Sonos’ John MacFarlane: Never Be Satisfied

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.

Sonos’ John MacFarlane: Never Be Satisfied

This episode was originally released in June 2017. Press Play above to listen.

About this episode's guest:

  • Served as CEO of Sonos from 2002-2017
  • Sonos is known for its high-quality speakers that stream music from popular services
  • Currently works in an advisory role at the company
  • In his new role, he plans to potentially expand Sonos' commitment to STEM education
  • Fan of hip-hop, country and Taylor Swift


Topics covered in this episode:

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

Spencer Rascoff: John, it's great to be sitting here with you. Thanks a lot for taking the time.

John MacFarlane: It's an honor. Thank you.

Rascoff: Let's start off with you just describing the company and the service for those listeners that might not be as familiar with Sonos. What does it do? How does it work from a consumer standpoint?

MacFarlane: The Sonos mission is fill every home with music. Our brand promise, what we promise to do for our music lovers at home, is deliver an ultimate home music experience. That's our focus. Let's bring music into – really, it's bring the artist that you like into your home to wake up to, go to bed to, make dinner to, whatever you like.

Rascoff: I love that, when describing your company, you start with the mission statement. We're going to come back to that because that's so important to me that that's right where you begin with the company description. How many employees are there? How long has the company been around? How large is it?

MacFarlane: Fourteen hundred, fifteen hundred, right in that range. We're all over the world. There are three big offices in China. There are three big offices in the U.S. and a couple through Europe with the main footprint in the Netherlands. It's 15 years for me, so it started in 2002. I had just come off of a company called Software.com. There are four co-founders. This was the common uniting theme of that group of four and about 12 people we wanted to work with that we'd been tracking for quite a while.

Rascoff: Are those co-founders all still heavily involved in the business?

MacFarlane: One certainly is, the first one, Craig Shelburne. Three, including me, are involved but maybe in lesser roles now. Probably the eight, like one of the early software people, they're still – yeah, almost of them are still here.

Rascoff: Has management continuity at the top been an important part of Sonos' success?

MacFarlane: When you go from four people to 1,500, you have a variety of different roles to cover because when you're four to 40, you've got much more generalist, if you will. I'd say at 1,500 now still collaboration is a pretty key role, but people have to play swim lanes a little better. You have really deep specialists in various areas so it's a really different set of needs. So, I would say learning agility would be the number one thing I'd attach to anybody that lasted that whole time. Anybody that didn't, I'd say like you might hire someone out of one of the big CE companies.

There are people, like the guy that runs the product team now started as a software developer and through his whole career here accelerated faster than the company did. You've done high-growth companies. You know that's rare.

Rascoff: That's why I asked. The interesting and challenging thing about high-growth companies is everyone's role and functional area is changing every three or six months. So, you'll have someone who's great at a particular stage and then either they don't scale with the company or the role changes.

I encourage my direct reports to think of their direct reports, knowing what you know about that person today, would you hire them today for that role over the next two years? At least every couple months, every couple quarters be thinking about rehiring all of those people because sometimes they're not right for the role anymore. That's hard.

MacFarlane: I graduated undergrad in the late '80s. A bunch of my classmates went off to GE and IBM. GE, a high achiever, every two years they'd move you. As you know very well, at high growth, you don't need to move people every two years because in two years the job is totally different that you're standing in. So, yeah, you're right. It's a completely different environment.

But also, it depends on what the roles are, too. I'm sure you've dealt with all of this. It's both managing the person's expectations because sometimes someone walks in, and they think I'm not advancing unless my role is going up. You're sitting there helping them understand. Actually, if you look at what's underneath you, it's way broader than it was one year ago.

MacFarlane: The other thing is people need direct management skills and indirect management skills in the right measure are really important. So, sometimes, you need to put somebody in a role where they influence managing. If you don't learn how to do that, you're missing a big set of tools.

Rascoff: What do you mean by that? I assume what you mean is that somebody controls their functional area but in order for that to be successful, they need somebody off to the side, some other group, to support them in some way. So, they have to manage by influence throughout the organization.

MacFarlane: Yeah.

Rascoff: How do people do that successfully here at Sonos?

MacFarlane: I don't think it's unique to Sonos. People do it successfully by understanding what the other person is trying to do and fitting your win-win goal. But that's a different skillset than telling someone what to do. Even if you're a great delegator, you're still in a position of power and you're telling them here are your goals. That goal you made, let's tune it this way. You have a lot of influence over them. When you can't set a person's goals, you've got to get them to change their goals. I think it's a mixture of both. You need both those skillsets.

We do a lot of work. In the mission filling your home with music, that music comes from streaming services these days. So, there really isn't any Sonos without a bunch of our partners, Apple, Music, Spotify and Google. Those guys all have different cultures, and you have to influence them. So, there's a whole lot of work we do that's influence management.

