Tacos And Tech Podcast

Stanley Kim is the Co-Founder & CEO of WinSanTor, a biotech company focused on developing pharmaceutical solutions to peripheral neuropathy. Stanley graduated from UC Berkeley after studying genetics, but after realizing he had no desire to work in a lab or go to med school, he went to go work for a law firm and became an IP attorney. Eventually, Stanley landed an IP attorney role at San Diego’s Salk Institute, a top biology institution. There, Stanley played a pivotal role in starting numerous companies, including Emotient, a company specializing in machine perception, which was eventually acquired by Apple; Emotient’s technology later went on to become the basis for Apple’s facial recognition feature. Then, in 2011, Stanley was approached by a group of scientists to pursue a branch of science that seemed to hold the solution to peripheral neuropathy, a debilitating disease that targets 15-20 million Americans every year. His team’s solution is the first of its kind--an anomaly in the diabetic industry

Brook Sheehan and Rema Abedkader are the co-founders behind Cup O’ Sugar, a mobile app that allows neighbors to connect over sharing and requesting food ingredients. Single moms and close friends for nine years, Brook and Rema originally got their app idea when they were missing a vital ingredient for a recipe. Rema texted a neighbor of hers and managed to get the ingredient, leading them to question whether they could take an old-school philosophy of neighbor support and convert it to mobile technology. They began their work in 2017 and the app finally launched in 2018. Both Brook and Rema discussed how their personal goals feed directly into the app: Brook, who is super against food waste, and Rema, who thrives on community connections, agree that this app is a perfect combination of their personalities.  Right now, due to COVID-19, their app is more popular than ever as users hope to find ingredients that their local grocery stores have run out of. Tune in as Brook and Rema join host Neal Bloom and guest c

Chad Sweet is the co-founder and CEO of ModalAI, a tech company that provides autonomy solutions for robots, and more recently, drones. Chad got into the drone industry as an engineer in Qualcomm’s robotics department. The research and development he was involved in was focused primarily on autonomous robots when a few employees began discussing the possibility of a standalone company. In 2018, Chad and two others took that chance and left Qualcomm, officially creating ModalAI. The company focuses on the most cutting-edge autonomous technology, catering state-of-the-art AI tech to the demands of small businesses in the drone market. Additionally, Chad and his team have also worked alongside many government initiatives to boost national efforts related to robotics.  Tune in to hear about Chad’s journey as an entrepreneur in San Diego’s autonomous tech industry and get the scoop on his favorite taco spot in San Diego. Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego

Listen in as Startup San Diego Executive Director Alexa-Rae Navarro joins host Neal Bloom and guest co-host Amy Chang, entrepreneur and angel investor, to discuss the latest tech news in San Diego. The episode kicks off with Alexa-Rae providing updates on Startup San Diego events and then goes into a discussion about local tech news. 5:00 In collaboration with the Downtown San Diego Partnership and Mission Edge, Startup San Diego recently launched Startup Series: Covid Edition, which has two workshops coming up in its five-part series. 8:22 Alexa-Rae and Neal share insight about founders dealing with heightened anxiety amid the pandemic 12:09 Startup Week 2020 updates. The event is postponed until fall and is going virtual, which will allow greater attendance than previous years, including attendees outside of San Diego. 18:54 There’s a new venture fund in town. Section 32 is raising $350M for its third fund. It has already invested in five San Diego companies, including Cue Health, Aspen Neuroscience, XOKind

Darin Anderson is co-founder & CEO of NXT Robotics, a company that provides service robots to support increased security monitoring and alerting requirements. Darin got into technology when he purchased a Gateway computer and realized how exciting tech could be. It wasn’t long before he was building computers out of his Los Angeles home as a recent USC master’s graduate. After selling his company, Darin moved his family down to Coronado, where he began building his network as he figured out what his next career move would be. His first gig in San Diego was consulting, which later turned into a COO role with San Diego-based cybersecurity giant ESET, whose founder was a consulting client of Darin’s. After helping grow ESET, Darin later founded CyberTECH and worked on that venture for several years before founding NXT Robotics in 2018. The startup went through the San Diego International Airport Innovation Hub, where the NXT Robotics team worked to resolve security issues in the airport’s employee parking lo

