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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.
I started my journey as both an angel investor and founder over 20 years ago.
A handful of successful companies and hundreds of investments later, I realized a few common themes throughout my portfolio. One in particular stands out: democratization.
Democratization, or making things more accessible to more people, has been a considerable factor in much of my decision making as a founder and investor.
I helped democratize travel when co-founding Hotwire, real estate with Zillow, and second home ownership with Pacaso.
The same rings true for my current investments, like Intro, a startup that provides access to industry and thought leaders to anyone seeking 1-on-1 virtual sessions, or Arrived Homes, which democratizes rental investment opportunities.
That being said, I’m constantly thinking about what’s next, and have noticed this democratization shapes many of the trends we can expect in 2022 and beyond. From accessible space travel to work environments - here are a few of my predictions.
2022 is primed to bring the metaverse into the mainstream with major companies placing big bets (and big dollars) on this idea. Democratizing a wealth of information and communication for millions, if not billions.
Sure, Facebook's recent name change to “Meta” put this front of mind for many, but the metaverse is nothing new. The concept of people living their lives online in virtual and augmented reality has been a staple in entertainment since Neal Stephenson’s 1992 novel, "Snow Crash." Tech has also attempted to bridge this reality gap with products like Oculus and Google Glass, while gaming platforms like Roblox and Minecraft are built on this concept of virtual interaction.
2022 will see more integration across platforms, propelling us further into this new reality - a virtual world where we seamlessly interact, exchange ideas, shop, learn, and more (my son and I recently recorded a podcast on the subject) is on the horizon.
And successful startups are already claiming their stake in the metaverse. Wave, for example, is re-writing the future of concert-going by bringing artists and audiences together through live and immersive virtual performances. The company has partnered with celebrities like John Legend and the Weeknd - giving an interactive and one-of-a-kind concert experience to millions.
The metaverse may dominate the current conversation - but it’s not the internet’s only progress gaining steam.
Currently, Web2 (or, the internet as we know it) is essentially controlled by companies that provide a service in exchange for users’ data and their user-generated-content. This is the magic that powers social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Web2 enriches the corporations which own the platforms with financial rewards and governance control of their sites.
On the other hand, Web3 aims to shake things up by giving the power and compensation back to the people in an open, intelligent, democratized and decentralized system. This decentralization will also allow users more control over the data they share and will make the internet even more integrated into daily life.
Web3 will run on blockchain technology, meaning that all transactions are publicly recorded for all to see. The user-generated content that drives economic value will benefit those users contributing to the network instead of the companies that created the network. These users will then be compensated via tokenization or crypto.
I can picture some killer apps in 2022 ready to compete with major companies currently relying on Web2 technology. Some startups, like the blockchain-powered wireless network Helium, and Hivemapper for mapping, have already adopted this decentralization and blockchain technology.
While the metaverse and Web3 go hand in hand as we enter this next internet phase - some of 2022’s forecasts land closer to home.
Should employers require employees to be in-person or not?
The pendulum continues to swing as companies attempt to implement efficient working environments for both employees and employers. The struggle with in-person, work from home and remote/hybrid is a trend likely to extend into 2022 and beyond.
While work from home environments still prove successful in both productivity and efficiency - many employers and employees are craving the benefits of in-person work.
The right balance that harbors both positive company culture and employee satisfaction will look different for every company. But one thing is certain - it will likely never be business as usual.
Luckily, new companies have stepped up to the plate to alleviate some of the stress - especially in the world of HRTech. Companies like Syndio (an investment of mine) values fairness and transparency for employees with their pay equity software and strive to make workplaces better for all. Another investment, Kona, helps boost company culture through effective and positive communication.
Adding to the conversation (and confusion) of in-person vs. remote/hybrid is the continued trend of employees packing up and out of a commutable radius.
Untethered from the office at the outset of the pandemic - many workers uprooted and moved locations. Employees will continue to disperse to different work bases as hybrid or remote environments remain.
