
Coronavirus Updates: Bars, Gyms and Theaters Close Countywide
Tami Abdollah is dot.LA's senior technology reporter. She was previously a national security and cybersecurity reporter for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. She's been a reporter for the AP in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times and for L.A.'s NPR affiliate KPCC. Abdollah spent nearly a year in Iraq as a U.S. government contractor. A native Angeleno, she's traveled the world on $5 a day, taught trad climbing safety classes and is an avid mountaineer. Follow her on Twitter.
Rachel Uranga covers the intersection of business, technology and culture. 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.
Los Angeles woke up Monday morning to confront a new reality. Schools are closed. Movie theaters, bars and gyms in the city have been shuttered by order of the mayor. Restaurants are open only for take out and/or delivery. Most offices that are able go remote have done so.
On Sunday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state now has 335 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 82 of which have been confirmed as community transmission cases. Six people in the state have so far died from the disease.
The governor also announced a pilot testing partnership with Alphabet-owned biotech firm Verily, which will help the state screen and test potential coronavirus patients — at first — around the Bay Area.
Countywide, Bars, Gyms and Theaters Close, Restaurants Move to Takeout/Delivery Only
As the cases of novel coronavirus continue to rise, Los Angeles County officials announced the closure of all bars, gyms and movie theaters while ordering restaurants to move to takeout/delivery only. The directive applies to every city in the county and unincorporated areas. The move follows the same actions taken by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Sunday, altering how millions live and work daily.
Meanwhile, 25 new cases of novel coronavirus were confirmed in the county. Two of those individuals are hospitalized, said Barbara Ferrer, county public health director. That brings the total of cases to 94 — more than double Friday's total.
Residents should be prepared for three more weeks of coronavirus case increases since the virus has a two-week incubation period, she said.
"While we haven't asked entire communities to isolate and stay home, we have asked everyone who's 65 and older to please immediately take steps to stay home and avoid being in public spaces at all times," Ferrer said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom called for home isolation for those over 65 years old on Sunday.
Asked if residents should expect that L.A. will take shelter-at-home measures that several Bay Area counties have taken, Ferrer said, "at this point, we don't have the same trajectory as they have up north and we're doing everything we can, in hopes that we can slow the spread enough not to be issuing orders for whole communities to quarantine."
To prepare for the onslaught of cases expected, local hospitals are canceling elective surgeries, discharging patients who don't require acute care and restricting visitors.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said his deputies have significantly curbed arrests and courts have told jurors not to come in. Meanwhile, county buildings have been closed to the public.
"One thing I just want to clarify is COVID-19 knows no boundaries, and no limits in terms of spread," Ferrer said.
The county is preparing to release a list of cases in each city and community later today.
"Just because you don't see a case in your community on the list today, doesn't mean number one, that you're not going to see a case there tomorrow. And more importantly, doesn't mean that there aren't people in your community who in fact, maybe, maybe infected with COVID-19 and just haven't been diagnosed."
Ferrer estimated so far about 600 people have been tested in the county, a sharp increase from Friday.
"We're in a new stage of the response and everybody needs to help us," she said. "Everyone must take precautions in everything you do."
- Reporting by Rachel Uranga. Follow her at @racheluranga
1:31 p.m.: Dow Drops Sharply, Bay Area Issues Shelter-at-Home
The Dow set another grim record Monday, dropping over 12% and surpassing Thursday's drop as the worst since the 1987 "Black Monday" stock market crash.
The President announced new social distancing guidelines, in place for 15 days, to address the crisis, that included asking the public to refrain from gatherings of 10 or more people, closing schools, and avoiding travel. He added the crisis could last until July or August.
Several Bay Area cities, including hard-hit San Jose, issued directives asking their citizens to stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary to leave.
In San Francisco, mayor London Breed ordered gyms, bars and dine-in restaurants to shut down, and asked residents to stay in their homes unless they need to be in public for "essential activities" such as grocery-shopping or going to the bank.
According to the mayor's statement, essential activities include:
- Tasks essential to maintain health and safety, such as obtaining medicine or seeing a doctor;
- Getting necessary services or supplies for themselves or their family or household members, such as getting food and supplies, pet food, and getting supplies necessary for staying at home;
- Engaging in outdoor activity, such as walking, hiking, or running provided that you maintain at least six feet of social distancing;
- Performing work providing essential services at an Essential Business or Essential Government function (defined below);
- Caring for a family member in another household;
- Caring for elderly, minors, dependents, persons with disabilities, or other vulnerable persons.
