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🌴 The LA Grind: Week of January 5th

🌴 The LA Grind: Week of January 5th

Upcoming events, venture deals, LA opportunities, and more in Los Angeles this week.

Justin Gordon
January 05, 2026

👋 I’m Justin. I run The LA Grind and scout for Headline. I’ve lived in LA since 2018, earned my MBA from USC (✌️), and I’m probably out running when I’m not writing this.

Happy New Year! I’m ready for a big 2026. Lots to build. People to connect. Fun to be had. We’re getting back into the swing of things with events which I’m really excited for. Hopefully we can get past this rain soon too!

On my mind: Fundraising, growing The LA Grind Club to 200+ members, and closing sponsors across The LA Grind and The SF Grind.

Let’s get to it.

Clear Peak Accounting is a CPA firm with experience across top accounting firms and high-growth startups, helping founders, tech employees, and investors stay tax-compliant and plan proactively.

They support individuals and businesses with tax return preparation, outsourced accounting, and year-round tax planning – especially around R&D credits, equity compensation (ISOs, NSOs, RSUs, ESPPs), entity structuring (including new side hustles), and exit events, among many other areas.

If you want a CPA who’s responsive, tech-forward, and focused on strategy (not just filing), they’re onboarding a limited number of clients for tax season. Book a complimentary consult here or email [email protected].

⭐️ Featured Event ⭐️

Want your event featured here with a longer blurb? Sign up here.

🌴 Upcoming Events I’m Hosting 🌴

🗓️ January 9: Members Coffee Meetup. San Marino. 8 - 9 am.

🗓️ January 13: Members Coffee Meetup. Santa Monica. 8 - 9:30 am.

🗓️ January 14: Founder Co-Working & Free Lunch w/ Polsinelli. Century City. 10 am - 3 pm.

🗓️ January 20: Pre-Seed to Series A Founders Dinner. West Side. 6:30 - 9 pm. Sponsored by Venice Inc., the design company of California.

🗓️ January 21: Members Coffee & Co-Working. Hollywood. 8 am - 12 pm.

🗓️ January 27: Startup Community Mixer. Santa Monica. 6 - 8 pm.

🗓️ January 29: Q&A with Marlon Nichols of MaC Venture Capital. Santa Monica. 8 - 10 am. Sponsored by Polsinelli and Clear Peak Accounting. We have room for 1 more sponsor.

🗓️ January 30: Members Poker Night. Hollywood. 6 - 11 pm.

🗓️ February 7: LA Startup Community Hike. West Hollywood. 8 - 9:30 am.

🗓️ February 8: The LA Grind Super Bowl Party. Hollywood. 3 - 8 pm.

🗓️ February 12: The LA Grind x Long Angle: NBA All-Star Weekend Kickoff Dinner Party. Hollywood. 6:30 - 10:30 pm.

🗓️ February 19-22: Curated Temecula Founder Retreat. Looking for 1 or 2 sponsors. Reply to this email if interested.

🗓️ February 27: Members Poker Night. Hollywood. 6 - 11 pm.

👋 This Week 👋

🗓️ January 7: LA Female Founders Lunch. Culver City. 11 am - 1 pm.

🗓️ January 7: Startup Cafe: FounderLine with Josh Resnick. Venice. 8:45 - 10:30 am.

🗓️ January 7: WeAreLATech: LA Tech Community Walk. Echo Park. 4 - 5:15 pm.

🗓️ January 7: WeAreLATech: LA Tech Community Walk. Pasadena. 4 - 5:15 pm.

🗓️ January 7: Free Orange County Rockstar Connect Networking Event. Costa Mesa. 6 - 8 pm.

🗓️ January 7: low rank adapters: ComfyUI & Chill. Wildshire Center. 6 - 8 pm.

🗓️ January 7: Startup Pitch & Networking in Los Angeles. South Park. 7 - 10 pm.

🗓️ January 8: Launchpad Session (In-Person). El Segundo. 12 - 1 pm.

🗓️ January 8: Kinn Entrepreneurship Council. Venice. 1:30 - 3:30 pm.

🗓️ January 8: Los Angeles Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Mixer. Mid-City. 6b- 8 pm.

🗓️ January 8: Los Angeles Design & Development Meetup No.15. Mid-Wilshire. 6:30 - 9:30 pm.

🗓️ January 9: Women's Connection Hour. Venice. 5 - 7 pm.

🗓️ January 10: HeyClimate Group Hike. Griffith Park. 10:30 am - 12:30 pm.

🗓️ January 10-11: RenAIssance Hackathon: Builder Pass. Glendale.

Want to submit an event for consideration in the next edition? Fill out this form.

A few weeks back, we took a bunch of founders to the LA Rams game. Who got priority access? LA Grind Club members.

We have multiple member experiences happening every month, from coffee meetups and co-working to Go-Kart racing and happy hours, where you’ll meet people like:

A venture-backed founder who just raised a multi-million dollar seed round
A bootstrapped founder doing hundreds of thousands in revenue and another doing millions
An investor who has made 100+ investments into athletes, creators, and entrepreneurs
Operators and executives with experience at public companies and high-growth startups

More than 50 members and growing. Join us!

Top 5 LA Startup & VC Firm Jobs

Full-Stack Software Engineer @ Pure

Director of Marketing @ M13

Sales & Growth Lead @ Olympian Motors

Customer Success Manager @ BlueCargo

Senior Process Development Engineer @ Approach Venture

👋 Hiring? Feature your job in The LA Grind newsletter.

Investment Opportunity

Know a founder or investor in Los Angeles who is raising capital or searching for a co-founder? Reply to this email with more details that I could share in this newsletter for 8,000+ founders, investors, and operators.

The LA Grind’s first Community Partner is Marc Hankin of HPL Law!

Marc advises inventors and high-growth teams on patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and licensing. Before your next fundraise, launch, or M&A chat, know where you stand by talking with Marc, who you can reach at [email protected].

Marc can often be found at startup events in LA and has been one of the biggest supporters of The LA Grind since its inception!