Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.  Phyllis Hong, CEO and founder of Shop My Porch, a social commerce platform that connects makers with shoppers in their local community for free. Founded in 2021 during the pandemic, the application is a combination of Etsy, Facebook, and Nextdoor, all-in-one. This week, host Neal Bloom sits down with Phyllis and co-founders Priscilla Zubia Townshend, Peter Townshend to discuss the company’s beginnings and how far it’s come. Phyllis has always had a strong interest in business, marketing, and sales. She founded startups focused on consulting and the retail industry. Her experience paved the way to the creation of Shop My Porch, which was inspired by her time at home during the pandemic. Using equipment at home, she made ornaments and sold them on Facebook as a hobby. One day, she decided to sell her ornaments on the porch, hanging them on Christmas trees, giving her front yard a boutique aesthetic. Phyllis posted on three local facebook groups for moms, and sold over 1,000 ornaments that first weekend. The first porch was officially open and soaring in business sales!  The following week had 30 makers, and the idea accelerated and picked up a line of its own. Priscilla was originally a buyer, and was an avid supporter of Shop My Porch, and was joined by her husband, Peter, who was intrigued by the innovative name and idea. Together, the team spent half of 2021 building the application and launched in San Diego and other city groups.  The platform is now working to expand out of Southern California, and actively involves itself in local communities and outreach to give back to the residents. Listen to Phyllis, Priscilla, and Peter share their experiences that helped make the app what it is today.   Their favorite local tacos: Phyllis: The Taco Stand in Encinitas Priscilla: Lucha Libre Taco Shop in San Diego Peter: Miguel’s Cocina in 4S Ranch, street tacos in Tijuana   Connect with them: Phyllis Hong Peter Townshend Priscilla Zubia Townshend Learn more about Shop My Porch: Website: https://shopmyporch.com/  Facebook: @shopmyporch Twitter: @shopmyporch  Instagram: @shopmyporch LinkedIn Thanks to our partners at Cox Business & Cox Edge for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

Tacos and Tech Podcast

Connecting Local Makers to Shoppers with Shop My Porch

This Week in SD Tech: Making It In San Diego: Starting a business during the pandemic San Diego startup Koji gets $20 million for tech that helps social media influencers make money - The San Diego Union-Tribune Roll Up — Tilray-Owned SweetWater Expands Cannabis Adjacencies by Acquiring Green Flash, Alpine — Good Beer Hunting Molson Coors sells Saint Archer to Kings & Convicts - The San Diego Union-Tribune 

San Diego Tech News Weekly – January 28, 2022

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.  Matt Ellis is CEO of Measurabl, the world’s leading ESG software for commercial real estate. Measurabl helps companies collect and report investment grade ESG performance using its platform, helping the real estate community identify green buildings and invest money better.  Matt grew up in Tustin, California, attending UC San Diego for his undergraduate degree and went to San Diego State for his M.B.A. His father was a residential real estate agent, and was influential in guiding Matt toward real estate, encouraging him to get a real estate license and broker’s license. In 2008, he was hired by CBRE, officially starting his real estate career. He became interested in the intersection between real estate, his professional career, and sustainability, his personal interest. This led to him becoming Director of Sustainability Solutions at CBRE, in charge of creating and commercializing services around energy and sustainability. Matt saw firsthand the rise of this issue of ESG and sustainability from a mega real estate provider’s point of view and worked on tech solutions, leading to the creation of Measurabl. Matt presented the idea of Measurabl as a business plan to CBRE, insisting on the importance of pursuing this software. The company assigned all intellectual property to him, and assisted him financially, also becoming Measurabl’s first customer. Matt also looked for help from friends and family, reuniting with fellow UCSD graduates Lance Onken and David Schumann, who were the first two full-time employees. With the help of those around him, he was able to work toward a minimum viable product and the ultimate vision of helping customers access relevant data and make it useful for personas in the real estate industry. Originally, sustainability was seen as the right thing to do, but now the real estate world sees it as a hard business imperative for success. Listen to Matt Ellis share the founding story of Measurabl, and the policy levers and economic realities that pushed real estate owners and operators to become greener for the better.  His favorite local tacos: Mitch’s Seafood in San Diego   Connect with Matt: Matt Ellis Learn more about Measurabl: Website: https://www.measurabl.com/  Facebook: @measurabl Twitter: @measurabl LinkedIn Thanks to our partners at Cox Business & Cox Edge for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

