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- 🌴 The LA Grind: Week of April 20th
🌴 The LA Grind: Week of April 20th
Upcoming events, venture deals, LA opportunities, and more in Los Angeles this week.
Justin Gordon
April 20, 2026
👋 I’m Justin. I run The LA Grind and The SF Grind and scout for Headline.
Happy Monday! I’ve been spending a lot of time this past week thinking through the big event I want to host in early 2027 (Maybe even in 2026). I want to create something unique and valuable. Still a lot to figure out. Your feedback would be very much appreciated as I continue to shape the vision.
Which summit format would you actually show up to? |
Let’s get to it.
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🌴 Upcoming Events I’m Hosting 🌴
🗓️ April 21: The LA Grind: Q&A with TJ Taylor, General Partner at Hobart Ventures. Santa Monica. 8 - 10 am. Sponsored by Polsinelli.
🗓️ April 25: Members Potluck Dinner. Hollywood. 6 - 10 pm.
🗓️ May 6: The LA Grind Dinner Club. Santa Monica. 7 pm. This is a special event where you’ll be matched with 5 others in the LA startup community for dinner. Then, we’ll all come together after at a location nearby.
🗓️ May 8: Members Poker Night. Hollywood. 6 - 11 pm.
🗓️ May 9: Startup Community Hike. Hollywood. 8 - 9:30 am.
🗓️ May 9: The LA Grind: Founder Topgolf. El Segundo. 1 - 3:30 pm. Sponsored by Polsinelli.
🗓️ May 12: The LA Grind: Startup Community Mixer. Santa Monica. 6 - 8 pm. Sponsored by Human Interest.
🗓️ May 13: The LA Grind: Curated Seed+ Founder Dinner. Westside. 6:30 - 9 pm.
🗓️ May 19: The LA Grind: Q&A with David Waxman, Partner at TenOneTen Ventures. Santa Monica. 8 - 10 am.
🗓️ May 27: The LA Grind: Members-Led Learning Session. Hollywood. 10:30 - 12 pm.
🗓️ May 29: The LA Grind One-Year Party. Hollywood. 6 - 11:30 pm. Looking for a sponsor for this event. Reply to this email if interested in sponsoring!
👋 This Week 👋
🗓️ April 21: Sunstone Innovation Challenge. Long Beach. 4 - 8 pm.
🗓️ April 21: Member Mingle. Santa Monica. 5:30 - 7:30 pm.
🗓️ April 22: DEMO26 Entrepreneurship Conference. USC. 11 am - 7 pm.
🗓️ April 22: Vibe Code for Finance. Beverly Hills. 4 - 6:30 pm.
🗓️ April 22: Startup Arena. Santa Monica. 5 - 9 pm.
🗓️ April 22: Nexus x The Sanctuary Poker Night. Mid-City. 7:30 - 11:30 pm.
🗓️ April 22: Build Your First App with Lovable & AI Snack Club in LA. Windsor Hills. 5:30 - 8 pm.
🗓️ April 22: Founders Table - An Evening with Kyle Kazan. Marina del Rey. 5:30 - 7:30 pm.
🗓️ April 22: SoCal Digital Health Summit. Mid-City. 6 - 9 pm.
🗓️ April 23: Aerospace Meetup. El Segundo. 6 - 8 pm.
🗓️ April 24: Built to Lead - Exclusive Women's Leadership Experience. West Hollywood. 11:30 am - 2:30 pm.
🗓️ April 24: Claude Code Second Brain Workshop. Venice. 6 - 8 pm.
🗓️ April 24: Creators & AI. Venice. 6 - 8:30 pm.
🗓️ April 25: Creative Cafe Saturday. Venice. 9 am - 1 pm.
🗓️ April 25: OpenClaw Meetup LA: Demos & Networking. Mid-City. 1 - 4 pm.
👀 Events Coming Soon 👀
🗓️ April 29: Startup Cafe: The Founder Is The System. Venice. 8:45 - 10:30 am.
🗓️ April 30: LA Hard Tech Rooftop Social. El Segundo. 4 - 7 pm.
🗓️ April 30: Cars & Capital. Venice. 6 - 11 pm.
🗓️ May 2: Creator Run Club. Venice. 10 am - 12 pm.
🗓️ May 3: Antler Milken Week Welcome Party. Beverly Hills. 3 - 9 pm.
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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!
Top 5 LA Startup Jobs
Founding Robotics Researcher @ Yondu
Senior Community Association Manager @ Assembly HOA
Senior Software Engineer, Full Stack @ Relativity Space
Social Media Manager @ Whatnot
Founder's Associate @ Breakwater
Additional Opportunities
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 10,000+ founders, investors, and operators.
Critical Loop, an industrial power solutions company, raised a $26M Series A led by Conifer Infrastructure Partners and Hanover.
Turion Space, a space infrastructure company, raised a $75M+ Series B led by Washington Harbour Partners.
Send any fundraising news for LA-based companies or funds, including your own, to [email protected].
Featured Location
Delilah. An upscale supper club blending classic American dishes with a glamorous, old-Hollywood atmosphere, where steak, seafood, and indulgent comfort food are paired with cocktails, live music, and a lively, late-night lounge scene
Fun Events
See you next week,
Justin
P.S. Want to connect?
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