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How Brian Lee Landed L.A.'s Biggest Exit
How Brian Lee Landed L.A.'s Biggest Exit
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How Brian Lee Landed L.A.'s Biggest Exit
"When it's time for growth they want you to grow at all costs and when things tighten up they want you to get profitable at all costs. It shifts like the wind and it just drives me crazy."
Senior reporter Ben Bergman sat down with Brian Lee, a founding father of L.A.'s tech scene, for his thoughts on just about everything, including his recent dealings with Honey, the current investor focus on profitability and his sense of where L.A.'s startup culture is headed. Meanwhile, meditation app Headspace landed a massive $93M to help it grow, Jeff Bezos buys a new home from David Geffen and the price tag for The Ringer's sale to Spotify comes into view.
Today's stories
As one of the founding fathers of the L.A. tech scene, Brian Lee is used to having entrepreneurs pitch him on ideas. What does he look for? It's not so much a business plan or even an idea. He says he goes off a vibe. That's how he ended up being the first investor in the deal-finding browser add-on Honey, which was bought late last year by PayPal for $4 billion in what ranks as the biggest acquisition L.A. has seen to date. In a wide-ranging interview with senior reporter Ben Bergman, Lee talks about BAM Ventures, Moviepass, The Honest Company and other adventures. Read more >>
Headspace raised $93 million in debt and equity as the Santa Monica-based mindfulness company pursues ambitious plans to launch the first FDA-approved meditation app. The company, which is riding the wave of wellness as everyone from Wall Street traders to school teachers embrace meditation for health, announced Wednesday that it will pump funds into their direct-to-consumer business, where revenue has doubled year-over-year from 2017 to 2019. Read more >>
Spotify will pay Bill Simmons as much as $196 million to acquire The Ringer in a deal that will instantly boost the streaming service's sports and pop culture company, and bring a high-powered name to its roster of podcasting content. The Los Angeles-based sports and pop culture website's slate of 30 podcasts will now be streamed on Spotify. The Luxembourg-based company, which also has a huge presence in L.A., hopes to build out the franchise's content. Read more >>
Jeff Bezos is the reported buyer of more prime real estate. This time, the Amazon CEO has dropped a record $165 million on a storied estate in Beverly Hills, Calif., according to The Wall Street Journal. Bezos purchased the property — designed for Warner Bros. president Jack Warner in the 1930s — from media mogul David Geffen. Read more >>