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