This week, the results of an architecture competition to envision what the Los Angeles Clean Technology Corridor might look like was announced. While–as beautiful as the graphics and architecture from the competition might be–what really counts, are concrete efforts to make it easy to start, maintain, and grow clean technology related businesses. Clean technology businesses [...]

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Clean Energy, Economy, Southern California by Benjamin Kuo

A quick Friday bit: we’ve been talking with a lot (and I mean a LOT) of people who are looking for developers in Southern California (Los Angeles and beyond). One recruiter tells me it’s “like 1999″ in terms of the activity, with not only jobs aplenty, but offers and counter-offers hitting good talent. Interestingly enough, [...]

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Economy, Jobs by Benjamin Kuo

This morning, the UCLA Anderson Forecast–one of the many economic forecasting efforts run by economists, which attempt to predict the direction of the economy–released a report which says that we’re in a bipolar economy–one which is both growing, yet where the unemployment rate continues to remain at double digits. The premise is — the stimulus [...]

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Economy by Benjamin Kuo

Last year, in the midst of a market collapse and recession, we kicked off an effort to survey the opinions of people in the high tech industry here in Southern California to get a better idea of people’s opinions and attitudes on the economy. As a followup, working with the David James Agency, we’re doing [...]

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Announcements, Economy by Benjamin Kuo

Seems like a week for “hey look SoCal has a tech industry” articles. Today, in eWeek: San Diego Is A Rising Star For Clean Energy, Technology Jobs.

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Economy, Jobs by Benjamin Kuo

Hey, look! TheDeal just noticed all of the tech companies in the San Fernando Valley. I think this is one of the first articles (not from our own coverage over the last ten+ years) actually noticing the tech industry along the 101 corridor. Writing in “The state of Calabasas”: Calabasas and its neighbors suggest a [...]

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Economy by Benjamin Kuo

An interesting chart in today’s report from the NVCA on venture capital’s impact on the U.S. economy shows the aggregate amount in venture capital–in billions– invested in the U.S. since 1970: It’s interesting to note that — if you look all the way back to 1970, how Southern California isn’t all that far up in [...]

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Economy, Venture Capital by Benjamin Kuo

I had to wonder today, reading this Wall Street Journal article about the latest foreclosure prevention plan creating an opening for scammers, if maybe requiring home owners to take a course in “reading the fine print” might be a better strategy to prevent this kind of mess in the future. Firms that charge big fees [...]

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Economy, Random by Benjamin Kuo

With the economy in shambles, people scared for their jobs, and layoffs to the left and right, I was struck by a story that Scott Painter (currently CEO of Zag and TrueCar, and prior CEO of CarsDirect) made in a recent private gathering I was at of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and service providers. He explained [...]

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Advice, Economy by Benjamin Kuo

Here’s an interesting, easy-to-understand, explanation of how we got into this whole economic mess, in a project from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Worth checking out.

Filed under:
Economy by Benjamin Kuo