Measuring what Matters with Matt Ellis of Measurabl

This Week in SD Tech: ClickUp Launching New Ad Campaign During Super Bowl LVI | San Diego Business Journal Qualcomm Expands in Auto Sector | San Diego Business Journal Callaway, Port Officials Ink Exclusive Negotiating Agreement for New Harbor Island Topgolf Location | San Diego Business Journal New San Diego firm nabs $75M for specialized microscopes that could aid in treatment of diseases - The San Diego Union-Tribune Life science developer buys Costa Verde Center near UTC to complete 'mega campus' - The San Diego Union-Tribune This San Diegan helps entrepreneurs sell their businesses 

San Diego Tech News Weekly – January 21, 2022

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.  Kerri Leslie is CEO and Founder of Verity, a sustainable packaging company that offers customized metal alternatives to single-use plastic containers. Verity provides sustainable packaging solutions to brands and businesses committed to combating the plastic crisis, giving viable packaging options without compromising user experience or brand aesthetics. Kerri grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated from the University of North Carolina Wilmington before coming to San Diego. After re-evaluating her aspirations of becoming a doctor, she joined Spinal Implants, a Carlsbad-based medical device startup focused on spinal implants and instrumentation. There, she was able to use her medical background to work with surgeons and make customer experience better. Kerri eventually became a technical marketing liaison between the surgeons and the company’s engineering department, working in product development and meeting customer’s needs. Wanting to focus on marketing, she left and joined Henry Schein, a global medical device manufacturer and distributor, and moved up to become Director of Marketing.  While building up her expertise in working with medical devices, she started an all-natural deodorant company, Noniko, and came across the problem of the plastic crisis. Realizing she needed to find a safe and sustainable packaging that could be recycled, she researched but found no existing containers to meet her needs. And that’s how Verity began. She worked to design a stainless steel container for the natural deodorant product, and found there was a greater demand for sustainable packaging. By looking for a solution to her problem, she found a whole new business.  Listen to our latest podcast with Kerri Leslie to hear more about her entrepreneurial journey in finding truly sustainable solutions for the beauty and personal care industry.  Her favorite local tacos: Lourdes in Encinitas   Connect with Kerri: Kerri Leslie   Learn more about Verity: Website: https://www.veritycase.com/  Facebook: @veritypackaging Instagram: @verity.case LinkedIn  

Sustainability Simplified and Dignified with Kerri Leslie of Verity

This Week in SD Tech: 2021 Year in Review Wrap Up and 2022 Predictions

San Diego Tech News Weekly – January 14, 2022

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.  Brant Cooper, CEO/Founder of Moves the Needle and New York Times bestselling author of The Lean Entrepreneur, teaches leaders how to improve their businesses to remain agile and resilient in the Digital Age in his latest book, DISRUPTION PROOF. Host Neal Bloom and Brant discuss the importance of decentralizing decision making in companies and being able to dynamically adjust to disrupting factors or situations.  Brant graduated from UC Davis with an Economics degree. He lived in the Bay Area for 17 years, following the trajectory of regular business. It wasn’t until he joined his first startup that he understood the difference between entrepreneurial mindset versus a typical business. After coming down to San Diego, he observed the region and their small presence in the tech scene, with few successful startups and venture capital at the tail-end of funds. Since he was familiar with startup culture from the Bay Area, he brought that to San Diego, changing the culture from business professional and formal expectations to casual yet efficient meetups that were modernized to meet the rising digital age.  As his organized meetups grew in popularity, many people became involved and grew interest in the entrepreneurial scene. With more help, he put on the first Startup Week and co-founded Startup San Diego. Eventually, he passed on the organization to new leadership, and watched it go through successful transitions with competent leaders keeping the core fundamental aspects and attributes. He currently travels the world as a keynote speaker on how to discover and create new value and empower change through design thinking and lean methodologies.  Listen to Brant Cooper share his expertise in igniting entrepreneurial action within large organizations through disrupting our current way of thinking in order to find personal and economic growth. His favorite local tacos: Roberto’s Mexican Food in Del Mar   Connect with Brant: Brant Cooper   Learn more about Moves the Needle: Website: https://movestheneedle.com/  Facebook: @movestheneedle Twitter: @MovesTheNeedle LinkedIn   Check out his newest book, DISRUPTION PROOF: https://brantcooper.com/tacosandtech/      Thanks to our partners at Cox Business & Cox Edge for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

