Podcasts about evonexus

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. Today, we also have special guest Mike Freeman of The San Diego Union-Tribune joining us!  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.   6/23/23: CEO change at Illumina Ex-Qualcomm leaders pick their SPAC candidate Stadium in Midway - Billionaire Stan Kroenke joins development effort Events: Connect Summer Social Debrief Evonexus Demo Day - June 26 SDxAI Hackathon - July 15-16

This episode features a roundtable conversation with Richard Baldridge, President and Chief Operating Officer at Viasat, Dr. Norman Jacknis, Senior Fellow at the Intelligent Community Forum and Professor Roberto Gallardo, Assistant Director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development and a Purdue Extension Community & Regional Economics Specialist. Richard Baldridge joined Viasat in April 1999, serving as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer from 2000 and as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from 2002. Mr. Baldridge assumed his current role as President and Chief Operating Officer in 2003. Mr. Baldridge was elected to the Board of Directors of Viasat in 2016. In addition, Mr. Baldridge serves as a director of Ducommun Incorporated, a provider of engineering and manufacturing services to the aerospace and defense industries, and EvoNexus, a San Diego based non-profit technology incubator. Learn more. Dr. Norman Jacknis is currently Senior Fellow at the Intelligent Community Forum. His responsibilities include leading ICF's Rural Imperative, building on the ideas he developed for the US Conference of Mayors on a future-oriented economic growth strategy for cities. Before joining ICF, he was Director, Cisco's IBSG Public Sector Group (the company's open innovation and pro-bono strategic advisory group), where he worked extensively with states and local government, the National Association of Counties, the US Conference of Mayors and the staff responsible for the Federal government's website and citizen engagement. In addition to citizen engagement, his focus was on economic growth, innovation, and the future of technology. Before Cisco, he was technology commissioner for Westchester County, New York, when it was one of ICF's Top 7. Learn more. Roberto Gallardo is Assistant Director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development and a Purdue Extension Community & Regional Economics Specialist. He holds an electronics engineering undergraduate degree, a master's in economic development, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration. Gallardo has worked with rural communities over the past decade conducting local & regional community economic development, including use of technology for development. He has authored more than 70 articles including peer-reviewed and news-related regarding rural trends, socioeconomic analysis, industrial clusters, the digital divide, and leveraging broadband applications for community economic development.

Meet Gene Dantsker:Dr. Gene Dantsker is President and Chief Operating Officer of EvoNexus. He has been involved with EvoNexus since its founding as selection committee member, mentor to numerous portfolio companies, Executive-in-Residence and most recently Chief MedTech Officer. Gene is a seasoned entrepreneur, board member, advisor, operational executive and angel investor. He holds B.S. degrees in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Maryland, M.A. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley, and an MBA from San Diego State University, where he was class valedictorian. He is an inventor on over 60 issued patents. Key Insights:Gene Dantsker works at EvoNexus helping entrepreneurs turn good ideas into commercially-viable companies. ● Picking Winners. Because they are selective in their application process, EvoNexus has produced very positive results, with total capital raised approaching $1.7 billion for the 260 companies they've incubated.● Market Timing. Gene suggests that it is actually a good time for startups in general right now, as opposed to even six months ago. ● Diversity is Profitable. Offering examples like pre-diabetes, hypertension, or particular forms of therapeutics or diagnostics, Gene suggests that different strategic plans can be used to find and deliver healthcare to diverse markets. This episode is hosted by Rick Lemoine. He is the Chief Medical Information Officer for Sharp HealthCare. Relevant Links:o Learn More about EvoNexuso Read more about Gene Dantsker

