L.A.’s business community has something special; something most cities long for. That is an ecosystem which encourages the creation of businesses and fosters their growth.

This startup culture includes a network of incubators that helps spawn businesses, accelerators that push them along under the guidance of old hands and an experienced finance community that knows how to provide the strategic succor they need. The result is a surprising roster of companies that were born and grew up here, such as Dollar Shave Club, The Honest Co., LegalZoom.com, Riot Games, ShoeDazzle and, the largest, Snap Inc.

Inside this book you will find a package of articles about L.A.’s startup culture; how it works and who the big players are. You will learn, for example, that as L.A.’s entrepreneurial enclave matured, it spread from Santa Monica’s so-called Silicon Beach to other areas of the city. Glendale, notably, is now home to more than 1,500 tech businesses, up 15% from 2016.

I believe you will find this entire publication useful all year long. Not only will you find the articles about L.A.’s ecosystem for entrepreneurs, but you will see lists of the most important businesses, organizations and schools in Los Angeles County. It is a reference guide for all things Los Angeles.

I’d like to thank our research director, Andrew Crowley, for collecting information about the organizations that appear in this book. It truly was a yearlong effort. Contributions were made throughout the year by our award-winning editorial staff composed of our managing editors, James Brock and Hannah Madans Welk, and our reporters: Howard Fine, Grace Harmon, Zane Hill, Mark R. Madler, Taylor Mills and Brynn Shaffer. Credit also is due to our talented art and production team headed by Nina Bays, the creative and production director; Marci Shrager, the art director, and Pearl Beltran, the graphic designer.

Finally, I’d like to thank you, our readers and subscribers. We are honored to have you as part of what we call our “Community of Business^™.” If you have any suggestions for us at all throughout the year, please contact anyone at the Business Journal.