Silicon Beach: Young Entrepreneurs Catch the Wave in Los Angeles
By Karla Robinson
September 14, 2012
September 14, 2012
Media professionals gathered at USC yesterday for the all-day Silicon Beach conference.- Sandy Gould, vice president of recruitment at the Disney-ABC Television Group, and Kevin Winston, founder of Digital LA, spoke about how Silicon Beach in southern California is changing the professional environment and approach to entrepreneurship.
- We’re accustomed to a stiff corporate structure, but “now we live in a time when actually we should be driving the change,” Gould notes.
- No longer are job titles or responsibilities static, he suggests. Flexibility is really important in applying for jobs as well as pitching entrepreneurial ideas — “go where the opportunity is strongest.”
- “It’s a great time to experiment with what you want to do,” Winston agrees. While flexibility is key, commitment is also very important. “Follow up, see your passions though,” he recommends, adding that you shouldn’t hold off on pushing your idea forward. “Get it done; people want to see that you’re committed.”
- The intersection of entertainment and technology makes Silicon Beach a great place for start-ups, the panelists said. Los Angeles is open to creativity and flexibility in addition to having big names that can boost your start-up’s reputation.
- Also, with the expansion of digital and social media, “there’s so much more capability, power and influence in the hands of the community,” Gould points out. This makes sharing your idea and creating a user base easier. Established companies are leveraging the power of community to shape their own ideas — for example, using public forums to aggregate ideas for show episodes.
- The panelists talked about the universal value of telling your story — of being able to excite people about your ideas or yourself. “You have to have passion in what you do, have creativity in an idea and then tell people what you do,” recommends Winston.
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