However, they don't have day passes and walk-ins, and any type of commitments turn me away.

coworking los angeles santa monica shared

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Feb 22 2010

Coworking in Los Angeles

I'm currently considering a coworking space for occasional needs. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Actually, it's all driven by the cost. If I'd be lucky enough to find something similar to Mountain View's Hacker Dojo I would go with it right away. Anyways, here is what I've found so far:

Office & Company in Pasadena, CA. The closest location to my place, and probably the cheapest one. They do have drop-in rate for $25 a day, with full membership price of $350/month. If they would provide a half day for $10 or close, I'd go with them by no means.

CoLoft in Santa Monica, CA. One of the newest, I guess, and pretty interesting. The cheapest plan is 5 hours a month for $30, which is sorta okay, but still doesn't look to be within the budget. Spending 4 days a week, at least 3-4 hours a day, can end up with about 64 hours a month, and the lowest closet plan is 50 hours a month for $199. Ouch.

theOffice in Santa Monica, CA. They provide an intro rate of $149 for month and then it goes up. The limited amount of guest passes is $39 per day. I've heard that they are pretty cool, but they're rather expensive.

And finally Blankspaces in Los Angeles, CA. They are the most expensive, from what I was about to understand. However, the day rate working out of the work bar for 5 hours is only $20. Which is pretty cool.

That's all I found so far. Which is not a lot, but still an option. I'll keep an eye on the new places. And while I'd prefer beach area :) I'll be probably do fine with the central LA.

coworking hacker dojo la los angeles office shared space

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The best and the worst beaches in LA

Starting an IT company in LA?

Why You Should Start a Company in... Los Angeles

The Writers Junction

Coworking in Los Angeles

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