Emerging LA

Our biggest event ever to close out 2023! Over 100+ sign-ups for our gaming happy hour! 🚀

Would you like to see a new Consumer Conference focused on emerging tech & software? Have you noticed that most conferences & investors focus on enterprise SaaS... What about those of us who are excited about the resurgence of consumer technology. Emerging tech is coming into the hands and households of everyday people: • AI • Robotics • Blockchain • Mixed reality And it is transforming industries like fintech, commerce, gaming, media, work, learning, and health. I want to see the next-gen of builders who are using emerging tech to change the way people live, work, and play. Don't you? Take 60 seconds to fill this out this form if you are interested to learn more and stay updated on a next-gen Consumer Conference. You can potentially speak & pitch if you indicate interest. --- ♻️ Please share the post and tag anyone you think would be a good fit! https://lnkd.in/gBaJscBY

I had a great time attending "Future of Work with AI" last night in Santa Monica. Thank you to Ron W. and Stephen Marcus for the interesting outlook on investment opportunities in the space and sharing your outlook on the future with AI developments. Rest easy Uber drivers... lawyers and translaters on the other hand, watch out! Emerging LA, AI LA, Sunset Ventures

I don’t know if I’ve ever been to an event and felt more sure of what we’re building at StoryTwin.com Brandon Hoffman and Emerging LA has a great track record of putting together insightful and awesome leaders again and again! It was great to get the wisdom of these thought leaders on the impact and potential of #Web3 and #AI in the #IP space. Here were some of my key takeaways: Le Zhang and the Spaceport.xyz team is creator focused and sees the future of Web3 as an opportunity to elevate the creator in all of us. If GenAI is making it possible for the every human to tell their stories in a medium they love, are we in for an IP renaissance that levels the playing field between fan and studio? Michael Dershewitz is big on hyper personalization. The ability to create and tune unique experiences and rewards to drive community sounds amazing. He foresees a future where high impact game development is possible for a fraction of the cost. I thought it was interesting that last year was a great year for AAA titles as far as production spend but only a hand full were able to hit as a result. It feels like the film industry is in a similar space. These tools are going to make us able to take smaller, more efficient teams further. Jun Park shared some great details on the power of Web3 and AI to engage and onboard non-technical creators to leverage and develop IP in these emerging markets. Maria Chak steered a wonderful chat that painted a global picture of the state and future of the space. Thanks so much Chewy J. for the invite and congratulations to the Spaceport team on all the hard work.

Are humans special? How is teaching a child to sing by having them listen to popular songs different than teaching a generative AI like Suno in a similar way? This is at the heart of a massive legal and ethical maelstrom brewing at the center of all content creation, with repercussions far beyond Hollywood. This is a problem that strikes at the core of any creation of the mind (intellectual property, or IP), it could be a famous movie character, a song, a poem, the photos you took on your phone. Is it right for AI companies to use those creations to build products and compete with humans? Will it ever be right? How do we make it right? Never before has the topic of copyrights and IP been more important. I find it a little hard to believe as well, but the AI vs. Humanity debate is already here, front and center stage, and it's time to learn and participate in the discussion. This will impact all of us sooner than we think. Come join me tonight in Santa Monica as I discuss this topic and future of creativity along w/ Maria Chak at Republic, Michael Dershewitz at Xsolla, and Jun Park at Hashed. Big thanks to Brandon Hoffman at Emerging LA, Sunset Ventures and Timothy K. at Faction VC for hosting! https://lnkd.in/ek9QFAbX

I had the chance to attend the Emerging LA "Future of AI at Work" IRL event last night, such a great community of people. We listened in on early-stage startup perspective and wisdom from Ron W. and Stephen Marcus. So interesting to hear their predictions and insights on how AI will be impacting the future of work and companies. Shifting to a mindset of 'learn how to leverage AI to enable your teams and business' over the fears of what it will replace. Learned a ton! Thank you Brandon Hoffman for hosting! See you at the next one! #AI #FutureofWork #HWG

Wonder will happen to human creativity & media industries with the rise of web3 & AI? 👇🏼 Tonight at 530p we have another Emerging LA happy hour in Santa Monica. There are 99 guests are signed up, and only 11 slots left! SIGN UP HERE: https://lnkd.in/gcR8dKHY This happy hour will be part of our 'Future Frontiers' series, with a panel discussion on the latest developments in emerging technologies and how it will impact the creative industries. These trends matter as it relates to content generation, creators, IP, royalties & rights, and ownership. Emerging tech such as crypto & generative AI is already bringing disruptive innovation to media, and that is why everyone in Hollywood is keeping a close eye on it! The speakers for our panel discussion are leaders at top firms, funds & startups in this field and come from Xsolla , Hashed , Spaceport.xyz , and Republic Crypto. Come listen to them speak and bring your questions for our AMA with the audience! Thanks in advance to our panelists: • Michael Dershewitz (COO/Head of Corp Dev at Xsolla) • Jun Park (Sr. Investor at Hashed) • Le Zhang (Founder/CEO at Spaceport) • Maria Chak (Head of BD at Republic Crypto) These are areas that we pay close attention to at Sunset Ventures, and it can be tough to keep up with the latest developments. So I am excited to learn from this group discussion! A big shout-out to my co-host for the evening Timothy K. as we represent Wharton Digital Assets Club in SoCal and the support from the Lightspeed Faction VC + Orange DAO + AI LA teams!! 🙏🏼 The mission of these events always remains the same, we want you to 1. Deepen connections with good people in LA tech community 2. Learn actionable insights as a builder or investor 3. Leave more inspired than you arrived as you continue your journey -- Hurry and sign up now if you would like to come. If you know someone in your network would find this community & discussion useful... Then please repost & tag! ♻️

