Startup Grind San Diego is proud to announce its first event at the EvoNexus incubator in downtown San Diego on Wednesday, June 20th. Entrepreneurs from all industries are invited to come and hear from Greg Horowitt, venture capitalist, serial entrepreneur, global innovation policy adviser and author of The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley. Make sure to join our SD community here and reserve your tickets for our inaugural event.
San Diego has long been one of the action sports capitals of the world, a breeding ground for talented athletes like pro skateboarder Tony Hawk, who went from local hero to global icon, boasting 16 video games that carry his name and an estimated net worth of $120 million, among various other accomplishments. It is a city that operates on the ‘work hard, play hard’ philosophy – one where it is not uncommon to find surfboards lying around the office. Perhaps that has something to do with the reaction I got from my parents when I told them we were opening the San Diego chapter of Startup Grind they assumed it was a skate company.
Though San Diego may not traditionally be considered a region made famous for it’s startup companies, what many people are now realizing is that its well on its way to becoming one of our country’s greatest entrepreneurial boomtowns. Qualcomm, Callaway Golf, Pro Flowers and General Atomics (the nuclear physics and defense contractor that manufactures “The Predator” unmanned drone aircraft) are just a few of the mature, native businesses here. There are other transplants headquarters who may or may not have moved here for the fair weather, but we don’t hold it against them.
“Biotech Beach” is another nickname for our city, which has been and continues to be a hotbed for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies. Tech, software, Internet, and media companies are not going unnoticed either. Legend3D, which creates 3D versions of Hollywood films, has seen considerable growth. A year ago they increased their workforce from 40 to 400 employees.
There has been a lot of talk and a lot of push to infuse San Diego with Silicon Valley’s open, collaborative work environment and mindset. EvoNexus and Greg Horowitt are two of the local leaders doing just that. EvoNexus has one startup incubator in University City, which is home to eight companies in the hardware and semiconductor industry and recently opened a second incubator for young tech companies. The timing could not be more perfect to bring Startup Grind to “America’s Finest City” so join our community today.
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About the Author: Blake Baxter, Director of Startup Grind San Diego
Blake is a project manager for Income.com and develops financial and organizational tools for new entrepreneurs. He is triligingual and loves surfiing almost as much as he loves entrepreneurship. For sponsorships, event, or speaker support reach him via email at Blake at startupgrind dot com.