Month: January 2019

Wheels are in motion to create community around innovation in South LA to support the next generation of creators, entrepreneurs and Founders coming out of South Los Angeles and underserved communities like it.

We’re excited to announce Urban Tech Connect will kick off on May 16th, 2019. Click here to sign up for early registration now!

Urban Tech Connect – Collaborate, Create, Empower

Overview

Calling all business minded professionals, founders, students and stakeholders in South Los Angeles. Urban Tech Connect is the premier conference for the next generation of tech entrepreneurs to connect, collaborate, create and receive counsel. It’s a day of empowerment. It’s a way to get plugged in. And it’s an opportunity to show the world that it’s all right here. Come join the largest gathering in SOCAL of African American and Latino Founders as they show you how to:

• Fine tune your strategy for fundraising
• Target angels and VCs to raise money
• Overcome your fears and insecurities as a founder of color
• Develop your go to market strategy
• Think about opportunities in automation and how they might impact your business
• Keep it moving even when the odds are against you
• Vet alternative options to raising funds for your business
• Develop tactics and strategies for product growth

You will meet:

• Angles, VCs, & Successful Entrepreneurs
• Professional resources (Banking partners, Legal advice, Incubators / Accelerator directors)
• Other Founders and Executives that make up LA’s tech and digital media ecosystem
• City Officials, Non-Profit and Philanthropic stakeholders in Los Angeles who want to see more diverse faces in LA’s innovation economy

Click here to sign up for early registration!

Hope everyone is off to a great start in the New Year! We’ll be announcing our dates for this year’s lunch and learn series. We have some new updates and layers to help Founders execute on their GTM strategy as well as fine tuning how they go out and raise funds for their seed levels. Check back in the coming weeks for dates and announcements. Also, note the date for Urban Tech Connect this year is May 16th, 2019 at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center. If lunch and lears are new to you, here’s a quick recap:

What is the goal of a Lunch  and Learn Meeting at Plug In South LA? 

Plug-In Lunch and Learns are designed to help cultivate the next generation of founders and entrepreneurs in Los Angeles. Our meetings and workshops take place in South LA and around Los Angeles at leading VC firms, corporations, entertainment, and digital media studios . If you’d like to be a featured presenter at one our programs, please get in touch by providing the information below. We’ll review and get in touch if we think we can help.

What Founders & VCs have to say: 

The lunch and learn series gives entrepreneurs a chance to workshop their vision with a hand-picked group of insightful founders and venture professionals without the added pressure of a formal pitch. Its particularly helpful for minority founders because we often lack the organic networks in tech that provide opportunities for open discussion and informal feedback. In an arena where access is the prime mover, there is tremendous value in the rare opportunity to just be heard.

Jibril Jackson, Co-Founder of HYVE

I’ve enjoyed participating in Derek Smith’s lunch and learn series via Plug in South LA.  For me, it’s a great opportunity to contribute to the growing entrepreneurial fabric of Los Angeles and to connect with emerging entrepreneurs and underrepresented founders in an open dialogue about their businesses.  I learned a lot in my first lunch and learn experience and look forward to participating again in the future.

I’ve enjoyed participating in Derek Smith’s lunch and learn series via Plug in South LA.  For me, it’s a great opportunity to contribute to the growing entrepreneurial fabric of Los Angeles and to connect with emerging entrepreneurs and underrepresented founders in an open dialogue about their businesses.  I learned a lot in my first lunch and learn experience and look forward to participating again in the future.

Cody Simms, Techstars

As a VC I typically don’t have the time to give every founder I speak with as much in-depth, actionable feedback as I would like, but the Lunch & Learn series solves this through a dedicated working session. It creates an intimate environment where early stage investors and successful entrepreneurs can provide guidance to the founders who need it most. Many of the founders have made progress by turning their ideas into real products, but the Lunch and Learn series is designed to strategically take that business to the next level.

Austin Clements, TenOneTen Ventures

“Candid and honest feedback is something that isn’t easy to come by. PISA provided that and has since allowed me to look at Playbook Five from a refined and more succinct perspective.”

Jason Robinson, Founder of Playbook 5 

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