The most important insights that I took away from AWE on the future of XR & spatial computing! 👇 I attended #AWE2024 this year for the first time on behalf of Emerging LA as a media partner, and want to share my top learnings with you all! One of the highlights was getting to attend the "Visionaries" panel and learning firsthand from the pioneers of VR. 𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗞𝗘𝗬𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘 Palmer Luckey (Founder of Oculus & Anduril) Darshan Shankar (Founder of Bigscreen) Moderated by Stephanie Riggs (Ink & Paint) 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗩𝗥 Palmer Luckey built his first VR headset prototype in 2009 at age 17 in Long Beach while living in a trailer. The original Oculus was a DIY kit for enthusiasts. It became clear early on Kickstarter that people wanted fully built kits, not DIY. Darshan Shankar immediately started building Bigscreen when the DK2 came out and shipped the first version of software in 2016 on Rift. 𝗩𝗥 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟬 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 People often think that VR development has stalled, this is wrong! It has actually advanced exponentially over the last 10 years. • HW & UX: Now 3-4x lighter in weight and has 20x better resolution • Units: 55K DK1 units sold 12 years ago to 20M Quests sold last year • Users: Gorilla Tag has 1M DAUs The bars of success have drastically changed, and expectations are warped. 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗩𝗥 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 "𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴" is Darshan's approach to HW development & making trade-offs “𝘕𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘹” happens with more touchpoints of interactivity, the more complicated it is to tell & experience narrative 𝗙𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗧𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗖𝗦 & 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 1. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗔𝗜, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗫𝗥 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗜          From: Said Bakadir (Qualcomm), Ori Inbar  (Co-Founder AWE & Super Ventures), Bobby Murphy (Snap Co-Founder), Paige (Social AR dev), Michael (AR Insider)     2. 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗠𝗶𝘅𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 & 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗚𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗜        Observations and announcements from Charlie Fink (Forbes), Brian McClendon and Erik Murphy-Chutorian (Niantic/8th Wall)     3. 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲        My personal favorite of the expo floor! After playing with products from founders who came all the way from Korea in partnership with Grace Park (Nuleep) Personal shout-outs: • Maddie (Boost VC) and Jasper (BITKRAFT) for a great VC Q&A! • Jackson (Konvoy VC) for breakfast & our convo on the future of gaming & emerging tech • Jean-Daniel LeRoy Skylar Thomas who won Auggie award with Playbook XR, and are representing #LongLA builders from USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy - My Samsung Next fam! Michael + Carlos --- ♻ If you found this useful, please repost with others!

I am excited to moderate an exciting panel Kindo and Riot Ventures to talk AI, Work, Deeptech, & LA!! 🌴 This will be an Emerging LA event where you will hear about how AI will advance the future of work, especially regarding data privacy, cybersecurity, and open source. These panelists are some of the best founders/investors that LA has to offer, and I am humbled to have them coming. Panelists: • Ron Williams (Co-founder/CEO of Kindo): 3X founder, and 3X Security executive at 3X Unicorns - Riot Games, Clover Health, Bird Global. Kindo is one of the hottest AI companies in Los Angeles and has raised tens of millions. • Stephen Marcus (Co-Founder/General Partner at Riot Ventures): He previously invested in Okta and Stripe, and more recent portfolio companies are: Desktop Metal, Toast, and Shield AI. He founded 6 hardware / software companies in the past. We at Sunset Ventures are proud to call Kindo a portfolio company and lucky to be able to back a founder like Ron, especially alongside top-tier investors like Riot Ventures. I can't wait and hope to see you there! There will be attendees from our co-host communities AI LA + Wharton Club of Southern California. You will be in good company! Proud to have this event participating under the #EarlystageLA initiative by the STARTUPSTARTER team: Lorel Scott is killing it on the logistics for this whole month + Jose Barrera's design skills are second to none, evident in the flyer! --- The event is tomorrow (Thurs 6/27) in Santa Monica. There are limited tickets left before we hit capacity. (link to sign in comment below)

Is the future of creativity collaborative? Join CEO Le Zhang at Emerging LA in this can't-miss panel: The Future of Creativity with #ai & #web3. Hear how emerging technologies will shape the future of creativity and the media industry, especially regarding user generated content, Intellectual Property, IP as a marketing tool and more. Register now: https://lnkd.in/gU7Ez7yz #IP