How Two Friends Crowdsourced a List to Help L.A. Tech Workers Find Jobs Amid COVID-19

Rachel Uranga

Rachel Uranga is dot.LA's Managing Editor, News. She is a former Mexico-based market correspondent at Reuters and has worked for several Southern California news outlets, including the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Los Angeles Daily News. She has covered everything from IPOs to immigration. Uranga is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and California State University Northridge. A Los Angeles native, she lives with her husband, son and their felines.

How Two Friends Crowdsourced a List to Help L.A. Tech Workers Find Jobs Amid COVID-19

As COVID-19 layoffs cost friends and families jobs, Liora Simozar, a product manager at Clutter Inc., and her friend Ranika Kejriwal, put together a crowdsourced list of open tech and startup jobs in Los Angeles.

Simozar and Kejriwal, who head the local chapter of Women in Product and both have jobs, started their nascent effort in a Slack group in early March figuring many of their 500 members would be impacted. Eventually, they blasted it out to hundreds of their contacts and now have nearly 200 local employers looking for candidates on their crowdsourced list. Similar efforts have been playing out across the tech world as others release lists among friends and colleagues.


It's been a reprieve in an otherwise grim job market as companies like Bird and ZipRecruiter slashed their workforce in abrupt and sometimes brutal manners.

"It's tough being a laid off, you go through a lot of different emotions," said Simozar. "I felt a real sense of urgency because when you are losing your job, you are losing your health care benefits and this is a health crisis."

More than 26 million people have filed for unemployment since the pandemic halted normal life. Last week, USC researchers estimated 1.3 million workers in Los Angeles County alone have lost their job since mid-March. Startups and tech companies have seen a reversal of fortunes, cutting jobs that once seemed secure and eliminating six-figure positions. But, the downturn has helped some big tech and smaller thriving companies pick up hard-to-catch talent.

The spreadsheet by Simozar and Kejriwal, who works on Tinder's product team, posts positions for engineers, product designers and data analytics from companies like Jessica Alba's Honest Company, the board game maker Exploding Kittens and Northrupp Gruman. The lists are being shared on LinkedIn, among friends and within tight-knit networks.

"I think a lot of people are encouraged by how many companies are still hiring through the crisis," she said.

One advantage to the list the two put together is that its local companies, as opposed to other ones that include jobs across the county.

"We got more high-quality candidates from this list than from LinkedIn or AngelsList," said Sam Byker, founder and chief executive of downtown-based Atticus, a tech firm aimed at making legal representation more accessible. The firm closed a $4.5 million seed round in December and is more than doubling its 8-person staff. The pandemic has stoked demand for the firm's services. A lot of the company's work is helping disabled people qualify for government benefits and demand tends to spike during downturns.

"It is always hard for us to find candidates that are the right fit," he said. "We are on a lot of platforms but at the end of the day, it was that google sheet that got many of our best applicants."

A few candidates who reached out through the sheet are going through the interview process. "There are a few folks that we are really excited about," he said.

Karan Talati said he turned to the list when he had to layoff two of his eight employees at First Resonance, a small startup that builds software for aerospace manufacturing.

"We have had to make these hard decisions that we don't want to," he said. "Most of our investors have been spending time with portfolio to make sure they are set for surviving and that means cost cutting where needed and unfortunately that means people."

He offered the employees severance and insurance, but he has been sending them leads and lists like this one in hopes that his former employees would find a job.

"If we have to part ways with people that we care about, hopefully can land as quickly as possible," he said.

Jerry Nickelsburg, the director of UCLA's Anderson Forecast, said the good news is that the region's tech sector — which spans an array of industries from logistics to restaurants to software — will likely recover.

"Are there firms in every sector that are struggling and have laid off staff? The answer is yes, but there also are firms in many sectors in finance, in some of the tech businesses, we see it in the distribution of goods that have actually added some employees. Still, not nearly enough," he said. "The tech sector has been growing and growing very rapidly in L.A., and then greater L.A. and Orange County as well over the last decade. Our expectation is that that will continue."

