"... I'm having a hard time connecting with fellow hackers/entrepreneurs or wannabe entrepreneurs in Los Angeles. The mentality of most people is to do a day job if they are programmers. No one in tech has a startup mentality ..."

Move

... or startup a startup group in LA to let like minded people clump. We've had one just start in au, melb (artichoke end of the startup world) around twitter. A twitter channel was created, MTUB (Melbourne Twitter Underground Brigade, http://twitter.com/mtub ), broadcast to people living in melb and the clumpiness began ...

- http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/258693

- http://www.flickr.com/photos/byte/sets/72157601494320939/

- http://benbarren.blogspot.com/2007/06/mtub1-when-friends-fol...

I don't think this is an uncommon problem. You just have to know where to look. A bit like at school, the computer lab, chess club or D&D groups.

Any chess clubs in LA?