This relocation trend also led to rising consumer interest in second-home ownership. My company Pacaso, democratized this market through co-ownership (more on this later!) and allows many people the opportunity to experience the best of both worlds while working in a hybrid environment. This leads us to the next trend...
Even with some well-intentioned, centuries'-old regulations still hindering the home buying experience, digital real estate has transformed drastically over the last 25 years. And we can expect even more change in 2022 and beyond.
Consumers have made it clear that they want things to change - and instead of a one size fits all solution, we will continue to see an entire universe of solutions emerge to address the multiple and specific problems faced in the life cycle of a real estate transaction.
A brief history: Gone are the days of the Web1 pay-to-play era of online classifieds and paywalled information. Zillow and Trulia changed that game in 2005 when they turned on the lights and set otherwise restricted information (home valuations, pictures, mortgage rates) free. This created a new business model long craved for by the consumer.
As the above illustrates - change is constant, and democratization is key. In 2022 and beyond look for even more accessible information and transparency with innovations in user-generated content (reviews), better maps, more 3D tours, and tools to provide purchasing a property sight unseen.
2022 will also see the continued rise of the digitized transaction and reduced friction in the home buying/selling process. DotLoop (founded by my Pacaso co-founder, Austin Allison, and acquired by Zillow) was an early leader in reducing friction and digitization with its transaction management software. Many legacy companies now incorporate dotloop or similar software - providing consumers an easier way to follow along the transaction process.
iBuying companies like Offerpad and Opendoor are major players in frictionless transactions. With these companies, homeowners sell their home to an institutional buyer who then refurbishes and resells it for a fee.
All the while, a fresh crop of innovators are providing solutions for other aspects of the transaction. Companies like Flyhomes and Ribbon bridge a homeowner’s equity gap between selling and buying a home, providing cash offers in competitive markets. Doma has digitized the title, escrow, and closing process - streamlining the transaction for all parties. Appraisals have been digitized by Aloft and mortgages by Tomo - greatly reducing some of the most stressful aspects of the giant transaction that is buying or selling a home.
This exciting trend of democratization in real estate is powerful and unstoppable. Though democratization comes in many forms - it always has one thing in common: making previously inaccessible areas of real estate available to many.
In the rental market, investors no longer have to have several hundred thousand dollars in the game to benefit from real estate appreciation. Companies like Arrived Homes, one of my portfolio companies, is a startup that buys homes through crowdsourcing and acts as the landlord. Consumers can put in as little as $100 as a shareholder and are currently seeing 11%+ returns annually.
Separate from the rental market is an area of real estate close to my heart - second homes. Democratization in the second home market was ripe for disruption. Pacaso, a company I co-founded in 2020, solved this by helping people buy a portion of a second home and managing the home and calendar for the owners. It’s been incredibly successful in the US - and we just listed our first European property in Marbella, Spain.
The sky's the limit in 2022 when it comes to valuations and round sizes in venture capital.
Any fears surrounding the pandemic’s effect on venture investing were luckily unfounded. The recovery has been sharp and continues to explode - and there is nothing to stop it.
High net worth individuals, foundations, and endowments are allocating higher percentages of their assets towards private investments, including venture capital. This increase will continue - giving venture funds much more power, and driving larger and larger rounds and higher valuations.
While things are on the rise for VC funding rounds and valuations - we’re about to see a divergence in another arena raising capital and going public: SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Company).
I’ve written about my SPACs a few times - and still believe that for certain companies in certain situations, SPACs are a great path to the public markets. But 2022 will see the bifurcation between the good and bad SPACs.
Once a SPAC is formed and - they have a limited amount of time to find a likely target company to acquire via merger and bring public. Previously, a benefit of SPACs vs. IPO was the speedier timeline it took to bring an acquisition public.
Recent regulations and reviews have slowed the acquisition process for SPACs, which is negatively impacting the SPAC market, potential investors and SPAC valuations. A lot of these SPACs are nearing the end of their deadline to identify a company, raise capital, and merge to go public. Some will succeed - but many hundreds will not.
