Santa Monica a hub for Internet start-ups
OCEAN AVE It was like that scene from the cult classic “Revenge of the Nerds,” when the boys from Lamda Lamda Lamda and their female counterparts of Omega Mu rocked the Greek Carnival, incorporating synth beats with a little breakdancing to steer attention away from the jock fraternity, the Alpha Betas.
Using the latest in technology and some old-fashioned fireworks, the nerds turned the tables and suddenly became cool, taking control of the Greek Council.
In a way, that’s what happened Thursday night at the ultra-cool Viceroy hotel where hundreds of hipsters gathered to check out the latest Internet-based companies as part of Twiistup, Southern California’s largest networking event for the tech elite.
In just a few short years, the event has garnered the attention of media outlets and venture capitalists as the place to be to find the hottest talent, giving those in Silicon Valley, the cyberspace Mecca, a run for their money.
“It’s like a trade show hyped up on steroids,” said Stanley Lan, CFO for Project Possibility, a nonprofit developed by students from USC Stevens Institute for Innovation that creates software to help the handicapped navigate the Web, including closed captioning for YouTube videos.
“You have people from all walks of life here,” Lan said as he looked out on the crowd of people chatting and drinking liquor as house music bumped in the background. “Everyone you want to talk to is here.”
An alternative to the staid trade shows held in drab convention centers, Twiistup offers start-ups a chance to introduce their products to investors and the media in a more intimate setting.
At the Viceroy, entrepreneurs offered demonstrations of their products while passing out T-shirts, chocolates, pens, bottle openers and other swag.Attractive waiters and waitresses passed around crab cakes, gourmet cheese burgers and booze, lots and lots of booze.
The mood was light and comical, with very few in attendance donning business attire. Most wore jeans and T-shirts, others sported athletic gear or a tacky, tight tube dress. It was like a nightclub, but instead of talking about landing dates, it was all about talking tech.
There was definitely business going on as 11 start-ups looked to impress venture capitalists with deep pockets. Landing a big fish could mean the difference between going global or folding.
Devlyn Steele, founder of Santa Monica-based self-help, social networking site ToolstoLife.com, brought his team to Twiistup in hopes of getting some exposure. Currently he has roughly 18,000 active members on the site and is hoping to attract an investor so he can bump that up to a million or more.
“We just want to get out and promote (the Web site) and get exposure to the tech world and hopefully that creates blogs and gets people talking about it, which will give us more traffic,” said Steele, who founded the company from his home in 2007.“We’re mainly looking for exposure. It never hurts to get your name out there.”
The site is essentially a social networking site that allows people to chat with others who are going through similar life changing events. For those who want to revamp their diets or their behaviors, they can go online for study tips, practice exercises and find motivation provided by those who’ve been there before.
“In the beginning of the Internet, you searched sites, e-mailed and that was pretty much it,” Steele said.“You pretty much leaned back, like watching television. The entertainment was meant just for consumption. Now people want to participate. They want to be able to comment, they want to lean in and that is what Web 2.0 is all about, creating community, connecting, absorbing and participating.”
And then there are those who use the Web to do business and save money. At BookRenter.com, students can order text books online and then return them when their semester is over, saving money on books while also saving time spent reselling them.
Colin Barceloux and his staff were at Twiistup as one of the demonstrators, looking to attract a major investor to expand the operation. Currently they are funded by “angels,” who are essentially friends, relatives or smaller venture capitalist firms that provide seed money.At Twiistup,Barceloux made pitch after pitch, looking to land a meeting with a VC.
“Twiistup has become the premier event in So Cal,” he said. “We’re based in San Jose and up there it is more serious. Here, people are laid back, casual.”
For entertainment, people could play video games provided by GirlGamer, a community, digital magazine and video game review Web site focusing on serving the female gaming demographic. Steve Wiebe was in attendance, playing Donkey Kong in hopes of setting the new world record. He was featured in the 2007 documentary “King Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,” that tracked his quest to take the world high score from Billy Mitchell.
Santa Monica seemed like the perfect place to host the event given that it is home to more than 20 start-ups and media companies, said Richard Wolpert, managing partner with The Mail Room Fund, a venture capitalist firm on the Third Street Promenade and a sponsor of Twiistup.
“Santa Monica is a start-up hub,” Wolpert said.“It’s an easy location to get to and you’ll find that it caters to the needs of these companies.”
Wolpert wasn’t necessarily on the lookout for companies to invest in since he is familiar with those companies that participated, however, he kept his eyes open since one can never know when an entrepreneur with the next big thing will come knocking.
“We really just want to grow the community,” he said. “Los Angeles has always been looked at as a seventh class citizen when it comes to the tech world. But in the last few years we’ve seen more companies being founded here, more investing taking place here and events like Twiistup have brought us to a new level.
“Now we’re second class citizens.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 19, 2008. Read the original PDF.