LOS ANGELES FOR STARTUPS
research to support economic development of the creative
& tech startup community of dtla
project goals
research context client hypothesis the dearth of desirable, reasonably priced office space is stifiling the growth of the startup community in dtla.
- outline current startup community conditions in los angeles - identify startup perceptions and preferences - create policies that could be implemented to bring existing conditions into alighnment with startup preferences to foster community growth
the clients ultimate goal is not actually to solve the issue of office
research questions
accessiblity for startups, but to facilitate community growth in dtla by improving conditions hindering growth and exploring solutions to what they had identified as a hindrance. before such solutions could be explored, it was necessary to determine whether the original hypothesis was true.
1. what factors influence the way startups make geographic decisions? 2. what factors influence the creation, expansion, and retension of a startup community? 3. how does los angeles currently measure in terms of these factors?
findings
methodology reviewed primary sources
1. factors that startups consider most important when making geographic decisions:* business inputs 71% non-business inputs 18% public sector factors 3% other 8%
& academic literature
conducted a survey of startups
interviewed topic experts
& community stakeholders
business inputs
*total of 65 respondents
of those that reported “business inputs” were the most important
while interviews and survey conducted showed that startups do care about
follows (total of
CESS TO ADEQUATE TALENT. this held true across startups of all ages, sizes, and fields. 2. creation, expansion, retention - strategies for community growth:* - leadership should stem from entreprenuers - an understanding that community growth is a long-term endeavor - inclusivity: external and internal - community engagement across the entreprenuerial stack
accessibility and cost of office space, the factor cared about most is
factor in making geographic decisions, prioriitization of inputs is as
45 respondents):
36% talent pool (16) 18% desirable office space (9) 15% access to customer base (6) 13% access to funding (6) 9% cost of office space 7% access to resources 2% other (1)
*as discussed by brad feld, author of the bolder thesis. this project utilized the bolder thesis as a launching point for analyzing conditions of the community
3. current conditions - how is los angeles doing? - in a nutshell, they are the best they’ve ever been and improving! $3,041M 250+ 82 1000+ funding
cos. funded
exits
AC-
policy options A. maintain focus on existing and onging efforts that support the startup community (keeping in mind goals/strategies above)
startups
- startup community in la historically divided into geographic concentrations (“silicon beach” vs dtla), however, delineations have
B. develop the talent pool through focus on students - perceived dearth of adequately trained talent is slowing down growth - client can implement strategies to address talent development and retention, such as a student-startup matching program or pursue strategic partnerships with existing job pathway and workforce development endeavors thanks & acknolwedgement:
started to blur as community has expanded to new geographic neighborhoods:
“Before santa monica was full, everyone thought ‘well, no one is going to go to playa.’ Two years ago, playa - boom. And then, what’s the next logical step? El Segundo is logical, but now so is Hollywood, so is Downtown.”
- petra durnin, cushman wakefield created by: alexa-rae navarro (murp
15’) teammate: rhianon anderson (mpp 15’) urban planning dept. faculty chair: Paavo monkkonen client: indie desk
interviewees
advisors
chris arndt, red granite llc
manisha shah, phd
shane bernstein, q connects vivvy chao, yang ventures
petra durnin, cushman wakefield
kristina “z” holly, entreprenuer in residence yahn lehrt, zen99
john villasenor, phd craig wilson
incentives and support
other
indie desk
rhubarb studios
general assembly la
meg heatherly, we work
lewis center for regional policy studies
miki reynolds, ga
luskin center for innovation techweek la
survey respondents