Teal & Tristan Cooper are the co-founders behind VendiBean, a barista at the touch of a button. The startup’s sleek coffee vending machines can be found in various locations, like college campuses, hospitals, and offices. The siblings grew up in Plano, Texas and went their separate ways once college started. Tristan, the younger Cooper, attended UT Austin and Teal moved out to San Diego to attend SDSU.  One day, Teal was studying abroad in Florence when her younger brother called her. It was midnight in Austin and he was in the library. Tristan complained that he had no access to coffee and wished there was some sort of coffee vending machine nearby. Teal immediately connected his remark to the fact that she’d seen those types of machines at the Italian university she was attending. The duo immediately began learning the ins and outs of the industry. After their initial beta failed, the pair came back stronger with tastier coffee grounds and better machines. VendiBean is used at corporate and retail setti

Bobby Brannigan is co-founder & CEO of Mercato, an online marketplace for independent grocery stores, which enables local grocery delivery and helps them compete with larger chains in the industry. Bobby is no stranger to entrepreneurship. The serial entrepreneur started his first business in his college dorm in upstate New York. It was a college textbook marketplace that competed directly with Amazon, beginning in 2001. 18 months in, the startup had garnered $100M revenue with no external funding, and was eventually acquired. During this venture, Bobby began collecting feedback from bookstores and realizing they preferred to sell their books on Amazon but desired a reverse marketplace where they could repurchase books from students. Thus, Bucks4Books was born. In 2008, after working out of Buffalo, NY for some time, Bobby, along with seven of his Bucks4Books team members, made the move to sunny San Diego. After their big move, the team grew sales from $7 million to $18 million in a few years, all bootstr

Neal & Brittany comment on recent news, like (starting at 16:30): Fundings:  Cloudbeds $82M Gretel $3.5M AristaMD $18M    SD Life Changing/Startup SD - Who's Hiring Airtable Along with upcoming events: Meta by Acai: Startup Community Networking - April 16 (new startup emerging to serve the virtual events space) Advancing San Diego applications open Top Tech Awards nominations  Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego startup and tech ecosystem. Brittany Meiling is a senior reporter at the San Diego Union-Tribune, where she writes about startups, tech, e-commerce & brick-and-mortar retail, and some biotech. Brittany found a passion for writing in her high school days, figuring her love for reading would translate to a love for writing. She knew she wanted to become a news reporter, and has pursued that for virtually her entire career.  After graduating from Missouri State University in 2013, Brittany knew she wanted to move out to San Diego. She

Lou Cooperhouse is CEO of BlueNalu, a startup that’s creating seafood directly from fish cells, a sustainable, ethical, and tasty alternative to traditional seafood. The novel product addresses issues with the current food system, which cannot sustain the world’s growing population for much longer. Lou has spent 35 years working in the food industry and has an impressive track record, having worked for the likes of Campbell Soup, Conagra, and a Nestle-funded startup. In college, he studied microbiology and food science, but found himself starting companies throughout his career. BlueNalu was founded in 2018 out of Lou’s desire to do something disruptive. Its clean meat includes all the desirable things about seafood, and none of the baggage. The startup hopes to take its product to market in the second half of 2021, and is open to partnering with local eateries to make cell-based fish tacos--a futuristic San Diego must-have. Listen in to hear about Lou’s prosperous career in the food industry. Also learn why

Gina Jacobs is the program manager of the San Diego International Airport (SAN) Innovation Lab, a program that works with startups innovating in the airport industry. A San Diego native, Gina grew up in University Heights and attended San Diego State, where she pursued a degree in communications. She went on to study sustainability in graduate school. During her early career, Gina gained experience in human resources and sustainability efforts. It was at a networking event that Gina met an employee of San Diego International Airport who encouraged her to apply for a role. After starting at SAN in an HR role, the opportunity arose for Gina to join the organization’s innovation efforts. This opportunity eventually led to her program management role at the SAN Innovation Lab. Listen in to hear about Gina’s experience running the SAN Innovation Lab, as well as her favorite taco spots. Investor Amy Chang joins the chat. Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego e

