Starting a business used to be a fairly straightforward process. It may not have been easy, but it certainly didn’t subject entrepreneurs to a deluge of competing opinions like those faced by today’s business owners. There are some persistent truths which are rarely challenged due to their successful track record in successful companies. There are also many misconceptions about starting a business.
Overall, great news for our fair city with a 25% increase in funds raised in 2013 over the year before. This last year, we saw a record high of over $1 billion raised with 200 launches and 25 successful exits which yielded $1.11 billion.
These figures, among others, indicate LA’s digital startups aren’t simply keeping pace with past years, but exceeding them.
The United States is the economic powerhouse that it is because of a culture of innovation, entrepreneurs, and the “can do” attitude that makes it so distinct. While we entertain startup strategies such as being lean or agile, it’s impossible to ignore that, for example, LA has a culture of entertainment, Nashville that of music, New York, a culture of finance and fashion, and Silicon Valley, indeed, a culture of disruptive innovation.
Be Great Partners, a Los Angeles technology incubator, has recently released a report on the startup community in LA and the information shows a positive growth for startups here in LA. Los Angeles is 3rd in the global startup ecosystem, behind Tel Aviv and Silicon Valley. 94 new startups have launched since January 2013 to June 2013 and the startup ecosystem has raised $500 million in funding in 2013 so far. The numbers are promising and even with some problems arising in LA’s startup community, LA has found ways to keep pushing through.