Meanwhile, even those lucky enough to find jobs after a layoff have a bit of survivor's guilt.

"The reality is, I feel super guilty that I gave notice right before layoffs happened, which ended up saving me from said layoffs," wrote recruiter Ashlyn McIntosh about her new job. "Here's the thing my amazing former manager and now friend for life Darren Stewart reminded me of: I hire people for a living. If I keep going, more people have jobs, meaning less people are living in anxiety."

Just days before the posting she watched her 17-person recruiting and human resources team at PatientPop dwindle to three after the company laid off about a quarter of its staff in a round of COVID-19 layoffs, she said. The data science team was also wiped out she said, noting that those are difficult positions to fill.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.

McIntosh who now works at TeleSign said she's seen a rush of applicants to jobs. Other recruiters, who she once competed against, are now calling her and sharing job applicants that they would have guarded before the pandemic. Hard to fill positions now have candidates clamoring.

The dire circumstances have reshuffled the job market for those with the right skills and it has also opened up talent that wasn't accessible before.

Matt Alling, who runs headhunting firm Marius Group, said that in some ways he has felt like a first responder dealing with so many people that have been laid off. Although about 80% of his clients froze hiring, the rest are hiring more than usual and keeping him busy.

"If we averaged 30 new candidates a day, now we are imputing 200 people a day," he said. "We have been working double time to connect with really good candidates."

Companies like Chinese-owned startup ByteDance is looking to hire 10,000 new employees, Bloomberg reported last week. The company's app TikTok is based in Culver City and has been advertising jobs. Other big tech companies like Amazon and Apple have been on a hiring spree as they see an opportunity to pick up hard to find talent.

Arteen Arabshahi, vice president at Jeffrey Katzenberg's WndrCo, which develops and operates consumer technology businesses, said he has seen it play both ways. On the other side are companies sharing lists of employees that have been laid off in hopes of placing talented workers.

"Everyone is trying to make the best of a terrible situation," said Arabshahi, who oversees the firm's venture arm. "These types of initiatives have been really helpful for smaller businesses that are trying to hire. These are amazing for those companies.

Do you have a story that needs to be told? My DMs are open on Twitter @racheluranga. You can also email me.

https://twitter.com/racheluranga
rachel@dot.la
LA Tech Week 2024: Tuesday’s Event Lineup
tech-week

Here’s the Tuesday, October 15 lineup for LA Tech Week 2024, organized by location so you can easily explore events that fit your goals and schedule. Dive in and see what’s happening near you!


BEL AIR

5:00 PM

Andrew Yeung, Blindspot

Elevate Members

8:00 PM

Andrew Yeung, Blindspot

BEVERLY HILLS

8:00 AM

Scrappy

9:00 AM

  • Operators Meet Up (Invite Only)

Halogen Ventures

5:00 PM

Plug and Play, 2045, Studio by Tishman Speyer, Breaking Bread

6:00 PM

VCPE GROUPS, ENTREPRENEUR.VC

Stellenium, MyBrand Global, Project Sanctuary

Ayana foundation, Cherub

Matey, Inc.

Mission Matters, Destination Luxury

BRENTWOOD

9:00 AM

75 & Sunny, Fika, Navitas

3:00 PM

Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs of Socal

CARSON

12:00 PM

J.P. Morgan, Cooley, CAA, Porsche

CENTURY CITY

12:00 PM

Entrepreneur Ventures, VCPE Groups, CAA (Creative Artists Agency)

CULVER CITY

9:00 AM

Intersections LA

3:00 PM

AWS for Startups

5:30 PM

Techstars, Saywise

EL SEGUNDO

11:00 AM

Calibrate Ventures, Advaita Capital, ACME VC, Techstars

4:00 PM

  • Blowouts for Builders: Honoring Women in Hard Tech (Invite Only)

First Resonance

CX2 Inc.

