Tacos and Tech Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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

Welcome everyone to the weekly San Diego Tech News by Neal Bloom and Fred Grier from Fresh Brewed Tech.

I’m Neal Bloom from Fresh Brewed Tech, the Tacos and Tech Podcast, and Interlock Capital.

My co-host of this episode is Fred Grier, journalist and author of The Business of San Diego substack. He wrote about the tech industry for the San Diego Business Journal for two years and now he covers the ins-and-outs of the startup world for much of that time, breaking news on IPOs, fundraising rounds, and M&A through his newsletter.

Promote the show: 

Before we dive in, we wanted to ask our listeners and SD Tech fans 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.

10/6 News

Plug and Play debrief

Fred’s Q3 report

SDSU is building out a battery tech campus in Brawley/ ‘Lithium Valley’

Gretal AI and Equip Health make LinkedIn’s Top Startups List

Defense tech news:

Kratos growing

Three startups land funding from Defense Industry: Onego, Cellibre, Algenesis Corporation

Scripps Oceanography wins $10m grant

Events – For full list – check The Social Coyote

Oct 10 Bits and Bio Biotech Mixer

Oct 10  Naturally San Diego Fall Fling

Oct 20-22 Stocktoberfest

Interview with Howard Lindzon incl discount code

Oct 21-25 San Diego Startup Week

Stocktoberfest Comes Back To Coronado October 20-22, 2024

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

Howard Lindzon, General Partner of Social Leverage and Founder & CEO of Stocktwits, joins us to discuss the upcoming Stocktoberfest October 20-22 in Coronado, CA - a premier gathering of minds in money, investing, and technology.

In this episode, Howard shares his journey in investing, entrepreneurship, media, and the many funny lessons he’s learned along the way. He also provides a sneak peek into what attendees can expect at this year’s Stocktoberfest.

Join us in October and use the code “Howard30” for a special discount exclusive to local San Diegans.

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

Welcome everyone to the weekly San Diego Tech News by Neal Bloom and Fred Grier from Fresh Brewed Tech.

I’m Neal Bloom from Fresh Brewed Tech, the Tacos and Tech Podcast, and Interlock Capital.

I’m Fred Grier, journalist and author of The Business of San Diego 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.

Promote the show: 

Before we dive in, we wanted to ask our listeners and SD Tech fans 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.

7/24

Fundings

$1B in VC funding for Q2

Athletic Brewing raises $50 at a $800m valuation

Term Labs raises $5.5m Seed

Kandji raises another $100M

Element Biosciences raises a $277m Series D

Kratos new hypersonic vehicle takes flight

Fashionphile is launching a Coronado pop-up this summer in Coronado

Eli Lily inks a deal with Radionics that could be worth $1B

Novartis is shutting down their SD office and cutting 100 jobs

An’s Gelato is #1 Gelato in the U.S.

Events – For full list – check The Social Coyote

Event debrief - Carlsbad Life In Action Tech Gathering - July 16, next one Sept 23

Cheryl Goodman’s new book launch - July 26

Listen in to our interview with Cheryl here

Carlsbad Life in Action Cleantech Gathering - Aug 5

SD EDC Summer Bash - Aug 22

TEDxSanDiegoWomen - Aug 28

Interlock’s event calendar - look for what’s public and what’s private that we’re involved in

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

• Elizabeth gives an overview of what Black Tech Link is [02:25]
• How did Elizabeth get into the tech industry? [04:38]
• Elizabeth shares what it was like working at the California Science Center [08:43]
• How did Elizabeth start her own organization? [11:57]
• Elizabeth shares what she learned from joining blacks in techs and working with other people [15:30]
• Elizabeth talks about what she's been doing during the pandemic, including hosting events [18:30]
• How can people support Black Tech Link? [24:38]
• Elizabeth shares why she thinks there needs to be more support in building more programs [26:17]
• Elizabeth shares her favorite taco spot, El Serrano’s [31:27]