Reimagining a Disruption Proof Organization with Brant Cooper

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.  Women Who Code San Diego is an international non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers. Women currently represent less than 30% of the technology industry in the United States. WWC’s mission is to provide a community for female tech professionals with resources and support. This week’s Tacos and Tech Podcast features Jillian Moore, Luisa Giuffrida, and Mikyla DeWitt, co-directors of the local chapter. Jillian is a Senior Software Engineer at PlayStation in San Diego, and was one of the first engineers asked to create the Women Who Code San Diego chapter in 2017. Luisa, former Manager of Online Development at PlayStation, was also part of the company’s team of female leaders to start this community group. She currently works at Amazon as a Software Development Manager. Mikyla is a Senior Software Developer at Mosaic.tech, and became actively involved after coming to WWC San Diego’s launch in 2017. The co-directors all shared the same passion: finding a tech group focusing on and empowering women. Their perseverance led to a successful community group for women technologists to support and learn from one another. Since its launch, the organization has grown, providing many experiences and events such as monthly meetups, workshops, networking sessions, coding nights, and more. To support WWC, actively attend and support their events and encourage fellow women colleagues to attend and gain resources. If you are interested in reaching out, contact them through email at sandiego@womenwhocode.com or join their meetup group.    Their favorite local tacos: Jillian: Robert’s Jalapenos Mikyla: Birria El Rey Luisa: Lolita’s Mexican Food    Connect with them: Jillian Moore Luisa Giuffrida Mikyla DeWitt   Learn more about Women Who Code   Website: https://www.womenwhocode.com/sandiego  Facebook: @WWCodeSanDiego  Twitter: @WWCodesandiego Instagram: @wwcodesandiego LinkedIn Thanks to our partners at Cox Business & Cox Edge for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

Inspiring Women to Excel In Technology with Women Who Code

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.  Many patients go through stressful medical experiences due to a lack of support or understanding of their procedure and treatment, experts say. George Kramb and Patrick Frank saw this issue and created PatientPartner, a community platform for new and prospective patients to come and engage with past patient mentors for support and empathy. The co-founders built a network of doctors and patients to share their experience and expertise with those who need it. George and Patrick were both born and raised in San Diego County. George started his career in medical device sales, working in operating rooms and helping surgeons properly use the products. During that time, he would listen to patients and doctors, learning about their experience and what brought them to the hospital. He noticed a gap in the patient-doctor relationship, where many patients were in need of resources and support throughout the surgical process that doctors couldn’t provide. He began connecting pre-op patients with post-op patients and saw the potential in creating a network of relatability and support. He then contacted Patrick who was involved in consumer technology and scaling out platforms and bringing them to the market. Together, they built up PatientPartner and brought value to the healthcare industry by focusing on patients.  PatientPartner went through multiple changes, helping them realize that the best solution is to connect patients to individuals who went through similar treatments and knew the experience firsthand. Empowering patients with resources improves their medical experience, helping them and other patients in the long run as well, they discovered. Listen to Neal chat with George and Patrick about the company’s impact on the healthcare industry and their goals for the future.  Their favorite local tacos: George: Ramiro’s Taco Shop in Pacific Beach The Taco Stand in La Jolla Patrick: Maritza's Mexican Food Restaurant in Clairemont    Connect with them: George Kramb Patrick Frank Learn more about PatientPartner: Website: https://www.patientpartner.com/  Facebook: @PatientPartner1 Twitter: @patientpartner1 Instagram: @patient_partner LinkedIn  Thanks to our partners at Cox Business & Cox Edge for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

Bringing Empathy to Healthcare with PatientPartner

It’s been a wild year with the number of investments, total amount invested into companies, and big rounds all up from 2020. While we split life science from the tech/consumer industry, so many life science companies have tech components and we’re going to need to learn to talk about them as one unit soon.  Data from Connect fundings database, Neal/Jonah’s SD Publics sheet, Pebble Finance, Crunchbase, and individual articles. If you see numbers are off, write me and I’ll update. Click here to read the in-depth 2021 year in review report. 

