An Authentic Community
for LA's Most Ambitious
Entrepreneurs

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Where we come from

Our Communty

At the heart of Startup Village is a variety of fun events like dinner parties, hikes, and art/music meetups.

Our events are designed to allow people to connect, unwind, and show up as they are.

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Our Secret Sauce

We create endless opportunities for members to meaningfully engage outside of events.

Introductions

We offer high quality intros to every member. Every member get's 3-4 when they join and ~1-2 a month afterward.

Support Groups

Join a support groups centered around different industry and intellectual interests. Share progress, learn, and hold each other accountable.

Mentorship and Resources

Learn from experts through firesides chats and workshops. Explore a wealth of resources to help you grow. Everything is hosted on our mobile app in Circle.

Retreats

We create multiday experiences for entrepreneurs to relax, recover, and connect more deeply.

Startup village in big bear

May 2024

Startup village in HAWAII

November 2024

Who We Are

We all have unique paths — but share an unrelenting conviction to build something bigger than ourselves.

Kaden is a music tech founder who raised money for his startup which delivers cutting-edge data analytics to music labels and festivals. Prior to this, he founded a nonprofit that educated hundreds globally on financial literacy and stock trading, and grew a portfolio from $800k to $2.4M in just 2.5 years. Since 2022, he has educated hundreds of low-income children across Los Angeles with essential financial literacy skills.

Kaden Bishop

Co-Founder & CEO of Fanhaven

Laura is a 2x Emmy Award-winning videographer/editor and the creative director of Lonte Media, specializing story-based content.

Laura Casadonte

Emmy Award-Winning Videographer and Editor

Selected as Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2021, Sean has founded multiple companies since 2014 (Airbnb management, Youtube management, etc). In 2022, he sold an Elderly Care business and recently moved to the US after a stint of entrepreneurial ventures in Japan.

Sean Hora

Serial Entrepreneur

Sacia started her entrepreneurial journey in college with a sustainable swimwear business. Recently, she's decided to go all in on building her creative agency where she helps CPG companies build a brand with purpose. She was also a former D1 track athlete.

Sacia Ashe

Founder of Ashe Design Haus

JC is a serial entrepreneur and organizer. He is the youngest advisory member to LA City Council, co-founded a game studio which was admitted to Techstars W23, and was the Partner & Former CFO of a Michelin star restaurant. In 2024 he co-founded LA Climate Week which produced over 120 climate events across LA and co-founded the Collidescope Foundation - the premier institution supporting impact leaders and NGOs globally.

JC Arce

Co-Executive Director of The Collidescope Foundation & LA Climate Week

Kat is a serial entrepreneur and executive, named one of “35 People to Watch” by Forbes. She is the Co-Founder & President of Ettitude, an award-winning material science company with the mission to dramatically reduce the harmful environmental impact of textiles.

Kat Dey

Co-Founder & President of Ettitude

Nick is the co-founder of Elomia, an AI mental health company for employers and universities to boost the performance and personal wellbeing of their employees and students. Prior this he founed a creative agency, and had stints as a musician, and an engineer.

Nick Manzek

Co-Founder of Elomia

Beatina is a startup community leader, operator and mentor. She started as a community organizer with Obama for America, then built public private partnerships at USDA & USAID. She also had stint in PWM at Goldman Sachs. She most recently ran ops for two startups, an now is  director at UCLA's Venture Accellerator

Beatina Theopold

Consultant & Entrepreneur

Working in film production for nine years, Xavier has a passion of telling stories that matter and bringing creative people together. He founded Variable X Pictures to support artists and create authentic, engaging films. The company has produced six short films in the last year and expanded into commercial projects helping brands tell compelling stories through high-quality visual media.

Xavier DuBose

Creative Producer & Cinematographer

Mark is a content creator, tech founder, and Linkedin influencer with 100K followers. He's on mission help early career talent find jobs and is building technology to transform the current job hunting process. Prior to being a founder Mark was an engineer at Figma, Netflix, Nasa, and Tinder.

Mark Benliyan

Founder of Jooba

Espree is the founder of WeAreLATech and championing women in tech globally. She was one of the first Clubhouse icon faces, and has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Harper’s Bazaar, Inc and more. Espree knows the power of audio after producing and publishing over 1000 podcast episodes and speaking at everything from SXSW to USC, Red Bull to CBS. She calls podcasting ‘painting audio’.  and cares about heart and integrity, not job titles.

Espree Devora

Founder of WeAreLATech.com

Steven started his journey with big success in crypto before dedicating his life's mission to cret a more sustainable planet. He  then had stints co-founding a venture backed company Cropswap, and started a regenerative produce box startup. He is now working on Whatrr, an eco-friendly disposable water bottle company which sell in 40 stores in LA.

Steven Howell

CEO & Founder of Whatrr

Lorel is a serial entrepreneur & super connector. As the Co-founder of StartupStarter, Scott prides himself on being a mentor, leader, and advocate & voice for founders mental health. In 2024 Lorel organized Early Stage LA and investment week bringing the brightest minds in tech together.

