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XA TV Show Built for the Reddit-Fueled Investor Uprising Gets Funded
Sam primarily covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Previously he was Marjorie Deane Fellow at The Economist, where he wrote for the business and finance sections of the print edition. He has also worked at the XPRIZE Foundation, U.S. Government Accountability Office, KCRW, and MLB Advanced Media (now Disney Streaming Services). He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, an MPP from UCLA Luskin and a BA in History from University of Michigan. Email him at samblake@dot.LA and find him on Twitter @hisamblake

A new television show about IPOs thinks it can help upend Wall Street's pecking order, much like Reddit users did.
"Going Public," a series that debuts this summer, will follow five companies over 10 weeks, culminating in NASDAQ IPOs in which viewers are encouraged to invest. It aims to turn living rooms across the country into a network of mini "Shark Tanks."
The show aimed at everyday investors comes just as the Reddit-and-Robinhood-fueled rise of GameStop shares sent notice to Wall Street that they ignore retail investors at their peril.
And it just got some investors of its own.
On Wednesday, Crush Capital, the L.A.-based fintech company behind the series, announced it will accelerate the show's development with a $3.25 million investment from over 30 investors, including Backstage Capital managing partner Arlan Hamilton, fashion brand Tory Burch co-founder Chris Burch and fintech company Acorns co-founder and chairman Walter Cruttenden.
Getting in on an IPO before a company goes public has traditionally been the preserve of investment banks, financial institutions and professional investors, but "Going Public" aims to bring early access to everyday investors.
Todd Goldberg and Darren Marble
Following the decision by Robinhood to restrict customer transactions, which has precipitated dozens of lawsuits, Crush Capital founders Darren Marble and Todd Goldberg see their initiative as more timely than ever.
"We're at a moment when retail brokerages have been exposed as serving Wall Street oligarchs," said Marble. "(Robinhood's) response has been disjointed and discombobulated and I think there's a clear opportunity for another firm to step in and truly advocate for middle-class Americans, which is the premise that our company was based on."
"Robinhood has a track record of lying to their customers," he added, pointing to a $65 million fine the SEC leveled against the company for misleading customers about how they make money.
Marble and Goldberg founded Beverly Hills-based Crush Capital in 2017 to push back against Wall Street privileges and cater to retail investors.
"We got sick and tired of seeing companies that we all know and love and are customers of – Uber, Lyft, Sonos, Beyond Meat, Aribnb, DoorDash, Pinterest – going public, but where we were locked out," said Goldberg. "We want to change that."
"Going Public" will allow viewers to access IPO and pre-IPO investment opportunities at the same terms as institutional investors and, in some cases, before the traditional players can get in.
The show will be broadcast on Entrepreneur.com, which claims 14 million unique monthly viewers. It is being produced by Emmy-nominated studio INE Entertainment, whose previous reality-show credits include "The Biggest Loser" and "MasterChef."
Lauren Simmons, the youngest-ever female trader on the New York Stock Exchange and second Black woman ever to hold such a role, will host and guide viewers through their investment decisions, Marble said.
Lauren Simmons is the youngest-ever female trader on the New York Stock Exchange and the host of "Going Public."
Viewers will be able to invest in the companies of their choosing through a website, which will also include educational materials on risk-versus-reward and the IPO process, as well as disclosures that the companies will have to file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Marble and Goldberg said they will announce the five participating companies over the next few weeks. All of the companies, they said, are high-growth consumer product firms in operation for several years and with revenues between $20 million and $100 million.
"These companies are not desperate; this is not a last resort," said Marble. "They could do a Goldman Sachs-led Series A financing round or a SPAC, but they're turning those options down and leaning into 'Going Public' because we have something none of those options can offer, which is a mass marketing vehicle to help them create awareness for brands and products with millions of potential customers and investors all at the same time."
They've also prioritized finding diverse founders.
"It's shocking to me there's only been about 21 female founders who've taken their companies public," said Goldberg. "The first company we're going to announce has female, minority, immigrant founders. We're excited to feature them, and start changing the conversation through our actions so people can look and see and feel and understand what true entrepreneurship in the U.S. really looks like."
Participating companies will pay Crush Capital an upfront cash payment and stock compensation. Throughout the show they will receive mentorship from professional investors and executives, including early Priceline executive Jeff Hoffman and Schmidt's Naturals founder Jaime Schmidt.
Roth Capital Partners, an investment bank focused on small market-cap companies, will diligence, price and underwrite the IPOs.
The show is leveraging a relatively new way for companies to raise money. In 2012, Congress passed the JOBS Act, which eased securities regulations to make it less of a hassle for smaller companies to fundraise.