Follow Elizabeth online

LinkedIn

Black Tech Link

Website | LinkedIn

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

• Marcos gives an overview of what Pricing I/O is [02:41]
• When did Marcos move to San Diego? [03:33]
• How did Marcos end up in the tech and pricing industry? [05:16]
• Marcos talks about a campaign they did to collect data from companies Marcos shares the observation and trends he noticed from companies [06:36]
• [07:49]
• When did Marcos know he wanted to start a consultancy? [09:52]
• What was Marcos' entrepreneurial first step? [11:23]
• Marcos shares why he decided to write a book and how long it took him to finish it [12:53]
• Marcos shares what his book is all about and some key points from it [13:54]
• How does Marcos look at stages regarding companies from a trajectory standpoint? [15:51]
• Marcos shares what he tells people to do to their companies today pricing-wise based on the current trends and patterns he's seeing [17:56]
• Marcos talks about the importance of communication and transparency around pricing [21:20]
• Marcos shares his favorite taco spot, Puesto [24:09]

Resources:

• Book -  Street Pricing by Marcos Rivera

Follow Marcos online

LinkedIn

Pricing I/O

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook

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

• Maritza gives an overview of what ITJuana is [03:02]
• Maritza talks about the earlier perception of Tijuana, and the successful experiment they did of hiring engineers in Tijuana. [04:31]
• Maritza shares her objective in life and why ITJuana veer from traditional outsourcing [07:05]
• Maritza talks about the transformation that happened to their company when the pandemic happened, and the tech talents from Latin America [09:57]
• Maritza shares how ITJuana has been focusing and investing time and effort in talent development [11:52]
• What does Maritza perceive as the local tech community now? [14:46]
• Maritza shares the opportunities that have opened for talents in Tijuana and her goal of Tijuana becoming the "BioMed tech valley" of the world[16:31]
• Maritza gives advice to people who are thinking about building a startup or investing in a company like ITJuana [18:00]
• Maritza shares some tips and tricks she learned to grow her business [19:01]
• Maritza talks about the manufacturing in Tijuana [21:43]
• Maritza shares her favorite taco spots, Taco Nazo, Telefonica, and Valle de Guadalupe [24:18] 

Follow Maritza online

LinkedIn

ITJuana

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

For August 19, 2022:

1. FBI Issues warning over cyber threats

2. Veriteque awarded Walmart open call deal

3. PSYONIC brings advanced bionics to SD

Check out our recent newsletter to be updated about upcoming events: Latest events calendar

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

• Marty gives an overview of Always AI [02:18]
• How did Marty end up in the tech industry? [03:53]
• Marty talks about what it was like working for Blackberry and being in the telecom space [05:38]
• Marty shares how he turned his idea for alwaysAI into reality[06:43]
• When did Steven and Marty meet? [07:39]
• Steven talks about what Longley Capital does and what drew them to alwaysAI [09:52]
• Marty shares the trends he's been observing and why San Diego is a great location for alwaysAI [12:12]
• What are the feedbacks they have gotten from their users and community? [14:39]
• Marty explains the earliest stage of a startup that comes into the free model and how they grow alongside [15:50]
• Steven and Marty share some actual use cases they were surprised to see [16:52]
• Marty and Steven share their favorite tacos spots, Las Olas and El Pescador [19:15]

Follow Marty online

LinkedIn

Always AI

Website | LinkedIn

Follow Steven online

LinkedIn

Longley Capital

Website | LinkedIn

1. Apple expands SD footprint with new 67-acre campus in Rancho Bernardo

2. Brius Technologies wants to give you the perfect smile

3. Persephone Biosciences, startup focused on microbiome-based therapeutics lands $15M in seed funding

4. Nuvee and SDGE power Cajon Valley Schools buses and they power back at night

5. Cari Health is battling the opioid crisis through its wearable device

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

• Grant gives an overview of what SkySafe is [02:24]
• How did Grant end up in the tech world and the defense route? [03:24]
• Grant shares how he got into the drone space—from being in the military to building a company [05:30]
• Grant talks about drones and how their use has evolved over the years [07:08]
• Grant shares how large autonomous flying planes and UAVs or UAS fit into aviation and mobility in the long term [09:47]
• How did Grant turn his business idea for SkySafe into reality? [13:04]
• Grant shares how SkySafe is doing and where it’s going [16:10]
• Grant talks about how they integrate their platform into their clients’ structure and security operations [21:18]
• Can SkySafe track drones in places they shouldn't be worldwide? [22:44]
• Grant talks about the future of drones and SkySafe’s long-term goals [25:06]
• Grant shares what he thinks the ecosystem is like in terms of building tech in San Diego [26:39]
• Grant shares his favorite taco spots, El Cuervo and Vallarta [27:29]

Follow Grant online

LinkedIn

SkySafe

Website | LinkedIn