Lorel Scott

COO & Co-Founder of StartupStarter

Kaden is a music tech founder who raised money for his startup which delivers cutting-edge data analytics to music labels and festivals. Prior to this, he founded a nonprofit that educated hundreds globally on financial literacy and stock trading, and grew a portfolio from $800k to $2.4M in just 2.5 years. Since 2022, he has educated hundreds of low-income children across Los Angeles with essential financial literacy skills.

Kaden Bishop

Co-Founder & CEO of Fanhaven

Laura is a 2x Emmy Award-winning videographer/editor and the creative director of Lonte Media, specializing story-based content that aligns with clients' branding, marketing, and storytelling goals so they can connect with their audiences in impactful ways.

Laura Casadonte

Emmy Award-Winning Videographer and Editor

Selected as Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2021, Sean has founded multiple companies since 2014 (Airbnb management, Youtube management, Elderly Care platform) . In 2022, he sold an Elderly Care business in 2022.

Sean Hora

Serial Entrepreneur

Sacia started her entrepreneurial journey in college with a sustainable swimwear business. Recently, she's decided to go all in on building her creative agency where she helps CPG companies build a brand with purpose. She was also a former D1 track athlete.

Sacia Ashe

Founder of Ashe Design Haus

JC is a serial entrepreneur and organizer. He is the youngest advisory member to LA City Council, co-founded a game studio which was admitted to Techstars W23, and was the Partner & Former CFO of a Michelin star restaurant. In 2024 he co-founded LA Climate Week which produced over 120 climate events across LA and co-founded the Collidescope Foundation - the premier institution supporting impact leaders and NGOs globally.

JC Arce

Co-Executive Director of The Collidescope Foundation & LA Climate Week

Kat Dey is a serial entrepreneur and executive, named one of “35 People to Watch”. She is Co-Founder & President of Ettitude, an award-winning material science company with the mission to dramatically reduce the harmful environmental impact of textiles.

Kat Dey

Co-Founder & President of Ettitude

Had a really impressive conversation with Elomia and started working with the founding team, no I am one of the cofounders and oversee revenue operations and B2B product management.

Nick Manzek

Co-Founder of Elomia

Beatina started as a community organizer with Obama for America, built public private partnerships at USDA & USAID, got my MBA at Cornell, brief stint in PWM at Goldman Sachs, then COS for family office, community fund and artists estate, ran ops for two startups, now at UCLA.

Beatina Theopold

Consultant & Entrepreneur

Working in film production for nine years, Xavier has a passion of telling stories that matter and bringing creative people together. I founded Variable X Pictures to support artists and create authentic, engaging films. The company has produced six short films in the last year and expanded into commercial projects helping brands tell compelling stories through high-quality visual media.

Xavier DuBose

Creative Producer & Cinematographer

30K Followers on Linkedin, Building content to help new grads land jobs.

Mark Benliyan

Founder of Jooba

Founder of WeAreLATech and championing Women in Tech globally. One of the first Clubhouse icon faces, Been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Harper’s Bazaar, Inc and more. Knows the power of audio after producing and publishing over 1000 podcast episodes and speaking at everything from SXSW to USC, Red Bull to CBS. Calls podcasting ‘painting audio’.  Care about heart and integrity, not job titles.

Espree Devora

CEO & Founder of Whatrr

LMU Entrepreneur of the Year (2021) Started entrepreneuring co-founding Cropswap, a Social Justice Award Winner (2021) and regenerative produce box startup. Now SoCal Startup Day Winner with Whatrr (2023) and continuing Whatrr, selling in 40 stores in LA and raising money.

Steven Howell

CEO & Founder of Whatrr

Lorel Scott is a serial entrepreneur & super connector, believing that collaboration is an elevated approach to success. As the Co-founder of StartupStarter, Scott prides himself on being a mentor, leader, and advocate & voice for founders mental health. Legacy, change and future building are at the forefront of my passion to help open doors of access across marginalized communities while inspiring others to be empowered.

Lorel Scott

COO & Co-Founder of StartupStarter

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What we are all about

What we are all about

We believe that business should function as outlet to create positive impact and we want to curate authentic people who are making a world they want to see.

  • 1) Live to give

  • 2) Cultivate integrity

  • 3) Engage in play

  • 4) Default to yes

  • 5) Make a 10 star welcome experience

The Bruin Startup Village  Community members Slack conversation.

We build together!

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FAQ

How much is membership?

Upon acceptance members can choose monthly prices between $40-$80/month paid quarterly.

We're committed to making sure exceptional community is accessible to anybody and allow members to contribute based on their means and our belief in our mission.

When are applications reviewed?

Applications are reviewed weekly. If you applied but have not heard back from us after two weeks reach out to lance@joinstartupvillage.com.

Is there a time commitment?

It takes effort to nurture friendships and a strong community. While nothing is mandatory, we look for people who are going to contribute so that the group is worthwhile for everyone to be a part of.

Who can apply?

We look for the following type of founders. There will be an interview to determine if this community is a good fit for you.

1.) You value social connection and supporting others.
2.) You have serious traction, a history of astute pivots, or have demonstrated serious persistence for an extended period of time.
3.) You currently are IRL in LA and have the capacity to meet founders in the area!
4.) You show infectious passion to solve a problem or contribute creatively to society.