What started as a way to democratize the traditional IPO path, 2022 will continue to see a split between the few successful SPACs and the rest.
2022 will also be filled with milestones in the democratization of space travel - as the commercial space race continues.
The private sector heavy-hitters - like Bezos’ Blue Origin and Musk’s SpaceX (where I’m an investor) - are still grabbing headlines as the two companies edge closer to making their reusable rockets a reality.
But they are not the only players on the field. Many startups are joining the race - like Relativity Space (another 75 & Sunny portfolio company) - which in June 2021 raised an additional $650M in a Series E round and a valuation at $4.2B. Last month, the company successfully completed stage 1 testing for its 3D printed rocket - the Terran 1. And in 2022 Relativity Space plans to launch the Terran 1 into orbit.
Outside of technology, satellites, and rockets - we’ll see new sectors of new economies emerge, like space-for-earth economies (where resources and services are produced in space for earth) and space-for-space economies.
We can expect Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral and other launch sites to be pretty booked in 2022 and beyond.
The above list is non-exhaustive. I’m also looking forward to the continued trends towards inclusive and diverse work environments - creating and allowing space for even more innovations and ideas to flourish.
From the future of urban mobility and telehealth to cryptocurrency and NFTs - 2022 (and beyond) is primed for disruption and game-changing technology.
And I’m so excited to be along for the ride. What are your predictions?
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.
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.
According to a Forbes report last April, both the viewership and dollars behind women’s sports at a collegiate and professional level are growing.
In 2022, the first 32 games of the NCAA tournament had record attendance levels, breaking records set back in 2004, and largely driven by the new and rapidly growing women’s NCAA tournament. WNBA openers this year saw a 21% spike in attendance, with some teams including the LA Sparks reporting triple-digit ticket sales growth, about 121% over 2022’s total. In 2023, the average size of an LA Sparks crowd swelled to 10,396 people, up from 4,701 people.
Women make up half the population, but “also 50% of the folks that are walking into the stadium at Dodger Stadium, or your NFL fans are just about 50% women,” noted Erin Storck, a panelist and senior analyst at Los Angeles-based Elysian Park Ventures.
Storck added that in heterosexual households, women generally manage most of the family’s money, giving them huge purchasing power, a potential advantage for female-run leagues. “There's an untapped revenue opportunity,” she noted.
In the soccer world, Los Angeles-based women’s soccer team Angel City FC has put in the work to become a household name, not just in LA County but across the nation. At an LA Tech Week panel hosted by Athlete Strategies about investing in sports, Angel City head of strategy and chief of staff Kari Fleischauer said that years before launching the women’s National Women’s Soccer League team, Angel City FC was pounding the pavement letting people know about the excitement ladies soccer can bring. She noted community is key, and that fostering a sense of engagement and safety at the team’s home venue, BMO stadium (formerly Banc of California Stadium), is one reason fans keep coming back.
Adding free metro rides to BMO stadium and private rooms for nursing fans to breastfeed or fans on the spectrum to avoid sensory overload, were just some of the ways ACFC tried to include its community in the concept of its stadium, Fleischauer said. She noted, though, that roughly 46% of Angel City fans are “straight white dudes hanging out with their bros.”
“Particularly [on] the woman's side, I'd like to think we do a better job of making sure that there's spaces for everyone,” Fleischauer told the audience. “One thing we realize is accessibility is a huge thing.”
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.
L.A. Tech Week has brought venture capitalists, founders and entrepreneurs from around the world to the California coast. With so many tech nerds in one place, it's easy to laugh, joke and reminisce about the future of tech in SoCal.
Here's what people are saying about the fifth day of L.A. Tech Week on social:
#LATechWeek has been on 🔥🔥🔥. Yes the events are super cool at amazing venues. But, I’m blown away by the people. I’ve met so many founders building generative AI companies from the ground up. I’m so bullish on LA right now🥳. LA is for builders #longLA
Thanks @rpnickson 📸 pic.twitter.com/B6rT2jJYIs
— Dr. Kelly O'Brien (@Kvo2013) June 8, 2023
Successful LatinxVC Avanza Summit 2023 in LA! It’s been an amazing few days near the beach w great company. Thank you to our panelists & participants.
