Startup Talk with Millard & Andrew

The night was electric, the audience was lit, and Lu Yin, CEO of UC San Diego-incubated startup, Ocella, walked away with the $30,000 grand prize at the 2017 John G. Watson Quick Pitch Competition!! Ocella is developing printable, stretchable, flexible battery technologies that could enable wearable fabrics and stretchable LED displays to carry their own power source. Congratulations: Lu Yin, … Continue reading "Ep31: Quick Pitch 2017 Part 2"

This podcast was recorded during the 2017 John G. Watson Quick Pitch Competition held in Irwin M. Jacobs Qualcomm Hall. We also captured real time post-pitch thoughts from the finalists to gain insights into the Quick Pitch and the process as a whole. It was an incredibly successful evening–a sold out crowd and ten great … Continue reading "Ep30: Quick Pitch 2017 Part 1"

Gary Benitt is a General Partner at Social Leverage LLC, an established early stage venture capital firm specializing in web-scaled startups. Gary works with their portfolio companies to help them operationalize the business and find ways to scale faster and higher. Prior to his time at Social Leverage, Gary was the founder and COO of … Continue reading "Ep29: Gary Benitt (Social Leverage) Successful Exit as a Founder, Stays in the Ecosystem as an Investor"

Who accelerates innovation and entrepreneurship activity across industries in the San Diego region? Dr. Rossi shouts out two dozen organizations (Federal, Regional, Local, Academic, and Corporate) that do. Also, the Office of Innovation & Commercialization at University of California, San Diego is a nexus of startup activity – she explains why. Dr. Devora Rossi is Senior Manager … Continue reading "Ep28: Dr. Devora Rossi (UC San Diego) Catalyzing & Anchoring a Regional Startup Ecosystem"

What is an impact-driven investment and real estate development firm with an environmental and social mission? That’s Fresh Coast Capital, explains Laura Brenner Kimes, Co-Founder and Director of Ecosystem Services at FCC. Laura’s career has focused on strategy and market creation for environment and energy firms. She has previously worked at Southern California Edison, the … Continue reading "Ep27: Laura Brenner Kimes (Fresh Coast Capital) Business School Project –> Successful Women Owned...

Young marketing professor earns tenure at San Diego State University AND launches a revenue-generating, SDSU student-run social venture the same year (2017)!! What? #FemaleFounders #Socialimpact #Inspiration Dr. Iana Castro is both an entrepreneur and an educator. She is currently an associate professor of marketing at San Diego State University, researching and teaching in areas that include consumer behavior, retailing and strategic marketing. She was … Continue reading "Ep26: Dr. Iana...

Peek behind the curtain of a successful, recent $1 million funding round, led by Tech Coast Angels San Diego, from the perspectives of the deal co-lead and the entrepreneur. If you’re raising seed to series A money in Southern California, then you should definitely check out Rasto Ivanic’s story on Startup Talk with Millard & … Continue reading "Ep25: Rasto Ivanic (GroupSolver) Insights to a Successful Seed Stage Analytics Deal"

An attorney who is approachable and will take your call – gratis – on a Saturday morning? #who’dathunkit Jeremy D. Glaser is a member of the law firm of Mintz, Levin, where he serves as Co-chair of the firm’s Venture Capital & Emerging Companies Practice. For more than 30 years Jeremy has helped companies raise angel and venture … Continue reading "Ep24: Jeremy Glaser (Mintz Levin) Experience Matters in Startups: Entrepreneur—>Attorney—>Tech Exec—>Attorney"

We sat down with Brittany and Ashok, two previous STMAP guests, to get an update on what they see happening in the San Diego Startup Ecosystem. Brittany Meiling is the Biotech & Startup Reporter for the San Diego Business Journal and has been working at that local business magazine since 2014. You can catch her … Continue reading "Ep23: Real Talk on Startups, Funding, and San Diego Ecosystem Resources w/Brittany Meiling (San Diego Business Journal) & Ashok Kamal (Tech Coast Angels)"

What happens in Mexico, shouldn’t stay in Mexico! Get #MexSD up. Guillermo Mejía Duclaud is Managing Director at Mexico Innovation Development Hub aka “MindHub”. MindHub is a collaborative space for development, innovation and creativity for tech entrepreneurs that create products and services in the Cali-Baja mega region. Guillermo is also CTO And Co-Founder of Pointman Magazine. Pointman Magazine en español es la … Continue reading "Ep22: Guillermo Mejía Duclaud (Mexico Innovation and...