12:34 p.m.: Santa Monica Closes Bars, Restaurants, Gyms and Arcades
Following L.A.'s announcement, the city of Santa Monica says it will close all restaurants, nightclubs and bars for two weeks to dine-in customers. Businesses will still be allowed to prepare food for take-out, delivery or drive through. According to the directive:
The following are exempt from this Order: (i) cafeterias, commissaries, and restaurants located within hospitals, nursing homes, or similar facilities; (ii) grocery stores; (iii) pharmacies; and (iv) food banks.
Movie theaters, gyms, bowling alleys and arcades will also be closed, the city announced.
12:10 pm: Actor Idris Elba Says He Has Coronavirus
Actor Idris Elba announced on Twitter Monday morning that he's tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The Emmy-winning actor encouraged viewers to take the virus seriously and "don't freak out.
"This is real," he said.
This morning I tested positive for Covid 19. I feel ok, I have no symptoms so far but have been isolated since I found out about my possible exposure to the virus. Stay home people and be pragmatic. I will keep you updated on how I'm doing 👊🏾👊🏾 No panic. pic.twitter.com/Lg7HVMZglZ
— Idris Elba (@idriselba) March 16, 2020
Meanwhile, Variety has reported that an employee at Hulu's Santa Monica's office has come down with the virus as well.
The floors that those Hulu offices take up in that office building are now closed and undergoing a deep cleaning. Other Hulu offices in the area are not technically closed, but staffers will still be asked to work from home going forward. Most employees began working from home last week.
Variety has been keeping a running list of movie and television productions shut down or delayed by pandemic here.
11:54p.m.: Mayor Garcetti Calls on Angelenos to Avoid 'Panic Buying'
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti stood with the owners of several L.A. supermarket chains Monday morning and asked city residents to refrain from panic buying.
"There's no reason to make a run on the supermarkets," Garcetti said. "To a buy so much food for a month or for even for months has a consequence, not just for you, but for your loved ones, for grocery workers, and, of course, for those who are most vulnerable and who need food right now."
Garcetti said supply lines have not been effected by the pandemic and urged residents to buy only for a week or so in order to keep food available for those who need it, and to avoid long lines that could spread the novel coronavirus.
"Hoarding is hurting our most vulnerable Angelenos," he added.
10:05 a.m.: U.S. Has Entered Recession, UCLA Economists Say
The U.S. economy has entered into a recession that will last through the end of September, economists for the University of California, Los Angeles said on Monday in a news release.
The update of their earlier March 2020 forecast — revised at the last minute before its release last week — notes that the economic expansion that started July 2009 is now over. The repeated revisions are indicative of how quickly things are changing as the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, spreads through dozens of countries, upending world markets, and closing down cities. Read more >>
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Though Silicon Valley is still very much the capital of venture capital, Los Angeles is home to plenty of VCs who have made their mark – investing in successful startups early and reaping colossal returns for their limited partners.
Who stands out? We thought there may be no better judge than their peers, so we asked 28 of L.A.'s top VCs who impresses them the most.
Mark Mullen, Bonfire Ventures
<p>Mark Mullen is a founding partner of Bonfire Ventures. He is also founder and the largest investor in Mull Capital and Double M Partners, LP I and II. A common theme in these funds is a focus on business-to-business media and communications infrastructures.</p><p>In the past, Mullen has served as the chief operating officer at the city of Los Angeles' Economic Office and a senior advisor to former Mayor Villaraigosa, overseeing several of the city's assets including Los Angeles International Airport and the Los Angeles Convention Center. Prior to that, he was a partner at Daniels & Associates, a senior banker when the firm sold to RBC Capital Markets in 2007.</p>Dana Settle, Greycroft
<p>Dana Settle is a founding partner of Greycroft, heading the West Coast office in Los Angeles. She currently manages the firm's stakes in Anine Bing, AppAnnie, Bird, Clique, Comparably, Goop, Happiest Baby, Seed, Thrive Market, Versed and WideOrbit, and is known for backing female-founded companies.</p><p>"The real change takes place when female founders build bigger, independent companies, like Stitchfix, TheRealReal," she said this time last year in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/greycrofts-dana-settle-on-closing-funding-gap-for-female-founders-2019-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">an interview with Business Insider</a>. "They're creating more wealth across their cap tables and the cap tables tend to be more diverse, so that gives more people opportunity to become an angel investor." Prior to founding Greycroft, she was a venture capitalist and startup advisor in the Bay Area.</p>Erik Rannala, Mucker Capital
