Bloomberg’s Emily Chang on Solving Tech’s Diversity Problem

Spencer Rascoff

Spencer Rascoff serves as executive chairman of dot.LA. He is an entrepreneur and company leader who co-founded Zillow, Hotwire, dot.LA, Pacaso and Supernova, and who served as Zillow's CEO for a decade. During Spencer's time as CEO, Zillow won dozens of "best places to work" awards as it grew to over 4,500 employees, $3 billion in revenue, and $10 billion in market capitalization. Prior to Zillow, Spencer co-founded and was VP Corporate Development of Hotwire, which was sold to Expedia for $685 million in 2003. Through his startup studio and venture capital firm, 75 & Sunny, Spencer is an active angel investor in over 100 companies and is incubating several more.

Bloomberg’s Emily Chang on Solving Tech’s Diversity Problem

Emily Chang is a best-selling author and host and executive producer of Bloomberg Technology. Earlier this year, she made waves with her book “Brotopia," an expose on how sexism became pervasive in Silicon Valley, despite its utopian ideals. Drawing on interviews with some of tech's biggest names, Emily shines a bright light on a big problem. In this episode, Emily joins Spencer at Zillow Group's San Francisco office to discuss her inspiration for the book, how the tech community got to this point and what we can do about it.


Press Play to hear the full conversation or check out the transcript below. You can also subscribe to Office Hours on Apple Podcasts and PodcastOne.

Spencer Rascoff: Good to see you all. I'm here with Emily Chang. Hello, Emily. Welcome.

Emily Chang: Hi. Thank you so much for having me. I'm happy to be here.

Rascoff: I'm excited to have you here as a guest and turn the tables. You're usually interviewing me, and I now finally get to interview you.

Chang: It's payback time.

Rascoff: So, let's take a step back and talk about the writing journey of why you decided to write this book, when you started, and what that research and writing process was like, and then we'll jump into some of the themes and discoveries from it.

Chang: Yeah, so, I anchor a daily show on Bloomberg Television, and that's been going on for eight years now, and when we first launched the show, my focus was getting people like you to come on, which wasn't always so easy. Now I think we've gotten there, but you know, over time, I sort of started asking more questions of my guests. “Well, what are you doing about this?" I mean, the tech industry has such a grave inequality, but no one was talking about it. I mean, women hold 25 percent of technical jobs across the board. They account for seven to eight percent of venture investors, and companies that are run by women get just two percent of funding. This is an industry that calls itself a meritocracy, and I highly doubt that women have just two percent of good ideas.

Rascoff: And when you were starting to focus on this, though, the world was not talking about it. This was before Me Too, before Time's Up.

Chang: These questions were very politically incorrect and they made people uncomfortable, which is why I didn't feel like I could ask them initially. And when I did, people would give the sort of politically correct answer, and then they would get off the set and then they would spill it. And so I knew that there was so much more there. And then at the end of 2015, I was interviewing one particular investor, who I talk about in Chapter 5 — very prominent, very successful investor — and they had no women in their US business at the time. And I said, “What are you doing to hire women? What do you think your responsibility is?" And he said, “Oh, well we're looking very hard, and I think we're completely blind to gender, race, sexuality — but, what we're not prepared to do is to lower our standards." And this was on television. And I know some people think that, but they don't normally say it on television. And that was sort of my Time's Up moment. And let's put aside what he said. Maybe it was a flip comment. Let's judge them on their actions. In 44 years, this firm did not hire a single woman investor.

This is an industry that styles itself as a place where anyone can succeed and, you know, my — that it's a sort of modern utopia where anyone can change the world and anyone can make their own rules. I think that can be true if you're a man. But if you're a woman, it's incomparably harder.

Rascoff: Okay. It's depressing, but we're going to change all that, and actually the fact that we're even talking about this, which would have been almost unheard of two or three years ago, is a start. So as you — what surprised you most as you started researching this at companies? I mean, you uncovered some awful, awful things — Harvey Weinstein-type awful. Was that surprising to you or, I mean, what was the most surprising aspect of the research?

Chang: And by the way, the book is — you know, it can be a hard read, but there are bright spots, there are villains, but there are also heroes. And so it's not entirely all depressing, and there's also concrete takeaway —

Rascoff: And there's solutions. And we're going to talk about solutions, yeah.

Chang: And things you can do. But yes, I was surprised, and especially with the behavior on the venture capital side where, you know, deals are done in one-on-one meetings, in one-on-one spaces and just how many women were so often put in these very uncomfortable positions. You know, after Susan Fowler's blog post came out, I had 12 women engineers over at my home for dinner who worked at a range of companies, big and small — Google, a couple of them worked at Uber — and you know, they're telling me about getting invited to strip clubs and bondage clubs in the middle of the day, and they felt like they couldn't say no. Or they were put in this position of, “Well, do I go and be part of whatever work conversations happen or do I not go and then I'm excluded from those conversations?" You know, I do think those are the more extreme and egregious examples, and the even bigger problem is the sort of systemic discrimination that creeps into every space simply because women are so outnumbered in this industry. And so they are often the only woman in a room over and over and over again. And they describe it as having to do this sort of constant emotional labor that they don't get credit for, which is like an entire second job that men don't have to do.

Rascoff: What do you mean by emotional labor?

Chang: Well, it's sort of feeling like they have to prove themselves over and over again, that people are sort of doubting why they're there, you know, fighting against these microaggressions that, again, it's things that are difficult to pinpoint and call out and say, “Hey, I'm being mansplained." Like, that sounds kind of odd, but it sort of wears on them. And I think that is the bigger problem. I mean, this is an industry that has been so male-dominated for so long that it can be difficult to sort of break that up and start fresh

Rascoff: And one of the things I was surprised by in the book was it wasn't always this way. At the beginning of technology, it was a much more equitable world in tech. So, describe what you found during your research.