The music industry is going through a huge transition. We can't tell them what to do, but we can help influence it.

Rascoff: Let's talk about that external environment, that kind of landscape. You are in such an interesting, challenging, dynamic area where you have these huge giants from Apple to Amazon to Google and others. You have the record labels. I feel there are these giants dancing all around you, and Sonos is doing this incredibly masterful job of bobbing and weaving to chart its course in context as these behemoths all around you do what they do. That's from the outside looking in. How have you navigated the change in the competitive landscape? Are these companies partners? Spotify and Apple and Alexa/Amazon, are they partners, competitors, both?

MacFarlane: It's actually a really interesting time at Sonos because the whole industry is going through a big change that changes the competitive landscape. When we started, the dominant players were the traditional consumer electronics, like Denon, Yamaha, Sony, and Bose. Samsung was a little bit but there were probably 20 labels. Harman Kardon was a fairly big player at that time. They went into the car audio.

What's happening now with the advent of streaming and things like voice response from Amazon is the speakers are getting a lot smarter. They look a lot more like a platform. You're still buying something that produces sound, but it's a lot more useful to a person in their home if it can respond to your smartphone, and to your voice, and use all the different music services. That looks a lot more like a general computer than it does inside itself. Of course, it can't look that way to a user.

Rascoff: Fundamentally, what Sonos sells are speakers.

MacFarlane: Yeah. That's right.

Rascoff: Now that speaker is controlled by your phone. It can put music onto that speaker from any of these services, from Spotify, from Pandora.

MacFarlane: We like to say you can play anything ever made anywhere. If you like QQ music, you can use QQ music from China. If you like a radio station in Brazil, you can listen. My parents listen to a radio classic in Paris. That's the fun of the internet meets home audio. So, it makes a different competitive set because it's not just your old home stereo system, if that makes any sense.

Rascoff: When the early smartphones got their own internal speakers – I remember the first couple generations of iPods and iPhones didn't have speakers. I remember the first iTouch got a speaker as the successor to iPod. I assume that didn't concern you very much because it's so low quality. But when Amazon launches Echo and the speaker quality is good, certainly not Sonos speaker quality – you can obviously use Sonos through the Echo and I do. But there, they're a partner and a competitor, right?

MacFarlane: Yeah.

Rascoff: How do you approach that? Even just internally with employees, how do you navigate that dichotomy with employees to try to talk about these dichotomies?

MacFarlane: None of these companies are a persona. Even when Steve [Jobs] ran Apple, you'd partner with them in one part. Probably the most strategically dangerous period for Sonos, if you recall, Apple made an iPod Hi-Fi. They had come out with the iPod. They were pivoting the company. It no longer was the Apple computer company. It became the Apple consumer electronics company around the iPod.

They came out with this dock for the iPod that was the iPod Hi-Fi. Now, fortunately, by Apple standards it failed. It was too early. But that was a dangerous time for us because had that thing been successful we would've had a battle for our lives at a time when we weren't really ready to battle with Apple.

Now, pretty much all the traditional consumer electronics guys are gone because they don't have the right DNA.

Rascoff: They're not selling their own speakers.

MacFarlane: Or they're teeny. They're irrelevant. Bose is probably the one left of the legacy and it's holding on with really Bluetooth products and stuff like that. But you're right. Amazon Echo, the Google Home, you'll see Apple come out with something at some point. For me, they're the Beats group or otherwise. There you're partnering with them. You're partnering with Apple Music. Maybe they come out with something that competes, too.

We made a really important decision early on which was we wouldn't take any money from the music services or the voice assistance. So, we're an open platform for them. We work great with Spotify, and we've earned their respect to present Spotify into your home, if you're a Spotify user. It's the same with Google Play Music. It's the same with Apple Music. We're the only integrated party for Apple Music.

Rascoff: To navigate this complexity, you've stayed neutral, in an open platform, as you said. You've also built an incredible brand. That's one of the other things that have allowed you to flourish, even in the face of this competition from these big players.

MacFarlane: Those are one and related. Anybody would tell you a great brand comes from great products that people love and then you're building on that. So, those are highly related, if that makes sense.

Rascoff: In my research about your brand I learned a new word. Now I'm forgetting it, of course, which is Sonos is a word that can be turned sideways.

MacFarlane: Palindrome or an ambigram.

Rascoff: An ambigram, yes. An ambigram is a word that can be turned at a 45-degree angle and still be legible. Was that intentional?

MacFarlane: No. What was intentional is we knew we were building a consumer electronics company. A brand is, at the beginning, an empty vessel or the brand like that. So, we went out and got, I'd say, the best guy in the industry, David Placek from Lexicon. If you look at Lexicon naming, they did so many names you'd recognize. It was really fortunate because it was at the end of 2002. That's when the Silicon Valley dot-com crash really had played fully out. The hopper was just empty of new companies. People were really slowing their investments. So, he gave us a good deal. We worked and worked and worked it until he was about to fire us and out popped Sonos. Everybody knew it was the right thing.

