I got to attend the SBFest on June 21st and was blown away by all the startups in Los Angeles! The first event was at Shutters in Santa Monica where local startups pitched to investors and it was fascinating all the ingenuity that was on display. I had a few favorites that if I had the money would definitely have gotten a check from me!
Tailored Republic is a men’s clothing site for well tailored clothes. I briefly spoke with the founders and was impressed with their idea as well as the set up. I do love a man in a great fitting suit!
Waitscout is a site to help you avoid waiting in line when you want to go out and the minute Ryan Hudson said it out loud I was sold! I HATE waiting in line (who doesn’t) and usually will turn around if the wait is too long so am definitely all in for this since I’d use it when going out with friends!
kokoché is filling in a under-served market that hasn’t been able to take advantage of the deal of the day sites because they don’t have/use credit cards but do have smart phones. It’s a GENIUS idea that would appeal to people of all ages who don’t have credit cards from teens to targed economic demographics. Munir Jawed spoke about how he came up with the idea and why it’s working in South LA. It’s a great plan that’s of benefit to consumers as well as business!
Betteryou is a really interesting idea for an online concierge service for those seeking health, beauty and wellness services at a good price but without the deal of the day sites where you have to buy/use at selected times. Instead this site allows personal choice in service and in cost creating a very appealing dynamic. Hope Horner spoke about why she started this site and I really like it!
Outlisten well I LOVE this startup it’s such a unique idea for those of us who love seeing live music and want to relive the shows! They gave a great presentation with a video that really sold me on it. Namely you go to a concert record with your cell phone and send it to them they clean it up and make it look great. I thought that this has so many great applications that it’s going to be huge!
Mergelocal takes all that I love about checking in and one ups it with the benefit of PAYING me!!! It’s a win win to me and very interesting since I check in right now with Foursquare, Facebook and Yelp but all I get are little crowns and not much else. I’d rather get paid!
Planadrink is a great idea to take advantage of the dating social norms taking place in Southeast Asia. Namely that this generation wants to DATE but it’s still not socially acceptable for one on one. So this helps you make group dates. Heck I’d use this here in LA if they bring it to SoCal!
Now this isn’t all of the presenters it seemed like they had over a hundred people but these are the ones I heard and ‘got’ the moment they explained it. If you had the money what LA based startups would you fund?
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