2021 San Diego Tech Report

This Week in SD Tech: San Diego/Tijuana wins World Design Capital, defeating Moscow San Diego's JuneShine pulls in $24M to drive hard kombucha better-for-you alcoholic beverages Pfizer to Acquire Arena Pharmaceuticals Study: AI helps catalyze 10% employment growth in San Diego Transportation cluster through the pandemic - San Diego Regional EDC Fast food bundle: San Diego's Jack in the Box to acquire Del Taco for $575 million - The San Diego Union-Tribune 

San Diego Tech News Weekly – December 19, 2021

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.  An estimated 56% of Americans plan to move by the end of 2021, showing how many people are interested in remote work opportunities and/or finding communities they would want to live in, according to The Neighbor 2020 – 2021 American Migration Report. Carlsbad is a city actively attracting strong talent to lead its industries and technological developments, boasting its beautiful beaches and connected community. Local leaders from all over San Diego County are actively coming together to work toward city innovation and talent development. In this week’s podcast, David Graham, Chief Innovation Officer at City of Carlsbad, Matt Sanford, Economic Development Manager at City of Carlsbad, and Tim Carty and Winona Dimeo-Ediger, co-founders of RoleCall, share how they’ve built a pipeline of talent for the Carlsbad business community. The City of Carlsbad has developed its own homegrown talent attraction campaign, Life in Action, to share how people can manage a meaningful career and great quality of life in the city. They emphasize the importance of work-life balance, and how the city’s ecosystem is growing in the business landscape with industry disruptors to ambitious startups, showing a diverse community. RoleCall, a talent attraction agency and consultancy, works with cities like Carlsbad to help attract talent to their city through their customized programs and marketing strategies. A recent trend being observed is people choosing where they want to work first, and then selecting from companies in that area as viable options.  A common factor among these leaders is that they all recognized that local government can have a massive impact in one’s immediate community. David enjoys the manifestation of his work that he can see as he drives down the street, and states that talent powers the future. Matt believes that providing economic strategies can help cities successfully attract talent. Tim is passionate about bringing smart and likeminded talent to help the community, and Winona recognizes the importance of people choosing to work at a place they like, and how cities can cater towards that. Listen to this latest podcast to hear from leaders from the City of Carlsbad and RoleCall to learn how they are committing themselves to a purposeful life and meaningful work in Carlsbad.  Their favorite local tacos: David: Tacos La Glorieta in TJ, Lola 55 in San Diego Matt: Oscars Mexican Seafood in La Jolla Tim: La Regia Taqueria in Iowa City Winona: Tacos Y Mariscos El Amigo in Nashville   Connect with them: David Graham Matt Sanford Tim Carty Winona Dimeo-Ediger   Learn more about Life in Action and RoleCall: Life in Action Website: https://carlsbadlifeinaction.com/  Facebook: @Carlsbadbiz  Twitter: @Carlsbadbiz Instagram: @carlsbadbiz LinkedIn   RoleCall Website: https://www.rolecall.pro/  LinkedIn Thanks to our partners at Cox Business & Cox Edge for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

Finding Meaningful Life in Action with the City of Carlsbad and RoleCall

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.  Shayne Skaff is co-founder and CEO of Blooma, the leading digital underwriting platform powered by artificial intelligence for commercial real estate. The startup’s AI platform helps lenders reduce loan origination time and cost, and perform a more comprehensive analysis of their transactions. In this week’s interview, Neal and Shayne chat about the creation of Blooma and how the company originates new loans and handles portfolio management. Shayne grew up in Los Angeles, and went to University of San Diego for a degree in business administration. He found his way into tech by looking in the San Diego Reader job postings, and found himself a sales job selling hard drives for a distributor in Carlsbad. He transitioned into selling big enterprise computer systems for Avnet, where he gained inspiration for his first startup, MaintenanceNet. With technology rapidly advancing, he transitioned from the hardware industry to selling services and software. MaintenanceNet became the leading SaaS provider for automating maintenance contract revenue before being acquired by Cisco. After the acquisition, Shayne spent his time looking for companies in SaaS and B2B enterprises where he could help them with productization and their go-to-market strategy. He set up The Sandbox incubator for technical founders to build their ideas, and would occasionally invest in startups he saw potential in. Blooma was built from there, and he was so passionate about the idea he decided to run it himself and become CEO in 2019.  Listen to Shayne Skaff share his entrepreneurial experience in the SaaS industry and how he pivoted directions during the pandemic to make Blooma successful.   His favorite local tacos: The Taco Stand in Encinitas   Connect with Shayne: LinkedIn   Learn more about Blooma: Website: https://blooma.ai/  Facebook: Blooma.ai Twitter: @blooma_ai LinkedIn Thanks to our partners at Cox Business & Cox Edge for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