Tom was a founding member and guitarist for the San Diego based blues band: West Of Memphis. The band won Best Blues Band in San Diego in 2009 at the SDMAs, released 2 award nominated albums, traveled internationally and held tenure as the house band for the House of Blues, San Diego for 5 years. When not … Continue reading "Ep21: Tom Walpole (StockTwits)-Getting in Tune with Blues Musician and Journeyman Internet Entrepreneur"

This week we’re taking a journey away from the glass and steel boxes that house San Diego’s tech founders, investors, and supporters and going deep into a racially diverse and underserved community in City Heights. Our tour guide is social entrepreneur and community beacon, Carlos McCray. Carlos McCray is Co-Founder & CEO of The DOJO, a more-than-coffee … Continue reading "Ep20: Carlos McCray (The DOJO Cafe) – “Sometimes you have to break it down to build it back up!” // community engagement...

Monique Williamson is Executive Director at DeskHub, which is the premier coworking destination for San Diego’s brightest entrepreneurs, VCs, corporations, non-profits, and social enterprises. She is one of San Diego’s most promising young leaders, renowned for her expertise in curating communities that operate at the intersection of technology, culture and social entrepreneurship. Previously, Ms. Williamson … Continue reading "Ep:19 Monique Williamson (DeskHub) – Was: NFL Cheerleader; Now:...

Brian Karscig was signed to a record deal by Sony Music right out of SDSU and his song ‘Finding Out True Love Is Blind’ from Louis XIV was covered in concert by The Killers with Brian on guitar. Nick Venti’s debut album, “Painted Hour”, by his group The Republic of Letters was described in a review … Continue reading "Ep18: Nick Venti/Brian Karscig (BLKBOX)–Touring w/The Killers, Louis XIV, Republic of Letters…Now…Music Made Social via App"

Women’s Reproductive Health Innovation does not make headlines. WHY NOT? The global market for contraception was over $19 billion in 2015. IT’S COMPLICATED. Sabrina Martucci Johnson, CEO & Founder of DARÉ Bioscience, pulls back the cover and explains why and what her healthcare company is doing about it. Hint: Perhaps it’s because contraception is believed to … Continue reading "Ep17: Sabrina Martucci Johnson (DARÉ Bioscience) – Paving the Future of Women’s Healthcare"

Startup Failure. Founder Burnout. Litigation. These are difficult topics. Adam Arthur was bluntly open and so real with us on this episode of Startup Talk with Millard & Andrew Moss. Our podcast is generally light-hearted, but this episode shines a light on one entrepreneur’s negative startup experience. It isn’t a pity party and Adam is … Continue reading "Ep16: Adam Arthur (inBrain LLC) – Startup Burnout…Failure…Litigation…Exit…and Book Deal?"

How does a young lady from Nebraska break into the Southern California startup scene? SIDE HUSTLES! Hannah Simon is the Operations Manager at the Tech Coast Angels San Diego. While not only working with the Tech Coast Angels, Hannah also holds positions with Incubate Ventures, The Startup Garage, and Provision San Diego. Hannah is from … Continue reading "Ep15: Hannah Simon (Incubate Ventures) Side-Hustling Her Way From Nebraska Into the San Diego Startup Ecosystem"

Frustrated Architect Mortgages His Home to Start Videogame Company. As One Does. John Baez cofounded The Behemoth, a successful, profitable, San Diego video game company. John Baez is the President and Co-Founder of The Behemoth, an award winning independent console development company that has been in business for over 14 years. Previously to co-founding The … Continue reading "Ep14: John Baez (The Behemoth) – Frustrated Architect Mortgages His Home to Start Videogame Company. As One Does."

“Athena San Diego is the coolest group of badass [STEM and business] chicks out there…the founders did not actually say it like that…” Cheryl K Goodman is Executive Director at Athena San Diego, which is is the premier leadership organization for women executives in the San Diego science, technology, healthcare, defense, energy and clean-tech sectors, and … Continue reading "Ep13: Cheryl K. Goodman (Athena SD) #LetHerSpeak #WomeninSTEM #DudeIJustSaidThat"

Neal Bloom launched 84 astronauts into space on $150M Rocketdyne engines while working on the Space Shuttle program. He described NASA perks. Not to be outdone, Startup Talk gave Neal an 8oz water for talking with us. Along with his college buddy, he ideated his first startup, Portfolium, Inc., while they both worked on rockets … Continue reading "Ep12: Neal Bloom (Tacos and Tech) $1.5B = Cost to Send Astronauts on Space Shuttle. Priceless = Value of Helping Others Discover Their Calling....