Huge thanks to our incredible sponsors SVB, Chavez Family Foundation, Annenberg Foundation, PledgeLA, Fenwick & West, Countsy! pic.twitter.com/oVuGIgFurk
— LatinxVC (@LatinxVCs) June 9, 2023
30+ gaming startups presented at the A16z Speedrun Demo Day in LA yesterday. Great thanks to the @a16zGames team for an awesome day of events! #LATechWeek pic.twitter.com/DKq8IFo5QZ
— Grace Zhou (@graceminzhou) June 9, 2023
📣🤩 What’s the buzz? It’s #LATechWeek from @TechstarsLA & @TechstarsHealth joint demo day with the #Techstar HC team where our @fyelabs founder/CEO Suvojit Ghosh mentored both cohorts! #TechStars demo day highlighted 12 amazing emerging #startups in #healthtech #innovation. 🩺 pic.twitter.com/0RXClCtfDQ
— FYELABS (@fyelabs) June 9, 2023
Another successful Coffee On Slauson in the books for #LATechWeek.
Special thanks to the good people at Pledge LA, SVB and @GundersonLaw for the ongoing support and the @findyourhilltop staff for providing the space, eats & vibes. ♻️ pic.twitter.com/51cMDoEn30
— Slauson & Co. (@SlausonAndCo) June 9, 2023
The perfect combo to start #LATechWeek Day 5: pastries, coffee, and great convos with industry founders ✨
Fireside chats with @enriquealle, @wp, and @robynpark pic.twitter.com/booYPdekVV
— Tech Week (@Techweek_) June 9, 2023
Of course @designerfund has the most amazing pastries at their event. #LATechWeek pic.twitter.com/PjyWlGTQI4
— Jesse Pickard (@jessepickard) June 9, 2023
My favorite event from @Techweek_ has to be "Modern Storytelling & Business Building." Hosted by @STHoward #LATechWeek pic.twitter.com/SV1eexMJ4k
— JonnyZeller (@JonnyZeller) June 9, 2023
And the finale of the night was courtesy of the one and only @zedd for an unforgettable end to the "City of Games" party! Hosted by @a16zGames and @100Thieves #LATechWeek pic.twitter.com/hliI9yLKse
— Tech Week (@Techweek_) June 9, 2023
Excited to be at the @a16zGames Speedrun Demo Day! Loved the energy and excitement from the companies that pitched there. It was also great to see @Tocelot and @ndrewlee at this amazing #LATechWeek event pic.twitter.com/NfLQO5lR27
— Andy Lee | andypwlee.bit (@andypwlee) June 9, 2023
Thank you to everyone who joined the Sony Venture Fund US team at #LATechWeek for our screening of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Last summer, we started building a presence in LA. Today, it's exciting to host such an event with the @Sony family and the LA VC community. pic.twitter.com/wdDm6qtHdL
— Sony Innovation Fund (@Sony_Innov_Fund) June 9, 2023
Time to eat, connect and build while @remi_rodney provided the vibes. 🙏🏽#LATechWeek @BuildOnBase @developer_dao @WeAreRazorfish pic.twitter.com/QIPh1gjvoA
— Hola Metaverso-Blockchain & New Web Tech Events 🎪 (@holametaverso) June 9, 2023
@Lux_Capital at #LATechWeek advancing the impossible to inevitable, from..
..defense primes partnering with cutting edge defense tech startups, to..
..hardware x LLMs improving mental health.
From the rich and diverse LA ecosystem stems generational companies: pic.twitter.com/v5S5r8JtbU
— Shahin Farshchi (@Farshchi) June 9, 2023
LA Tech Week has been a blast! Met some amazing creators, founders and investors from all over the world! #LATechWeek pic.twitter.com/AAh9JFELhe
— Chris Germano (@netslayer) June 9, 2023
Had such a blast at LA Tech Week and hosting events for @brexHQ
Top highlights were collabing with @pulley on an Emerging Managers / Founder mixer at the @poplco House, rooftop event in Venice, creator panel with @thechangj & proper Korean food with in KTown.