<p>Erik Rannala is a founding partner at Mucker Capital, which he created with William Hsu in 2011. Before founding Mucker, Rannala was vice president of global product strategy and development at TripAdvisor and a group manager at eBay, overseeing its premium features business.</p><p>"As an investor, I root for startups. It pains me to see great teams and ideas collapse under the pressure that sometimes follows fundraising. If you've raised money and you're not sure what comes next, that's fine – I don't always know either," Rannala wrote in <a href="https://www.mucker.com/more-funding-wont-magically-fix-your-startup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a blog post for Mucker</a>. </p><p>Mucker has a portfolio of 61 companies, including Los Angeles-based Honey and Santa Monica-based HMBradley.</p>William Hsu, Mucker Capital
<p>William Hsu is a founding partner at the Santa Monica-based fund Mucker Capital. He started his career as a founder, creating BuildPoint, a provider of workflow management solutions for the commercial construction industry not long after graduating from Stanford. </p> <p><a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3048173/the-unexpected-and-hard-earned-lessons-from-a-dot-com-flame-out" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">In an interview with Fast Company</a>, he shared what he learned in the years following, as he led product teams at eBay, Green Dot and Spot Runner, eventually becoming the SVP and Chief Product Officer of At&T Interactive: "Building a company is about hiring correctly, adhering to a timeline, and rigorously valuing opportunity. It's turning something from inspiration and creative movement into process and rigor."</p> <p>These are the values he looks for in founders in addition to creativity. "I like to see the possibility of each and every idea, and being imaginative makes me a passionate investor."</p>Jim Andelman, Bonfire Ventures
<p>Jim Andelman is a founding partner of Bonfire Ventures, a fund that focuses on seed rounds for business software founders. Andelman has been in venture capital for 20 years, previously founding Rincon Venture Partners and leading software investing at Broadview Capital Partners.<br><br>He's no stranger to enterprise software — he also was a member of the Technology Investment Banking Group at Alex. Brown & Sons and worked at Symmetrix, a consulting firm focusing on technology application for businesses.</p> <p><a href="https://dot.la/la-venture-podcast-jim-andelman-of-bonfire-ventures-2648143780.html" target="_self">In a podcast with LA Venture's Minnie Ingersoll</a> earlier this year, he spoke on the hesitations people have about choosing to start a company.</p>"It's two very different things: Should I coach someone to be a VC or should I coach someone to enter the startup ecosystem? On the latter question, my answer is 'hell yeah!'"Josh Diamond, Walkabout Ventures
<p>Josh Diamond founded Walkabout Ventures, a seed fund that primarily focuses on financial service startups. The firm raised a $10 million fund in 2019 and is preparing for its second fund. Among its 19 portfolio companies is HMBradley, which Diamond helped seed and recently <a href="https://dot.la/hm-bradley-2649022900.html" target="_self">raised $18 in a Series A</a> round.</p><p>"The whole reason I started this is that I saw there was a gap in the funding for early stage, financial service startups," he said. As consumers demand more digital access and transparency, he said the market for financial services is transforming — and Los Angeles is quickly becoming a hub for fintech companies. Before founding Walkabout, he was a principal for Clocktower Technology Ventures, another Los Angeles-based fund with a similar focus.</p>Kara Nortman, Upfront Ventures
<p>Kara Nortman was recently promoted to managing partner at Upfront Ventures, making her one of the few women – along with Settle – to ascend to the highest ranks of a major VC firm.</p><p>Though<a href="https://upfront.com/thoughts/announcing-upfronts-new-co-managing-partner" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Upfront had attempted to recruit her</a> before she joined in 2014, she had declined in order to start her own company, Moonfrye, a children's ecommerce company that rebranded to P.S. XO and merged with Seedling. Upfront invested in the combination, and shortly after, Nortman joined the Upfront team.</p><p>Before founding Moonfrye, she was the SVP and General Manager of Urbanspoon and Citysearch at IAC after co-heading IAC's M&A group.</p><p><a href="https://dot.la/moving-from-the-passenger-seat-to-the-drivers-seat-upfronts-kara-nortman-named-managing-partner-2648493740.html" target="_self">In an interview with dot.LA earlier this year</a>, she spoke on how a focus for her as a VC is to continue to open doors for founders and funders of diverse backgrounds.<br></p><p>"Once you're a woman or a person of color in a VC firm, it is making sure other talented people like you get hired, but also hiring people who are not totally like you. You have to make room for different kinds of people. And how do you empower those people?"<br></p>Brett Brewer, Crosscut Ventures
