🌴 The LA Grind: Week of May 18th

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

Author

Justin Gordon
May 18, 2026

👋 I’m Justin. I run The LA Grind and The SF Grind and scout for Headline.

Happy Monday! We’ve got our first 4 speakers confirmed for Ambition: Mehul Nariyawala (Matic), Tyler Denk (beehiiv), Dee Murthy (Ghost), and Jessica Chang (Upwards). I’m very excited about how this 150-person summit is shaping up! Apply to join. 

One-Year Party: We’re less than two weeks away from The LA Grind One-Year Party! This special, more intimate, event will have a private chef and open bar, taking place at a beautiful private residence in Hollywood to celebrate one year since the launch of The LA Grind (Which I can’t believe it’s only been a year).

LA Grind Club Update: We had our first member-led learning session with Alex Borkin teaching us about Google Ads. It was amazing. We're going to do more of them just for members. Also, in today's edition, and on an ongoing basis, I'm going to start to spotlight a member each week. Apply to join the club. 

Let’s get to it.

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Upcoming Events

🌴 Upcoming Events I’m Hosting 🌴  

🗓️ 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.

🗓️ June 3: Members Coffee Meetup. Santa Monica. 8 - 9:30 am.

🗓️ June 5: Members Poker Night. West Hollywood. 6 - 11 pm.

🗓️ June 10: The LA Grind Dinner Club. Venice. 7 - 10 pm.

🗓️ June 16: K1 Race Night. Culver City. 6 - 7:30 pm.

👋 This Week 👋  

🗓️ May 21: LA Fintech Connect Happy Hour. Culver City. 5:30 - 8:30 pm.

🗓️ May 21: LA Founders Dinner. West Hollywood. 6 - 9 pm.

🗓️ May 21: Ivy x B1G May Mixer. Santa Monica. 6 - 11:30 pm.

👀 Events Coming Soon 👀 

🗓️ May 28: Off the Books. West Hollywood. 6 - 8 pm.

🗓️ June 5: Medicine Women. Venice. 5:30 - 7:30 pm.

Talk Shop Media is an LA-based tech PR agency that helps brands at any stage break through the noise and earn the coverage that actually moves the needle. From emerging startups to established names, they build and execute media strategies that get you in front of the right people, press, influencers, and beyond. If you're ready to turn your story into momentum, let's talk: talkshopmedia.com 

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

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.

This week’s LA Grind Club Member Spotlight is on Rachel Brown, founder of Titan Intake, an AI-Native platform that automates incoming records and referrals and saves hundreds of hours of manual processing every month.

What are you working on right now professionally?

Implementing new sales techniques to keep deals moving (even in healthcare!)

Biggest win so far in your career?

I’ve been the driving force behind going from $0 to over $1.5M in ARR and counting! All with no previous sales experience.

Favorite LA Neighborhood?

Although I adore my own neighborhood in Mid-Wilshire, I love Culver City. Amazing bookstores, restaurants, coffee shops, ice cream, and events!

Favorite LA Restaurant?

Met Him at a Bar! Best spaghetti carbonara I’ve had outside of Italy.

Favorite weekend activity?

Going to see a show! Any show! Live comedy at the Largo or Groundlings, a musical at the Pantages or Centre Theater, the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, etc.

How did you end up in LA?

Moved here with an ex, but fell in love with the city and the community I built here ❤️

What is a book worth reading?

For fun? The Throne of Glass series. We could all use some escapism fantasy adventures!

What are you obsessing over right now?

Heated Rivalry. No shame.

What is the kindest thing that anyone has ever done for you?

During a difficult season, a friend on the opposite side of the world still loved and took care of me by ordering me groceries and some treats for delivery.

Anything else you want to share?

The LA Grind community is seriously special. I’ve been part of plenty of networking groups and this one is the most authentic, helpful, and supportive.

Interested in joining The LA Grind Club?

The LA Grind Club is where the LA startup community comes to life. We’re a community of 75+ founders, investors, and operators in LA who gather multiple times per month through basketball runs, poker nights, coffee meetups, dinners, and other member-only events.

Rogue, a developer of high-protein chips and snacks formulated with active probiotics, raised a $2.5M Pre-Seed round led by Science Inc.

Heaviside Industries, a defensetech startup, raised a $28M in Series A led by Interlagos.

Furientis, defense technology startup, raised a $5M Pre-Seed led by Silent Ventures.

Develo, an AI-native operating system for pediatrics, raised a $14M round led by Blueprint Equity.

Send any fundraising news for LA-based companies or funds, including your own, to [email protected].

Featured Location

Mother Wolf. Feels like a glamorous Roman movie set with dark lighting, stylish people, strong cocktails, and the kind of energy where dinner easily turns into a late night out.

Fun Events

See you next week,

Justin

P.S. Want to connect?

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