happening …
This week's highlights include a fireside chat in Santa Monica with Mike Jones (Science, Inc.) and Dan Negari (.XYZ) discussing the revival of Silicon Beach. HERE
LA Tech Week is just around the corner, and we've got you covered with a curated list of must-attend events. From conferences to networking mixers, there's something for everyone in the LA tech community. HERE
Next up, the Female Investor Club (FIC) is hosting a fireside chat with Jesse Draper from Halogen Ventures! They'll be diving deep into AI breakthroughs on Wednesday, December 3, at BLANKSPACES in Venice Beach. HERE
Plenty to unpack here, keep reading!
Fireside Chat with Mike Jones on His Next Big Venture - OCT 9
We’re excited to announce that we’ll be hosting a fireside chat with none other than Mike Jones of Science, Inc. next Thursday, October 9th, at BLANKSPACES in Santa Monica! This event is a chance to reminisce about the good old days when Santa Monica earned its rep as the OG Silicon Beach. Mike and our team will discuss ideas for reviving Santa Monica’s vibrant tech startup scene and what it takes to bring that energy back.
If you haven’t heard of Mike Jones (have you been living under a rock?), he’s the powerhouse behind Science, Inc., the accelerator responsible for launching some of the most game-changing consumer brands out there, think Dollar Shave Club, MeUndies, and Liquid Death. How cool is that? Don’t miss your chance to meet Mike and get inspired by his insights. We can’t wait to see you there!
Fireside Chat with Jesse Draper on AI - DEC 3
We’re thrilled to announce that Jesse Draper will be joining us for an exclusive fireside chat on Wednesday, December 3, at BLANKSPACES in Venice Beach!
Jesse Draper needs no introduction, but in case you’re not familiar, she’s a trailblazer in the world of venture capital and a champion for women-led businesses. She was the creator and host of "The Valley Girl Show," where she interviewed some of the biggest names in business and tech, and she’s also the Founding Partner of Halogen Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund focused on investing in female-founded consumer technologies.
Visit the event page for more details and to be first on the list!
Defense Tech Isn’t Just Sexy - It’s Bringing Big VC Money to SoCal
It feels straight out of old Hollywood: SoCal’s defense industry has returned and is having its best moment since the Cold War glory days. Over $4B in VC money has flowed into local startups this year, more than double the $1.8B in 2024 according to Pitchbook.
Who’s secured the lion’s share? Palmer Luckey’s Anduril, known for drones and autonomous defense systems, is the big kahuna with a whopping $2.5B raised in Q2. Second place goes to Redondo-based Impulse Space ($300M) for its in-space vehicles and third place to Hawthorne-based Chaos Industries ($275M), which is all about better threat-detection systems.
ChatGPT Finally Makes It Easy to Buy Stuff – Etsy For Now, Shopify Next
How many times have you asked ChatGPT what gift to buy for a particular someone and then had to deal with several more clicks to actually order that thing? Yeah, it sucks. As of this week, you can buy from US-based Etsy sellers right in the chat for free.
That news boosted Etsy’s stock 16% the day it was announced. It’s also going to be a sweet new revenue stream for OpenAI as they’re charging merchants a fee for transactions. Cha-ching!
upcoming events …
Fireside Chat with Mike Jones (Science) + Dan Negari (.XYZ)
We’re excited to announce a special pre-LA Tech Week event. This gathering is a chance to connect with all the OGs from the era before Silicon Beach, alongside innovators like Mike Jones of Science and Dan Negari of .XYZ — a fireside chat at BLANKSPACES that you won’t want to miss!. REGISTER
LA Tech Week - Monday, Oct 13
Tech Week LA is back and bigger than ever! From October 13 to 19, the city will buzz with energy as innovators, entrepreneurs, and tech enthusiasts gather for a full week of exciting events and networking opportunities across Los Angeles. REGISTER
demodayLA - Nov 20
Get ready, because demodayLA is making its return to BLANKSPACES Venice! Mark your calendars for Thursday, November 20, 2025, starting bright and early (well, afternoon early!) at 3:30 pm. This isn't just any event; it's packed with inspiring speakers ready to share their insights, plus an exciting lineup of even more startup pitches, showcasing the next big ideas! REGISTER
AI Breakthroughs with Jesse Draper - Dec 3
Join us for a powerhouse AI investor panel to recap the highs and lows of AI in 2025, what did we learn, AI investment trends, where the panelists invested and why: in infrastructure, in vertical apps, platforms, tools?... and which layer of the AI tech stack is likely to see the next wave of capital! REGISTER
LA Tech Holiday Party - Dec 11
Get ready to sparkle and network, LA Tech fam! ✨ The LA Tech Holiday party is just around the corner, and trust us, you won't want to miss it! We're taking over BLANKSPACES in Santa Monica on Thursday, December 11, 2025, kicking off the festivities at 6 PM.
We're inviting all 70K subscribers to join us for an epic party! Come connect, have a great time, and celebrate together. REGISTER coming soon …
headline roundups …
OpenAI has just announced the release of Sora 2, the next-generation audio and video generator that builds on the success of last year’s Sora.
Alongside this cutting-edge model, they’ve introduced a brand-new social app called Sora. The app is designed to bring your creativity to life with a TikTok-style algorithmic feed, letting users generate and share videos featuring themselves and their friends. One of the standout features of the Sora app is “cameos,” which allows users to fully immerse themselves in any Sora-generated scene. TechCrunch
Threads has launched "communities," a new feature that allows users to connect with others based on specific topics like books, K-pop, and professional basketball - The Verge
Dharmesh Shah, HubSpot co-founder and CTO, opened HubSpot's annual INBOUND conference by discussing AI mastery. He emphasized the importance of prompts, context, and experimentation, explaining AI's transformative potential, why generative AI is more than just glorified autocomplete, and its lasting presence - Venture Beat
Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.5 is ‘the best AI model in the world for real-world agents, coding, and computer use’ - TechRadar
New Yorkers are defacing this AI startup’s million-dollar ad campaign - Futurism
Ring founder ‘backs the blue,’ says AI is helping Amazon-owned doorbell unit fight crime - CNBC
Elon Musk accidentally just reminded everyone of Netflix’s best feature - Inc.
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WeeklyHap is a weekly newsletter published by Schmoozd, focusing on events, people, and things around Los Angeles, sometimes beyond. We partner with StartupCoil, demodayLA, DigitalLA, AI LA, among other organizations, on events. If you participated in any of these events, it is probable that you will receive this email.