What’s the brightest spot in L.A.’s economy right now?
That’s easy. It’s technology.
If you want evidence, look no further than this issue of the Business Journal.
If you go to page 24 and scan down the List of Fastest Growing Private Companies, you’ll see a gigabyte of tech companies. By my count, 40 percent of the companies on the list are involved in technology, if you include those that sell their stuff online.
And they’re clustered at the top: Seven of the top 10 are tech companies. In other words, they’re the fastest of the fast-growers.
Want more evidence? Look at the centerpiece article on page 1. It’s about how tech accelerators suddenly are getting started here. Accelerators are kind of like business incubators, but they get very young companies and keep them for a shorter time. (The story explains it.)
Our tech reporter, Natalie Jarvey, counts seven local accelerators that are under way or soon will be.
Here’s a question: Can you name one other sector here that is creating companies so fast that there’s a need for seven accelerators? Other than the business-relocation industry, that is.
And as you may know, so many tech companies have clustered in Santa Monica and south to the Venice Beach area and beyond (tech guys like to surf), that the area’s been dubbed Silicon Beach. Sure, it’s kind of a marketing gimmick. But if you think about it, marketing is exactly what this industry needs. I mean really needs.
Why? Because few people outside of Los Angeles (even inside Los Angeles) know about the burgeoning tech industry here. That’s a surprisingly big problem.
As a result of L.A.’s low profile techwise, tech types don’t gravitate here. And when local firms try to recruit those people, particularly talented engineers and developers, few answer the call, figuring L.A. would be like Siberia for their career. (Jarvey explained this problem in a centerpiece article in the Oct. 24 issue headlined “Help, Please.”)
One big problem is that Los Angeles lacks a Groupon, Facebook or Apple – a big company with a marquee name. Such a company would make the outside world respect Los Angeles as a player in the tech arena. What’s more, a big company would have many employees, some of whom would get valuable experience, graduate and become key employees in small companies. Or start their own. That would essentially solve the tech industry’s challenge of luring employees here. The problem: It doesn’t appear that any of L.A.’s companies will be that big-name star anytime soon.
The tech industry is L.A.’s brightest economic sector right now, but its continued presence feels a bit perilous. It is in danger of seeping into Silicon Valley or some other tech mecca.
Los Angeles is in the position of having to bootstrap its tech industry. It has to convince talented workers and investment capital to come here. Right now, it appears the best way to accomplish that would be a spirited marketing campaign.
The big question: Who would do that marketing? No one – no agency, company or association – comes to mind.
But if some agency did step forward to tout Los Angeles as a tech haven, at least it’d have the slogan figured out. Silicon Beach. That’s pretty good, huh?
Charles Crumpley is editor of the Business Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].