Chang: When you go back to the '40s and '50s, women actually played a huge role in the computing industry. Men were primarily the hardware makers, but women were pretty well-represented among software programmers. And they were programming computers for the military and programming computers for NASA, and it literally was “Hidden Figures" but industrywide. And then in the '60s and '70s, as the tech industry was starting to explode, they were so desperate for new programmers that they started doing these personality tests and aptitude tests to identify them. And the makers of these tests decided that good programmers “don't like people." Which makes a lot of sense, right? There's no research to support the idea that people who don't like people are better at this job than people who do, and generally, more men fit into that category, I will say. And this stereotype shut out more than half the population, and these tests were used for decades by companies as big as IBM.

Rascoff: Well, and there's still — you can argue they're not tests, necessarily, but they're still sort of used today in the way a lot of interviewing gets done.

Chang: Exactly, and so it — these tests basically solidified this sort of antisocial, mostly white male nerd stereotype that persists to this day, and then it got repeated in movies and popular culture. And, people sort of think, oh, you know, “Revenge of the Nerds," they created this stereotype, when in fact they were just repeating what they saw in the industry already. And so my argument is that the tech industry created its own pipeline problem. In 1984, women were earning 37 percent of computer science degrees. That has since plummeted to 18 percent where it's been flat for the last decade. And you see the same sort of trend with tech jobs.

Rascoff: And in medicine, for example, it's been quite the opposite.

Chang: It's been the opposite. And actually the implementation of Title IX in the '70s had the opposite effect in law and medicine, where women started charging into these fields and lowering the barriers to entry, but tech actually raised the barriers to entry. And you see the same sort of stereotypes and perception repeated to this day. Case in point, James Damore at Google, who wrote that viral memo where he argued that men are biologically more suited to this job than women, and he was just repeating the same sort of hostile, you know, mythical stereotype that those early programming tests perpetuated.

Rascoff: And yet I thought some of the responses to that were spot on where they talked about actually the importance of empathy, that what engineers are doing, what product people do, is they're trying to solve other people's problems. So, actually empathy is very important.

Chang: Absolutely. I mean, there's a great argument to be made that we need people who like people and care about people to be doing these jobs as well, but, you know, that overall we should have people of a variety of backgrounds building products that billions of people around the world are using. I mean, this is an industry — you guys are building the future. You're changing the way we live our lives, and so it makes zero sense for 95 percent of the decisions to be made by white men.

Rascoff: So, I think we can all agree that some of the things that you discuss here, whether it's the cuddle puddles (which is a term I'd never heard before I read your book and I never want to hear again) or, you know, VCs asking entrepreneurs to pitch them their business idea in a hot tub. I mean, these are obviously gross and inappropriate and disgusting.

Chang: I'm glad you think so.

Rascoff: But the more subtle forms of discrimination or things that impact employee engagement — let's discuss why diversity and inclusion is important. Like, what are the business outcomes that get changed if you have a more diverse set of people forming these decisions and building these products?

Chang: So, I fully believe that if we had, you know, more diverse teams create better products, make more money, are more innovative, and research proves that out. But just saying that can kind of fly over people's heads. So, I interviewed Ev Williams, for example, the founder of Twitter — co-founder of Twitter, and I asked him, “If you had more women on the early Twitter team, designing early Twitter, do you think online harassment and trolling would be such a problem?" And he was like, “You know what, I don't think it would be. We weren't thinking about that at all when we were building Twitter. We were thinking about all the wonderful and amazing things that could be done with it, not how it could be used to send death threats or how it could be used to send rape threats." And, you know, facial recognition technology is already a little bit sexist and a little bit racist and doesn't recognize women and people of color as easily as it does white men. And so I think, well, if women had had a seat at the table 10, 20, 30 years ago, maybe the internet would be a friendlier place, maybe video games would not be so violent, maybe porn wouldn't be so ubiquitous. And so I think there's an incredibly compelling business case here that this can impact product and product design, and you — you know, I know that you guys at Zillow are really focused on this and, you know, for the first time, you've added some pretty innovative information to your listings that has never been done before, right?

Rascoff: This is the Trulia LGBTQ protections. So, a round of applause, by the way, because this team built it.

[Applause]

Rascoff: Yeah, I mean, some other examples, I mean, Uber being built really without passenger or driver safety features, which now they're scrambling to roll out, I mean, probably if more women had been involved in the creation of Uber, perhaps it would have occurred to somebody that some of these people are going to do bad things to riders or to drivers.

Chang: I mean, it is astonishing that this is a company that's been around for almost a decade now and that only now are they thinking about these things. And actually it's so much harder when you are already at scale to go backwards and try to fix what is broken, which is why, you know, it's so much better if you start thinking about these things really early on, and then it's just easier as you go. And I hear from people so often, “Well, it's so hard; it takes so much time to find more diverse candidates." And you know, my answer is, “Well, this will save you time in the long run."

Rascoff: When we first launched Zillow almost 10 years ago, our idea was to turn on the lights and set all this real estate information free — what people paid for their home, what homes were worth, et cetera. And part of that information set is the owner of the home. And so it was very natural for us to consider putting the owner's name on every home, 100 million homes in America. And we were getting ready to do that. Lloyd Frank, our vice chairman, and I thought this was a terrific idea. This is “set information free." And Kristin Acker, who's SVP of product and also very involved here in this office at Trulia, she said, “That's a terrible idea. There are stalkers out there that are going to use Zillow to figure out where their ex-wife lives and bad things are going to happen. And the first time someone gets raped or killed because they were able to find that information out through our site, that's going to be a really awful day." And having — in that case, it was gender diversity in the room and just give that totally different perspective was really valuable, and it allowed us to, I think, make the right product decision.

Okay, let's talk solutions and then we're going to ask — I'm going to ask you some questions that some of our employees submitted through Slack. What can we do about all this? We as a company, we as a society, you know, what's the answer?

