This year was filled with pivots, pauses and restarts for L.A.'s tech and startup world. In our first year of chronicling it (we officially launched January27th), our most-read stories reflect the strangeness of 2020, and go some way in predicting some big questions for 2021. From gaming to biotech, movies to music, and transportation to education, the shifts have been dramatic. Where will we be when the dust settles from this year? As we head into our second year, we'll keep a close eye on the trends that have transformed some of L.A.'s core industries.
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#1: Bird's Botched Layoffs
The early days of the pandemic, as companies scrambled to shore up cash and preserve their business, provided a number of examples of how to handle a crisis. L.A.-based scooter unicorn Bird, sadly, provided the world a lesson in how not to do it, calling over 400 employees into a glitchy virtual chat and summarily dismissing them all in a two-minute, no-question call that left employees feeling baffled, humiliated and betrayed. In a post that went viral, dot.LA spoke with employees and obtained a recording of the call.
#2: Ageism and Women in the Workplace
"When you're older you get discredited and when you're younger you get discredited." Our virtual discussion on how ageism affects women in the workplace struck a nerve with readers. Inclusology founder Cheryl Ingram, PhD and Cue Career founder Heather Wetzler discussed strategies for women to employ at every stage of their careers, and tools that companies can use to combat workplace discrimination.
#3. The Twentysomething Who Built LA's COVID Testing Response
Interest in our profile on Fred Turner, the 25-year-old college dropout who founded of Curative Inc., gathered over the course of the year, as more people became personally familiar with the testing system he helped deploy at Dodger Stadium and throughout the city (and, eventually, the country). "We are a strange company because our goal is to essentially put ourselves out of business," Turner told dot.LA at the time. Sadly, his startup has only grown since we published the story.
#4. The Rise and Collapse of LA's $164M Cannabis Startup
The killing of a well-connected Russian investor and the missteps of the twenty-something U.S. executives he hired to run his $164 million cannabis empire made for one of the most compelling stories we published this year. dot.LA spoke to dozens of former employees, as well as state and national law enforcement, to bring readers this 5-part series on the collapse of the Genius Fund.
#5. The Tech Startups Poised to Reshape How Music is Made
#6. Where Celebrities Meet the Gig Economy
Cameo CEO Steven GalanisIn 2020, CEO Steven Galanis moved from Chicago to L.A. with a number of his Cameo cohorts. The app has increasingly found itself at the intersection of two mega-trends: the growth of gig work and the rise of the influencer economy. Social media stars have been leveraging their massive audiences and forcing the advertising industry — so often fixated on TV, film and sports celebrities — to take notice. Our profile of Galanis and his company revealed a world of celebrities eager to take hold of their audiences — and monetize them.
#7. The Investors Who Remained Unfazed
When the pandemic brought the economy to a standstill in March, many L.A. entrepreneurs found themselves staring down a frightening future. But investors were still spending. Inspired by a LinkedIn post from Luma Launch partner Laurent Grill, dot.LA published a list of local investors still looking to fund great ideas. The resulting post took off and so did the dealmaking.
#8. FAANG Reimagines LA Real Estate
Among the trends that have reshaped L.A. during the pandemic has been the rapid rise of streaming services and the equally stunning shift in audience habits for movies and TV. As the world emerges from the pandemic in 2021, it will find Netflix, Google and other FAANG companies have gobbled up real estate — especially on the Westside, where Netflix alone is poised to occupy 10% of commercial real estate by 2023.
#9. Sketchy's Product Plans and Edutainment's Rapid Rise
In 2020, Sketchy Medical grew from a cult startup that helped medical students efficiently memorize clusters of information into an edtech darling, with big raises, a new CEO lured from Disney and plans to leverage its foothold in education technology into a full-blown media empire that aims to make remote learning more effective and far more entertaining. Its story parallels the incredible disruption taking place in schools and homes globally, as parents, teachers and school districts confront the pandemic and rethink how education can happen.
#10. Karma's IPO Push and Electric Cars' Banner Year
dot.LA got the scoop on luxury electric car company Karma's moves to go public via SPAC, but it was far from the only SoCal electric vehicle startup to do so. In the wake of Tesla's turbocharged stock market rise, Canoo, Fisker, Xos, Envoy and many others sought their own IPOs or raised massive rounds. It's a trend we'll be watching closely as California ramps up its plans to go fossil fuel free by 2035.
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Similar programs are common in the startup world and in the creator economy. For example, social media companies can use accelerator programs not only to support rising stars but to lure those creators—and their audiences—to the company’s platforms. Genies believes avatars will be a crucial part of the internet’s future and is similarly using its program to encourage creators to launch brands using Genies’ platform.
“I think us being able to work hands on with this next era—this next generation of designers and entrepreneurs—not only gets us a chance to understand how people want to use our platform and tools, but also allows us to nurture those types of creators that are going to exist and continue to build within our ecosystem,” said Allison Sturges, Genies’ head of strategic partnerships.
DIY Collective’s initial cohort will include roughly 15 people, Sturges said. They will spend three weeks at the Genies headquarters, participating in workshops and hearing from CEOs, fashion designers, tattoo artists and speakers from other industries, she added. Genies will provide creatives with funding to build brands and audiences, though Sturges declined to share how much. By the end of the program, participants will be able to sell digital goods through the company’s NFT marketplace, The Warehouse. There, people can buy, sell and trade avatar creations, such as wearable items.
Genies will accept applications for the debut program until Aug. 1. It will kick off on Aug. 8, and previous experience in digital fashion and 3D art development is not required.
Sturges said that the program will teach people “about the tools and capabilities that they will have” through Genies’ platform, as well as “how to think about building their own avatar ecosystem brands and even their own audience.”
Image courtesy of Genies
Founded in 2017, Genies established itself by making avatars for celebrities from Rihanna to Russell Westbrook, who have used the online lookalikes for social media and sponsorship opportunities. The 150-person company, which has raised at least $250 million to date, has secured partnerships with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to make avatars for each music label’s entire roster of artists. Former Disney boss Bob Iger joined the company’s board in March.
The company wants to extend avatars to everyone else. Avatars—digital figures that represent an individual—may be the way people interact with each other in the 3D virtual worlds of the metaverse, the much-hyped iteration of the internet where users may one day work, shop and socialize. A company spokesperson previously told dot.LA that Genies has been beta testing avatar creator tools with invite-only users and gives creators “full ownership and commercialization rights” over their creations collecting a 5% transaction fee each time an avatar NFT is sold.
“It's an opportunity for people to build their most expressive and authentic self within this digital era,” Sturges said of avatars.
The company’s call for creators could be a sign that Genies is close to rolling out the Warehouse and its tools publicly. Asked what these avatar tools might look like, the startup went somewhat quiet again.
Allison Sturges said, “I think that's probably something that I'll hold off on sharing. We will be rolling some of this out soon.”
- Bob Iger, Former Disney CEO, Joins Avatar Startup Genies - dot.LA ›
- Genies Raises $150 Million To Make Avatars For The Metaverse ... ›
