California Spotlight #135
They didn’t even know they broke a law
Last week, a small business owner in LA got hit with a $15,000 settlement demand.
Not because they scammed someone.
Not because they broke a contract.
Because their website menu didn’t work with a screen reader.
It’s called an ADA lawsuit. And it’s not rare.
It’s happening to small businesses every single week — restaurants, med spas, SaaS tools, accountants, wine shops, even therapists.
These aren’t people who did something shady.
They just got picked off — because they didn’t know what to watch for.
And by the time the letter shows up, it’s already too late.
These aren’t “random” lawsuits.
They’re part of a growing pattern:
Mass-filed cases using automation tools
Copyright trolls targeting privacy policies and unpaid images
Legal honeypots triggered by things like broken cookie banners
ADA violations from tiny, overlooked parts of a site
I’m not exaggerating.
Some law firms have filed hundreds of these cases each month — and most settle quietly, out of fear.
You don’t see this stuff on the news. But if you run a business in California, it’s already happening around you.
That’s why I’m building something.
It’s called Lawsuit Radar — a weekly alert built for people like you:
Business owners
Founders
Solo operators
Anyone running a company in California who doesn’t have a lawyer on retainer
Each issue would show:
Real lawsuits filed against small businesses that week
The exact thing that triggered them (so you can check your site)
What’s trending with compliance traps and pattern abuse
Simple things you can do to avoid being next
No scare tactics. No legalese. Just clear, useful heads-up before something hits.
$29/month. Once a week. Only if it’s useful to you.
Feel free to reply with 'Yes' or 'No' if you prefer not to vote directly.
🚨 Business Spotlight – July 14
Podcast + Newsletter
Want your business in front of 116K+ founders, operators, and buyers this week?
We’re featuring businesses in our July 14 drop—across our top-ranked podcast and California’s two most-read business newsletters.
Here’s what you get for just $99:
🎙️ A podcast shoutout to a business-savvy audience
📩 A 100-word spotlight with your link + CTA
📣 Distribution to 65K–70K daily openers
We’ve featured brands like Google, Squarespace, and Monday.com.
This week, your business could be next.
✍️ Write With Us: Share What You Know
We're opening up space for one founder, operator, or expert to contribute a written piece to our next edition.
This isn’t a one-line shoutout — it’s a full article published in front of 8,000+ business owners, founders, and local operators across California. Your post will also live permanently on our Substack site (which gets steady long-tail traffic and search visibility).
What’s included:
A published guest piece (up to 500 words)
Your byline, short bio, and a link to your business
A spot in our upcoming email issue
SEO-friendly formatting so it’s easy to find and share later
It’s $250 to reserve the slot. If you'd like to write something valuable for your peers — and be seen by other founders while doing it — this is the space for it.