Chang: So, first of all, I think change needs to come from the top, and we need CEOs and investors to make this a priority. And so that's why I'm so glad that you invited me here, I'm so glad you're talking about this, I'm so glad you're willing to admit the mistakes. And there are people in the book who are willing to talk about the things that they did wrong, and that's so important. Like, we all have biases, right? Whether you're the CEO or a product designer, you know, we all come at problems based on our own life experience, no matter what that might be, and I think we just need to recognize that.

If you just focus on raising awareness about bias, however, it's not necessarily going to have a huge impact. If you give people tools to combat their bias, that can have a big impact. So, whether that is, you know, not even starting an interview process until you have two female candidates and two candidates of color, or diversifying your recruiting team, or structuring your interview process so you're asking everyone the same questions rather than doing this sort of free-form thing where you sort of tailor the questions to, you know, who they are and, you know, that can obviously lead to bias because if someone looks “the part," you're going to ask them different questions than if someone doesn't look the part.

It's not just about hiring, though. It's about retention and progression and creating a culture where everybody can thrive. And so women are twice as likely to leave tech as men, and they're leaving, you know, 12 years into their career, which could be at this huge inflection point where they've got some real experience and could sort of skyrocket up, but at the same time, you know, they're having this sort of moment of, “Well, am I really feeling valued here?" And there's this perception that women leave because they have families or they're leaning back in their careers, but actually they're going to jobs in other fields. And so, you know, we need to make sure that you're not losing the women that you have. And so that's about creating a culture where everyone can feel included and comfortable and a place where they can be themselves.

And so it's — you know, I talked about structuring the interview process, but structuring review and feedback systems. Slack is an example in the book. Their motto is work hard and go home. They're like, “We're trying to hire adults here, not just kids out of college," and they're very focused on making sure that people can sustain careers over a long life. This is a super competitive industry. You know, talent — it's a war for talent. And so you don't want people just hanging around for a year and a half, you want them for as long as you can have them. And so there are so many things that I think also individuals can do, and I think we all need to listen better, we need to be having these conversations. I know they might make people feel a little bit uncomfortable. I kind of think that's a good thing right now to raise awareness.

And you know, I'm so grateful for the women who have spoken up over the last year and the collective courage that they have summoned, but this this is not just on women. This is on all of us, men too, and so if you see someone — I mean, I think mentorship and advocacy is so important. I know that's really important to you guys here. But if you see someone being interrupted or you see someone not getting an opportunity, call that out. It can be a lot easier for you to do it as a bystander or a witness than for the victim to say, “Hey, I'm being mansplained. Can you stop that, please?" So I just think there's so much that, sort of, we all can do to help each other on this to get to a better place.

Rascoff: Where we started on this journey, we, at Zillow Group, when we started focusing more on this issue, which was probably three-ish years ago, it actually started with employee engagement. You know, the first thing we did was we said, “OK, we have — we're sadly underrepresented in terms of diversity, but we're not nowhere. Let's actually see how engaged different sets of employees are." And the results were eye-opening and not good. Non-whites were less engaged. They felt less connected to the company, they felt less welcome, and that was the eye-opening moment for me. It was like we spend all this time, effort and money trying to get the world's greatest people into this company. It is incumbent upon us, not to mention that it's the right thing to do, but in terms of business results, I want all of these people to be doing their best work, and if they don't feel connected to the company, we should fix that.

And we've made huge strides in that regard.

The other thing that your comments made me think of was the culture-fit issue. Because a lot of this happens — the tip of the spear is the interview and recruiting. And we try not to talk about culture fit. I think culture fit can be code for hire people that look like me and dress like me and act like me. And so we talk a lot about core-value fit and assessing a candidate to see, do they fit to our six core values, not is it a good culture fit.

Chang: I have a new term for you: culture addition. So looking — it's like you honor your culture, you like your culture, but you're looking for people who are going to add to your culture and expand your culture. You know, and I love the core value ideas as well. And I think writing those down and communicating them to employees is so important.

Rascoff: All right, so a couple questions that came from employees via our Slack channels. From Megan Hansen, who works for Trulia in content strategy, she writes, “Any advice on how we can change a work culture that sees moms as moms but not dads as dads? Specifically, it seems that the work of childcare still falls to working moms, such as needing to leave early for doctors' appointments and daycare pickup, potentially because it seems less likely that working dads are also seen as caretakers while in the workplace."

Chang: So, I do think that work needs to be shared at home more equally if we want work to be shared at work. That's not the reality today. I think that so many of the things that women want at work dads want too, and, you know, both moms and dads are parents. I think it can start with benefits and having equal maternity and paternity leave policies and actually encouraging the dads to take it, because there is — I mean, just like there's — I know that I've taken three maternity leaves. I know how hard it is as a woman to leave for that period of time. And you know, I think for dads, there's still this sort of social stigma against taking that time off, and so I think that that can be really important in sort of starting to change those kinds of cultural norms.

I think flexibility is really important in making sure that work after work is valued, and so I leave to pick up my kids because my boss, the editor in chief of Bloomberg, has said people should feel okay going home and picking up their kids. But I get back online, and I do my work, and I want that work to count. We all want sustainable lives, and so making work work for people of all kinds should be the focus.

Rascoff: From Natalie, an engineer at Trulia, she writes, “In your book, you write about Sheryl Sandberg's response to your email. In addition to having women in leadership roles paving the way for more women in leadership roles, what else do you think is critical to successfully increasing female representation in the workplace?"

Chang: When I was pregnant with my first child, this was now six years ago, and it was just when that article “Why Women Can't Have It All Still" came out. And I was like devastated. I was seven months pregnant, I was having all these sort of conflicting emotions, “How am I going to do this? Maybe it's impossible," and then that article came out and I cried myself to sleep that night. And the next day — and the article really took aim at Sheryl. And I'd never met Sheryl at that point, and I just emailed her out of the blue. And I said, “You know what, I just want to say thank you for putting yourself out there on these issues." She had done her TED Talk and I had re-watched it, and it actually made a difference to me.

