LA Techs is known for being a small company with big ideas. Acclaimed for their innovative solutions, they’re on speed dial for some of the highest-end clientele in town.
In Los Angeles, there is no shortage of tech firms. What sets a company apart, however, is simple: skill and execution. As a full-service low voltage technology and integration company, LA Techs prides itself in being able to quickly and efficiently solve problems. They waste no time identifying, communicating, and executing innovative solutions, allowing individuals and businesses to seamlessly incorporate technology into their daily lives.
Tech is woven into every fabric of our lives. From business to pleasure, it’s hard to imagine a life where technology doesn’t exist. Even the smallest of disruptions to the technologies we depend on can create problems that reverberate much longer than we’d expect. This is why it is so important to not only have a company you can trust to call upon in times of need, but a company you know will get it right from the install.
So how does a company like LA Techs grow into the established provider it is today? How has it been able to successfully set itself apart from the masses?
It started with two.
Founders Calvin Larsen and Russell Gaskamp met in a computer science class their first year at college and quickly became friends, eventually living together their junior and senior years.
Fascinated by tech, Calvin started working at a local computer repair shop, a job which turned out to be a springboard to becoming a go-to tech consultant for high-net-worth individuals in Los Angeles and Malibu.
Eventually the business had grown to the point that Russ, who had moved back to Austin after college, moved back to Southern California to help out, and LA Techs was born.
“Perhaps the most important trend in home smart technology has been the move toward simpler, more affordable products,” says Gaskamp, CEO of LA Techs.
“Tech that was once available only to folks in the highest income bracket has become affordable to a broader consumer base, and its implementation has become much less invasive as a result—a single camera that works over WiFi and records to the cloud can be installed in an hour, unlike earlier generations of surveillance tech, which needs hundreds of feet of cabling to be strung throughout a house,” he continues.
That trend has certainly been a catalyst for making LA Techs what it is today.
Perhaps what LA Techs is best known for is their expertise in providing the technology that makes smart homes possible.
“We’re happy to take on projects of any size, and we’ve found that when we deliver on small projects, we establish a relationship with the client that makes them comfortable calling us for the next project,” Gaskamp explains.
“What we love about homes in the $10M-$50M range is that they’ll have the budget and scope of work that allows us to showcase what we do best, which is to integrate a variety of devices and platforms into a unified system,” furthers the expert. “So much of the innovation in the smart technology space is happening in consumer-level products, and what’s great about these products is that they’re widely available, they’re designed with user experience in mind, and they’re supported by major marketing budgets. Our clients know about these products, and want a home fully-equipped with these products. Our real strength is to take a home full of tech from a dozen or more manufacturers and present to the client a single user interface.”
Like all businesses, technology is fundamentally a people business.
There’s a saying in tech support: 90% of problems exist between the chair and keyboard. While that’s definitely true, what it means is that, in a technical services business, people skills are at least as important as technical skills.
As technology becomes more capable, it also becomes more complicated, and potentially more frustrating. “Our approach can be summed up in this way: life’s too short to deal with tech that doesn’t work. Our goal is to provide our clients with a technology system that works exactly as they expect it to, swift support when it doesn’t, and an experience throughout that leaves them with more time to spend doing what they love,” promises Gaskamp.
One of most fun aspects of working in technology is when you are given the freedom to brainstorm creative solutions. LA Techs loves being presented with a challenge and opportunity to “think outside the box,” where solutions are rewards they remember fondly.
LA Techs’ staff share a favorite solution of theirs: “We had a client doing a remodel on a new home prior to moving in. There was a spare bedroom, in a weird, out-of-the-way location, and they weren’t sure what to do with it. We designed and pitched a fully-equipped movie theater—projection screen, surround sound, tiered seating, the whole deal. That project was especially fun because it was completely custom and we were given a lot of creative latitude to make it as cool as possible.”
At the end of the day, what sets LA Techs a part is their size. Locally-owned and locally-staffed, LA Techs keeps things small in order to maximize communication and efficiency.
“Our smaller size allows us to have a much more direct approach to unique problems,” shares Gaskamp. “Our organizational chart is more horizontal than vertical, meaning that different individuals will take the lead on different projects, depending on whose expertise is most relevant. Our field team doesn’t need to rely on a set of scripted procedures because more often than not, the person who came up with the solution is the person implementing it. Not only does this make us more efficient in the field, it also allows us to tackle even the most unfamiliar or outlandish requests.”
They can’t be pigeonholed as an “AV company” or an “IT company” —while LA Techs is certainly those things, their expertise is both broad and deep enough to handle any question thrown their way.
So what does the future have in store for LA’s favorite tech company?
“Our goal is to establish a long term relationship with each of our clients, even if they come to us for a small, one-off project. We take the time to understand exactly what the client needs, implement the appropriate solution, and then provide support on the backend to ensure that the solution integrates seamlessly into their day-to-day,” says LA Techs.
“We also make an effort to future-proof any work we do, given the pace at which technology improves. We want to make it simple to augment or upgrade any system we install, even bearing the cost ourselves when the scope of work is limited by time or budget,” they further.
The end result is a tailored solution ready as soon clients call.
To learn more about LA Techs or to benefit from their expertise, reach out to them and book a walkthrough today.
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