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Paige Craig is one of the biggest, and most active, names in the LA tech scene. The former military man has an aura and a backstory fit for a superhero's alter-ego. At 39 years-old, Craig isn't shy with his words or his checkbook and has made his VC firm, Arena Ventures, one of the most sought after investors in the city. We sat down with him to catch up on his thoughts about the future of LA tech.
1. When you began angel investing in LA, what was the state of the tech scene? What trends have you seen over the past few years and what do you envision 5-10 years from now?
In 2008 I saw great potential in LA — the massive creative class, diversity and hustle of the city naturally appealed to me. In my early journey through LA's startup ecosystem, I met young tech leaders and a handful of experienced investors and founders who impressed me. But the community was still dispersed and hadn't formed. There were pockets of brilliance but little activity; my gut told me something great was going to happen here however.
Over the last 7 years, I've divided my time among LA, NYC, SF as well as international and domestic startup cities. This has given me great perspective and future of LA is quite obvious to me and other LA insiders. We are on the edge of explosive growth. Great companies like Snapchat and Honest and another wave of likely unicorns like Honk and Laurel & Wolf will fuel the 10x growth in the city's innovation as they seed LA with new leaders and attract global talent and investors to our city. We finally have a dense ecosystem of investors, founders and talent. The opportunity here feels limitless.
2. What kind of tech is going to catch on in the city?
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Entertainment and creator tools are the obvious choice given Hollywood's presence in the city. But Los Angeles is uniquely diverse, and I've been personally fascinated by unique service marketplaces I've seen here (i.e. Mytable and Laurel & Wolf); Mobile apps for old industries (i.e. Honk); Fintech (ProducePay and Inventure); Mobile Consumer Services (Service); online consumer brands (DSTLD) and more. My tastes are eclectic - I'm drawn to unique people with brilliant insights who are creating new value in the world, so it's tough to nail down a specific "type" of company.
3. How much capital will you deploy this year? Are you an active or passive investor at the moment?
Arena Ventures is new and we recently closed our first fund ($37 million) which we'll actively deploy over the next three or so years alongside money from our AngelList syndicate. Expect us to do 60+ seed investments over the course of the fund. A few times per year we'll also opportunistically make growth investments with $10 million-plus checks.
4. What are your top 3 tips for someone preparing a pitch to an investor?
- Unique insight: be prepared to blow me away with an elegant and insightful idea. Be different and contrarian, do something different but meaningful.
- Execution: show me what you've done, made, created and what are you going to accomplish in the next few months. I want to see your work and the short term path ahead of you. I respect people who put intense action behind their ideas. Explain what you've done, what you've learned and how you've adapted from those learnings. The best lessons, the best path forward comes from doing. Your insight is just the start of the journey.
- Vision: What's the big idea? What's the message for the future. How are you inspiring your users, future employees and partners. Why should someone care?
5. What advice would you give someone who is just entering the tech scene?
Find something you love doing; something you're good at and collaborate with amazing people. Make something; add value to the world. If you're not ready to lead, find someone or some company that inspires you - reach out to them and get involved any way you can.
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