And she wrote right back, like in 15 seconds, and said, “Congratulations! Is this your first?" And I was like, “Yes," and wrote this sort of very overzealous response. And then she said “Here's my cell phone. Let me know if you ever want advice." And I was, again, shocked. And of course I didn't just call her cell phone. I found out who her assistant was, I figured — and I got time in her calendar in three weeks, and she called me on the dot. And I got a half-hour of uninterrupted time with her one-on-one — this is before “Lean In" — where she kind of gave me a little pep talk and was like, “You can do this. You will do this, and you need to do this. Like, you're going to keep working."

And I think that that sort of advice and mentorship is really, really important. But I've also had to seek it out, and so I ask those questions. And you know, there's so much that, sort of, we all can do to help other people that we see in these situations, and that really made a huge difference for me.

Rascoff: Question from a Trulia analyst, Ini Li asks, “How much do you believe in a person's ability to evolve some of their views?"

Chang: I think that it's — I believe in us, and I'm really optimistic. I mean, despite the title, I think that the smartest people in the world who are taking us to Mars and building self-driving cars and connecting the world, whether you're, you know, all the way up to the top, I think people — we're smart people. I think we can change, and I think part of it is the ignorance has gone on for too long. But at this point, we can — I've written 300 pages about it. We've been talking about it now for a year, like ignorance can only be willful. Like, we know this is a problem. And so I think people can change, and I think the business case makes a lot of sense, but it's only when the numbers really change that a real culture shift is going to happen. So, if you have 10 men around a dinner table, you swap out one man for a woman, the conversation might change a little bit. But if it's half and half, it's a completely different conversation. And that's when you will see the results. And, unfortunately, we just don't have a lot of great examples where, you know, places are 50-50 and you can see the results. But I do think it's going to take that sort of true number shift that will lead to a true culture shift where views will actually change.

Rascoff: I mean, you see this with other social movements, right? Whether it's the civil rights movement or America's acceptance of LGBTQ. I mean, there have been radical changes in just 30 years. And some of that is demographic and generational, but a lot of that is individual people changing their attitudes on these topics.

Chang: Becoming woke, if you will.

Rascoff: And I think we're seeing it in a very short period of time here because society has been so jarred by some of these scandals that it's — I mean, it's going to happen — hopefully at least people's attitudes will change faster. Now, it'll probably take decades for more equality to come into the workplace in terms of representation, but attitudes I think are changing.

All right, from an anonymous person, “Is there anything you didn't include in “Brotopia" that, in retrospect, you wish you had? And is there anything you wish you'd left out?"

Chang: I had a very high bar for what was going to be in print. And when you're taking on someone's career and life, you know, I don't take that lightly, and so everything was, like, fully vetted by multiple lawyers, and Bloomberg luckily was very, very supportive and very supportive of good journalism in general. I mean, I'm just — it was 500 pages and I had to cut it down to 300, so I'm more — I think about all the babies that are, like, lying on the floor that I could not include.

Rascoff: Anything you included you regret?

Chang: No. I mean, I have an opportunity — we're coming out with a paperback in March, so I'm going to update it, I'm going to add another chapter, and I'm really excited to talk about sort of the impact that the book has had and the reaction, you know, good and bad. And I mean, for me, the reaction has been what I've seen as mostly positive, and I have been so encouraged by invitations to speak at tech companies, which I honestly did not expect. So you know, I've spoken at Amazon and Microsoft and LinkedIn and Google and places where they could have easily said, you know, “No, thank you. Your book is called 'Brotopia.'" You were one of the first to ask.

Rascoff: Well, but I saw you at a tech conference right when the book had come out, and there was so much heat, let's call it, and I said, “Are you persona non grata, like, at most of these companies, or are you still able to get people to come to your — do your show?" And it was too early to tell, I think, was the —

Chang: Yeah. I think there's a few people who won't be coming on, but you know what, no good change comes without some people feeling a little bit uncomfortable. And honestly, the vast majority of people, I think, are glad that I did it and probably respect me more for putting my voice behind this and, you know, I think some of the people who maybe aren't so happy, hopefully in the long run they understand.

Rascoff: All right, last question. What are the simple, easy, day-to-day things that we can do at work with our teams and at the company to improve equity and inclusion in our workplaces?

Chang: I mentioned listening. I think that's important. And also asking. I think we don't ask each other enough, “How are you doing?" And some people don't want to talk about their personal lives at work, and that's OK, but some people do. Sheryl Sandberg talks about this bringing your whole self to work thing, and it speaks to exactly what you said earlier, that if you don't feel like you can be yourself, you can't be your best self at work.

You know, I had someone who works at a startup tell me, “You know, I was talking to one of my employees, and I found out that both her parents passed away when she was really young." He's like, “I didn't even know. I felt so horrible that I didn't know that that's where she had come from." And those are the things that maybe we should know each other — know about each other.

You know, I think in general we do need to see more examples of female leadership, and maybe that means taking a chance on someone and training them for that role. We see people like Sheryl Sandberg and Marissa Meyer, and we think it can only be that way or that way. Those are the two versions of female success. And the problem is we don't have a lot of other examples, but women — you know, there are all kinds of male bosses, right? And there are all kinds of female bosses as well, we just don't see it enough. And you know, to the point you can't be what you can't see. Like, we can't be what we can't see.

I interviewed seven young girls, teenage girls, at the end of the book who've all learned how to code, and they're so excited to do their part to change the world, but they already have an idea of what they're up against. And, you know, they're in women in tech groups on Facebook, and they read the news and, you know, one of them said to me, “I mean, I heard that Travis was, like, meditating in the lactation room at Uber. What is that about?" And so, yeah, I was surprised. I'm like, “Wow, you guys know your stuff." So they can't be what they can't see.

