Building on the exciting demand from founders, designers, engineers, and PMs for Lightspeed’s Generative NYC event series, today we’re launching Generative LA — a community for builders in the Los Angeles AI community to come together, learn from industry leaders and from one another, and share the exciting new products they are building.
Technology in the 2010s was defined by the mobile revolution that birthed generation-defining local companies including Snap, TikTok, Tinder, and Hulu. The 2020s (and beyond) will be defined by artificial intelligence underpinning the next generation of transformative startups.
The 2020s (and beyond) will be defined by artificial intelligence underpinning the next generation of transformative startups.
Consumer applications such ChatGPT and Lensa have brought AI awareness and usage into the mainstream. We’re still in the early innings of a major technology inflection that will have impact globally for decades to come.
Nearly every founder, leader, and builder we’ve spoken to over the past 6–12 months has started to think about how to leverage AI to improve their workflows, elevate their product experience, and scale their company’s growth. With this increased interest, it’s more important than ever to have a space where people can connect and learn from each other. Somewhere to brainstorm, meet potential co-founders & future teammates, get product feedback, and truly support one another. And there’s an incredible opportunity right now to bring together this community that has built LA into a technology powerhouse as we become a hub for AI innovation as well.
Generative LA will take on a similar approach to Generative NYC: ~once-a-month gatherings open to anyone building products that incorporate AI, intended to be a safe space for fostering community and bringing together the brightest local minds building LA’s technology ecosystem. Each event will feature a guest speaker who is a local leader in the AI community, followed by a few product demonstrations from local teams, and finishing up with time to meet & mingle over casual drinks & light bites.
The first Generative LA meetup will take place on Tuesday June 6th in Santa Monica at 6pm PT. Our featured speaker for the event will be Michael Greenberg, the new Generative AI Strategy Lead at Snap. Michael is a 2x AI/ML entrepreneur (having founded both Retina AI & ScaleFunder, acq. by Summit Partners), former executive at AWS, and is a renowned leader of the Los Angeles AI community. If you’re interested in attending, please head over to our event page to sign up. And if you’re part of a local team building in AI that would be interested in demoing your product, please fill out this form — we’re very excited to learn more.
As pop culture and technology continue to converge, Los Angeles has already become an epicenter for innovation. Our hope is that Generative LA can serve as a catalyst for continued innovation & connectedness for the AI community here in Southern California, building on the momentum we’ve seen in recent years across consumer, fintech, enterprise, biotech, crypto, and gaming. So whether you’re an experienced builder or just getting started, we hope you’ll join us at Generative LA on June 6th and help build the future of AI together.
If you have more questions about Generative LA, or just want to get in touch, email Faraz Fatemi, or find him on Twitter.
