Tacos and Tech Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

This week on the Tacos & Tech Podcast, Neal sits down with Mike Sims, Marine Raider turned venture builder, to talk about how his experience across the military, VC, and global battlefields shaped his mission with Imperium, a trusted marketplace for critical goods and the industrial base.

They explore how modern warfare is redefining innovation cycles, why our national supply chain needs a rethink, and how San Diego is quietly becoming the epicenter of U.S. defense tech.

Key Topics Covered:

* Mike’s journey from blue-collar trade school to Marine Corps Special Operations

* What most people misunderstand about military tech adoption and procurement

* How frontline innovation - like in Ukraine - reveals deeper supply chain insights

* Why the defense supply base is aging, fragmented, and missing credit infrastructure

* The role of marketplaces and automation in rebuilding America’s industrial edge

* How Imperium is working to reduce friction and increase trust between buyers and suppliers

* Why we need more engineers at the front lines, not just HQ

* San Diego’s unique strengths: hard tech talent, military end-users, and lifestyle advantage

* The difference between building tech for persistent problems vs. fleeting missions

* Thoughts on labor, robots, AI, and the human cost of “re-industrialization”

* What’s next for the defense tech ecosystem and how founders, veterans, and investors can plug in

Links & Resources:

* Learn more about Imperium

* Read more about Lux Capital

Connect with the Guest:

* Mike Sims: LinkedIn

Listen & subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and other platforms.

Welcome everyone to the weekly San Diego Tech News!

I’m Neal Bloom from Rising Tide Partners and the Tacos and Tech Podcast.

My co-host in this episode is Fred Grier, journalist and author of The Business of San Diego substack. He covers the ins-and-outs of the startup world including breaking news, IPOs, fundraising rounds, and M&A through his newsletter.

Before we dive in, we wanted to thank and ask our listeners to help us grow the show, leave a review and share with one other person who should be more plugged in with the SD Tech Scene. Thank you for the support and for helping us build the San Diego Startup Community!

11/8

Eric Topol AI x Healthcare talk debrief

GA launches new drone

Scripps and UCSD win $4M grant for stem cell research

GSK pens a $750M deal with SD-based Empirico

Qualcomm Ventures Celebrates 25th Anniversary

Tide Rock Reaches $1B in Acquisition Capital

Curated Events List – For full list – check The Social Coyote

This week on Tacos & Tech, Neal sits down with Rose Bowlus - lawyer, founder, and angel investor - whose journey from trading floors to startup boardrooms brings a rare blend of Wall Street experience and founder empathy.

Rose shares how her legal career evolved from the capital markets and energy sectors to launching her own firm, Rose Bowlus Law, where she now advises early-stage startups and funds. They talk legal tech, Web3, fintech moats, and what founders often overlook when raising capital. Plus, Rose unpacks her growing role as an investor, how she’s empowering other lawyers through her Angels in the Law network, and what she looks for in the next generation of legal innovation.

Key Topics

* Rose’s career path from Berkeley to in-house counsel to founding her own law firm

* Legal insights for fintech, Web3, and capital markets

* How regulation shapes - and lags - innovation in financial services

* Trends in legal tech adoption and where traditional firms are falling behind

* Her philosophy of “give first” investing and building a founder-friendly syndicate

* The origin story of Angels in the Law and the rise of lawyer-investors

* Why clarity is everything when supporting (or funding) founders

* Rose’s controversial taco take: Islands, North County edition

Links & resources

* Rose Bowlus Law

* Rising Tide Partners

* Women’s Venture Summit

Connect on LinkedIn

* Connect with Rose on LinkedIn

* Connect with Neal on LinkedIn

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

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

LinkedIn

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! 

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

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

LinkedIn

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! 

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.

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!

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

LinkedIn

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! 

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

LinkedIn

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!