<p>Brett Brewer is a co-founder and managing director of Crosscut Ventures. He has a long history in entrepreneurship, starting a "pencil selling business in 4th grade." In 1998, he co-founded Intermix Media. Under their umbrella were online businesses like Myspace.com and Skilljam.com. After selling Intermix in 2005, he became president of Adknowledge.com.</p><p>Brewer founded Santa Monica-based Crosscut in 2008 alongside Rick Smith and Brian Garrett. His advice to founders <a href="https://crosscut.vc/team/" target="_blank">on Crosscut's website</a> reflects his experience: "Founders have to be prepared to pivot, restart, expect the unexpected, and make tough choices quickly... all in the same week! It's not for the faint of heart, but after doing this for 20 years, you can spot the fire (and desire) from a mile away (or not)."</p>Eva Ho, Fika Ventures
<p>Eva Ho is a founding partner of Fika Ventures, a boutique seed fund, which focuses on data and artificial intelligence-enabled technologies. Prior to founding Fika, she was a founding partner at San Francisco-based Susa Ventures, another seed-stage fund with a similar focus. She is also a serial entrepreneur, most recently co-founding an L.A. location data provider, Factual. She also co-founded Navigating Cancer, a health startup, and is a founding member of All Raise, a nonprofit that supports and provides resources to female founders and funders.</p><p><a href="https://medium.com/@John_Livesay/when-google-bought-my-startup-81f1ee21488c" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">In an interview with John Livesay</a> shortly before founding Fika, Ho spoke to how her experience at Factual helped focus what she looks for in founders. "I always look for the why. A lot of people have the skills and the confidence and the experience, but they can't convince me that they're truly passionate about this. That's the hard part — you can't fake passion."</p>Brian Lee, BAM Ventures
<p>Brian Lee is a co-founder and managing director of BAM Ventures, an early-stage consumer-focused fund. <a href="https://dot.la/brian-lee-los-angeles-venture-capital-2645125301.html" target="_self">In an interview with dot.LA earlier this year</a>, Lee shared that he ended up being the first investor in Honey, which was bought by PayPal for $4 billion, through investing in founders and understanding their "vibe."</p> <p>"There's certain criteria that we look for in founders, a proprietary kind of checklist that we go through to determine whether or not these are the founders that we want to back…. [Honey's founders] knew exactly what they were building, and how they were going to get there."</p> <p>His eye for the right vibe in a founder is one gleaned from experience. Lee is a serial entrepreneur, founding LegalZoom.com, ShoeDazzle.com and The Honest Company.</p>Alex Rubalcava, Stage Venture Partners
<p>Alex Rubalcava is a founding partner of Stage Venture Partners, a seed venture capital firm that invests in emerging software technology for B2B markets. Prior to joining, he was an analyst at Santa Monica-based Anthem Venture Partners, an investor in early stage technology companies. It was his first job after graduating from Harvard, and during his time at Anthem the fund was part of Series A in companies like MySpace, TrueCar and Android.</p><p>He has served as a board member in several Los Angeles nonprofits and organizations like KIPP LA Schools and South Central Scholars.</p> <p>"Warren Buffett says that he's a better businessman because he's an investor, and he's a better investor because he's a businessman. I feel the same way about VC and value investing. Being good at value investing can make you good at venture capital, and vice versa," Rubalcava said in <a href="https://moiglobal.com/alex-rubalcava-interview/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">an interview with Shai Dardashti of MOI Global</a>.</p>Mark Suster, Upfront Ventures
<p>Mark Suster, managing partner at Upfront Ventures, is arguably L.A.'s most visible VC, frequently posting on Twitter and on his <a href="https://bothsidesofthetable.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">blog</a>, not only about investing but also more personal topics like weight loss. In more normal years, he presides over LA's biggest gathering of tech titans, the Upfront Summit. Before Upfront, he was the founder and chief executive officer of two software companies, BuildOnline and Koral, which was acquired by Salesforce. Upfront backed both of his companies, and eventually he joined their team in 2007.</p><p>In a piece for his blog, "Both Sides of the Table," <a href="https://bothsidesofthetable.com/finding-an-investor-who-is-in-love-with-you-d0badf1a3998" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Suster wrote about the importance of passion</a> — not just for entrepreneurs and their businesses, but for the VCs that fund them as well.<br></p><p>"On reflection of the role that I want to play as a VC it is clearly in the camp of passion. I really want to start my journeys only with people with whom I want to work closely with for the next 5–7 years or more. I only want to work on projects in which I believe can produce truly amazing change in an industry or in the world."</p>- Here Are Los Angeles' Top Venture Capitalists - dot.LA ›
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