Rascoff: I love these empty vessel names. Zillow is one of them. Zillow is zillions of pillows, which is meant to evoke the data, the quant side of real estate, and the touchy-feely, squishy, emotional side of real estate.

MacFarlane: So, you guys did the same thing. You put a lot of effort into it.

Rascoff: We did and it has the high-value scrabble letter of Z and W. Sonos is an anagram, an ambigram, I guess.

MacFarlane: I love your name. I remembered it from the first time I heard it, which is what you're trying to do.

Rascoff: Let's talk about the office environment at Sonos. Having spent a little bit of time here, I can see that the culture is a lot like Zillow, generally open spaced, emphasis on collaboration, a lot of glass walls. You also have a pretty distributed workforce. You have a couple thousand employees but they're in Santa Barbara, Boston, Seattle, and abroad. How would you describe the culture at the company?

MacFarlane: That's a really broad statement. We'd first have to agree on what the word culture means. I would say culture is as culture does.

Rascoff: You're right to say define culture. Culture is how decisions get made and how resources get allocated. That's what I think of for culture. Is it meritocratic or autocratic? Is it centralized or decentralized? How do decisions get made?

MacFarlane: You covered this with Dick Costolo in one of your earlier podcasts. One of the biggest challenges is getting everybody on board so we're all pulling in the same direction. It's amazing when you are and it's terrible when you're not.

Rascoff: That's where the mission statement comes in. Make sure everyone agrees on the mission.

MacFarlane: Yeah. That's exactly right. The mission, the values of the company, values are really important. So, our values are experience first. Start at what experience you're trying to deliver for the customer, for the employee, for the partner. It just takes you out of your shoes and puts you in theirs, at the beginning, so, experience first. Relentlessly progressive. Some people accuse me of being progressively relentless but you need to be moving forward constantly. You guys know that.

Rascoff: That means just never being satisfied with status quo.

MacFarlane: Yeah, never be satisfied when you finish something. When you make physical products or cognitive/physical products, which we do, you always want to stop and collect. What would we do differently? Some of our products we've killed. You never want to be afraid of that. Talk about the things you did wrong.

Rascoff: Can you think of a time when your employees' understanding of the mission statement and the values resulted in a good decision being made that wasn't under your thumb?

MacFarlane: You know very well I just stepped down as the CEO. So, I feel comfortable around that. A lot of the criteria for the team that was taking over was do they really believe in, express, and use the values? They're not real values unless you see them applied all the time. I don't think there's anybody at Sonos, including myself, that's perfect at all three of those values. What you want is to give everybody permission. Are you really thinking about the experience first? In a meeting where that's maybe the most junior person in the meeting and they have license to ask that question because that's values working. It happens quite a bit.

Rascoff: When I think about other tech companies, I mean, it's true of all industries. But in all industries, if the employee base doesn't understand the mission and share the values, things go bad quick. In tech, it's even worse.

MacFarlane: You better have strong command and control.

Rascoff: That's right. Let's wrap up by talking about your decision to hand the reins over to someone else and to step aside as CEO. Fourteen years after founding the company, why did you think it was time to do that?

MacFarlane: In the first 15 years of Sonos, the music services we mostly marketed to our customers, their customers were a lot younger. People used to say young people don't pay for music. The average age of a Spotify paid user was under 25 so they did pay. It's just that the industry hadn't offered a great product until Spotify and Apple came along.

Those weren't our demographic. Ours was a little older than that because you needed to be settled in your first home, rent or whatever, but you were in a home. So, as the shift to streaming services happened, that opened up a much bigger market because that's a global market, not a U.S., UK. When that happens, you pat yourself on the back for a second. Then you sit there and think about what the company needs to do over the next stage.

I thought the group was ready to take it there. I'd just come off of balancing – we were late to recognize the impact of the Echo, and the Echo Dot, and voice assistance overall. I think the magic Amazon did was cleared that undefinable bar of usability. All the voice response systems before that weren't. Being able to walk into your home and say I want to listen to KCLU or KCRW or whatever, the Ruen Brothers radio, that's a really nice way to control your music system. That's definitely part of an ultimate home music experience. So, we needed to get there.

We pivoted the company. The company did a really good job of pivoting. The team was ready to step up. When you pivot a company like that, it was much more me driving. As you know well, using the forces of a founder are dangerous things because people rely on that. You want the team to be able to next time go this is really important. How do we incorporate this in? As much as it was important to pivot, it was also important that I put a bunch of people in charge. They felt the accountability over it. They weren't looking for me to find the next pivot.
My title is the intern. I'm here for anybody that wants help, contacts, or any mentoring. I love the company. I love what we're doing. I love helping, but I wanted to get out of the way of leading.