Rascoff: Some things that I think we've done and can continue to do: Mentor people of all types. Do a great job in interviewing and recruiting. Focus on employee engagement so that everybody feels connected to the company, to the mission, they feel welcome. I'll say the obvious thing, which shouldn't have to be said, but just treat each other kindly and respectfully. Don't make inappropriate comments. Don't do illegal and dumb things. I mean, it's crazy that we say it, but apparently it needs to be said, so don't do that. And, gosh, there's so many more things. I really think the employee engagement is important here.

Also, actually, I think we need to do a better job at this company, and at all companies, of convincing white males why this is important. I'll just be direct and I'll say white males in that case, that there are a lot of people who probably think, “Oh, this doesn't affect me," or, “It's not my problem," or, “I didn't cause this." And I agree — I didn't cause it — but I do think it affects me, and I think it's important that white males understand why it's important to the company, why it's important to our colleagues and our peers, and how they can be part of the solution, even if maybe they weren't part of the problem. So, those are just a couple of my thoughts.

Emily, thank you for turning on the lights on this important issue, and thank you for being here.

Chang: Thank you for having me. Thank you all.

The post Bloomberg's Emily Chang on Solving Tech's Diversity Problem appeared first on Office Hours.

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Biometrics, Crypto, and Comfort: New Tech Lands in LA

🔦 Spotlight

Happy Friday, Los Angeles!

This week, it's all eyes, quite literally, on LA's latest tech headlines.

Image Source: World

First up, World has officially touched down in the U.S., launching its ambitious biometric crypto project in six cities, including right here in Los Angeles. Cofounded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, World is betting big on a future where proving you're human is just a blink away. Their tool? An orb-shaped device that scans your eyes to create a "World ID," a decentralized digital passport built for the AI era. Verified users can then claim Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency aiming to become the first truly global digital currency. To tie it all together, World has rolled out the World App, a wallet to manage your ID and crypto and World Chain, a new blockchain designed to prioritize real people over bots. The ambition is bold. The stakes are high. And the question still lingers: How much privacy are we willing to trade for convenience?

Image Source: Lyft

Meanwhile, Lyft is rolling out the red carpet, or perhaps a comfortable seat cushion, for LA’s senior citizens. The rideshare giant just launched Lyft Silver in Los Angeles, offering older adults personalized support, live phone assistance, and specially trained drivers. It's a savvy play into an often-overlooked demographic, combining technology and empathy to serve a growing market of tech-savvy seniors. Will Lyft’s new approach give them an edge in LA’s competitive rideshare market? Stay tuned, and maybe text your grandma… she just might become Lyft’s latest power user.


🤝 Venture Deals

LA Companies

    • True Classic, a Los Angeles-based apparel brand known for its better-fitting basics, has received its first institutional investment from 1686 Partners. This strategic partnership aims to accelerate True Classic's global expansion and diversify its product offerings to include women's and children's lines. The investment will also support enhancements in supply chain, logistics, and omnichannel retail operations, positioning the brand for continued growth in the global market. - learn more
    • Chaos Industries, a Los Angeles-based defense technology startup, raised $275M in a Series C round led by Accel and New Enterprise Associates, valuing the company at $2N. The company develops advanced detection, monitoring, and communication systems for defense and commercial sectors. The funds will be used to expand product development, grow the team, and scale manufacturing operations. - learn more
    • Apex, a Los Angeles-based spacecraft manufacturer, raised $200M in Series C funding to scale production of its productized satellite bus platforms. The company will use the funds to expand operations at its 50,000-square-foot facility and increase manufacturing capacity to meet demand from government and commercial customers. Apex aims to accelerate delivery timelines and support national security initiatives like the U.S. Department of Defense’s Golden Dome program. - learn more
    • Deferred, a technology-driven Qualified Intermediary, has raised $3.6M in seed funding to modernize and democratize 1031 exchanges for everyday real estate investors. The funding round was led by B Capital and Fika Ventures, with participation from strategic investors. Deferred's platform offers AI-driven compliance, robust fund security, and a no-fee exchange model, aiming to make tax-deferred real estate transactions more accessible, secure, and efficient. The funds will be used to expand access to 1031 exchanges, ensuring that every investor, not just institutional players, can leverage this powerful wealth-building tool. - learn more