5:00 PM

  • American Dynamism (Invite Only)

HOLLYWOOD

10:00 AM

Community Pros of Los Angeles

1:00 PM

Communia

LONG BEACH

2:00 PM

Our Generation Cares

6:00 PM

  • AI for Technology Enabled Autism Providers Happy Hour (Invite Only)

SpectrumAi, LEARN Behavioral

MALIBU

10:00 AM

Goldhirsh Foundation, LA2050, Creative Visions

MARINA DEL REY

11:00 AM

DMK Engineering, Inc., Digital Law Group, PLLC

3:00 PM

USC, Information Sciences Institute (ISI)

PLAYA DEL REY

8:00 AM

AI LA

PLAYA VISTA

8:30 AM

  • AI in Action: Redefining the Digital Content Lifecycle in Media + Entertainment :See Details Here

Sprockit, Verizon Innovation Lab

Google

6:30 PM

  • Trends in Building and Investing: Data, AI and the Future Internet Economy :See Details Here

Everi AI, Five Two Five VC

SANTA MONICA

7:00 AM

Founder Common, Founders Run Club

8:00 AM

Just Go Grind

8:30 AM

  • Brewing Connections: Coffee + Alfajores Networking Breakfast for Founders at Seed Stage :See Details Here

Braintly, Alt-Black

Upfront Ventures, Brex

9:00 AM

Mercato Partners

Dialpad

Garden Labs

Deel, Alumni Ventures, TeamTailor

M13

LendTech, Two to Twenty, The Artemis Fund, Orrick

9:30 AM

Mucker Capital

Qapita, Remofirst, Commenda

10:00 AM

a16z, Fenwick

The FutureList, Global Venture Network

USC Marshall Grief Center for Entrepreneurial Studies

Cherry Hill Advisory

11:00 AM

Liz Shows

  • Business Value - Measure, Create, & Retain (Invite Only)

Objective IBV

  • Transactional Trends & FinTech Transformation: Overcoming Payment Threats in a Post-COVID Marketplace (Invite Only)

Chargebacks911

Next Stage Trajectory

12:00 PM

SSM

  • Scaling Hardware: From Concept to Market - A Lunch Panel for Industry Leaders :See Details Here

SEACOMP, Conduit Venture Labs, AJProTech

FusionAuth, Global Venture Network

1:00 PM

Kiva AI

Cherry Hill Advisory

2:00 PM

Morrow, Global Venture Network

Le Club, Blueprints AI

Spartacus.app

2:30 PM

  • From London to #LATechWeek: What makes a world-class innovation hub with Snap, Universal Music, BAM Ventures, and OnePlan :See Details Here

London & Partners, RSM

3:00 PM

SEACOMP, Conduit Venture Labs, AJProTech

  • Venture Financing and Alternative Forms of Financing: What Startups Need to Know :See Details Here

SSM Law

Startup Village, Sigma Eta Pi, UCLA

Venturous Counsel

3:30 PM

J.P. Morgan

Two Bear Capital, Binarly, CIQ

HereWefranch.com, Early Adopters Community

  • LinkedIn Marketing Exec Roundtable: Insights and Strategies for Engaging SaaS Buyers :See Details Here

LinkedIn

4:00 PM

NachoNacho, Kalungi, GLASS

  • Beyond the AI Buzz - Crafting Equitable Workplaces in the Digital Age :See Details Here

Margins, Open Venture Capital

  • Tech Trends Deep Dive: Innovation, Culture and Trust (Invite Only)

Edelman

  • What Founders Need to Know About 2D Barcodes and the Future of Transparency :See Details Here

GS1US, Global Venture Network

Bump, Capitalize VC, H/L Ventures, Trapital Ventures, Select Management Group, Symphonic Capital, Popstar Ventures

