- The LA Grind
- Posts
- 🌴 The LA Grind: Week of February 16th
🌴 The LA Grind: Week of February 16th
Upcoming events, venture deals, LA opportunities, and more in Los Angeles this week.
Justin Gordon
February 16, 2026
👋 I’m Justin. I run The LA Grind and The SF Grind and scout for Headline.
Happy Monday! Shoutout to Justworks and AE Studio, Presenting Sponsors for last week’s NBA All-Star Weekend Dinner Party with 250+ attendees. Thanks as well to Citizens Private Bank for supporting the event. The event was amazing and, as always, LA Grind Club members all got access.
It was so fun partnering with Long Angle on the event and it was great meeting so many of you!
Let’s get to it.
Hiring for your startup?
RJR Partners are experts in helping startups scale their teams with high quality hires and they’re the go-to U.S. recruiting partner for The SF Grind and The LA Grind.
They specialize in startup talent acquisition from entry-level to C-suite, with a 5% candidate fall-off rate and 5-to-1 submission-to-placement ratio.
Their team of tech industry veterans sources directly through personal networks, so you only interview candidates who are genuinely well-suited for your roles. Contingency and retained search options available.
⭐️ Featured Event ⭐️
Want your event featured here with a longer blurb? Sign up here.
🌴 Upcoming Events I’m Hosting 🌴
🗓️ February 18: Members Coffee Meetup. Santa Monica. 8 - 9:30 am.
🗓️ February 25: Members Coffee Meetup. San Marino. 8 - 9 am.
🗓️ February 27: LA Grind Club Members Poker Night. Hollywood. 6 - 11 pm.
🗓️ March 1: Startup Community Basketball. DTLA. 10:30 am - 12:30 pm.
🗓️ March 2: The LA Grind X SHIPAID: Curated E-Commerce Dinner. Hollywood. 6:30 - 9 pm. Looking for a sponsor for this event. Reply to this email if interested.
🗓️ March 3: Startup Community Mixer. Santa Monica. 6 - 8 pm.
🗓️ March 4: Startup Community Walk. Manhattan Beach. 4 - 5:30 pm
🗓️ March 6: Members Coffee Meetup. Santa Monica. 8 - 9:30 am.
🗓️ March 24: Pre-Seed to Series A Founder Dinner. Westside. 6 - 8:30 pm.
👋 This Week 👋
🗓️ February 18: Founders and Fractionals, February Meetup. Venice. 5:30 - 8 pm.
🗓️ February 19: AI Cafe: How AI Is Reshaping the Music Industry. Venice. 8:45 - 11 am.
🗓️ February 19: Startup Career Fair. USC. 11 am - 2 pm.
🗓️ February 19: Deal Flow Invitational. Woodland Hills. 2 - 6 pm.
🗓️ February 19: High Five Energy Founders w/ Mike Jones of Science (Billions in Exits). Santa Monica. 5 - 9 pm.
🗓️ February 19: Beachfront Tech CMO Dinner. Venice. 6 - 8 pm.
🗓️ February 19: AHN x Cooley: Building Bravely in 2026. Santa Monica. 6 - 8 pm.
🗓️ February 19: 2026 Meetup for Climate People. Santa Monica. 6 - 8 pm.
🗓️ February 19: ComfyUI Official LA February Meet-Up. Venice. 6 - 9 pm.
🗓️ February 20: Coffee Meetup: LA Founders & Investors. Venice. 10 - 11 am.
🗓️ February 20: Flowstate Fridays. Venice. 10:30 am - 12 pm.
🗓️ February 20: Founder Transition Brunch: Queer Tech IRL × Matt Gerlach Brunch Club x Build Momentum. West Hollywood. 10:30 am - 1 pm.
🗓️ February 21: TechWalk. Santa Monica. 9 - 10 am.
🗓️ February 21: Move Into Momentum: A workout walk + strength snack + coffee chats. Venice. 10 - 11:30 am.
🗓️ February 21: Tech + Trails: February 2026 Hike by Salehpour Legal. Crestwood Hills. 10 am - 12 pm.
🗓️ February 21: Applied Machine Learning and AI Advancing Human Health. Pasadena. 10 am - 12:30 pm.
🗓️ February 21: February Meetup. Santa Monica. 2 - 4 pm.
🗓️ February 22: Effectively Plan your Week, Together. Venice. 10 am - 12 pm.
👀 Coming Soon 👀
🗓️ February 26: LA Feb Private Founders Dinner ft. Principal at Diversis Capital ($3B+ AUM). Santa Monica. 6 - 8 pm.
🗓️ February 28: What's Next Career Summit. Santa Monica. 1 - 5 pm.
🗓️ March 5: Polsinelli Los Angeles Risk and Innovation Summit. Beverly Hills. 2 - 4 pm.
Want to submit an event for consideration in the next edition? Fill out this form.
Top 5 LA Startup & VC Firm Jobs
Graphic & Web Designer (Mid-Level) @ Splash Inc.
Carrier Sales Representative @ Oway
Founder's Associate @ Breakwater
Product Manager @ BlueCargo
Senior Robotics Engineer @ Yondu
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 9,000+ founders, investors, and operators.
Marc Hankin of HPL Law 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!
HAWKs, a nature-based children’s enrichment brand, secured a strategic investment from Post Investment Group.
Send any fundraising news for LA-based companies or funds, including your own, to [email protected].
Monthly members-only events, priority RSVPs, and discounted tickets are just a few of the perks of becoming an LA Grind Club member.
Join 60+ founders, operators, and investors gathering weekly to build real relationships in LA (And have a lot of fun doing it).
Featured Location
Manchego. Santa Monica Spanish restaurant with a great selection of tapas, wine, and sangria, perfect for a relaxed yet flavorful meal.
Fun Events
See you next week,
Justin
P.S. Want to connect?
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.
Reply