    LA Venture Funds

    • Village Global participated in Stately Bio's $12M seed funding round. Based in Palo Alto, Stately Bio is a biotech startup developing an AI-powered live-cell imaging platform that enables non-invasive, real-time analysis of cell behavior, enhancing regenerative medicine and cell therapy development. The funds will be used to scale the platform and expand its pipeline of stem cell-derived therapies. - learn more
    • Riot Ventures participated in True Anomaly's recent $260M Series C funding round. Based in Centennial, Colorado, True Anomaly develops advanced spacecraft and software systems for U.S. national security missions, including its flagship Jackal vehicle designed for close-proximity operations in orbit. The funds will be used to support upcoming space missions, expand manufacturing capabilities, and grow the company's workforce. - learn more
    • Navitas Capital led a $10.5M Series A funding round for Field Materials, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based startup that automates construction material and equipment procurement using AI. Field Materials' platform leverages proprietary large language models to process vendor quotes, delivery slips, and invoices, integrating the data into major construction accounting systems. This approach reduces purchase order and invoice processing time by 90%, improves margins, and helps construction companies secure volume pricing. The funds will be used to double Field Materials' team and triple its revenue in 2025, accelerating the delivery of AI capabilities to meet growing demand in the construction industry. - learn more
    • Bold Capital Partners participated in Near Space Labs $20M Series B funding round. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Near Space Labs deploys helium balloon–lifted "Swift" robots to capture ultra-high-resolution aerial imagery from the stratosphere. The company plans to use the funds to expand its fleet and increase coverage, aiming to provide 7cm-resolution images to 80% of the U.S. population twice annually. - learn more
    • Alexandria Venture Investments participated in a $15M Series A funding round for Hoofprint Biome, a Raleigh, North Carolina–based agtech startup. Hoofprint Biome develops enzyme-based feed additives aimed at reducing methane emissions from cattle while enhancing productivity. The company plans to use the funds to advance product development, conduct on-farm trials, and prepare for commercial launch. - learn more
    • Finality Capital Partners participated in a $25M seed funding round for Miden, a privacy-focused blockchain protocol spun out of Polygon. Miden leverages zero-knowledge technology to offer fast, confidential transaction processing tailored for large institutions handling sensitive payment flows. The funding will support the development of Miden's ecosystem and developer tools, with plans to launch its main network by the end of the year. - learn more
    • Overture VC participated in Glacier's $16M Series A funding round. Glacier, a San Francisco-based startup, develops AI-powered robotic systems designed to automate and enhance the efficiency of recycling processes at material recovery facilities (MRFs). The funds will be used to expand Glacier's operations, deploy its technology to more MRFs across the U.S., and further develop its AI and robotics capabilities to improve recycling rates and reduce environmental impact. - learn more
    • Powerhouse Capital and Rideback participated in a $10M funding round for Cheehoo, a Los Angeles-based startup developing AI-powered tools to streamline 3D animation workflows. Cheehoo's platform integrates with industry-standard software like Maya and Unreal Engine, offering features such as AI-assisted character animation, speech-to-motion capabilities, and real-time collaboration tools. The company plans to use the funds to enhance its technology and expand its reach to a broader range of creators, from major studios to independent animators. - learn more
    • Village Global participated in P-1 AI's recent $23M seed funding round. Based in Henderson, Nevada, P-1 AI is developing an artificial general intelligence (AGI) platform named Archie, designed to automate engineering tasks for physical systems. The company plans to use the funds to advance Archie's capabilities, starting with applications in data center cooling systems, and eventually expanding into sectors like industrial systems, automotive, and aerospace. - learn more
    • TenOneTen Ventures led a $3.3M seed funding round for Domos, a startup developing an AI-powered workforce to streamline property management operations. Based in New York City, Domos' platform automates routine communications and workflows, enabling property managers to focus on higher-value tasks. The funds will be used to expand the company's engineering team and further develop its AI capabilities to enhance efficiency and resident experience. - learn more
    • Leap Venture Studio participated in a $1M seed funding round for Buddy Bites, a Hong Kong-based dog food brand that donates to shelters with every order. The funds will support Buddy Bites' expansion in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UK, with plans to enter Taiwan and launch new products later this year. Additionally, Buddy Bites joined Leap Venture Studio's 12-week accelerator program, gaining mentorship and access to a network of industry experts to further its mission of providing premium dog food while supporting animal shelters. - learn more

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    From Metro Rails to Blended Wings: LA’s Transportation Era

    🔦 Spotlight

    Hello Los Angeles,

    Move over Coachella, hello Stagecoach. With crowds headed east, LA might feel a little quieter this weekend, but beneath the surface, the city is busy making moves that could shape the future of travel.

    Image Source: Metro

    First up: a major milestone at LAX.

    This June, the new LAX/Metro Transit Center Station will officially open, finally linking Metro's C and K Lines to a new ground hub near the airport.

    It marks the first real rail connection to LAX in the airport’s history, a major step for a city that has long been synonymous with gridlock.

    While the fully Automated People Mover system connecting the station to the terminals is still under construction and expected to open in 2026, the launch of the transit center is a critical piece of LA’s broader infrastructure upgrade ahead of the 2028 Olympics.

    Even if most travelers will still rely on cars or rideshares for now, it is a sign that even the most car-centric corners of the city are starting to shift.

    Image Source: JetZero

    Meanwhile, in Long Beach, a local aerospace startup is aiming to transform air travel altogether and just got a major boost.

    JetZero, a stealthy aviation company based in Long Beach, announced a new investment from United Airlines to advance its radical new aircraft design: the blended wing body.

    Unlike traditional tube-and-wing planes, JetZero’s blended design integrates the wings and fuselage into a single structure, reducing aerodynamic drag and dramatically improving fuel efficiency.

    United's investment is more than just financial support. It is a strategic bet on JetZero’s vision for cutting long-haul flight emissions in half, a critical goal as the aviation industry faces mounting pressure to decarbonize.

    JetZero plans to have its first full-scale prototype flying by 2027, and if successful, it could set a new blueprint for the next generation of commercial aircraft.

    For Los Angeles, it is another reminder that some of the boldest ideas shaping the future of mobility are being built right here in our own backyard.

    Planes, trains, and a city learning to move a little differently. Just another week in LA.

    🤝 Venture Deals

    LA Companies

    • Durin, an El-Segundo startup aiming to automate drilling for critical minerals exploration, has secured $3.4M in a pre-seed funding round led by 8090 Industries. The company is developing a sensor-equipped drilling rig capable of drilling 300 meters deep, gathering data to build an automation model. The funding will support the development of this technology, with the goal of enabling unattended drill rigs within two to three years. - learn more
    • Altruist, a Los Angeles-based custodian and software platform for registered investment advisors (RIAs), raised $152M in a Series F round led by GIC, bringing its valuation to $1.9 billion. The platform streamlines account opening, trading, reporting, and billing for over 4,700 advisors. The new funding will be used to accelerate product development, expand the team, and scale enterprise capabilities. - learn more
    • Sesh, a superfan engagement platform that connects artists with fans through interactive experiences, exclusive content, and live events, has raised $7M in funding led by Miura Global. The funds will be used to expand platform capabilities, onboard more artists, and enhance technology for deeper insights and engagement opportunities. - learn more
    • Khloud, a new consumer brand founded by Khloé Kardashian, has raised $12M in an oversubscribed funding round with participation from Jessica Bixby, Serena Ventures, William Morris Endeavor (WME), and Shrug Capital. The Los Angeles-based company is debuting with a protein-rich popcorn made from whole-grain corn and its proprietary “Khloud Dust” seasoning, delivering 7 grams of protein per serving. The funds will be used to expand into additional snack categories and scale retail distribution, beginning with a Target launch on April 29. - learn more