Rascoff: Let's talk about the day that it dawned on you that Echo was going to challenge your ability to achieve your mission. Prior to that, voice recognition, whether it's Siri or others, was inadequate. It wasn't ready for prime time.

MacFarlane: It didn't stick.

Rascoff: But then, you must have come into the office one day and somebody had an Echo. They said “play music by the Rolling Stones," and it played music from Amazon. You said uh-oh. What happened at that moment?

MacFarlane: I had a board member, Mike Volpe, who was playing with it early on. There were a variety of employees inside that were playing with it. So, there was a cacophony of voices about it. What happened maybe the day that happened is I finally decided we were moving too slowly to change. We had just come off of the calendar Q4 sales cycle.

The Echo definitely impacted our ability to sell because we didn't really have a story with the Echo. It was, yeah, someday voice response will happen. It's not like the Echo and the Sonos are really competitive. They're complementary I think you'll see over time. We just hadn't worked on doing that at all. We had a full plate of stuff that we were working on. The Echo just wasn't one of them.

So, actually getting the company to pivot around that then was a day. I had gone to an Allen and Company conference in Arizona. It's right around this time of year. I just talked with a bunch of other CEOs about how to do change control for this kind of thing. Everybody said the biggest mistake I've made in doing that is not – make the mistakes on getting too aggressive because the way you're describing it, John, you need to embrace it, not status quo.

Rascoff: A couple quick wrap-up questions. What music service do you use to listen to music through Sonos?

MacFarlane: I use all of them. I have a favorite of the moment. I would say probably if I want programmed radio I'll still fall back on Pandora mostly although Google Play's radio stations are getting really good. If I want playlists, I'll use Spotify or maybe Tidal some because Tidal has got some really good ones. If I want serendipity, I'll use the 4U from Apple. So, it really varies.

Rascoff: What kind of music do you listen to?

MacFarlane: It'd be more a question of what don't I listen to. I like hip-hop. I like some country. I like anything from Taylor Swift to the Ruen Brothers to Q-Tip's new album, the Roots.

Rascoff: Eclectic.

MacFarlane: Yeah. It's pretty eclectic.

Rascoff: What's on top of the list of things that you want to do next in life?

MacFarlane: Hang around here and help it be the next 10x growth that I know it's capable of. Music is such a fantastic spot. I think it'll be bigger than it's ever been. It's so much fun seeing it through the darkest of times and now it's opening back up. I love music. That's great for the artists. Everybody wins, finally.

Rascoff: I love your mission: Fill every home with music. It's something that I do almost every day with Sonos. Thanks a lot for speaking with me, John.

MacFarlane: It's my pleasure. It's my honor.

Rascoff: Thank you.

The post Sonos' John MacFarlane: Never Be Satisfied appeared first on Office Hours.

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$207M Later, Napster is Back and Ready for the Metaverse

🔦 Spotlight

Happy Friday, Los Angeles!

This week, we’re rewinding the clock and fast-forwarding into the future at the same time. Napster, yes, that Napster, just got acquired for $207 million byInfinite Reality, a metaverse and immersive tech company that’s aiming to bring the iconic music platform into the next generation.

For anyone who came of age in the early 2000s, Napster was either your musical awakening or the reason your dial-up connection crashed. Launched in 1999 by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, it was the face of peer-to-peer file sharing and a lightning rod in the music industry’s first wave of digital disruption. After its legal battles and shutdown in 2001, Napster bounced between owners like Roxio and Best Buy, before eventually merging with Rhapsody and evolving into a legitimate streaming service.

Now, Infinite Reality is giving Napster a fresh remix. The company says it plans to turn Napster into a social-first music platform that emphasizes artist-fan interaction over passive listening. We’re talking virtual 3D concert experiences, listening parties, fan communities, and merch drops… essentially, a metaverse-native platform built for music superfans.

According to Infinite Reality CEO John Acunto, this aligns with the company’s bigger vision: moving the internet away from “a flat 2D clickable web” into “a 3D conversational one.” They’re betting that a brand like Napster, which already carries cultural weight, can thrive in a world where fans want deeper connections and creators want modern monetization tools.

It’s a bold move, but maybe a smart one. Nostalgia is a powerful asset, and in an era where legacy brands keep getting digital reboots, Napster has a chance to go from early disruptor to comeback story.

Will today’s listeners hit play? We’ll see. But as far as tech comebacks go, we’re here for this remix.

