Photo credit: Andrew Ge
Sponsored by JPMorganChase
J.P. Morgan’s Commercial Banking team brought entrepreneurs and business leaders together in Los Angeles for its Business Leaders Symposium. The event is built around a simple idea: businesses need direct access to insight, capital, and community, wherever they’re headquartered.
Keynoting the event was three-time Olympic short track speedskater Apolo Ohno, who is now an entrepreneur and investor.
The conversation landed at an apt moment. As the Official Bank of Team USA and the LA28 Olympics & Paralympic Games (LA28 Games), and a Founding Partner of the LA28 Games, JPMorganChase continues to expand its support for businesses across Los Angeles ahead of 2028, when the city will host the world.
“I think LA has everything. You look at geographic location, all the different cultures and subcultures that exist… you’ve got the local business community, which is vast and deep,” said Ohno. He pointed to the sprawl beyond downtown’s skyscrapers and law firms: industrial real estate, manufacturing, cold storage; evidence of a city too often reduced to its most visible slice.
One challenge Ohno warned about is how specific pockets of cities often benefit from major events, like World Cup matches or the Olympic and Paralympic Games. However, Los Angelos is a vast city with a diverse business community. It’s essential for businesses in outer pockets of the city to prepare early so they can benefit from the tourism boom of the LA28 Games.
“Uncertainty is now permanent,” he told the room. “I look for durability.”
Before investing in a business, Ohno asks, “Does this business have the ability to manage chaos or be able to do a hard pivot?”
It’s a framework that applies as much to a business owner navigating rising costs in LA as it does to a founder raising capital. Understanding risks and opportunities – from geopolitics to economic forecasts is significant pressure on midsize business owners who are working to run and operate a business day-to-day. Working with a partner to provide outside expertise and support planning strategies is essential.
He drew a direct line to his athletic career.
“In short track, if you’re hesitant, sometimes you lose the opportunity,” he said.
For business owners weighing when to expand, hire, or hold steady, it’s a reminder that inaction is itself a decision, one that requires the same read on timing and risk he once relied on to navigate a pack of skaters at full speed.
He suggests leaders ask themselves, “Why is this your Olympics, and why do you believe your business can win gold?”
As the LA28 Games approach, J.P. Morgan’s Commercial Banking team supports businesses across Los Angeles to prepare for all opportunities and challenges ahead.
“There’s so much untapped resource and talent in all things in business,” he said. Helping LA’s business community find those resources is the work now underway.
