Watch Our First 'Female Founders Stories' Event with WeeCare and DropLabs

Kelly O'Grady
Kelly O'Grady is dot.LA's chief host & correspondent. Kelly serves as dot.LA's on-air talent, and is responsible for designing and executing all video efforts. A former management consultant for McKinsey, and TV reporter for NESN, she also served on Disney's Corporate Strategy team, focusing on M&A and the company's direct-to-consumer streaming efforts. Kelly holds a bachelor's degree from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. A Boston native, Kelly spent a year as Miss Massachusetts USA, and can be found supporting her beloved Patriots every Sunday come football season.
Watch Our First 'Female Founders Stories' Event with WeeCare and DropLabs

On Thursday, July 16, dot.LA kicked off the first in our series of "Female Founders Stories," with the aim of holding candid conversations with the minds behind some of the city's most innovative startups.

Chief host and correspondent Kelly O'Grady spoke with WeeCare Co-founder & CEO Jessica Chang as well as DropLabs Founder & CEO Susan Paley about their "aha" moments and experiences as women leading L.A. startups.


Chang said the inspiration for WeeCare came from advice her friends gave her while she was still pregnant: sign up for childcare now.

It wasn't until she started touring daycare centers that Chang realized why they were so insistent. Most daycares came with a one to two year waiting list. And the cost? Sometimes up to $3,000 per month. Chang felt a looming sense that the lack of options would force her to choose between family and work.

That's why she started WeeCare, a startup to help teachers, new moms and caregivers to set up and manage home daycares.

Chang, whose background is in finance and private equity, became a preschool owner and operator during the first phase of her plan. "It took me running three preschools to really understand the inherent nature of what was happening in the world of childcare," she said.

The company began as a childcare marketplace, a sort of one-stop solution for families looking for and managing the daycare process. At the same time, WeeCare offers a "business in box" solution for providers.

Female Founder Stories: WeeCare and DropLabswww.youtube.com

Susan Paley's experience was much different. As the first CEO for Beats by Dr. Dre, she already knew a good deal about the industry she was aiming to disrupt.

Her company, DropLabs, focuses on the "feeling" of sound by adding an immersive layer to media experiences, whether that's watching a movie, listening to music or playing video games. It also makes wired-up sneakers that she says allows 'your whole body to become a speaker cabinet'.

"It's getting people to feel, to connect," Paley said. "It could be that first concert, your first concert you loved so much, and playing that music to transport you to that."

"I'm hoping this becomes a ubiquitous way to experience digital content, which is not going away" Paley added. "Even when COVID goes away, we'll still be completely wired to get all of our consumption on screens. Most of what we're ingesting is two-dimensional and we're three-dimensional beings."

Watch the full conversation in the video above and sign up for our newsletter to get updated on our next event.

About the Speakers

Susan Paley is the founder & CEO of DropLabs

Susan Paley, Founder & CEO of DropLabs 

Susan Paley is the founder and CEO of DropLabs, a first-of-its-kind tech company on a mission to enable the world to feel sound from the ground up. With their first release, a sneaker called the EP 01, DropLabs integrates audio technology and footwear to deliver a truly immersive audio-sensory experience you can feel throughout your entire body. Over the course of her 20+ year career in consumer technology, Susan has been the driving force behind some of the most innovative consumer products. Most notably, Susan was the initial CEO of Beats By Dre, where she successfully guided all aspects of the company's unparalleled growth to make it the #1 headphone provider globally.

Jessica Chang is co-founder & CEO of WeeCare

Jessica Chang, Co-Founder & CEO of WeeCare 

WeeCare is the easiest way for teachers, new moms and caregivers to start and manage a successful home daycare. We're addressing the $28B home childcare market, offering startup services to navigate the daycare licensing process and providing a business-in-a-box toolset to simplify operations, generate additional revenue and delight parents. Founded by a team of moms, preschool owners and successful technology founders, WeeCare is creating affordable, quality daycares accessible to all families.