An amendment called Regulation A+ further enabled companies going public to raise up to $50 million from unaccredited investors. The change also loosened filing requirements, such as eliminating the "quiet period" wherein a firm must refrain from publicly disclosing information for a time leading up to the IPO.
Marble and Goldberg aren't concerned that the mounting political pressure for an updated regulatory response to the latest market madness will hurt "Going Public."
"These JOBS Act exemptions are tools that make it easier for small and emerging companies to access capital," Marble said. "That's a theme that the Biden administration is supporting in no unclear terms."
Marble added he's encouraged that in March the fundraising cap under Regulation A+ will increase to $75 million.
"We think we'll continue to see those caps increase over time," he said.
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Sam primarily covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Previously he was Marjorie Deane Fellow at The Economist, where he wrote for the business and finance sections of the print edition. He has also worked at the XPRIZE Foundation, U.S. Government Accountability Office, KCRW, and MLB Advanced Media (now Disney Streaming Services). He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, an MPP from UCLA Luskin and a BA in History from University of Michigan. Email him at samblake@dot.LA and find him on Twitter @hisamblake
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Old Guard on High Alert as Streaming and New Tech Storm Upfronts
Keerthi Vedantam is a bioscience reporter at dot.LA. She cut her teeth covering everything from cloud computing to 5G in San Francisco and Seattle. Before she covered tech, Keerthi reported on tribal lands and congressional policy in Washington, D.C. Connect with her on Twitter, Clubhouse (@keerthivedantam) or Signal at 408-470-0776.
Are the upfronts turning into TV execs’ personal “Black Mirror'' episode?
The annual feeding frenzy—in which C-suite television executives auction off highly-viewed (and costly) advertising time slots— is changing as new streaming behemoths shake up the market. The event often gives viewers and industry watchers insight on what shows are poised to become cultural phenomena, but that too seems to be disrupted at this year’s proceedings.
It’s been two years since major networks and television players convened in New York for a week, and it’s clear that technology is going to change a lot about how the process works.
Streaming, a popular way to view content, doesn’t follow traditional ad slots the way broadcast does. Nonetheless, last year ad-enabled streaming services–including Peacock and Hulu–slurped up a large slice of ad dollars. But this year may prove a turning point, as services like HBOMax and Disney Plus begin tinkering with ad-laced streaming, and Netflix promises to quickly roll out an ad-supported subscription tier. Large networks like ABC and NBC will have to start competing with streaming for the favor of companies and their ad money.
Another thing changing the market: the ads themselves. With more data at their fingertips, streaming services can offer far more personalized and targeted services than their network counterparts. Netflix and Disney collect mountains of data that can gauge what ads are most relevant to their viewers. That’s a huge plus for advertisers, even if streaming services like Disney restrict what kind of ads it will show.
Legacy TV companies have already taken note. NBCUniversal took great pains at Monday’s pitch meeting to offer their Peacock streaming service as an example of a dual streaming-and-broadcast model and lambasted streaming services that once showed disdain for advertisers and ad breaks.
“At those companies, advertising could seem like an afterthought… or even worse, a new idea for a revenue stream, but not here,” NBCUniversal’s ad sales chief Linda Yaccarino said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “At NBCUniversal, advertising has always been an asset for our business… designed to enhance your business.”
Adding to the instability, Nielsen ratings, which has been the universal standard for measuring viewership, is being challenged. The company’s ratings were once the gold standard used, in part, to determine the time slots and networks that had the most viewers (and which became the most coveted by advertisers).
Last year, Variety reported major networks complained that the company was likely undercounting viewership due to pandemic-related restrictions, like being unable to go into peoples’ homes and making sure the data-collecting technology was properly working. In its wake, software-enabled startups have popped up to better gather data remotely.
Washington-based iSpot.tv received a $325 million investment from Goldman Sachs after acquiring similar companies including El Segundo-based Ace Metrix and Temecula-based DRMetrix. Pasadena-based tvScientific raised $20 million in April to glean adtech data from smart tvs. Edward Norton’s adtech firm EDO raised $80 million in April and booked a deal with Discovery ahead of the upfronts.
Nielsen also lost its accreditation with the Media Ratings Council, and without a standard ratings guide for the industry, navigating the upfronts will be a far more uncertain and nebulous process for both networks and advertisers.
With tens of billions of dollars on the line, advertisers are demanding more than just well-produced shows networks and streaming services alike—sophisticated ad placements is the name of the game.
