Is LA the "Digital Canyon" to rival Silicon Valley?

As most of you know my lifelong home is in New York and my law firm is based in Manhattan. I just spent a few days on the left coast in Los Angeles, as I do a number of times each year. In addition to giving a talk to a very high powered networking group of senior technology executives and entrepreneurs, I visited with clients and friends.

I confirmed this week what I have known for awhile: LA hosts a rapidly burgeoning technology sector, particularly in digital media and entertainment-related developments. Yet these companies sometimes struggle for lack of venture capital and other sources of financing, especially in the early stage.

There are quite a number of hedge funds in LA, but relatively few investment banks, venture capital firms, private equity firms, and service providers (lawyers, accountants) to assist them. As a result, we are pretty active helping take LA-based companies public through reverse mergers and other alternatives to traditional IPOs, because these transactions are driven by the hedge funds.

If the major venture and private equity firms want to find some very exciting and undernoticed opportunities, they may want to consider spending some time in Los Angeles. And hey, the weather isn't bad either.

As an aside, being from New York we truly appreciated all the love and support that came to us from around the country after 9/11. So we really felt for the people of Los Angeles, San Diego, Malibu, etc. who suffered through the horrific fires these past weeks. This week there was still a smell in the air as people were beginning to get back to normal. Our thoughts are with those who lost their homes and hopefully they will rebuild bigger and better.