Wow, February is here already and thank God. January was a whirlwind no? I'm still recovering from the loss of Kobe, to be honest. As a Newport Beach resident, I'm sure you've had your own interactions with him. Growing up in LA, Kobe was the constant hero in our...

Last newsletter , I ranted about OC being lumped into LA, and I have since learned why it's so prevalent. MSAs, or Metropolitan Statistical Areas, are common economic regions that have been decided by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB). These are regions that have at...

Welcome back and into the new decade! I don't mean to stir the pot right off the bat, but in a recent article like  this  about 'LA benefitting from recent exits,' the author lumped in two OC companies (Cylance and Telogis) and even an SD company...

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! It's officially holiday party season and there's a lot to celebrate locally. Check out all the events! What's your ugly sweater game like? Reply with a photo and we'll share on social. Also make sure to find your way to the new Cove offices to see how they...

We're nearing the end of the year and yet things keep heating up locally. UCI's The Cove is opening up its  new digs and I'm excited to see how many more events and resources they can pack under one roof. Speaking of the Cove, the Cove Fund and local VC Okapi Capital recently invested in San...

I was recently honored to give some opening remarks at the OC Innovation Summit by 41Orange . I talked about innovation in building inclusive startup and tech ecosystems. You can actually watch the talk here and Ethan Perez at The Cove wrote some takeaways here as well. I was thrilled to see...

Happy Wednesday! What's been fun over the last few months that I have been spending time in both Orange County and San Diego is the cross pollination that's happening between the ecosystems. I can't tell you how many times I come to an event in Irvine or San Clemente and run into a San Diegan who...

Hello Q4. Man that happened fast! As we fall forward, I would love to continue sharing people and resources I am meeting in real time. Recently I had the privilege of meeting two ecosystem leaders,  Carey Ransom  and  Brett Fulmer . BrokerBrett is a connector, interested in helping amplify and...

Over the last few weeks, we've been taking time to build denser communities through our Founders Dinner and CTO Dinner series. Founders Dinners bring together entrepreneurs and investors and CTO Dinners aim to connect startup and big company technical leaders. Thanks to all who have joined us and...

Happy September! Lots of great news and events in this latest issue of the newsletter. A great trend worth spotlighting is the new early stage capital coming to light. From local cyber tech company Crowdstrike  raising an early stage fund, OCTANe  accelerator raising funds, and TCA OC creating...