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Keerthi Vedantam is a bioscience reporter at dot.LA. She cut her teeth covering everything from cloud computing to 5G in San Francisco and Seattle. Before she covered tech, Keerthi reported on tribal lands and congressional policy in Washington, D.C. Connect with her on Twitter, Clubhouse (@keerthivedantam) or Signal at 408-470-0776.
Explore Los Angeles Like a Tourist with Atlas Obscura's New Guide
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Samson is also a proud member of the Transgender Journalists Association. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter at @Samsonamore. Pronouns: he/him
The Los Angeles Tourism Department partnered with curiosities and travel website Atlas Obscura for a first of its kind digital interactive map of L.A. County’s top attractions, just in time for the summer influx of tourists.
Visitors to L.A. – or locals looking for a fun reason to leave their apartments – can scroll the interactive map on a browser or download the app.
Image courtesy of the L.A. Tourism Dept.
The “Discover Los Angeles” map can be broken down by neighborhood or by a series of “guides,” which all feature as part of the larger promotional campaign roll-out known as the Explorer’s Guide to L.A
Atlas Obscura and the Tourism Department also published a hardcover edition of the Explorer’s Guide, along with several other speciality breakout guides, including the Meeting Planners Guide, artistic Visitor’s Map and, for those with more expensive tastes, the L.A. Luxury Guide to the city’s pricier pursuits. The paper versions of the guides have QR codes for travelers to scan and take information with them on the go.
This year’s collaboration with Atlas Obscura gives the Tourism Department’s previous guide a much-needed update – it was previously a whopping 136-page PDF document created in 2020.
The Explorer’s Guide includes a mix of places you’d expect to see on the map, like Griffith Park and the museum at the La Brea Tar Pits. It also has some unlikely spots sourced from Atlas Obscura’s network of local explorers who recommended their favorite places to visit: the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Venice Canals or the Watts Towers, a stunning, monumental public art exhibit of mosaic steel towers that was built by one Italian immigrant over a 34-year period.
30 neighborhoods are discussed in the guide, from classic tourist destinations like Hollywood and beach cities like Santa Monica and Venice to lesser-known but still exciting enclaves like Leimert Park, Frogtown and Little Ethiopia. There’s also several maps for specific interests – taqueria lovers will find new spots to nosh with the taco map, and there’s also a map of the Downtown Arts District, spots to stargaze and sports venues.
“For myself and the writers and editors on this project, many of them L.A. natives, getting to write and curate the official visitors guide to the city of L.A. was an absolute dream,” Atlas Obscura co-founder Dylan Thuras said in a statement. “We hope that these guides will inspire all the curious travelers arriving in L.A., to try new things, as well as providing new adventures for longtime L.A. residents. There is really no limit to what L.A. has to offer.”
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Samson is also a proud member of the Transgender Journalists Association. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter at @Samsonamore. Pronouns: he/him
Tech Groups Push Back Against Texas’ Controversial New Social Media Law
Kristin Snyder is an editorial intern for dot.la. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
Two groups representing social media giants are trying to block a Texas law protecting users’ political social media content.
NetChoice—whose members include the Culver City-based video-sharing app TikTok—and the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court, the Washington Post reported Friday. HB 20, which went into effect Wednesday, allows residents who believe they were unfairly censored to sue social media companies with over 50 million U.S. users. Tech companies would also have to integrate a system for users to oppose potential content removal.
The law, which was initially signed by Governor Greg Abbott in September, was previously barred by a federal district judge but was lifted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans. NetChoice and CCIA claim the law violates the First Amendment and seek to vacate it by filing the application with Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.
“[The law] strips private online businesses of their speech rights, forbids them from making constitutionally protected editorial decisions, and forces them to publish and promote objectionable content,” NetChoice counsel Chris Marchese said in a statement.
The two lobbying groups also represent Facebook, Google and Twitter. The latter is undergoing its own censorship conundrum, as Elon Musk has made it a central talking point in his planned takeover.
Tech companies and policymakers have long clashed on social media censorship—a similar law was blocked in Florida last year, though Governor Ron DeSantis still hopes it will help in his fight against Disney. In the wake of the 2021 insurrection in the capital, Democratic lawmakers urged social media companies to change their platforms to prevent fringe political beliefs from gaining traction.
Conservative social media accounts like Libs of TikTok have still managed to gain large followings, and a number of right-wing platforms have grown from the belief that such sentiments lead to censorship.
Having citizens enforce new laws seems to be Texas’ latest political strategy. A 2021 state law allows anyone to sue clinics and doctors who help people get an abortion, allowing the state to restrict behavior while dodging responsibility.
Kristin Snyder is an editorial intern for dot.la. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.