Over the past several years there have been a plethora of incubators and accelerators springing up all over southern California and particularly on the west side of Los Angeles. Along with these institutions there have been an assortment of listing, news and publication services that can keep you up to date on events that are happening around town.
Should you subscribe to Digita LA or TechZulu or SoCalTech you will see that there is some kind of networking event, panel discussion or fast pitch taking place practically everyday of the week. Venture is driven by relationships and these are great places to hear new ideas and meet investors, although probably not the best place to whip out your business plan.
While you can certainly hand out your business card, and hopefully receive one in return – providing the VC hasn’t “run out” – that is no guarantee they will read your business plan when you follow up the next day or even schedule a meeting with you. Typically, to sit down with an investor you have to be vetted through their network and have an idea that meets their investment criteria, which is typically fairly rigorous. When I was at Kline Hawkes & Co we would receive approximately 1,500 business plans a year meet with about 200 of them and invest in about four.
How you get referred into these shops is a subject for another post. I can certainly help make an introduction, but you should do your homework first and figure out which accelerator, incubator or VC would be best suited for your big idea.
Here is a list of useful resources to help you in your search:
News & Resources
Networking, Events & Community
LAVA (Los Angeles Venture Association)
Employment/Development Resources
Directory Listing
From The Venture Trenches 