🤝 Venture Deals

LA Companies

  • Topanga, a Los Angeles-based company specializing in AI-driven waste reduction solutions for commercial kitchens, has raised an $8M Series A funding round led by Blue Bear Capital, with participation from Struck Capital, Amasia, and Wonder Ventures. This investment brings Topanga's total funding to $12.2M. The company plans to use the proceeds to expand its food waste tracking platform into the senior living, health care, and hospitality sectors, accelerate the growth of its ReusePass system beyond universities into enterprise food service, and enhance integration with major food-service platforms like Grubhub and Jamix. - learn more
  • Flight Science, an aviation tech startup focused on AI-powered flight optimization, raised $1.5M in pre-seed funding led by Outsiders Fund. The company helps airlines reduce fuel costs, emissions, and turbulence impact, and will use the funds to grow its team and expand product rollout by summer 2025. - learn more
        LA Venture Funds
          • Second Sight Ventures participated in a $14.2M Series A1 funding round for Lucky Energy, an Austin, Texas-based energy drink company. Lucky Energy offers a line of zero-sugar, zero-calorie beverages in six flavors, formulated with ingredients like maca and beta-alanine. The company plans to use the funds to accelerate distribution, introduce new products, support strategic partnerships, and recruit in key business areas. - learn more
          • M13 led a $5.5M funding round for Chord Commerce, with participation from Act One Ventures and others. The New York-based company provides an AI-powered customer data platform (CDP) that helps commerce brands unify customer data, generate real-time insights, and automate marketing decisions. The funding will be used to further develop the platform and support brands in scaling their data-driven marketing efforts. - learn more
          • Upfront Ventures led a $4M Seed funding round for Arlo Health, a New York City-based AI-powered health insurance underwriter focused on small and mid-sized businesses. Arlo offers level-funded health plans designed to improve preventive care and cost transparency through value-based care and AI-driven underwriting. The funds will be used to expand its broker network, grow its engineering and sales teams, and scale operations. - learn more
          • Bonfire Ventures co-led a $5M Seed funding round for VoiceOps, with participation from Village Global and others. Based in New York City, VoiceOps uses generative AI to analyze phone calls and surface insights that boost sales performance, ensure compliance, and optimize marketing. The funding will support product development, team expansion, and broader market adoption. - learn more
          • MANTIS Venture Capital participated in a $17.2M Seed funding round for EDGE Markets, a fintech company building banking tools tailored to the gaming industry. EDGE’s flagship product, EDGE Boost, offers a debit card and bank account specifically designed for betting, with features like spending limits, financial transparency, and cash-back rewards. The funds will be used to further develop the platform and expand its presence within the gaming market. - learn more

              LA Exits

              • SmartDepo, a leading provider of AI-powered deposition summaries for the legal industry, has been acquired by Rev, a prominent speech-to-text technology company. Founded in 2023 by civil rights attorney Isaac Manoff, SmartDepo delivers comprehensive deposition summaries featuring 100% accurate page-line citations, hyperlinked tables of contents, key admissions analyses, and deposition memos highlighting essential themes. This strategic acquisition combines Rev's highly accurate transcription services with SmartDepo's advanced summarization capabilities, aiming to enhance productivity for attorneys and court reporters by reducing manual review time and improving client outcomes. - learn more
              • Stem, a platform offering personalized distribution and digital strategy services for independent artists and labels, has been acquired by Concord, a leading independent music company. Stem will operate as a separate division within Concord Label Group, with CEO Milana Lewis and President Kristin Graziani continuing in their roles. This acquisition provides Stem with the capital and resources to invest in new technology, expand its suite of label services, and accelerate global growth, while maintaining its mission to empower independent artists with autonomy and support. - learn more

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                          $100M in Wheels and Wings: Startups Changing How We Move

                          🔦 Spotlight

                          Happy Friday, LA —

                          LA’s mobility scene is shifting gears — fast.

                          We’ve got movement on the ground and in the skies this week.

                          Image Source: Upway

                          Let’s start on two wheels. Sequoia-backed startup Upway just launched its new 30,000 square-foot flagship facility in Redondo Beach, and it’s not your average bike shop. The UpCenter, as they’re calling it, is the largest e-bike refurbishment center in California — and it’s a big bet on LA becoming a leader in urban micromobility.

                          If you haven’t heard of Upway yet, you will soon. The company refurbishes e-bikes at scale, with $70 million in funding and operations in both the U.S. and Europe. Their mission? Make high-quality e-bikes more affordable and accessible, especially in cities where traffic is, well… legendary.

                          With California’s new e-bike rebate in effect and Angelenos increasingly looking for car-free ways to move around town, Upway’s timing couldn’t be better. Whether you’re commuting, cruising the Strand, or just sick of spending half your life on the 405, a refurbished ride might be the smoothest move you make all year.

                          Now — from bikes to drones.