4:30 PM

Expert DOJO

5:00 PM

Nuleep Inc., Asians in Energy City of Irvine

OpenSphere.ai

  • Golden Hour with Gold House (Invite Only)

Gold House, Microsoft, Silicon Valley Bank

Golfjoy

SimpleClosure, Cooley, Cambrian Ventures

5:30 PM

Lenny's Community

OCV Partners, Hyperlink Ventures, Mucker Capital, HSBC

Plantologist

MaC Venture Capital, Generation Space, Fenwick

6:00 PM

Stripe

Entre, WeWork, Fidelity

Republic

Stubbs Alderton, Markiles Preccelerator

Clay

Alt-Black

  • GenAI for the Entertainment Industry Dinner (Invite Only)

A16z

  • SVB at LA Tech Week 2024 (Invite Only)

Silicon Valley Bank

MLOps Community, Databricks

Pragma, AWS, Hathora, Mod.io, Unity

ReMatter, Zuma.AI

Tech Pitch Roast Comedy LLC

Draper University

Crosscut Ventures, Wilson Sonsini, Juniper Square

Leave a Mark

No Pressure Networking, All in All

6:30 PM

No Pressure Networking, All in All

Olympian Motors, Inc

ElevenLabs

7:00 PM

How&How, Cashapp, FNDR, Patagonia

Pearpop

Camino5

Callista Media, Viecolo

AI Wave

7:30 PM

Los Angeles Fun Events

SUNSET

5:30 PM

D-Line Summit (A Deep Tech Summit)

  • TORRANCE

5:30 PM

  • Grow Your Legal Practice With AI Personas: A Personal AI Hands-On Workshop :See Details Here

Personal AI, The Simon Law Group Justice Team

USC

5:30 PM

Untapped Ventures, USC School of Advanced Computing, AI LA, Embark Ventures

VENICE

8:00 AM

Science

J.P. Morgan Startup Banking

8:30 AM

Richie Knows, NAMI Westside Los Angeles

9:00 AM

Perkins Coie

9:30 AM

Riot Ventures, Space VC, Stifel Bank

11:00 AM

  • The Art of Building Buzz and Community on Social Media with 3 Top Brands :See Details Here

BrandBastion

12:00 PM

J.P. Morgan

4:30 PM

Harbor

5:00 PM

J.P. Morgan, Intuit Ventures, TOOLBX

  • Accelerating Innovation: The Role of Venture Studios and Accelerators in the LA Startup Ecosystem :See Details Here

Reitler

5:30 PM

Ellevoy

6:00 PM

  • Scaling Success: Tech, Marketing, & Leadership Synergy Happy Hour :See Details Here

1Above Tech, Venture Ahead

Fenwick, Toku

7:00 PM

NGL

8:00 PM

Dropbox, 99VC

WEST HOLLYWOOD

10:00 AM

RJR Partners, Talk Shop Media

12:00 PM

AWSM SCTY, Grid110

7:00 PM

Hyphah

WESTSIDE

7:00 PM

AltiamCX, Ruckus

WESTWOOD

2:00 PM

IFC Global, APSDG, UCLA School of Engineering

TCA Los Angeles, UCLA Anderson

4:00 PM

WeAreLATech.com, LiveBash.com

WINDSOR HILLS

8:00 AM

Slauson& Co

For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

Enjoy LA Tech Week 2024!

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LA Tech Week 2024: Monday’s Event Lineup
tech-week

LA Tech Week 2024 kicks off on Monday, October 14, with a packed schedule of events spread across Los Angeles. This opening day offers founders, investors, creatives, and tech enthusiasts endless opportunities to connect, learn, and collaborate. From early morning fitness sessions to afternoon workshops and evening socials, Monday’s diverse programming sets the stage for an impactful week. Below is the schedule organized by location, so you can easily find the events that match your goals and availability.

