Posted Mar 7, 2015, 9:51 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 3,132
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Quote:
Tech scene takes hold in revitalized downtown L.A.
Now, they're not just venturing beyond that once-unthinkable border, they're taking their companies with them. Like many Angelenos, they've become charmed by the new, revitalized downtown.
The city's vibrant geographic core, they say, is central, cool and relatively cheap, making it a logical node in the thriving L.A. tech economy that has exploded beyond its Westside confines.
For a while, tech activity downtown skewed heavily toward e-commerce, a result of being so close to the fashion district and its manufacturing facilities. Provocative online-offline retailer Nasty Gal, style website DailyLook and luxury fashion start-up StyleSaint are just a few of the brands that bolstered downtown L.A.'s visibility as a viable tech community.
But the pool has gotten larger and more diverse, particularly in the last couple of years.
By one venture capital firm's count, there are now 78 tech-oriented firms in DTLA. They encompass mobile apps, hardware, digital media and clean-tech companies plus co-working spaces, start-up incubators and other related businesses.
Some are brand-new, with just a couple of employees; others have been around for several years, such as NationBuilder, a community organizing software platform that launched in 2011 and has grown to more than 160 employees.
With tech hiring so competitive these days, executives say one of downtown's biggest benefits is the ability to cast a wider net for potential employees.
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http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...308-story.html
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