Re-Imagining the Lending Experience with Shayne Skaff

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.  Rebecca Rosen is Director of Field Marketing at Cox Business, a family-owned private telecommunications leader in providing voice, video and data services for more than 275,000 small and regional businesses. In this week’s interview, Neal and Rebecca chat about the trends seen in business workplaces for the past 18 months, and how Cox is planning for the new year ahead.  Rebecca grew up in the Washington, D.C. area. She received her graduate degree in choreography and the integration of technology from Arizona State University, and moved to San Diego shortly after. Rebecca found a job in tech, working for a boutique consultancy. She learned about tech there, and moved to Telepacific Communications (now TPx), working for 13 years before leaving her position as Senior Director of Marketing Communications and Training. After trying different jobs, she joined Cox Business in 2021, where she focuses on marketing and product in California.  Rebecca has seen more change in the last 18 months than she’s seen in her entire career. The penetration of the cloud that was expected to slowly occur over a decade has been accelerated due to workplaces adjusting to the pandemic. Cox Business has invested more than $15 billion in infrastructure, and has committed to invest another $10 billion over the next several years. The company is currently focused on how to provide the same and seamless office experience whether it is in-person or online. She states that it is time to get rid of latency in the network, and for businesses to look toward edge services that provide faster cloud connection like Cox Edge.  Listen to Rebecca Rosen share her thoughts on the future of the IoT industry, how businesses have responded to the pandemic, and how Cox Business aims to help enterprises by providing fast and reliable tech solutions.    Her favorite local tacos: The Taco Stand in La Jolla   Connect with Rebecca: LinkedIn   Learn more about Cox Business: Website: https://www.cox.com/business/home.html  Facebook: @CoxBusiness Twitter: @coxbusiness Instagram: @coxbusiness LinkedIn

How Technology Will Change the Workplace in 2022 with Rebecca Rosen

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.  Many people assume attending higher education or college is the only way to succeed in making money and finding a career. However, it often leads to thousands of dollars in student debt with no real passion for a profession. What if there was another way to succeed besides following the herd? Luke Sophinos is founder and CEO of CourseKey, an education management software for trade schools. CourseKey supports schools that provide an alternative pathway to the traditional education route, and helps students from supporting enrollment to career placement. Luke was born and raised in Denver, Colo., and was interested in entrepreneurship and business growing up. At 16, he started his first business, an events focused application that would help him and his peers find things to do or events to go to. During college, Luke realized he did not want to follow the traditional path to success that was limited and costly, and joined The Thiel Fellowship, a program that gave $100,000 to young people who want to build new things instead of sitting in a classroom. There, he learned how to think big and differently, and developed CourseKey over time. Initially, Luke tried to bring CourseKey’s software to traditional education institutions and universities. However, he realized there was little interest in student success, as his research showed that less than 1% of their annual budget was used to actually help students get jobs. As a result, he focused on providing software for businesses with credential training programs to help boost student retention and complete their classes. These schools actually wanted to help students learn what they were genuinely in and assist them in getting a job in that field of study. With the help of CourseKey, they are able to effectively boost revenue, manage tasks, and drive career placement. Listen to Luke Sophinos share his personal insight on the limitations of higher education and how CourseKey offers alternatives routes towards professional success through their education management software.    His favorite local tacos: Puesto at San Diego   Connect with Luke: LinkedIn   Learn more about CourseKey: Website: https://coursekey.com/  Facebook: @coursekey Twitter: @coursekeyedu LinkedIn Instagram: @coursekeyeducation Thanks to our partners at Cox Business & Cox Edge for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

Powering Our Future Workforce with EdTech and Vertical SaaS with Luke Sophinos

The Tacos and Tech Podcast highlights the builders of companies, technologies, and the ecosystem of San Diego with a local flair for our lifestyle as well.

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Tacos and Tech Podcast

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