    LA Venture Funds

    • Anthos Capital co-led a $20M funding round for Theo, a New York-based crypto trading infrastructure startup. Theo enables retail investors to access institutional-grade trading strategies—such as high-frequency arbitrage and cross-chain funding rate optimization—through strategy-specific vaults, eliminating the need for technical expertise. The platform operates on a custom validator network that facilitates real-time execution across centralized and decentralized exchanges, enforcing margin requirements and system-wide overcollateralization. The funds will be used to expand Theo's validator infrastructure, integrate with additional financial platforms, and grow its user base. - learn more
    • Pinegrove Capital Partners participated in a $70M Series B funding round for Nourish, a New York-based startup offering AI-powered, insurance-covered virtual nutrition counseling. Nourish connects patients with registered dietitians to manage chronic conditions like obesity and diabetes, boasting a network of over 3,000 dietitians across all 50 states. The funds will be used to expand its provider network, enhance AI tools, and deepen partnerships with healthcare organizations. - learn more
    • Mantis VC participated in Chainguard's $356M Series D funding round. Based in Kirkland, Washington, Chainguard secures software supply chains by offering tools like secure containers, virtual machines, and libraries for open-source development. The funding will be used to expand product offerings, grow the go-to-market team, and support its expanding customer base. - learn more
    • Clocktower Technology Ventures participated in a $30M Series C funding round for Steadily, a landlord insurance provider based in Austin, Texas, and Overland Park, Kansas. Steadily offers tailored insurance solutions for rental property owners, serving policyholders across all 50 U.S. states. The funds will be used to expand operations, enhance technology, and grow the team, aiming to streamline the insurance process for landlords. - learn more
    • Blue Bear Capital participated in Ocient's recent $42.1M Series B extension, bringing the Chicago-based data analytics company's total funding to $159.4M. Ocient specializes in high-performance, energy-efficient analytics solutions for large-scale, complex data and AI workloads, leveraging its proprietary Compute Adjacent Storage Architecture® and Megalane™ technology. The new capital will be used to advance the development and delivery of energy-efficient solutions for costly, complex, and operationally burdensome data and AI workloads. - learn more
    • Group11 participated in Healthee's $50M Series B funding round, supporting the New York-based company's mission to simplify health benefits through AI. Healthee offers an AI-powered platform that helps employees and employers navigate complex healthcare systems, enhancing user experience, reducing costs, and improving care outcomes. The funds will be used to expand Healthee's product suite, scale go-to-market operations, and accelerate the development of its AI-powered tools. - learn more
    • Sum Ventures participated in Irrigreen's $19M Series A funding round. Headquartered in Edina, Minnesota, with operations in San Francisco, Irrigreen develops robotic irrigation systems that utilize digital mapping and AI to optimize water usage for residential lawns. The funds will be used to advance product development, expand manufacturing in the U.S., and enhance the company's smart lawn care solutions. - learn more
    • Ventek Ventures participated in Recce's $4M funding round. Based in San Francisco, Recce offers data-native code review tools designed to enhance data validation in AI and software development workflows. The funds will be used to advance Recce's open-source toolkit and launch its collaborative SaaS platform, Recce Cloud, aiming to streamline data validation processes across the software lifecycle. - learn more
    • B Capital led an $87M Series C funding round for Omnidian, a Seattle-based provider of performance assurance services for residential and commercial solar and energy storage systems. Omnidian offers comprehensive protection and performance plans, ensuring optimal operation and maintenance of clean energy assets. The funds will be used to scale core operations, expand into high-potential markets like Australia and Europe, and explore new product lines such as electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and commercial energy storage solutions. - learn more
    • Overture VC participated in PHNX Materials' $2.5M seed funding round. Based in the U.S., PHNX Materials has developed a process to purify coal fly ash by removing impurities like sulfur and carbon, making it suitable for use in concrete production. This approach not only repurposes industrial waste but also reduces the carbon footprint of concrete by replacing a portion of cement. The funds will be used to scale PHNX's purification technology and expand its operations to meet the growing demand for sustainable construction materials. - learn more

    LA Exits

    • Maza, a fintech startup catering to Spanish-speaking consumers in the U.S., has been acquired by Flex for $40M. Originally focused on helping immigrants open bank accounts and obtain ITINs, Maza shifted its services toward small business owners, such as landscapers and construction subcontractors. This pivot aligned with Flex's mission to provide comprehensive financial tools for business owners. Post-acquisition, Maza will rebrand as Flex Consumer, with its founders assuming executive roles within the combined company. The merger aims to accelerate their shared roadmap in delivering integrated financial solutions. - learn more
    • Moondust Management, a talent agency known for representing creators in travel, lifestyle, wellness, and purpose-driven content, has been acquired by Fixated, a digital entertainment platform. This acquisition aims to enhance Fixated's capabilities in content creation and brand partnerships by integrating Moondust's expertise and creator network. - learn more
    • ClaimShark, a provider of payment integrity solutions, has been acquired by Lyric, a leader in healthcare payment accuracy and integrity solutions. ClaimShark's innovative tools, including the Virtuoso command center and Replay audit platform, will be integrated into Lyric's AI-driven Lyric42 platform. This acquisition aims to enhance payment accuracy, transparency, and efficiency across the healthcare ecosystem by streamlining and simplifying healthcare transactions to eliminate waste. - learn more

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    This Week in LA: Robotaxis, Reels & a $100K Challenge

    🔦 Spotlight

    Happy Friday, LA,

    It’s Coachella Weekend 2, which means fewer cars on the road, easier restaurant reservations, and just enough quiet to hear the next wave of innovation humming through the city. This week, we’re watching more driverless cars roll in, Instagram remix your Reels feed, and a $100K climate challenge call for startups. Let’s get into it.

