Tacos and Tech Podcast

Latest Episodes:

San Diego Tech News Weekly – May 19, 2023 May 22, 2023

Show notes

Neal: Welcome everyone to the weekly San Diego Tech News by Neal Bloom and Fred Grier from Fresh Brewed Tech. Every Friday at 12:30pm Pacific on Clubhouse and now we record them for you to enjoy as well. Find these episodes on Freshbrewedtech.com and favorite podcast player for Tacos and Tech Podcast.

I’m Neal Bloom, entrepreneur, investor, and community builder.

Fred: I’m Fred Grier, journalist and author of SD Founders substack. I wrote about the tech industry for the San Diego Business Journal for two years. I covered the ins-and-outs of the startup world for much of that time, breaking news on IPOs, fundraising rounds, and M&A.

For May 19, 2023:

SD Tech Hub & next SD Tech Hub event May 23 5pm
TuSimple leadership issues and layoffs
SD MLS team announced

Events:

SD Tech Hub event May 23 5pm
The Pitch social meetup June 7
Summer Social June 13
Innovation Week & Petco Park Day Sept 14

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/subscribe

Suman Kanuganti of Personal.ai: AI-Enabled Messaging That’s Personally Yours May 19, 2023

Show notes

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.

Suman gives an overview of what Personal.ai is [02:45]
How did Suman get into the tech industry? [03:25]
Suman talks about why he decided to continue his education in the U.S. and how it helped him in building a company [04:41]
Suman shares the original concept for Aira versus what changed and what it is today [07:34]
Suman shares the technical and business aspect of building Personal.ai [10:33]
What are some things that Suman learned from Aira to Personal.ai today? [14:44]
Suman talks about Personal.ai today, the technology development and product [18:52]
Suman gives his insights about AI and its community today, ChatGPT, and the future of AI [22:31]
How are people going to be using Personal.ai a year from now? [27:32]
Where and how can people make a Personal.ai account? [29:27]
Suman shares his favorite taco spots, Las Hadas and Spitfire [30:14]

Follow Suman

Personal.ai

Website | LinkedIn

Check out our Tacos and Tech Tacos Database to learn where our local SD entrepreneurs and leaders satisfy their taco crave!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/subscribe

San Diego Tech News Weekly – May 12, 2023 May 15, 2023

Show notes

Neal: Welcome everyone to the weekly San Diego Tech News by Neal Bloom and Fred Grier from Fresh Brewed Tech. Every Friday at 12:30pm Pacific on Clubhouse and now we record them for you to enjoy as well. Find these episodes on Freshbrewedtech.com and favorite podcast player for Tacos and Tech Podcast

I’m Neal Bloom, entrepreneur, investor, and community builder.

Fred: I’m Fred Grier, journalist and author of SD Founders substack. I wrote about the tech industry for the San Diego Business Journal for two years. I covered the ins-and-outs of the startup world for much of that time, breaking news on IPOs, fundraising rounds, and M&A.

For May 12, 2023:

Q1 Venture Capital Report by Fred Grier
Viasat: Launch & Merger
Upcoming events: Summer Social by Connect

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/subscribe

Valerie Carrillo of San Diego NFT Friends: Educating, Inspiring, and Connecting NFT enthusiasts May 09, 2023

Show notes

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.

Valerie gives an overview of what San Diego NFT Friends is [02:35]
Valerie talks about Red Rug Edutainment and what they do [03:05]
How did Valerie get into the tech industry? [04:00]
In what ways did winning an NFT from Gary Vaynerchuk help Valerie? [06:04]
Valerie talks about when why she started doing her meetups [07:11]
Valerie shares the background of the people that go to her meetups, and their engagement in the community [10:33]
Did the San Diego NFT Convention bring more community members and exposure? [13:21]
Valerie reflects on the accessibility and inclusivity of the Web3 community [15:48]
Valerie shares how she’s finding unique ways to both educate and interact with people about Web3 [17:30]
Valerie gives a little onboarding for people interested in going to the meetup, what they can expect, etc. [21:49]
Valerie shares her favorite taco spots, Mariscos Jalisco and El Gordo [24:01]

Follow Valerie

San Diego NFT Friends

Website | LinkedIn

Check out our Tacos and Tech Tacos Database to learn where our local SD entrepreneurs and leaders satisfy their taco crave!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/subscribe

San Diego Tech News Weekly – April 28, 2023 May 08, 2023

Show notes

I’m Neal Bloom, entrepreneur, investor, and community builder.

4/28/23:

Interlock Summit debrief, Fred’s article on it
SD Angel Conference Winner - Limber
Naturally San Diego Pitch Slam Winner - Root and Splendor
The first Techstars San Diego accelerator class applications are open. Apply now!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/subscribe

John Fountain of Cox Communications: Providing Quality Commercial and Hotel Services Apr 27, 2023

Show notes

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.

