Remove CIO Remove Invest Remove Sales Remove Southern California
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Ryan Blair, HashtagOne: From Gang Member, To Entrepreneur, To Anti-VC

socalTECH

He eventually founded and sold consumer health firm ViSalus to a public company and is now back making investments, in technology companies, as a venture capitalist here at Los Angeles-based HashtagOne (www.hashtagone.com). What's the theme of your investments? That's why we have investments in Heal, Saucey, and FragMob.

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Want to Start a Technology Company in LA?

Both Sides of the Table

LA generally doesn’t have an appetite for this kind of investment at early stages. So it’s always a trade-off. You can hire a talented head of marketing, business development, technology and sales. You need to for conferences, business development and often for sales. LA investors are more pragmatic.

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Can You Really Build a Great Tech Firm Outside Silicon Valley?

Both Sides of the Table

When you’re one fund and have $600 million to invest it’s easier to take that kind of risk. My fund – at $200 million – is the largest in Southern California. I meet with Bay Area entrepreneurs all the time and am actively looking to make investments there. Hit some bumps in the road?