🌴 The LA Grind: Week of September 21st

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

Author

Justin Gordon
September 21, 2026

👋 I’m Justin. I run The LA Grind and The SF Grind, host the Ambition Podcast, and scout for Headline.

Happy Monday! The Ambition Summit is this week Thursday! We have a few tickets left, 100+ people already signed up, and some great speakers joining us. Apply to join today.

Want to attend the Summit free? I’m looking for 1-2 more volunteers on September 24th. Free ticket, lunch covered, done by 5:30 before the closing party. Past LA Grind event attendees get priority. Sign up here.

My LA founder friend Lindsey is selling fypm* and here's her open letter about why she's looking for a new operator and what it's cost her to build it: Read her letter.

Let’s get to it.

A note from a fellow member: Shawn Gold, long-time LA Grind member, CMO of Relay Human Cloud, 25 years hiring for startups in LA.

I know the tradeoff: the hire you need versus the runway you have. Relay solves it. Dedicated, full-time team members from Asia and Latin America at roughly 75% below US rates, month to month. Not freelancers. Not outsourcing. 100% dedicated people, managed by you, in your standups, on your systems. Developers, accountants, marketing, ops, AI-capable talent. SOC-verified, Dallas-based.

Questions? Message me directly. [email protected]

Upcoming Events

🌴 Upcoming Events I’m Hosting 🌴  

🗓️ September 29: Members Coffee. Santa Monica. 8 - 9:30 am.

🗓️ October 12: Beachfront Founder and Investor Dinner for LA Tech Week. Santa Monica. Sponsored by Ardas. 6 - 9 pm. Limited capacity. Room for more sponsors. Reply if interested.

🗓️ October 27: Members Dinner. West Hollywood. 6:30 - 8:30 pm.

👋 This Week 👋  

🗓️ September 23: Startup Arena. Santa Monica. 5 - 9 pm.

🗓️ September 23: Claude Code Meetup Los Angeles. Santa Monica. 6 - 8:30 pm.

👀 Events Coming Soon 👀 

The week is finally here! The full Ambition Summit schedule is live. September 24th, Santa Monica. 8 sessions: Shivani Siroya (Tala), Dee Murthy (Ghost), Dara Ladjevardian (Delphi), Rick Smith (Crosscut), Mehul Nariyawala (Matic), Jessica Chang (Upwards), Jo Phillips (Payabli), Shamin Walsh (BAM Ventures). Doors open at 9, wraps at 5, closing party after.

Thanks to our Summit sponsors:

  • DLA Piper, whose Emerging Growth and Venture Capital practice partners with founders and investors from formation through exit.

  • Citizens Private Bank, ​offering the "Citizens for Startups" program, designed to support early-stage founders by providing access to customized banking solutions, dedicated startup bankers, and curated resources.

  • Plus Venice Inc., Bailey Glasser, Ardas, Tax Hack, and Agora.

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 & VC Jobs

Kling AI Creator Community @ Kuaishou Technology

Account Manager @ Zen Educate

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.

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 11,000+ founders, investors, and operators.

The Ambition Podcast is a show about the world's most ambitious people from history, and the lessons you can take from their lives and use in your own work and life.

Each episode is deeply researched, built around the definitive biography of one person (or in some cases, two), with dozens of hours spent reading, synthesizing, and pulling out what actually matters.

First episodes of Ambition:

Available now on all podcasting platforms including: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, YouTube, and more.

Impulse Space, a provider of in-space mobility solutions, raised a $308M Series D extension backed by 137 Ventures, BANNER VC and more.

Vantora, a provider of enterprise venture-building and Sovereign AI platforms, received a $100M growth investment from Silversmith Capital Partners.

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

Featured Location

Pijja Palace. A playful Indian-inspired restaurant and sports bar in Silver Lake, known for its inventive pizzas, Indian comfort food, cocktails, and eclectic, energetic atmosphere.

Fun Events

See you next week,

Justin

P.S. Want to connect?

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