John shares his focus within the Hospitality Network and Blueprint RF at Cox [02:29]
How did John get into the tech industry? [03:38]
John talks about converting buildings to ethernet in terms of age and why they differ [07:12]
John shares how much more load there is on both the consumer and backend side of the systems and how it affects the infrastructures [09:13]
How do new customer demands today affect the load on the system? [10:59]
John shares what he thinks will be the next function of need going is going to be, including two-way services [12:55]
What does success mean for Cox’s clients in terms of implementation? [14:10]
Where do Cox and Hospitality Network play a role in the managed service on the video side? [16:20]
John talks more about Hospitality Network and how and why it’s more casino and hotel oriented [21:41]
How does the hospitality aspect fit into Cox’s investment strategy? [23:21]
John shares other areas of technology he’s excited about [25:10]
John shares his favorite taco spot, Del Taco [27:47]
John talks about Cox’s mobile services and how customers can now get a mobile phone from Cox [27:56]

Follow John

Cox Communications

LinkedIn | Website

Check out our Tacos and Tech Tacos Database to learn where our local SD entrepreneurs and leaders satisfy their taco crave!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/subscribe

Eric Basu of Haiku: A Fun Way of Cybersecurity Learning Apr 21, 2023

Show notes

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.

Eric gives an overview of what Haiku is [02:29]
How did Eric end up in the cybersecurity and tech industry? [04:26]
Eric talks about his working experience in Sentek [08:13]
Eric shares how he got started with Haiku, including building his team [10:24]
What were some of the things Eric learned from building a past company to know the right customers for Haiku? [14:45]
Eric talks about the accessibility of getting a job and alternative career paths in cybersecurity through their program [21:26]
Who is playing Haiku and who is it designed for? [24:14]
On why Haiku is on desktop only and why mobile is not a great fit [26:08]
Does Eric consider himself a gamer even before Haiku? [30:06]
Eric shares his favorite taco spot, Me Gusta Tacos [31:59]

Follow Eric

Haiku

Website | LinkedIn | Instagram

Check out our Tacos and Tech Tacos Database to learn where our local SD entrepreneurs and leaders satisfy their taco crave!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/subscribe

Nelli Garton and Kelly Abbott of Tablecloth: An Impact Analytics Platform You Can Trust Apr 12, 2023

Show notes

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.

Nelli gives an overview of what Tablecloth is [02:34]
How did Nelli get started in the industry? [03:27]
Kelly shares his background and how he got started in the industry [05:02]
Nelli talks about the history of tech for capital markets and what’s changed [07:14]
Nelli explains what impact investing and ESG means and how they differ [09:38]
Kelly talks about the use of BI tools and how they integrate them with their business [11:27]
Nelli shares how Tablecloth is being used by investors [13:06]
Nelli talks about how Tablecloth started, what’s changed in the industry over the last few years and how it helped in updating their product [14:16]
Nelli talks about the politicization of ESG [17:13]
What are the next steps for Tablecloth in terms of impact investing [18:49]
Nelli shares what Tablecloth does to get solid data from their employees, including triangulating data from numerous sources [20:25]
Nelli talks about the state of the impact community in San Diego [23:33]
Kelly shares his thoughts on the impact community in San Diego and where it is now from his perspective [25:39]
Kelly and Nelli share their favorite taco spots, Salud Tacos and La Posta [29:14]

Follow Nelli

Follow Kelly

Tablecloth

LinkedIn | Website

Check out our Tacos and Tech Tacos Database to learn where our local SD entrepreneurs and leaders satisfy their taco crave!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/subscribe

Dan Engel and Dan Hedden of Santa Barbara Venture Partners: Making Genuine Investment Partnerships Mar 29, 2023

Show notes

Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, and other platforms.

Dan Engel gives an overview of what Santa Barbara Venture Partners is [02:50]
Dan Engel talks about his background and what the tech community was like in Santa Barbara [05:19]
What’s the tech and investment education like in Santa Barbara? [07:46]
When did the tech community come up on Dan Hedden’s radar? What made him want to become part of it? [08:33]
What made Dan Engel decide to become a full-time investor? [10:17]
What attracted Dan Hedden to switch to the investor side after working at a startup? [13:17]
Dan Engel shares where they prefer to make investments, and where they usually get and look for deals [15:40]
Dan Engel talks about some of the successes they’ve achieved in terms of acquisitions etc. [20:35]
Hedden and Engel share the right time to meet companies, what they look for, and the importance of building rapport with founders [22:17]
Dan Hedden talks about deep-level data tracking of companies and trends [24:34]
Dan Engel shares what it’s like in their workplace, why admin work is essential, and why don’t rely on their service providers entirely [25:35]
How did Engel and Hedden know it was the right time to look at another fund? [26:53]
Dan Hedden and Dan Engel share their favorite taco spot, Mony's Tacos [28:01]

Follow Dan Engel

Follow Dan Hedden

Santa Barbara Venture Partners

LinkedIn | Website

Check out our Tacos and Tech Tacos Database to learn where our local SD entrepreneurs and leaders satisfy their taco crave!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/subscribe

San Diego Tech News Weekly – March 21, 2023 Mar 22, 2023

Show notes

3/21/23:

SD Companies Making Acquisitions

Future stories

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/subscribe

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Tacos and Tech Podcast

Related Podcasts

1

2

3

4

5

6