Exhausted is an… pic.twitter.com/mGQnSYGPdg
— Τyler Robinson (@TyyRob3) June 9, 2023
Did you have fun at @sophiaamoruso’s launch party for @trustfundvc? #LATechWeek pic.twitter.com/gbrbXRQ9Xx
— Kay (@KaySnels) June 9, 2023
y00tilty in every city with @KaylaLor3n & @cryptochrisg813.
Welcome to the LA @y00tsNFT fam! #LATechWeek #3XP week. pic.twitter.com/6wWKlsTacx
— VanG0xH (@CryptoVanGoghs) June 9, 2023
Really enjoyed #LATechWeek. Here are some observations I made 👇
— s.personal.ai (Suman Kanuganti) (@SumanPersonalAI) June 9, 2023
Thank you @TheKofiAmpadu for including me in #demoday with the latest @a16ztxo cohort! It was a real full circle moment to witness the brilliance of both @ChrisLyons & @ZMuse_ & #PledgeLA very own. She’s why we’re #LongLA 🚀💕 #LAtechweek pic.twitter.com/itkKXMxQRb
— Qiana Qiana! (@Q_i_a_n_a) June 9, 2023
@upfrontvc Gaming Founders Podcast #iLOVELA #LATechWeek @Techweek_ @KatiaAmeri @mucker @fikavc @bonfire_vc @TenOne10 @WatertowerGroup @ganasvc @IAmRobRyan @john_at_stonks @eva_ho @dereknorton pic.twitter.com/LCbaGXCoW7
— Sean Goldfaden (@seangoldfaden) June 9, 2023
Hosts Kevin Zhang, Partner at @upfrontvc, and Eden Chen, CEO of @pragmaplatform, interviewed two special guests from @raidbaseinc Stephen Lim, Co-Founder & Product Director, and Trevor Romleski, Co-Founder & Game Director. 🎙 #LATechWeek pic.twitter.com/hxHEAoELZ6
— Tech Week (@Techweek_) June 9, 2023
Kicking off @a16zGames @100Thieves City of Games party at #LATechWeek 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/zQcZedG15f
— Jon Lai (@Tocelot) June 9, 2023
Yesterday at @socinnovation I got to have this AWESOME conversation with @iamwill — musician, producer, technology entrepreneur, and Founder & CEO of https://t.co/D60y1e2JOu #LATechWeek pic.twitter.com/KBxK6rXyTG
— Anna Barber (@annawbarber) June 9, 2023
I absolutely love this game. Proud moment for the team @investwithatlas. #LATechWeek pic.twitter.com/fPZvKXU7TC
— Tobias Francis (@TobiasFrancis) June 9, 2023
Had a blast at LA Tech Week this year with @brexHQ
From hosting & moderating my first creator panel featuring @BlakeMichael14, to a fun rooftop night in Venice, and to attending some amazing events such as Watertower’s emerging manager panel and a VC/founder tennis tournament pic.twitter.com/udjfmLHE0L
— Jonathan Chang (@thechangj) June 8, 2023
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.
At Lowercarbon Capital’s LA Tech Week event Thursday, the synergy between the region’s aerospace industry and greentech startups was clear.
The event sponsored by Lowercarbon, Climate Draft (and the defunct Silicon Valley Bank’s Climate Technology & Sustainability team) brought together a handful of local startups in Hawthorne not far from LAX, and many of the companies shared DNA with arguably the region’s most famous tech resident: SpaceX.
Here’s a look at the greentech startups that pitched during the Tech Week event, and how they think what they’re building could help solve the climate crisis.
