LA Tech Business

Career Academy

(Powered by Fika Ventures)

LA-Tech.org has partnered with Fika Ventures to bring you the LA Tech Business Career Academy starting in Fall of 2023. Students are learning from companies such as Roblox, Snap Inc, Facebook, and more.

 
 

Here’s what’s included in the
academy experience:

A PAID opportunity to build your portfolio with industry-driven projects

  • Mentorship from the top tech companies including: Roblox, Sonos, Tala, DeepMind, Facebook, and more

  • A prestigious opportunity to participate in a technology program with a major venture capital firm

  • Priority access to career opportunities with 100+ LA-Tech.org’s tech company partners

 

“I am so glad I joined this program and I've learned to connect with others, while growing my skills in necessary areas. I would 100% do it all over again!”

- Bryan, V. Alumni for Business Academy 2021

Application Details

This fall, LA-Tech.org is partnering with Fika Ventures to host our Fourth LA Tech Business Career Academy, a hands-on, 160-hour career development course for up to 100 scholars from Los Angeles County. All scholars will receive compensation as part of their participation in the academy. Each scholar will participate in custom, creative work sessions, fireside chats and mentorship opportunities with seasoned operators from top tech companies in LA and beyond.

 


Our Ideal Candidate

  • Exhibit enthusiasm and an eagerness to learn

  • Have a genuine interest in developing your leadership, teamwork and communication skills

  • Demonstrate a strong desire to learn about career tracks in tech companies in the areas of marketing, sales, product management and entrepreneurship

  • Be ready to make a move to pursue a career in the tech industry

  • Be motivated, engaged and want to attend an intensive program that will be fast-paced, demanding but also a lot of fun

  • Demonstrate a strong desire to network and build relationships with your peers

  • No prior business experience required


What You Need To Apply

  • Availability to commit to 4-6 hours of LIVE Virtual Sessions each week (between 3:30-6:30PM window), and 5-10 additional hours per week of solo and group work outside of sessions 

  • Access to a device and WiFi as the Academy will be conducted virtually.  For those with limited to no WiFi, Human IT provides low cost internet and devices.

  • Fill out a quick application and show why LA-Tech.org  should invest in YOU as one of our LA Tech Scholars

    Deadline to Apply:
    Applications close Monday, August 7, 2023 at 11:59PM PST

Program Curriculum

  • Week 1-2

    Orientation

  • Week 3

    Professional Skills Bootcamp

  • Week 4-6

    Product Management

  • Week 7-9

    Marketing

  • Week 10-11

    Sales

  • Week 12

    Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital

2023 Faculty

  • Josh Anon

    Product Director (Engine)
    Roblox

  • Manish Patel

    Stanford Prof. & IDEO Fellow,
    Long Term Venture Investor

  • Shiva Rajarman

    Chief Business Officer

    OpenSea

  • Nairi Hourdajian

    VP of Communication

    Figma

  • Jon Steinback

    Head of Creative and Marketing
    DeepMind

  • Bryan Dsouza

    Head of Marketing (AI/ML)

    Aptiv

  • Penelope Yamauchi

    Account Executive

    VC & PE Sales

    Affinity.co

  • Cliff Worley

    Sr. Dir. Portfolio Growth Marketing

    Kapor Capital

  • James Nielsen

    CEO

    Vendition

  • Jessica Chang

    Co-Founder & CEO
    Weecare

  • Andre Charoo

    Founder, General Partner

    Maple VC

  • Alejandro Guerrero

    Co-Founder & General Partner

    Act One

  • Doug Landis

    Growth Partner

    Emergence Capital

  • Brian Smith

    Revenue Enablement Manager

    Vendition

  • Dawn Perdew

    Chief Customer Officer

    Cart.com

  • Devaris Brown

    CEO & Founder

    Meroxa

  • Jeremy Voss

    Product Manager
    Snap

  • Julie Park

    Senior Director
    Discord

  • Justin Welsh

    CEO & Product Lead
    JW Strategic Advisory

  • Mac Connell

    Founder & Managing Partner
    Rarebreed VC

  • Maria Salamanca

    Partner
    Unshackled Ventures

  • Richard Huang

    Product Lead
    TikTok

  • Alexis Haebin Kim'

    Product Manager

    Facebook

  • Ariana Thacker

    Founding Partner

    Conscience VC

  • Joanna McFarland

    Co-Founder and CEO

    HopSkipDrive

  • Professor Mike Jackson

    Professional-In-Residence

    Kent State University

  • Josanta Gray Emegano

    Founder & CEO

    Grayscaled Media

“I loved my experience! It was amazing to work with my team members and to get to know everyone else in the program. Everyone brings something unique to the table and it's exciting to acknowledge the talent coming in from Community College’s, a place where usually talent can go unseen.”

— Viktoriya K Alumni for Fika Tech Accelerator

About Fika

Fika Ventures is a LA-based boutique seed fund that invests in founders solving massive, systemic problems through the use of data, related AI-enabled technologies, and automation. Our core focus areas will be enterprise & B2B software, fintech, marketplaces and digital health.

John Chen (Principal), Natalie Paz (Controller), Matt Hersh (Principal), James Shecter (Senior Associate), TX Zhuo (General Partner), Ju-Djuin Csontos (Head of Marketing), Jeff Diamond (Senior Associate), Gabriella Brignardello (Senior Associate) & Eva Ho (General Partner)

Have questions? Reach out to us at info@la-tech.org