🌴 The LA Grind: Week of May 25th

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

Author

Justin Gordon
May 25, 2026

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

Happy Monday! With the long weekend, I started a little side quest… a personal newsletter. I’ll share some behind-the-scenes building this business, thoughts on creating companies and building communities, and more. We’ll see how it evolves over time. Subscribe here. 

Ambition Update: We’re less than 4 months away from the 150-person startup summit I’m hosting in Santa Monica on September 24th! Our first 4 speakers are confirmed: Mehul Nariyawala (Matic), Tyler Denk (beehiiv), Dee Murthy (Ghost), and Jessica Chang (Upwards). We’ve got some great attendees signed up already too! Apply to join. 

Field Trips: I've been thinking about launching Field Trips: small-group, access-driven experiences within two hours of LA that you simply can't buy or find on a Google search. Think a behind-the-scenes tour of a working winery in Santa Barbara, a private walk through an aerospace facility, a factory floor you'd never get into on your own, or something tucked away in Palm Springs or San Diego that most people drive past without ever knowing what's inside. If you have a space, a company, or a connection to something worth experiencing, reply and let me know.

One-Year Party: The LA Grind One-Year Party is Friday! 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).

Let’s get to it.

Turn your ambitious concepts into reality at Silicon Beach Maker Space, Los Angeles’ premier destination for creators, engineers, and hardware startups.

Whether you need professional-grade prototyping tools or a dedicated workbench, our state-of-the-art facility has everything you need to build and innovate without limits.

Join us for our official Launch Party on June 7th at 12 PM! Enjoy food, drinks, music, and free exclusive t-shirts while touring the space.

Limited Time Offer: Get 20% OFF your membership for an entire year. Offer ends June 8th.

Upcoming Events

🌴 Upcoming Events I’m Hosting 🌴  

🗓️ 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 31: Lovable Future Founder Series. Santa Monica. 10 am - 3 pm.

👀 Events Coming Soon 👀 

🗓️ 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

Product Manager @ Cantina Labs

Creative Strategist @ True Classic

Hiring?

Feature your job in The LA Grind newsletter or reach out to our partners:

  • RJR Partners: Experts in helping startups scale their teams with high quality hires. Their team is comprised of tech industry veterans, allowing them to source and vet candidates directly through their personal networks. Their industry expertise also enables a deeper understanding of the needs of clients and candidates on a level unmatched by other firms.

  • Relay Human Cloud: Deploy dedicated global teammates. Fully supported, ready fast, no long-term commitment. Relay handles everything behind your teammates so you just manage their work. Every seat comes fully provisioned; your teammates show up ready, supported, and embedded in your workflows from day one.

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 Keyan Bazargan, founder of Iron Margin, an outsourced VP of Transportation.

Biggest win so far in your career?

Saved brands over $1M in shipping revenue!

Favorite LA Neighborhood

Venice - watching the dolphins swim on the coast every sunrise.

Favorite LA Restaurant

American Beauty - great atmosphere, solid food.

Favorite weekend activity?

Basketball.

How did you end up in LA?

Born here.

What is a book worth reading?

What Do You Care What Other People Think? — Richard Feynman

What are you obsessing over right now?

Mongolian History.

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

My former boss gave me honest, critical, useful, and frequent feedback. He didn't wait for annual reviews. He gave me feedback in real time, all the time. Learning from him is the #1 reason why I've been able to build my own company.

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.

Furientis, a defense technology startup developing cost-effective defensive munitions, raised a $5M Pre-Seed round led by Silent Ventures.

Xpanner, a construction automation company, raised a $18M Series B led by Korea Investment Partners Co.

Kin Health, a company developing a free app that allows patients to remember and act upon doctors’ advice, raised a $9M Seed round led by Maveron.

Clouted, a company is building a “Distribution Intelligence” platform that uses AI agents to help consumer and entertainment brands plan, execute and optimize viral marketing campaigns, raised a $7M Seed round led by Slow Ventures.

Amca, a company that develops and manufactures critical aerospace and defense components with a single integrated platform, raised a $300M Series B led by Caffeinated Capital.

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

Featured Location

Saffy’s. A stylish East Hollywood restaurant serving modern Middle Eastern cuisine in a warm, golden-lit space with wood-fire cooking, vibrant small plates, and an energetic but intimate atmosphere.

Fun Events

See you next week,

Justin

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