Before WeeCare's founding, Jessica worked in finance and operations and gathered experience in early education through owning Los Angeles preschools.

Kelly O'Grady, Chief Host and Correspondent

Kelly O'Grady is dot.LA's chief host & correspondent. Kelly serves as dot.LA's on-air talent, and is responsible for designing and executing all video efforts. A former management consultant for McKinsey, and TV reporter for NESN, she also served on Disney's Corporate Strategy team, focusing on M&A and the company's direct-to-consumer streaming efforts. Kelly holds a bachelor's degree from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. A Boston native, Kelly spent a year as Miss Massachusetts USA, and can be found supporting her beloved Patriots every Sunday come football season.

https://www.instagram.com/kfogrady/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-o-grady-61714248/
kelly@dot.la

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SXSW Transportation Event Shows the EV Industry Still Doesn’t Have Answers to It’s Most Pressing Questions

David Shultz

David Shultz reports on clean technology and electric vehicles, among other industries, for dot.LA. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Nautilus and many other publications.

SXSW Transportation Event Shows the EV Industry Still Doesn’t Have Answers to It’s Most Pressing Questions

It’s day two of the transportation events at SXSW and I don’t really get it. It’s my first time at the tech conference here in Austin, but so far, these panels don’t seem like they’re worth the carbon emissions of the plane ride to get here.

There’s a lot of talk about how autonomous vehicles are going to change the world.

There’s a lot of talk about how EVs are the future.

While I personally believe those are pretty safe predictions, there’s been a conspicuous lack of discussion about how we’ll get there and what it will cost.

Yesterday afternoon, Kyle Vogt, CEO of autonomous vehicle company Cruise, spoke with General Motors CEO Mary Barra. If you didn’t know any better, you’d have left that panel thinking that Cruise’s coming fleet of driverless cars could have the climate crisis pretty much wrapped up by 2025.

I’m not trying to discount how impressive the company’s tech is or how autonomous vehicles will revolutionize society. But scientists have shown that rideshare services increase congestion, and autonomous vehicles could potentially double carbon emissions in the United States, if the tech is implemented the wrong way. While Vogt may be keenly aware of these pitfalls, the discussion never ventured anywhere near the edge of these waters.

I also have yet to hear a substantive conversation about how we’re going to source the astronomical amounts of lithium and other metals necessary to power this transition. I haven’t heard anyone talk about how to decarbonize the mining process. Nobody has dared to bring up the millions of rideshare workers who will lose their jobs as autonomous vehicles expand their reach, save for when Vogt pointed out that the human was the most expensive part of Uber and Lyft’s business model.

These are, admittedly, hard questions, and I certainly don’t have answers for them. But it would be both more interesting and somewhat reassuring to watch these industry leaders debate or at least acknowledge them. I’m not asking for a 4-hour lecture on the optimal way to distribute federal funding, but my kingdom for a panel moderator who asks “Where do you see the biggest challenges?” or “What are you the most worried about?” or “How do we make sure this technology doesn’t worsen the inequality in this country?”

In a nearly full session this morning Shailen Bhatt, the Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, joked that his time slot on Transforming America’s Highways and Transportation Infrastructure was competing against Ryan Gosling interviewing Keanu Reeves.

Which is to say the people attending these panels care about transportation and emissions and infrastructure. They aren’t dumb and their time is valuable. They recognize the potential afforded by these technologies and the opportunity in Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan. I think we’re ready for a slightly more nuanced discussion here.

FaZe Clan is Finally Embracing Women’s Esports Over a Decade After its Founding

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College and previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

FaZe Clan is Finally Embracing Women’s Esports Over a Decade After its Founding
Photo: FaZe Clan

FaZe Clan signed its first all-female esports team last week, and the five-woman team will begin competing this year in a spinoff of Riot Games’ “Valorant” pro league.

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