BEVERLY HILLS

7:00 AM

Andrew Yeung, Blindspot

8:00 AM

Scrappy

9:00 AM

TechWalk, Qapita

12:00 PM

VCPE GROUPS, Entrepreneur.VC

2:00 PM

  • Future of Farming: AI and Indigenous Collaboration for a Sustainable Food System : See Details Here

Celebration Nation Inc

7:00 PM

LightDAO, Mission Matters

CENTURY CITY

6:00 PM

  • KOSME-LAVA Demo Day (Invite Only)

Los Angeles Venture Association

CULVER CITY

9:00 AM

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Intersections LA

1:00 PM

  • Networking for Underrepresented Founders - Optimize your networking savviness, and have fun along the way : See Details Here

AWS Startups

2:30 PM

AWS

3:00 PM

Family Offices Investors Summit, Sandbox, Soulbound, KIKI, Babylon Voice, CryptoHQ Fund

DTLA

7:00 AM

  • Tech Runs (Invite Only)

Crosscourt

EL SEGUNDO

6:00 PM

Stonegardens Advisory, Demand Signal Ventures

HOLLYWOOD

2:00 PM

  • Brand Positioning + Content Strategy Workshop (Invite Only)

Alpha Wolves Media

6:00 PM

LaFamilia Foundation (VCFamilia), Pivotal Ventures

INGLEWOOD

6:30 PM

  • UCLA Anderson Elevating Voices: A Pitch Competition & Networking Opportunity :See Details Here

Westwood

LONG BEACH

11:30 AM

Starburst Aerospace, Ampaire, Auriga Space, Long Beach Accelerator, Rebel Space, Sunset Ventures, Emerging LA

MALIBU

5:00 PM

Sunstone, Pepperdine University

6:00 PM

Wilshire Lane Capital

MAR VISTA

3:30 PM

Uthana

MARINA DEL REY

3:00 PM

USC, Information Sciences Institute

MID CITY

10:00 AM

The Growth Club

PASADENA

1:00 PM

Emerging LA, Sunset Ventures

5:00 PM

AI LA

PLAYA DEL REY

8:00 AM

AI LA

SANTA MONICA

7:00 AM

PitchandRunLA, Global Venture Network

8:00 AM

Fortify Ventures

8:30 AM

Ganas Ventures

9:00 AM

Tech Breakfast Club

A16z

10:00 AM

Clutch Talent

  • Santa Monica Innovation Hub: Technology Street Fair on Ocean Avenue :See Details Here

City of Santa Monica, StartupStarter, Inc., Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM)

  • Sip & Scale (Invite Only)

AMP Beauty

10:30 AM

Socialtrait Inc

11:00 AM

Mucker Capital, LeadrPro, JP Morgan, K&L Gates

12:00 PM

Global Venture Network, GS1US, The FutureList, FusionAuth

1:00 PM

Cherry Hill Advisory, Crescent

1:30 PM

Charlie Financial, Aprime Technology

4:00 PM

Nathan Family Office

Artium AI, Freeplay, Silicon Valley Bank

Sidebar Summit, Redwood Collective

4:30 PM

HIRECLOUT

5:00 PM

Los Angeles Fun Events

Orbis86

6:00 PM

ImaginingForward

PowerYou AI

Musa Capital

Hustle Fund

VCPE Groups, Entrepreneur Ventures

Hive

A16z

Tech Pitch Roast Comedy LLC

Human To Human

7:00 PM

Verve, M13, Stifel, WSGR

Frances Mendez, Ryan Edwards

VENICE

7:00 AM

Bankless Ventures

Powerful Stuff, Drybaby

8:00 AM

J.P. Morgan Startup Banking Team - LA

9:00 AM

Google

10:15 AM

Open Venture Capital, Empowered Yoga Venice, Oya Femtech Apparel, Wellness Growth Ventures

12:00 PM

J.P. Morgan Innovation Economy Team - LA

Crypto Mondays, Continuum, Female Funders Club

4:00 PM

J.P. Morgan, WICIF, MCJ

6:00 PM

Product Manager Association of Los Angeles

6:30 PM

HITMKR Inc., The Bushido Group, Mission Matters

VIRTUAL

8:30 AM

Clutch Talent

WESTLAKE VILLAGE

11:00 AM

Hub 101, Steven Dorfman Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, California Lutheran University

WESTSIDE

3:00 PM

MaC Venture Capital

  • Speaker Panel: Leveling the playing field - Removing the barriers to entry for developers :See Details Here

Elemental Computing Inc.

