Bitcoin Goes Hollywood: An Interview Amongst Gem Coo Ken Miller

A invitee interview past times Jeff Handler

Silicon Valley has cash inward one's chips a symbol of technological excogitation together with achievement inward the digital historic catamenia – a shining beacon of progress together with “disruption.” It’s difficult to notice soul inward the Bay Area who isn’t working on some app or applied scientific discipline that promises to alter the globe forever.

As Bitcoin has grown from an obscure, niche applied scientific discipline embraced past times a few small, highly technical circles into an actual (though nevertheless obscure) “industry,” it shouldn’t surprise anyone that San Francisco/Silicon Valley has cash inward one's chips the de-facto go-to location for American Bitcoin companies to prepare shop.

While the Bay Area is for sure a cracking location for a Bitcoin start-up, I invite yous to hop on the 101 together with move close 380 miles S to my hometown of Los Angeles (La La Land for yous Midwesterners), where a growing grouping of Bitcoin startups is transforming the City of Angels into a hotbed of digital currency innovation.

Known to some every bit “Silicon Beach,” LA is instantly abode to several Bitcoin ventures, including Expresscoin, Tether, Holy Transaction, Ambisafe, Gem, GoCoin, Interwallet, together with the society I piece of work for, Netki. (If yous piece of work for a Bitcoin society based inward LA that I did non mention, I apologize for the omission. And delight orbit out to me, I’d honey to connect!)

Known primarily every bit the amusement majuscule of the world, LA is genuinely a cracking identify for Bitcoin. The monthly Bitcoin meetup, hosted past times Gem, has to a greater extent than than 1,000 members, with a waitlist for almost every event. Engaged crowds highlight the existent passion together with camaraderie that has formed amid a growing community that has a rigid appetite for Bitcoin increase together with adoption inward their city.

Los Angeles has a massive immigrant population together with acts every bit a hub for digital content creators (YouTube stars, writers, artists, etc.), making it a fantastic testing dry soil for 2 of the “killer” usage cases that Bitcoiners are most excited about: remittances together with micropayments to content producers.

To gain to a greater extent than insight into what makes LA such an appealing identify to run a Bitcoin business, I spent a recent morning time on Abbot Kinney Boulevard inward Venice Beach, talking with Gem COO Ken Miller close LA tech, Bitcoin adoption, together with the Venice Skate Park (where I create got some fond childhood memories).

Gem is a secure multi-sig Bitcoin wallet for developers. With Gem’s API, a developer tin integrate a fully functional together with secure wallet inside minutes.

For Miller, a telephone commutation expression that makes ane location meliorate than others is access to talent. It’s no undercover that finding talented software engineers inward Silicon Valley is easier than tell a Little Rock, Arkansas. (Sorry to Razorback fans out there.) But is it genuinely the exclusively identify where tech startups tin hope to notice qualified employees?

For Miller, the response to that query is no, together with he points to access to colleges together with universities every bit a telephone commutation component:

“If you’re a tech start-up that needs to commencement hiring, access to top talent is extremely important,” he said. “Good colleges are a huge component subdivision of that, together with inward LA we’ve for sure got them.”

It’s no undercover that Stanford beingness located inward Palo Alto played a huge role inward transforming Silicon Valley into the tech hub that it is today, filling the expanse with talented, forward-thinking immature people who would continue to build, movement together with invest inward the hereafter of technology.

But only every bit ‘The Valley’ has access to top talent from Stanford together with Cal-Berkeley, Silicon Beach has the likes of Cal Tech, UCLA, USC, together with the Claremont colleges correct inward our backyard.

With access to a top technical establishment (only MIT is ranked inward a higher identify Cal Tech), the most applied-to academy inward the province (UCLA, also a top-20 ranked university), together with 2 of the best liberal arts colleges (Pomona is No. 5; Claremont McKenna College No. 8), LA companies create got access to a large puddle of highly intelligent candidates with academically various backgrounds. (Rankings per a 2015 U.S. News report.)

While most would assume that graduation hateful solar daytime brings a volume exodus of “tech” people from LA colleges to jobs together with companies inward the Bay Area, increasingly, this is non the case.

“There’s a growing watch alongside these students that the Bay Area tech scene has cash inward one's chips saturated, together with that it’s a existent dog-eat-dog type of environment,” Miller said. “A lot of them wishing to rest inward Southern California, together with with a growing pose out of tech companies sprouting upwards out here, they genuinely create got existent opportunities to piece of work together with thrive inward LA.”

Line for the Gem booth at USC’s career fair

In add-on to LA colleges, Miller notes that Gem has received a pose out of applications from highly qualified estimator scientific discipline majors at universities such every bit Michigan together with MIT who create got expressed their wishing to cash inward one's chips a component subdivision of LA’s novel tech scene.

What’s especially interesting close this is that these students create got expressed a wishing to exercise “something different,” noting that “everyone goes to San Francisco.”

In other words, nosotros are instantly seeing immature estimator scientists together with software engineers who create got explored the possibility of life inward Silicon Valley together with are actively choosing to piece of work inward LA instead. While this is non to tell that Silicon Beach volition supplant Silicon Valley every bit America’s tech or fifty-fifty Bitcoin capitol, these changes are important, together with the community should create got note.

If you’re thinking close starting a Bitcoin company, or your electrical flow startup needs a alter of scenery, create got a await at LA, we’d honey for yous to cash inward one's chips a component subdivision of what we’re edifice (and the weather’s non likewise bad either).