                          Image Source: Neros

                          Neros, a young LA-based startup focused on American-made autonomous drones, just announced a $35 million Series A to ramp up manufacturing. In a market long dominated by overseas players, Neros is building drone tech domestically — and it’s not just for hobbyists. Their AI-powered drones are designed to be rugged, adaptable, and mission-ready, with applications across defense, public safety, and infrastructure.

                          The round was led by Vy Capital, with participation from Interlagos Capital, D3, Sequoia, and Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, the CEO of Zipline. Neros’ co-founder and CEO, Soren Monroe-Anderson, summed it up well: this is about “freedom through autonomy.”

                          Now, on to this week’s LA venture deals, fund announcements, and acquisitions…

                          🤝 Venture Deals

                          LA Companies

                          • BuildOps, a Los Angeles-based provider of a unified cloud-based platform for commercial contractors, has raised a $127M Series C funding round led by Meritech Capital Partners, with participation from B Capital, Fika Ventures and others. This investment elevates BuildOps to unicorn status with a valuation of $1 billion. The company plans to use the funds to enhance product capabilities, improve customer support, and scale operations to meet the growing demand from commercial contractors nationwide. - learn more
                          • Proteus Space, a Los Angeles-based company specializing in rapid custom satellite bus solutions, has raised an oversubscribed $6.1M Seed-2 funding round, led by Lavrock Ventures with participation from Crosscut Ventures and others. The funds will be used to accelerate the development and deployment of MERCURY™, Proteus’ automated computational engineering system, which aims to revolutionize custom satellite bus design by significantly reducing development time and costs. - learn more
                          • Occuspace, a Westlake Village, California-based company specializing in occupancy intelligence technology, has secured a $6M Series A funding round led by Lewis & Clark Ventures. The company plans to use the funds to accelerate its growth across higher education, corporate, and government facilities, aiming to make space utilization data the source of truth for understanding and managing the built environment. - learn more
                          • Qolab, a company specializing in quantum computing hardware, has secured Series A funding from Applied Ventures, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials. The investment will be used to advance the development and scalable manufacturing of superconducting qubits, a critical component for large-scale quantum computing. As part of the collaboration, Qolab and Applied Materials have also co-authored a technical roadmap outlining strategies to scale quantum computing from hundreds to millions of qubits. - learn more
                              LA Venture Funds
                                • Wasserman participated in a $56M funding round for Carbon Arc, a New York City-based AI data utility company. Carbon Arc specializes in transforming raw data from various industries into structured, standardized intelligence suitable for AI models and business applications. The funds will be used to accelerate the growth of Carbon Arc's Insights Exchange platform, enhancing its data utility services for businesses and the AI community. - learn more
                                • Trousdale Ventures participated in a $24M funding round for Coreshell, a San Leandro, California-based battery technology company. Coreshell specializes in developing low-cost, high-performance silicon anodes for lithium-ion batteries, aiming to enhance energy density and reduce costs. The funds will be used to scale production at their 4 MWh manufacturing facility and to plan a new 100 MWh facility, with the goal of delivering next-generation electric vehicle batteries to global automakers this year. - learn more
                                • Talino Venture Studios has participated in a $2.8M seed funding round for Higala, a Philippine-based instant payment system startup. Higala aims to enhance financial inclusion by connecting rural banks, thrift banks, commercial banks, and electronic money issuers through an open payments infrastructure, thereby lowering the cost of real-time payments and reducing entry barriers. The funds will be used to expand Higala's services, including the launch of platform banking in the second quarter, enabling smaller financial institutions to offer digital payment services. - learn more
                                • Alexandria Venture Investments participated in a $150M Series B funding round for Latigo Biotherapeutics, a Thousand Oaks, California-based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing non-opioid pain treatments. The funds will support the advancement of Latigo's selective Nav1.8 inhibitors, currently in clinical development, and the expansion of its broader therapeutic pipeline. - learn more
                                • Thiel Capital led a $3.25M funding round for Pilgrim, a biotech startup focused on enhancing human performance and defending against biological threats. The funds will be used to advance its Voyager platform, which is developing cutting-edge biotechnology with potential applications ranging from creating ‘supersoldiers’ to mitigating emerging biothreats. - learn more
                                • Alt-Capital and WndrCo participated in an $18M seed funding round for Town, a startup specializing in small business tax solutions. Town offers an AI-powered platform that automates tasks such as document processing and data collection, providing each client with a dedicated tax advisor. The funds will be used to scale Town's services across the U.S. and expand their team. - learn more

                                  LA Exits

                                    • Dieta Health, a Los Angeles-based company known for its AI-powered stool imaging technology, has been acquired by Cylinder. Dieta’s clinically validated app, shown to outperform traditional patient-reported outcomes, will be integrated into Cylinder’s platform to improve digestive health diagnostics and enable earlier, more personalized treatment. As part of the deal, Dieta’s founder and key team members will join Cylinder to support ongoing development and clinical research. - learn more

