2024 LA First Look Retreat Recap
Fika hosted its 9th annual LA First Look Retreat at the iconic Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in sunny San Marino, CA. The event’s historic setting served as the backdrop to bring together distinguished guests from Los Angeles’ community along with innovators and leaders in tech and investing. The breadth and diversity of First Look has established the event as one of Los Angeles’ premier tech gatherings with attendees flying in from across the country.
Continuing the success of last year’s historic location at the grand Ebell of Los Angeles, we took it up a notch with the world-class destination of The Huntington. The famous locale juxtaposes the golden era entrepreneurial lavishness with the philanthropic spirit and is home to both one of the largest rare book collections on earth (including one of eleven Gutenberg Bibles, Isaac Newton’s personal copy of Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, and the only library in the world with the first two quartos of Hamlet), a world-class research institution, as well as over 130 acres of gardens teeming with 15,000 different species of plants.
The Huntington is a beautiful cultural destination that represents the magic of Los Angeles, a place where art, science, history, innovation, success, and generosity all co-exist and thrive.
Main Event — Standup and Keynotes
TX Zhuo and John Chen warmed up the audience and set the stage for the surprise special guest, a well-established stand-up comedian whose star will continue to rise, Sheng Wang. Sheng was a staff writer for ABC’s hit series Fresh Off the Boat, and has appeared on multiple comedy specials, including his most recent one “Sweet & Juicy” on Netflix, directed by Ali Wong.
Sheng entertained the audience and quipped that as he walked around the Huntington gardens he recognized plants from his neighborhood. He said in his slow Houston drawl “Wow, I knew y’all are plants, but dang I didn’t know y’all were botanical.”
Following Sheng’s comedic act, we kicked off with a series of keynote presentations from industry leaders, addressing a variety of noteworthy topics.
These included:
A Conversation with Mayor Karen Bass and Miguel Santana
Fika’s General Partner, Eva Ho, moderated a timely conversation with LA Mayor Karen Bass and Miguel Santana, President and CEO of the California Community Foundation, about the state of affairs in Los Angeles. The discussion centered on the efforts to address the issues of rising homelessness and housing scarcity. This included the recent launch of LA4LA, a new partnership looking to leverage the resources and financing tools of the private and philanthropic sectors to help the government advance housing faster and at a lower cost as a critical new tool to tackle the homelessness crisis.
The Casetext Journey: Building Through Multiple Eras of AI
Fika Partner, John Chen, led an engaging fireside chat with Jake Heller, Co-Founder and CEO of Casetext, on the company’s 10-year journey, the influence of AI on the legal industry, and the future of startups amidst the broader pullback in venture capital. Jake also shares his experiences and insights from selling his company for $650 million to Thomson Reuters.
Inside AI: Predictions, Use Cases, and The View from LA
Fortune Senior Finance Reporter, Allie Garfinkle, moderated a lively panel discussion with AI experts Sara Hooker (VP of Research and Head of Cohere For AI), Andy Konwinski (Co-Founder, Databricks and Perplexity), and Yan-David Erlich, (CRO, Weights & Biases) to discuss the latest trends and developments in AI — including the proliferation of open-source AI models and agentic tools, and potential risks and benefits of GenAI.
Crafting the Keys to Financial Data: Innovations, Challenges, and Opportunities
Zach Perret, Co-Founder and CEO of Plaid, headlined the closing keynote of the day where he discussed with Fika General Partner, TX Zhuo, the origin of Plaid, its growth and challenges, the failed acquisition by Visa, and current trends in the fintech industry.
A Special Musical Performance
To close out the program, attendees were treated to a special performance by the Santa Cecilia Orchestra. Conductor Sonia Marie De Léon de Vega and her group of talented musicians performed an abridged program that took listeners through the centuries ranging from classics such as Vivaldi to orchestral arrangements of contemporary bands like Radiohead and even the alternative metal sounds of System of a Down.
The Santa Cecilia Orchestra’s mission is to share the beauty and inspiration of classical music to the underserved and underrepresented communities of Los Angeles, helping make music accessible to those that would otherwise be unable to access or afford traditional music education. Fun fact: Sonia Marie De Léon de Vega was the first woman in history to conduct a symphony orchestra for the Pope!
Finally, to cap off the retreat, guests mingled in the beautiful Rose Hills Garden Court and enjoyed The Huntington’s signature afternoon tea station and other delectable bites.
Thank You to Our Attendees and Sponsors
Overall, the retreat was an enormous success, bringing together some of the nation’s top investors and entrepreneurs for a day filled with highly interactive, curated, and unique content and activities. We can’t thank you enough from the bottom of our hearts for joining us. Your spirit, energy, and camaraderie are what make First Look truly special.
We also owe a huge thank you to our generous sponsor partners: J.P. Morgan, Prospera Law, Goodwin, CBRE, UBS, Safire Partners, and Bridge Bank who enable us to make this event so special year after year.
We’re already looking forward to celebrating our big 10th anniversary next year!
