THE NEXT WAVE

Along with the shiny world of famous faces and golden beaches, the City of Angels is forging a reputation as one of the most innovative technology hubs in the nation.

 

By Bill Van Parys
Photography by Craig Cameron Olsen
A funny thing happens as our Ford Fusion Hybrid glides inland from Venice Beach. Carny Cali-funk gives way to architectural flourish, sea air mixes with the scent of innovation, the fitness energy of Muscle Beach is channeled into an entrepreneurial craze. This is the inspiration behind Silicon Beach, the tech wave now coursing through the reaches of Greater L.A.

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Behind those walls, start-ups with recycled-chic decor, airy rooms full of hipsters on laptops, and the requisite office dog could be anywhere. But on closer look, distinguishing factors emerge: Many start-ups expand upon L.A.’s key media and entertainment industries in revolutionary ways; the technical talent is largely home-grown, spawned by top-notch universities like Caltech, USC and UCLA. And then there’s that laid-back Cali lifestyle to tie it together, creating what one advocate calls “the perfect storm” for an innovation phenomenon. So what better car to tour the scene than the Ford Fusion Hybrid, a testament to innovation itself.
Here's what a day cruising Silicon Beach and meeting its innovators looks like.

8:45am: Omaze

Founders: Matt Pohlson (left) and Ryan Cummins
FRESH THINKING: Raffling affordable, once-in-a-lifetime celebrity-driven experiences to benefit causes.
THE INSPIRATION: A charity auction where one chance to play basketball with a legend cost $15,000: “So we just thought if this was available for $10 online and everyone had the chance to win, you could raise so much more money and awareness,” Pohlson says.
THE NUMBERS: Crushing items in a tank with Arnold Schwarzenegger raised $1.1 million, while watching the finale of Breaking Bad with its stars raised $1.7 million. “We raised over $3 million in 2013 , and we’ve already outpaced that in 2014,” Cummins says.
FAVORITE INNOVATIONS OF THE LAST 5 YEARS: Personal space travel and the advent of Big Data.
WHAT MAKES SILICON BEACH UNIQUE? “That big ocean, plus the creative abilities from Hollywood,” Pohlson says.

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11:00am: Silicon Beach@USC

Founder: Jay Tucker
FRESH THINKING: A USC venture competition and conference highlighting innovation in digital media and tech.
THE INSPIRATION: Melding the technical genius of USC engineers with the creative genius of Hollywood artists.
THE NUMBERS: Home to top universities, including USC, UCLA and Caltech, L.A. County graduates more engineers than the surrounding regions, including the Bay Area.
FAVORITE INNOVATION OF THE LAST 5 YEARS: USC’s Shoah Foundation is creating 3D projections of Holocaust survivors with the ability to “virtually sit in a classroom, tell their story to a class, and then be able to answer questions—forever.”
WHAT MAKES SILICON BEACH UNIQUE? Tech wizards and Hollywood types, coupled with a vibrant, multicultural community of people. “Innovation benefits from a diverse number of perspectives.”

1:30pm: CreatorUp

Founder: Mike Tringe
FRESH THINKING: Make quality filmmaking, video and storytelling tools accessible to everybody.
THE INSPIRATION: “Cost and connections are limitations to filmmaking, as well as a lack of community. Getting feedback on how to make your story a reality is key. So if you are trying to learn and have no time or money, we’re a convenient solution.”
THE RESULT: Online courses co-developed with working professionals costing $20–$50 and lasting 30–120 minutes. “People say they never imagined they could learn these kinds of things.”
WHAT MAKES SILICON BEACH UNIQUE? “People have always thought creatively here. Now we’re thinking about technology and entertainment working more closely in a new way.”

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3:15pm

Smart tech for a smart town: Silicon Beach start-ups sprawl from Playa Vista to Pasadena. So exploring them means experiencing that famed L.A. traffic and parking game. Fortunately, available features on the Ford Fusion Hybrid include BLIS® (Blind Spot Information System) with cross traffic alert, where indicator lights in the side-view mirror signal vehicles in blind spots. Active park assist can also help you find a spot and aid in parallel parking. It’s almost like having automated valet parking. And most Angelenos just love their valet parking.

4:45pm: Gigmor

Founder: David Baird
FRESH THINKING: Create a social network site that connects musicians based on compatibility.
THE INSPIRATION: “When I moved to L.A., I couldn’t find anyone to play music with. Craigslist was a lot of time and effort, and having a background in tech, I knew we could create a better solution.”
THE RESULT: Gigmor applies a proprietary matching algorithm to a musician’s key information such as genre, playing level, goals and location. “Music is a collaborative art form—people need to connect and get together. In that sense, we’re like a dating site.”
WHAT MAKES SILICON BEACH UNIQUE? “There’s a rebellious, unconventional streak to L.A. culture that lends itself to an entrepreneurial mind-set.”