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                                            PledgeLA’s Next Chapter Starts Now with Noramay Cadena

                                            🔦 Spotlight

                                            Happy Friday, Los Angeles! As we wrap up another busy week in LA’s tech scene, there’s big news on the leadership front. PledgeLA has a new chair, and it’s someone who knows what it takes to break barriers and build lasting impact. Noramay Cadena, a San Fernando High grad turned triple-degree MIT engineer, has spent her career defying expectations. She started in aerospace engineering, leading operations before pivoting to venture capital, where she’s invested in 90+ companies across industries. She co-founded Latinas in STEM in 2013 and later launched MiLA Capital, a seed-stage VC firm investing in hardware and manufacturing innovations. As Managing Partner of Supply Change Capital, she has focused on technology transforming the food system, raising a $40M fund and deploying over $20M into 23 companies, including eight in California. Stepping into her new role as chair of PledgeLA, she’s setting her sights on an even bigger challenge: making LA’s tech and VC ecosystem more inclusive, accessible, and globally competitive.

                                            Noramay Cadena (left, with her son) incoming chair of PledgeLA, receives a Catalyst Award for Emerging Manager in December. (With Qiana Patterson, PledgeLA Chair 2020-22 and Managing Partner of NAYAH)

                                            She follows in the footsteps of Anna Barber of M13, whose leadership transformed PledgeLA into a driving force for change, launching the VC Fellowship to elevate diverse investors and spearheading the GP + LP Connections Series, which facilitated over 80 investor meetings last year. She also played a key role in the Venture Capital Data Report with UCLA Luskin and introduced the PledgeLA Catalyst Awards, honoring leaders driving capital access and innovation.

                                            Now as Chair Emerita, Barber will continue supporting PledgeLA as it enters its next phase under Cadena’s leadership.

                                            Cadena recognizes the strength of the foundation she’s inheriting. “Anna has been instrumental in making PledgeLA a force for inclusion in LA tech and venture. I’m honored to build on that work as we take the next big leap forward,” she said. “We’re at a critical moment for LA tech. We’ve built momentum, but now is the time to turn that into real, lasting change. I’m focused on forging new partnerships, increasing capital access, and ensuring that LA’s innovation economy works for everyone—not just the few.”

                                            Her first priorities? Expanding PledgeLA’s VC Fellowship to create more pathways into venture, strengthening connections between emerging fund managers and investors, and doubling down on community-driven initiatives. Earlier this year, PledgeLA members, including Wonder Ventures, raised $1.1M for wildfire relief efforts—a testament to the power of LA’s tech community when it mobilizes.

                                            With Cadena at the helm, PledgeLA isn’t just continuing its mission—it’s accelerating it. Thanks to Barber’s legacy and Cadena’s vision, the future of LA tech is poised for even greater impact. For more details on the transition and what’s ahead, read the official announcement here.

                                            And speaking of momentum, if you’re heading out this weekend, be sure to check for road closures—the LA Marathon is set to take over the streets this Sunday! Whether you’re running, cheering, or just navigating around town, it’s another reminder that LA is always on the move.