Steve Beck is a managing partner at Serra Ventures, an early-stage venture fund focused on IT and agtech. The Illinois-founded fund has about 85 portfolio companies. Steve grew up in the Bay Area, where he lived an adventurous childhood. After high school, he moved out to San Luis Obispo to pursue his bachelor’s degree at Cal Poly SLO. During his 13-year stint there, Steve became serious about entrepreneurship. At 23 years old, he was managing a surf shop and convinced his employer to help him start a mail order skateboard company, which was named California Cheap Skates. CCS went on to become the world’s largest action sports retailer and was later acquired.  After leaving his first company, Steve went on to start a church with young surfers, he then started a skateboard church, and a couple more after that. Something he learned about himself through this experience is that he would get bored with projects after a few years and was always looking for the next thing. Someone from the last church Steve built a

Amy Chang is an entrepreneur, angel investor, and healthcare analyst.  Amy grew up in West Covina and attended college at UC Berkeley. After residing in the Bay Area for nearly a decade, she made her way out to sunny San Diego, a place in which Amy and her husband saw themselves having careers. When Amy first moved to San Diego, she worked at AMN Healthcare and spent the next 14 years building a career there, eventually becoming the company’s VP of strategy and investor relations. Amy left the company and began dabbling in angel investing. She began networking and meeting other investors to learn more about becoming a better investor.  To date, Amy has made investments in 34 companies, and has been involved with a few different angel networks, including Hera Angels and Tech Coast Angels. Listen in to learn about Amy’s 14-year run at AMN Healthcare and how she made the transition into angel investing, as well as her favorite taco spot. Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to

[Talk of current happenings in the SD tech scene starts at 24:31] Mike Krenn is the President & CEO of Connect w/ SDVG, which elevates innovators and entrepreneurs throughout their growth journey by providing educational programming, mentorship, networking events, and access to capital.  Mike grew up in Mountain View, at the heart of Silicon Valley. After high school, he moved out to San Diego despite his parents’ wishes for him to attend Humboldt State. Soon after making his way to sunny SD, Mike enrolled in classes at San Diego State (Go Aztecs!) to pursue his bachelor’s degree. After graduating from college, Mike spent five years working at the San Diego Business Journal, where he learned about the local tech and startup community. Soon enough, Mike’s career began to revolve around the local tech and startup scene. Listen in to hear how Mike Krenn got his start being involved in the local tech scene, what he’s currently doing at Connect w/ SDVG, and get the scoop on his favorite local tacos. Listen in

Pulkit Agrawal is the CEO and Co-Founder of The 5th Ingredient, a software startup that has developed a platform that breweries can use to track their data from grain to glass. During his senior year at Harvard University, Pulkit was recruited to join Ballast Point as a process engineer. He started his role after graduating in 2015 and was able to take on several projects that gave him a solid foundational knowledge of beer, a beverage he enjoyed drinking but knew little about beforehand.  Pulkit left Ballast Point in 2017 to pursue a consulting career. As he began to help breweries, he realized something they all had in common was that they were using inefficient and non-digital ways to store and track their data. With his college-level knowledge of software engineering, Pulkit was able to develop an MVP (minimal viable product), and that was the beginning of The 5th Ingredient.  Listen in to hear how Pulkit went from starting his career at Ballast Point to founding The 5th Ingredient, and get the scoop on h

Maritza Diaz is the CEO of ITJuana, a startup that enables companies to create software centers of excellence in Tijuana. Originally from Ecuador, Maritza was working her first job out of college when her company offered to move her to the US for one year. The young software engineer took the opportunity and moved to Chicago, never turning back. During her time working at Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Chicago office, Maritza was offered the opportunity to relocate to its San Diego office, and she took the opportunity 10 years ago, and has resided here ever since. After leading an initiative to grow software centers of excellence abroad for her employer, Maritza decided to start her own company. With the various skills she acquired over the years, Maritzia was able to build a strong foundation for ITJuana. Listen in to hear how Maritza helped expand San Diego-based Thermo Fisher to employ hundreds of engineers in Tijuana and now empowering dozens of companies to do the same, utilizing the strength of our mega-reg