    🚕 Zoox Is Bringing Its Robotaxis to LA

    Image Source: Zoox

    Amazon-owned Zoox just announced that its futuristic, steering wheel–less robotaxis are heading to Los Angeles. The company has begun mapping the city as it gears up to launch a fully autonomous ride-hailing service. These aren’t retrofitted Teslas; they’re bidirectional vehicles built specifically for autonomy, with no front, no back, and no driver seat.

    It’s Zoox’s first major push beyond Northern California and Las Vegas, and it's a signal that LA is being positioned as a proving ground for next-gen transportation. As the city preps for the 2028 Olympics, Zoox is hoping to help LA reimagine what mobility looks like without a human behind the wheel.

    👀 More on that here:Zoox’s LA Expansion

    💬 Instagram’s New “Blend” Feature

    Image Source: Instagram

    Instagram just announced “Blend,” a new feature that creates a private Reels feed curated for you and a friend based on your shared interests. It’s like a personalized explore page, but just for two. Think Spotify Blend, but with more memes and fewer breakup ballads.

    It’s currently in testing, but if rolled out broadly, Blend could change how creators build community and how content spreads in smaller, more intimate algorithmic circles.

    🔥 LACI Launches the LA Resilient Rebuilding Cup

    100 days after the Palisades and Eaton fires swept through parts of LA, the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) is launching a new initiative: the LA Resilient Rebuilding Cup. It’s a pitch competition aimed at finding startup solutions to help LA rebuild stronger and greener.

    Up to $100,000 in prizes and piloting funds are up for grabs. Finalists will pitch live on July 10 in Downtown LA, and selected winners will get the opportunity to bring their technologies to fire-affected communities. Focus areas include fire detection, renewable energy, air quality, mental health tools, resilient construction, and more.

    Startups have until May 30 to apply.
    📍 Apply here


    🤝 Venture Deals

    LA Companies

    • Parallel Systems, a Los Angeles-based company developing autonomous battery-electric railcars, has raised $38M in a Series B funding round led by Anthos Capital, with participation from Riot Ventures and others. The funding will support the commercialization of its technology, including the launch of its first commercial pilot in Georgia. This pilot, approved by the Federal Railroad Administration, will test self-propelled intermodal flatcars over a 160-mile stretch, aiming to offer a more efficient and sustainable alternative to short-haul trucking. Parallel Systems plans to use the funds to scale production of its Generation 3 vehicles and expand operations in the U.S. and Australia. - learn more

    LA Venture Funds

    • Bonfire Ventures led a $7.5M seed funding round for 1Fort, a New York-based startup that automates commercial insurance workflows for brokers using AI. Village Global and others participated in the round. 1Fort's platform streamlines the insurance process by automating tasks such as application completion, quote retrieval, and policy binding, helping brokers secure better coverage for clients more efficiently. The funds will be used to enhance the platform's AI capabilities, expand the team, and grow partnerships with carriers and brokers across the U.S. - learn more
    • Strong Ventures led an ₩800 million pre-Series A funding round for LunchLab, a Seoul-based B2B startup offering corporate lunch subscription services. LunchLab provides daily lunchbox deliveries and post-meal dish collection for companies, streamlining office meal logistics. The funds will be used to expand production capacity, enhance delivery operations across Seoul, and improve their proprietary ordering app. - learn more
    • CIV participated in Crux's recent $50M Series B funding round, supporting the company's mission to streamline financing for clean energy and manufacturing projects. Crux, based in New York, operates a capital markets platform that facilitates transactions such as transferable tax credits and debt financing, aiming to enhance liquidity and efficiency in the clean economy sector. The newly acquired funds will be utilized to expand Crux's network of market participants, enhance its software infrastructure, and scale its operations to meet the growing demand for clean energy financing solutions. - learn more
    • Finality Capital Partners participated in the $11M seed funding round for Optimum, a startup incubated at MIT and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Optimum is developing a decentralized memory layer for Web3, utilizing Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC) to enhance data storage and propagation across blockchain networks. The funds will be used to advance Optimum's technology and expand its team to address scalability challenges in decentralized systems. - learn more
    • TIME BioVentures participated in Phantom Neuro's recent $19M Series A funding round. Based in Austin, Texas, Phantom Neuro is developing a minimally invasive neural interface called Phantom X, designed to enable intuitive control of prosthetic limbs and robotic exoskeletons. The new funding will support the company's first human trials, preclinical testing, regulatory submissions, and expanded research and development for broader applications of its technology beyond prosthetic limbs. - learn more
    • Veridical Ventures participated in a $2M seed funding round for SlashExperts, a San Francisco-based B2B platform that connects prospective buyers with existing customers to facilitate authentic peer conversations. This approach aims to build trust and expedite sales processes. The funds will be used to enhance the platform's features, ensuring seamless and effective connections between buyers and users. - learn more
    • F4 Fund participated in Boby.ai's $1.25M seed funding round, supporting the Istanbul-based startup's mission to develop AI-powered mobile applications. Boby.ai, founded by Gökçe Nur Oğuz, Onur Olgun, and Berat Oğuz, focuses on creating user-friendly AI tools for end-users, such as their flagship app Mozart.ai, which enables users to generate personalized music using AI. The funding will be used to expand the team and develop new AI-based mobile products. - learn more
    • Riot Ventures and Impatient Ventures participated in Blue Water Autonomy's recent $14M seed funding round. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Blue Water Autonomy is developing fully autonomous, unmanned ships designed to operate on the open ocean for extended periods. The company plans to use the funds to expand its engineering team, accelerate ship testing, and integrate various payloads onto its platform. - learn more
    • Aliavia Ventures led a $1M pre-seed funding round for InsightWise, an AI-powered platform based in Sydney, Australia, designed to streamline the consulting process by automating tasks such as proposal development and strategy creation. The funding will be used to enhance the platform's capabilities and support expansion into the U.S. market. - learn more

    LA Exits

    • Pex, a leading provider of digital rights technology, has been acquired by Vobile, a global leader in digital content protection and transaction services. This acquisition enhances Vobile's services for the music industry and strengthens its position as a global solution provider for digital audio content. - learn more

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