                                            Image Source: The McCourt Foundation


                                            🤝 Venture Deals

                                            LA Companies

                                            • Scrunch AI, a Los Angeles-based platform that helps businesses optimize their presence in AI-driven search results, has raised a $4M Seed funding round led by Mayfield. The company plans to use the funds to accelerate product development and expand its market reach, aiming to ensure brands remain visible and competitive as AI search becomes more prevalent. - learn more
                                            • Wolf Games, a Los Angeles-based generative gaming startup, has secured $4M in seed funding. The investment round includes prominent figures such as television producer Dick Wolf, music industry pioneer Jimmy Iovine, and Paul Wachter, Founder and CEO of Main Street Advisors. Wolf Games specializes in creating generative cinematic games that adapt to individual player choices, offering immersive and personalized storytelling experiences. The company plans to use the funds to develop its inaugural game, "Public Eye," set to launch in Summer 2025. "Public Eye" is a crime procedural game where players assist in solving murder investigations, guided by an AI-powered assistant that tailors the experience to each user's play style. - learn more
                                            • Fixated, a digital entertainment platform, has secured $12.8M in funding, led by Eldridge Industries. Fixated specializes in transforming creator representation and monetization, providing infrastructure, strategy, and expertise to help digital creators scale their content and diversify revenue streams. The investment will be used to expand Fixated's influence across talent management, content creation, gaming, and digital entertainment, aiming to empower creators and set higher industry standards. - learn more
                                            • Liminal, a user-generated content (UGC) gaming startup, has secured $5.8M in seed funding. The investment round included BITKRAFT Ventures, Riot Games, and OTK Media Group, with participation from angel investors including Marc Merrill, co-founder of Riot Games. Liminal is developing a platform that enables players to create immersive role-playing game (RPG) adventures without coding knowledge, aiming to make storytelling through gaming more accessible and engaging. The funds will be used to advance the development of this platform, with plans to launch publicly playable content in the coming year. - learn more
                                            • Pragma, a Los Angeles-based backend game engine developer, has secured $12.75M in strategic funding, bringing its total raised to over $50M. The investment round included participation from Square Enix, Upfront Ventures, Greylock Partners, and Insight Partners. Pragma specializes in providing scalable backend solutions for live-service games, powering features like matchmaking, analytics, and monetization. The new funds will be used to enhance their suite of live-service tools, support strategic acquisitions, and strengthen partnerships within the gaming industry. - learn more
                                            • Tetrous, a Sherman Oaks-based biotech company focused on bone-to-tendon healing, raised $6.5M in an oversubscribed Series A round. The funds will be used to expand market reach, generate clinical data, and broaden surgical applications of its technology. - learn more
                                            • Uthana, a generative AI company specializing in 3D character animation, has raised a $4.3M funding round led by IA Ventures. The company plans to use the funds to expand operations and development efforts, aiming to revolutionize the animation and game development industry by enabling real-time, lifelike animations that adapt dynamically to gameplay, thereby enhancing immersion and realism. - learn more
                                            • LiquidTrust, a Los Angeles-based fintech company, has raised a $4M Seed funding round led by Anthemis Female Innovators Lab Fund, Resolute Ventures, and Motivate Ventures. The company specializes in secure payment solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and has introduced Micro Escrow Pay, an instant escrow payment solution designed to embed trust directly into payment flows. The funds will be used to expand operations and development efforts, aiming to protect SMBs from fraud and nonpayment risks. - learn more
                                              LA Venture Funds
                                                • B Capital participated in a $4.5M funding round for Bizongo, a Mumbai-based B2B e-commerce platform focused on raw material procurement and distribution, bringing the company's valuation to $980M. The funds will be used to scale operations threefold by December, expand product categories, and position Bizongo for profitability by the last quarter of FY26. - learn more
                                                • UP.Partners led a $4M Seed funding round for SaySo, a New York City-based retail technology company that provides an interactive shopping platform designed to turn excess inventory into profit-driven opportunities. SaySo plans to use the funds to expand its partnerships and bring its interactive clearance platform to a broader retail audience. - learn more
                                                • March Capital participated in a $200M Seed funding round for Lila Sciences, a company developing an AI platform combined with autonomous laboratories to accelerate scientific discovery across life, chemical, and materials sciences. The funds will be used to further develop Lila's AI platform, build the first AI-driven science factories, and scale operations to enhance scientific research capabilities. - learn more
                                                • Animal Capital led a $1.6M pre-seed funding round for Platter, a New York-based ecommerce technology startup. Platter specializes in helping Shopify brands create high-converting storefronts that maximize profit. The funds will be used to further consolidate disparate tools into a unified product suite, empowering Shopify brands to build more profitable storefronts. - learn more

                                                LA Exits

                                                  • Tastemade, a media company known for its food, travel, and home design content, has been acquired by food delivery startup Wonder for $90M. The acquisition aims to integrate Tastemade’s content with Wonder’s services, including takeout, delivery, and meal kits, to create a comprehensive "mealtime super app." The deal is also expected to enhance Wonder’s advertising business and offer seamless access to meals featured on Tastemade’s platforms. - learn more
                                                  • Jumpcut Media, a provider of AI-driven intellectual property management and audience analysis tools, has been acquired by Cinelytic, an AI-powered content intelligence platform. Jumpcut's platforms, such as ScriptSense and SocialSense, offer real-time insights into content development and market alignment, enhancing decision-making across the content lifecycle. This acquisition aims to integrate Jumpcut's capabilities into Cinelytic's services, optimizing decision-making in the entertainment industry. - learn more
                                                  • FatTail, a Calabasas, California-based advertising technology company specializing in direct advertising solutions, has been acquired by Chartbeat, a media operations software platform backed by Cuadrilla Capital. This acquisition aims to integrate FatTail's advertising revenue management capabilities with Chartbeat's content analytics services, providing media companies with a unified platform to enhance both audience engagement and revenue generation. - learn more
                                                  • Deep 6 AI, an AI-driven precision research platform specializing in accelerating patient recruitment for clinical trials, has been acquired by Tempus, a leader in AI-powered precision medicine. Deep 6 AI's platform analyzes both structured and unstructured electronic medical record (EMR) data to match patients with clinical trials, serving over 750 provider sites and encompassing more than 30 million patients. This acquisition aims to enhance Tempus' capabilities in clinical trial matching and real-world evidence generation, furthering its mission to advance precision medicine and patient care. - learn more

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