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7:30pm: SiliconBeachLA.com

Founder: Rob Lambert (left)

Founders night out

Roni Eshel of goFlow (a wave-sharing app for surfers) and Ryan Magnusson of Grail (an app that aggregates trending content among friends) join Lambert in Venice. FRESH THINKING: Create a go-to networking resource for first-time start-ups.
THE INSPIRATION: “I had my first start-up in university and realized very quickly that you spend a ridiculous amount of time making mistakes you don’t need to. So, I created a resource for those who have an idea and aren’t sure what the next step is.”
THE RESULT: A company directory, jobs board, community calendar and Silicon Beach social network. “A one-stop shop for everything happening in the L.A. tech and start-up community.”
WHAT MAKES SILICON BEACH UNIQUE? “L.A. is one of the most entrepreneurial cities in the nation. A lot of creative people come here to realize their dreams,” Lambert says.

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FAST FACTS

FORD FUSION HYBRID

>EFFICIENT POWER Fusion Hybrid’s regenerative braking system captures up to 90% of the energy normally lost during braking and recycles it to recharge the state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery.
>DRIVER INTERACTION The Lane-Keeping System* prevents you from unintentionally drifting out of your driving lane by using a digital camera mounted behind the windshield.
>ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL* When sensors detect slowing traffic ahead, your Fusion Hybrid will also slow down. When the traffic clears, it will resume the set speed.
>INNOVATIVE INTERFACE Available SYNC^® with MyFord Touch^®** lets you keep your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road through its voice-activated command function.

*Available feature. **Driving while distracted can result in loss of vehicle control. Only use SYNC^®/MyFord Touch^®/other devices, even with voice commands, when it is safe to do so. Some features may be locked out while the vehicle is in gear. Not all features are compatible with all phones.

A subject’s appearance in this article does not constitute or imply an endorsement of Ford or any Ford product or service by such individual or his/her affiliated entities.

 

King of the Hill

A lifetime Ford loyalist puts the new 2015 Super Duty to the ultimate test: a day of work on his 1,500-acre farm outside of Cunningham, Kansas.

 

CLOCKING OUT
Bob Renner and his dog, Snuff, bask in the twilight of a hard day’s work with the F-350.

By Sam Martin
Photography by Bridget Barrett

Farm work waits for no one. So when My Ford rolls up at a homestead in central Kansas with a 2015 King Ranch F-350, our test driver is hardly sitting around waiting for us. Bob Renner, 54, is prepping the hay baler on the back of his 2000 F-350, getting ready to feed 100 head of cattle and almost 90 baby calves.
Renner is a quintessential midwestern farmer. His manners are old school, his smile is broad—his stories are told with a sparkle in his eye. Like most people who have worked the land their whole life, he has seen his fair share of trials and tribulations. In 1984, while driving to a dance in his hometown of Cunningham, Renner was involved in a serious car accident. After being airlifted to a hospital in Wichita, he awoke from a coma seven days later without his left arm.

“The doctor told my father there were two ways people reacted to an injury like mine,” Renner says. “They either complain the rest of their life, or they yell at you to leave them alone. Well, we were leaving the hospital, and my dad opened the car door for me. I yelled at him, ‘Dad, I only lost one arm. I can do this myself!’ I was tough to be around for a few years there, but I was lucky enough to have a lot of people who loved me.”
Spend a day with Renner at his 1,500-acre farm and its neighboring townships of Cunningham, St. Leo and Zenda, and you’ll quickly see there are still plenty of people who love this man. You’ll also see that the loss of a limb has done nothing to slow this father of three. Renner, along with his wife, Donna, raises cattle and grows wheat and alfalfa on his land, a part of America that has been in his family for three generations.
His method of farm management relies on squeezing every last drop of production out of his fleet of five Ford pickup trucks. Listening to the genealogy of Renner’s trucks is like listening to his family history. “My dad always ran Ford trucks,” he explains. “So I always, always, drove Ford. I’ve sold some, I’ve wrecked a few, but they’re awfully tough pickups.”
“My red pickup [the 2000 F-350], that’s my overall work truck that I feed cattle and haul hay with all the time. I just about live in it. It has about 300,000 miles on it and is still going strong.”
The tough miles that Renner puts on his trucks make this the perfect setting for today’s test: putting one of the very first 2015 King Ranch F-350 trucks through its paces on a working farm. “When I woke up this morning, I was excited,” Renner says. “I’d never thought I’d have people from Detroit come to my place to let me drive a brand-new F-350. So I’m ready to put it to the test.”

