Los Angeles might be the entertainment capital of the world, but it’s also a hub of creativity beyond the arts.
Many of those big ideas can be found at the home of LA’s thousands of startups that span media, e-commerce, adtech, medtech and more. There are more than 4,000 venture capital-backed startups in the City of Angels, and many more without VC funding. Famous startups that are now stalwart companies, like Snap, Google and Hulu, continue to grow alongside smaller businesses just embarking on their journey, like Thrive Market, Vast and Medely.
That easily explains why La La Land has been ranked sixth in the global startup ecosystem by Startup Genome since 2017.
These startups are hiring. There’s more than 3,700 jobs across roughly 280 companies listed on Built In LA alone; including Thrive Market, Vast, Medely, Weedmaps and Golden Hippo. Built In LA sat down with team members from the five companies to find out why they joined, why they stayed and what they’re looking forward to about the future.
What they do: Thrive Market is an online membership-based market that delivers high quality, healthy and sustainable products at members-only prices. Every paid membership is matched by a free one for someone facing food insecurity.
Opportunity for impact: Budakov has been a Thriver for more than seven years, and there are two big reasons he’s stayed: his team and the influence he can have there. “As an engineer, you have the opportunity to make an incredible impact on the projects you work on and the chance to see the value of your work reflected in the experience we provide to our members,” Budakov said. “At the same time, you move quickly and are ready to wear multiple hats, which helps us grow and work closely with all business stakeholders.”
The engineering team is lean, but that helps Thrive Market’s members and revenue scale. It also ensures every developer has the chance to affect the product and company. “There are no ‘dead on arrival’ features that no one sees or uses,” Budakov said. “Everything we work on is planned meticulously and deliberately. Every feature, every bug fix, every line of code has an impact on our members and affects users. This feeling of impact is something that is rare to have in the industry and something I love.”
Future-focused: Budakov and his team are launching new projects for Thrive’s more than 1 million customers in 2023. The engineering team is also improving the scalability of its APIs that serve data that front-end clients use to render on Web, iOS and Android devices. The entire process requires a re-architecture, refactoring and modularization of the back-end application. The team will modernize its tech stack with kubernetes, microservices and lambdas along the way. All that will improve the time to development and robustness and observability of Thrive’s platform.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to work on incredible projects, and your effort has a direct impact on the member experience,” Budakov said. “We are hungry for top talent in engineering. Thrive Market has a rewarding work environment that has a direct impact on our mission of making healthy food accessible and affordable for all.”
What they do: Weedmaps is on a mission to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis for consumers around the world. Its customer-facing platform provides information about online ordering, local retailer and brand listings, product discovery, and education about cannabis. Its business product suite allows retailers and brands to scale their businesses while complying with industry regulations.
Transparency along the way: Chitkara joined Weedmaps because of the transparency he saw during the recruitment process. It was seamless, and there was clear communication from the recruiter and hiring manager every step of the way. “Everyone I spoke to at Weedmaps was extremely open and honest about where the company was in terms of the products and supporting tech and where we still need to improve. I knew exactly what I was walking into if I were offered the role,” Chitkara said. “I have always appreciated communication and transparency from my peers, managers and contributors throughout my career. I know I thrive in those types of environments, and I felt Weedmaps was the right choice for me.”
Follow the leader: The cannabis industry is going digital, and there’s room for a leader to emerge. Chitkara thinks that leader is Weedmaps. “We have 14 years of consumer data at our fingertips, and that data has informed our entire platform, which provides integrated solutions for cannabis consumers and businesses,” Chitkara said. “It is really exciting to have this information to guide us in positioning Weedmaps as a clear technology leader in the industry.”
What they do: Vast is developing artificial gravity space stations that will enable humans to live and work in space. Vast’s solar system has the resources and room for humanity to thrive without destroying Earth’s biosphere.
We have liftoff: Smith joined Vast because he saw all of the building blocks for a successful artificial gravity space station were in place. “Building huge steel structures is a solved problem,” Smith said. “Getting them to orbit is just becoming possible thanks to an emerging capability for super heavy lift, and sending even novice crews to space is now easy.”
Vast opportunities: The company is in a growth phase, and every engineer on Smith’s team has a say in how it and its product progresses. There’s a lot to do: Vast is building the largest life support system that’s ever been to space and bringing first-principles thinking and a startup culture to a product that, until now, has been a concern of just a few nations.
What they do: Golden Hippo builds health, beauty and pet care brands that are innovative, profitable, and that make a difference in the world through direct-to-consumer marketing. Through partnerships with experts, Golden Hippos teams develop products that set new standards for quality and efficacy.
Results matter: Strong has been able to achieve a great deal in a short time at Golden Hippo, and that growth has kept him there. “Golden Hippo is not hesitant to give people more opportunities if they have great results,” Strong said. “I also get to work with some of the most talented and smartest people in the industry here. I believe I have so much more to learn working with people like that every day.”
Testing, 1, 2, 3: There is always something new and exciting to work on, and Strong and his team pride themselves on thinking outside of the box. “There is always a new vertical, traffic source or A/B test to dive into,” Strong said. “Building new front-end products that grow dramatically is always an exciting endeavor, and I hope I can drive these opportunities for a long time to come.”
What they do: Medely is a labor marketplace for short and long-term healthcare jobs. It helps healthcare professionals access healthcare jobs with the freedom and flexibility to work when and where they want.
Making a difference in medicine: Manderfeld wanted to join a fast-growing company in the healthtech space, and he found that and more at Medely. “Healthcare has so much runway for well-built, tech-enabled products that make a massive difference on micro and macro scales,” Manderfeld said. “Medely’s leadership team has a clear vision and undeniable passion. There is a great respect for engineering and product paired with the extensive knowledge base of our clinical teams.”
Outcomes beyond patient care: Manderfeld is looking forward to improving outcomes and experiences for healthcare facilities and their labor needs, and professionals with unique work habits. “There is so much opportunity to develop products that work well together and offer health professionals new ways to work,” Manderfeld said.