Each session provides unique opportunities to gain insights, network, and explore various fields of tech innovation. For updates or more event information, visit theofficial Tech Week calendar. Enjoy the start of LA Tech Week 2024!


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OpenAI's $6.6B Power Play: The Future of AI Just Got a Massive Boost 💰🚀
Image Source: Open AI - Sam Altman

🔦 Spotlight

OpenAI is making some exciting moves! The company just completed a massive $6.6 billion funding round, pushing its valuation to an impressive $157 billion. Thrive Capital led the charge, with big names like Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund also joining in. This investment will allow OpenAI to further scale its operations and advance AI technologies like GPT-4 across various sectors such as healthcare, entertainment, and business.

But that’s not the only exciting news. OpenAI has also secured an additional$1 billion credit facility, giving the company even more financial flexibility to execute its ambitious growth plans. This safety net ensures that OpenAI has the resources to scale safely and effectively while continuing to lead the AI space.

AI is becoming integral to industries worldwide, and OpenAI’s products—like ChatGPT—are seeing rapid adoption. From education to enterprise solutions, the company is driving significant advancements in how AI is integrated into everyday life.

Following Microsoft’s $10 billion investment earlier this year, this latest round underscores the market’s confidence in OpenAI’s potential. With its strong focus on responsible AI deployment and ethical scaling, the company is set to shape the future of AI in a way that benefits a broad range of industries and addresses global challenges.

As AI evolves, OpenAI remains dedicated to pushing boundaries while ensuring that its innovations prioritize safety, scalability, and social impact. Keep an eye on this space—big things are on the horizon!


🤝 Venture Deals

LA Companies

  • Impulse Space, a Redondo Beach-based company specializing in in-space transportation services, raised $150M in Series B funding led by Founders Fund, bringing its total funding to $225M, to expand its team and advance production of its Helios and Mira vehicles. - learn more
  • Nusano has secured over $115M in Series C financing, led by The Wasatch Group, to accelerate the commercialization of its radioisotope production technology, aimed at improving cancer treatment and medical diagnostics. - learn more
  • Future Trash, a multidisciplinary creative studio, has raised a $5M Seed funding round from TIRTA and General Catalyst to develop original intellectual property (IP) within Fortnite, focusing on building unique in-game content and experiences. - learn more
  • XType, the leading software company for multi-instance management on the ServiceNow platform, has raised a $21M Series A funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners to accelerate innovation and expand its platform capabilities on the ServiceNow platform. - learn more
  • 3Laws Robotics, a robotics company focused on building AI-powered platforms to enhance the safety, security, and operational efficiency of robotic systems, has raised a $4.1M Seed funding round led by TenOneTen Ventures. - learn more

LA Venture Funds
  • Watertower Ventures participated in the $8M Series A funding round for DocJuris, a leader in AI-based contract review and negotiation software that automates key tasks to streamline the contract process for enterprise teams and general counsels. - learn more
  • Progression Fund participated in a $3.7M Seed funding round for Permanent, a company focused on advancing sustainable agriculture by developing solutions that improve soil health and productivity. - learn more


LA Exits

  • Loom, an educational community platform that empowers women by providing comprehensive resources on reproductive health, sexual wellness, and parenting education, has been acquired by women's health brand Perelel, marking a significant expansion in the women's health and wellness sector. - learn more

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