WHAT A FARM NEEDS

A typical day for Renner begins with a trip to inspect and feed his herd of cattle and, at this time of year, baby calves. “I don’t brand my cattle, but on any given morning I may have to tag calves, check to see if anything’s wrong with them, and give them a feed.” He keeps his bales of alfalfa on the second story of a tall white barn with red trim, built by his grandfather in 1919. Renner opens a small hatch 20 feet in the air and throws four green bales down into the tray of the waiting F-350. As he steers the truck down toward the nearby paddock filled with the waiting herd, he reflects on what he considers when purchasing a vehicle for his farm.
“When I buy a truck, I’m mainly thinking about weight. I do a lot of hauling: I haul a very heavy swather, cattle, a lot of hay—sometimes upwards of 16,000 pounds. You need good towing capability to do that.”
Luckily for Renner, the 2015 Super Duty has been designed to work. The second generation 6.7-liter Power Stroke^® Turbo Diesel offers best-in-class power. This is a truck built to tow, to increase productivity for its owner, and to do so as efficiently as any truck on the market.
We bump down to where the cattle are mingling, and Renner pulls down the tailgate to get to the feed. The F-350 comes with a step built into the tailgate, as well as an available assist bar for easy entry. Renner grips it and steps up into the bed with ease. The cattle swarm the truck, eagerly munching on the bright green bales Renner throws down from the bed.
Once they finish feeding, Renner needs to inspect the fences in an outer paddock. He pushes the accelerator on the F-350 and guides it across the bumpy terrain. “This is a beautiful truck,” he says, looking at the leather trim of the King Ranch, inspecting the smart technology such as the SYNC^® with my MyFord Touch^®*, which helps transform the Super Duty into a mobile office. “And it feels safe. I bought a dually [dual-wheel truck] for the simple fact that it’s more secure under you—it’s steady pulling a trailer.”

HEAVY-DUTY PERFORMANCE

When we’re done taking a tour of Renner’s property, it’s time to put the F-350 to the ultimate test: hauling a trailer loaded with eleven 1,500-pound hay bales. The task is to load them up at Renner’s home base and transport them more than five miles to a remote part of the farm. As Renner slips the gooseneck attachment easily into the back of the bed and winds the trailer in, he voices some thoughts about the new Super Duty’s ability to handle the job.
“I’ve never tried to haul a load like this with an automatic transmission,” he says. “The truck feels great to drive, has great power and handling, but I’m interested in how the transmission will do.”
He checks to ensure that the trailer is fully attached, tests the brake lights, takes his place behind the wheel, and eases out onto the highway. He looks instantly at ease. A broad smile comes across his face. “Oh wow,” he says with genuine surprise. “That power is incredible. How many horsepower has this got again?” 440, he’s told. “That’s amazing. You can feel it—this has so much more power than my current truck, and it gets the job done easily.”
He pulls the more than 16,000-pound load off the paved road and onto a bumpy, narrow dirt lane. The truck hums along with ease, rumbling at a good pace between long, straight barbed-wire fences, Renner pointing out a herd of deer as we go.
After a few miles, we reach a gate bookended by two giant oak trees. Renner stops the truck, opens the gate, and, after inspecting the clearance, eases the Super Duty up and over the built-up channel. The hay has to be delivered to the very top of the paddock, a drop zone that lands us right at the top of the few hills in this part of the world.
It’s a steep climb, enough to have a person puffing if they walked to the top. But the second generation 6.7-liter Power Stroke Turbo Diesel handles it with ease, hauling the loaded trailer to the top of the slope as if it were cruising along a flat, open highway.
“It completely changes my mind about automatic transmissions,” Renner says as he pauses at the top of the hill, the sun setting behind him. His 14-year-old dog, Snuff, is perched beside him on the passenger seat. “I knew the power would be pretty good on this truck. I knew it would be able to get the job done. But the power and transmission combination is just great. It hauls so effortlessly.”
The million-dollar question is posed to Renner: Would you buy one? He laughs. “I would love to own this truck,” he says. “Would absolutely love it. Are you sure you can’t just leave this one with me?”

FAST FACTS

2015 SUPER DUTY

>MAXIMUM TOWING The 2015 Super Duty has a best-in-class maximum 31,200 pounds tow rating.
>PLENTY OF GRUNT A more powerful 6.7-liter Power Stroke^® Turbo Diesel engine gives best-in-class power rating and class-leading fuel economy.**
>POWERFUL GEARBOX The 6-speed TorqShift^® SelectShift^® Automatic is built with big, strong gears purpose-built to handle heavy hauling.