This article is in response to Christina DesMarais’s Inc magazine article about why L.A. is the “New, Hot Place to Launch.”

Los Angeles is a big playground. It is bursting with beaches, movie stars, theme parks, and enough restaurants, bars, and cafés to satisfy two megacities. The latest trend among Hollywood’s elite is not a hip new restaurant or sheik clothing line, but indorsing and investing in tech start-ups. What was looked at as geeky or un-popular 20 years ago has finally become what all the cool kids are talking about.

The realm of Twitter is particularly fascinating. If you are on Twitter and following celebrities we could consider you innovative.  Innovative in the sense that your parents might not be on Twitter, but they still know who Ashton Kutcher is.  The amount of influence that these people carry is astonishing. They can drive more traffic to a website with one tweet than a blogger or SEO strategist can do with months of hard work. Real power. Real influence.

If you’re in the celebrity’s shoes, it is a lot more fun tweeting about a new startup that you are involved in at the ground floor than say a Nike or Reebok. It is about more than just money. It is about building something really cool that you can say you were involved in at the beginning. People often generate their best work when they feel they are part of something special as opposed to a mere financial incentive.

IdeaLab, Launchpad.la, MuckerLab, StartEngine, UpStart.LA, Science, and Amplify are start-up incubators that have launched in L.A. Further proof that the entertainment industry is no longer the only kid on block in L.A.