Al Bsharah is VP of Product Operations at Seismic, a sales enablement platform. The show is also joined by Amy Chang, CEO of Delta Nutrassentials. Neal, Al, and Amy are all members of Tech Coast Angels, which will give you an investor perspective of the San Diego tech scene in this episode. Al moved out to San Diego in 1998 after working as an engineer in the Detroit auto industry. He always knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur and spent his time in San Diego trying to build businesses and working in other startups. Al learned some tough lessons as a solo founder and decided to pair up with a co-founder for his next venture. In last 2016, Al joined Seismic Software, which had a headcount of 200 at the time. Three years later, the tech unicorn is pushing 900. The company has been rapidly growing for years, and even made a couple acquisitions, giving the company a presence in multiple states and countries. Listen in to hear all about Al’s experience as both an entrepreneur and an investor, and get the scoop on

Cody Barbo is Co-Founder & CEO of Trust & Will, an online service making it easy, fast and secure to set up your estate plan. Originally from Huntington Beach, Cody moved down to sunny San Diego to study at San Diego State University. The diehard Aztec broke out of his shell by pursuing leadership roles on campus, the most significant one being student body president.  During college, Cody had the entrepreneurial bug, hustling to get an app idea off the ground. After college, he co-founded a tech startup called Industry, which helped restaurants find and hire talent efficiently. After three years of growing the company, Cody was abruptly removed from his role as CEO. Although it hurt to leave a company he held so close to his heart, the young founder made peace with the decision and took some time off to focus on his upcoming wedding.  Some time had passed and Cody went to grab coffee with his friend, Daniel. Their casual conversation eventually led into a discussion about assets and what would happen

Alexa-Rae Navarro is the new Executive Director of Startup San Diego, a non-profit that supports entrepreneurs and startups in the local ecosystem.  Alexa-Rae was born and raised in Riverside and went to college at UC San Diego, where she studied urban planning. After graduating, she moved to Los Angeles to work at the mayor’s office but knew she wanted to learn more and went on to earn a master’s degree in urban planning at UCLA. Her studies coincided with a graduate internship at the LA Chamber of Commerce. After finishing up her studies, Alexa-Rae continued working with the LA Chamber of Commerce, where she eventually became a senior managing director of the organization’s center for innovation and tech. Listen in to hear all about her journey to becoming Startup San Diego’s new Executive Director and send her your best taco recommendation! Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.   Keep up with Alexa-Raei:  Twitter: @lexaRaeN   Keep up with S

Rob Rast is Co-Founder & CEO of both FLX Bike and Miles Board, which make electric bikes and skateboards that make commutes kinder to the air that we breathe.  Originally from Sacramento, Rob spent his childhood there but says he did most of his growing up in China. In 2009, at the age of 19, Rob dropped out of college and purchased a one-way ticket to China and lived there until just a couple years ago.  While in China, Rob learned the language and decided to start his first business selling wine imported from California. Rob learned that chasing money rather than passion wasn’t the right move, so he left the wine business to pursue an opportunity with an aviation company that was trying to break into the Chinese market. Rob quit his job after working with the company for a couple years to start businesses centered around products he was truly passionate about: electric bikes and nutrition. Rob met his co-founder on Airbnb and moved back to the US to build the business. He came out to San Diego, where hi

Kim Walpole is the Co-Founder & CEO of Trials.ai, a startup that’s developing frontier technology that helps research teams develop their clinical trial protocols. Originally from Bronx, New York, Kim did a lot of traveling with her family growing up. She worked for the American Management Association and later began consulting a couple of pharma companies. After meeting her now-husband, she moved out to San Diego in 2010, where she currently resides.  A few years after moving out to San Diego, Kim’s best friend had a stomach ache which turned out to be pancreatic cancer. He was given 5 months to live. Being told he could not be treated, he reached out to Kim in hopes that she could get him into a trial. She tapped into her network but quickly learned that by the time her friend would be able to participate in a trial, he’d be gone. In that moment, Kim began reevaluating the protocols that were in place in the industry. She knew the process had to change, leading her to found Trials.ai. Listen in to hear