Arbor: Based in El Segundo, this year-old startup is working to convert organic waste into energy and fresh water. At the same time, it also uses biomass carbon removal and storage to remove carbon from the atmosphere and sequester it in an attempt to avoid further damaging the earth’s ozone layer. At the Tech Week event Thursday, Arbor CEO Brad Hartwig told a stunned crowd that Arbor aims to remove about five billion tons of organic waste from landfills and turn that into about 6 PWh, or a quarter of the global electricity need, each year. Hartwig is an alumni of SpaceX; he was a manufacturing engineer on the Crew Dragon engines from 2016-2018 and later a flight test engineer at Kitty Hawk.
Antora: Sunnyvale-based Antora Energy was founded in 2017, making it one of the oldest companies on the pitching block during the event. Backed by investors including the National Science Foundation and Los Angeles-based Overture VC, Antora has raised roughly $57 million to date, most recently a $50 million round last February. Chief operating officer Justin Briggs said Antora’s goal is to modernize and popularize thermal energy storage using ultra-hot carbon. Massive heated carbon blocks can give off thermal energy, which Antora’s proprietary batteries then absorb and store as energy. It’s an ambitious goal, but one the world needs at scale to green its energy footprint. According to Briggs, “the biggest challenge is how can we turn back variable intermittent renewable electricity into something that's reliable and on demand, so we can use it to provide energy to everything we need.”
Arc: Hosting the panel was Arc, an electric boating company that’s gained surprising momentum, moving from design to delivering its first e-boats in just two years of existence. Founded in 2021, the company’s already 70 employees strong and has already sold some of its first e-boats to customers willing to pay the luxury price tag, CTO Ryan Cook said Thursday. Cook said that to meet the power needs of a battery-powered speedboat, the Arc team designed the vehicle around the battery pack with the goal of it being competitive with gas boats when compared to range and cost of gas. But on the pricing side, it’s not cheap. Arc’s flagship vessel, the Arc One is expected to cost roughly $300,000. During the panel, Cook compared the boat to being “like an early Tesla Roadster.” To date Arc Boats has raised just over $35 million, according to PitchBook, from investors including Kevin Durant, Will Smith and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Clarity Technology: Carbon removal startup Clarity is based in LA and was founded by Yale graduate and CEO Glen Meyerowitz last year. Clarity is working to make “gigaton solutions for gigaton problems.” Their aim? To remove up to 2,000 billion pounds of carbon from the atmosphere through direct air capture, a process which uses massive fans to move chemicals that capture CO2. But the challenge, Meyerowitz noted in his speech, is doing this at scale in a way that makes an actual dent in the planet’s emissions while also efficiently using the electricity needed to do so. Meyerowitz spent nearly five years working as an engineer for SpaceX in Texas, and added he’s looking to transfer those learnings into Clarity.
Parallel Systems: Based in Downtown LA’s Arts District, this startup is building zero-emission rail vehicles that are capable of long-haul journeys otherwise done by a trucking company. The estimated $700 billion trucking industry, Parallel Systems CEO Matt Soule said, is ripe for an overhaul and could benefit from moving some of its goods off-road to electric railcars. According to Soule, Parallel’s electric battery-powered rail vehicles use 25% of the energy a semi truck uses, and at a competitive cost. Funded in part by a February 2022 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, Parallel Systems has raised about $57 million to date. Its most recent venture funding round was a $49 million Series A led by Santa Monica-based VC Anthos Capital. Local VCs including Riot Ventures and Santa Monica-based Embark Ventures are also backers of Parallel.
Terra Talent: Unlike the rest of the startups pitching at the Tech Week event, Terra Talent was focused on building teams rather than technology. Founder Dolly Singh worked at SpaceX, Oculus and Citadel as a headhunter, and now runs Terra, a talent and advisory firm that helps companies recruit top talent in the greentech space. But, she said, she’s concerned that all the work these startups are doing won’t matter unless we very quickly turn around the current trendlines. “Earth will shake us off like and she will do just fine in 10,000 years,” she said. “It’s our way of living, everything we love is actually here on earth… there’s nothing I love on Mars,” adding that she’s hopeful the startups that pitched during the event will be instrumental in making sure the planet stays habitable for a little while longer.
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.