Do dogs have abstract thoughts? What do they dream about? Do they understand us? Do they know each other's names? We have so many questions! And lately, it seems, we may be getting answers … from dogs themselves. Cognitive scientist Leo Trottier is confirming what dog lovers already suspect: our pets have complex inner lives and can directly communicate with humans. He is gathering evidence for his hypothesis using recordable communication buttons. Leo is the CEO of Clever Path. His company has developed a tool dog parents use to record commands like “outside” or “playtime” into an easy-to-press button. There is no limit to the number of buttons that can be added, nor the “conversations” you can have with your dog. In this interview, Leo shares the science behind these talking buttons and the psychology of communication. He also shares what he hopes will come next in his research.  With new technology on the horizon, getting a text message from your dog while at work isn't so far-fetched. About Leo Trottier Leo Trottier is a unique blend of cognitive scientist, software engineer, product designer, and entrepreneur. He is founder and CEO of CleverPet, a startup that uses smart hardware to teach pets automatically through advanced cognitive and behavioral science techniques. Leo is an alumnus of San Diego's EvoNexus and the Qualcomm Robotics Accelerator (powered by Techstars). He has a degree from the cognitive science and A.I. program at the University of Toronto, and started CleverPet while a PhD candidate at UC San Diego. Before CleverPet, Leo ran Scholarpedia, Wikipedia's academic equivalent, where he worked with Nobel Laureates to “wikify scholarly canons.” FluentPet's website: https://fluent.pet/ The original talking buttons on CleverPet: https://clever.pet/ Question forum for CleverPet buttons: https://how.theycantalk.org/c/home Episode Links See the video of the grieving cat here. FluentPet on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fluentpet/ FluentPet on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FluentPet FluentPet on Twitter: https://twitter.com/fluentpet About Dog Podcast Network (DPN) DPN is the first of its kind. A podcasting network as devoted to dogs, as they are to us. Our mission is simple: entertain, inspire and inform. We will improve the quality of life for dogs and the people who love them. Check out Dog Podcast Network for other dog-adjacent shows: Dog Edition: our flagship show where a global team of dog-obsessed journalists and storytellers feature news, in-depth reporting, analysis, features, and interview segments Dog Cancer Answers which offers vetted advice from real veterinarians who answer your questions about dog cancer Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know your dog understands A LOT of what you're saying. But what if they had a way to respond to you using words? On this episode of Dog Edition, we are taking a look at the “talking” buttons that are being used to assist and enhance peoples' communication with their dogs! This trend took the internet by storm in 2019, and has made many of us rethink our preconceived notions about the limitations on our ability to understand our dogs' internal worlds. We will be hearing some amazing stories of people whose relationships with their dogs have been transformed by using these buttons, we will take a look at this trend through a scientific lens, and we will hear from the entrepreneur who has pioneered this new frontier with cutting-edge technology and a passion bringing enrichment to the lives of our animal friends. About Leo Trottier: Leo Trottier is a unique blend of cognitive scientist, software engineer, product designer and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of CleverPet, a startup that uses smart hardware to teach pets automatically through advanced cognitive and behavioral science techniques. Leo is an alumnus of San Diego's EvoNexus and the Qualcomm Robotics Accelerator (powered by Techstars). He has a degree in cognitive science and A.I. program at the University of Toronto and started CleverPet while a Ph.D. candidate at UC San Diego. Before CleverPet, Leo ran Scholarpedia, Wikipedia's academic equivalent, where he worked with Nobel Laureates to "wikify scholarly canons. Website: https://fluent.pet/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fluentpet/ https://www.instagram.com/trottier/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/trottiest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leo.trottier, https://www.facebook.com/FluentPet LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leotrottier/ About Michelle Pierce: My name is Michelle and I have been teaching my learner, Lexi since February 2021. A little about me and how we got started, I struggle with chronic illness, and I was looking for an outlet to pour my energy into as a distraction from pain. I watched @Whataboutbunny on TikTok and decided to try it for myself. I went in with zero expectations. Now, about a year later, I have a new and closer bond with Lexi and a whole community of fellow animal lover who are following our journey! Thanks for following along. Website: https://chelleandlexihusky.wordpress.com/ Intagram: https://www.instagram.com/chellelexihusky/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCawaCxu7jXJINcSPkx1PnFg TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chelleandlexihusky?lang=en About Zachary Silver: Zachary Silver's research explores how dogs and other canid species use observed behavior to socially evaluate humans along several dimensions invluding morality, competence, and social rank. Zachary is also interested in the effects of formal training on sociocognitive development Website: https://doglab.yale.edu/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/zachary_silver Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leo Trottier isn't the first scientist to get interested in inter-species communication – he credits Charles Darwin as the first modern mind to recognize that animals are not “dumb beasts” but our intellectual cousins. But this life-long animal lover has done more than most cognitive scientists and learning experts to confirm it, with his “talking buttons” that help pets communicate directly with their human partners. It turns out that you're not crazy to think that you and your dog are communicating nonverbally. It's possible, in fact, for dogs to ask for their preferred treats (even when there is no button for it), make a plan for the future, talk about their dreams, and even express grief. Today's conversation is rich in fact and meaning and emotion, just like a dog's mind is. In this fascinating discussion, an excellent science communicator explains how and why better inter-species conversations are important … not just for the personal lives of the animals involved, but for the broader collective good. Our companion animals may lead lives of quiet frustration. By speaking with each other, could we alleviate the epidemic of human loneliness that medical professionals consider a huge risk factor? Reduce behavioural problems that result in huge levels of euthanasia for companion animals? Increase the empathy levels in humans for our own and other species? Dog brains are not dramatically different than human brains … and yet, we feel surprise and delight when our dogs do something unexpected. Welcome to Leo Trottier's world, where he and his teams give dogs (and other animals) the tools they need to connect with us. Don't be surprised if, in a year or two, you're getting a text message from your dog. See the video of the cat grieving their friend here: https://www.reddit.com/r/PetsWithButtons/comments/rr0fwq/pets_grieve_too_i_had_to_put_down_two_of_my_15/ FluentPet website: https://fluent.pet/ Tips, Tricks, Do's and Don'ts from the community: https://www.theycantalk.org/ Forum where you can ask questions: https://how.theycantalk.org/c/home The original talking buttons on CleverPet: https://clever.pet/ FluentPet on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fluentpet/ FluentPet on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FluentPet FluentPet on Twitter: https://twitter.com/fluentpet About Leo Trottier Leo Trottier is a unique blend of cognitive scientist, software engineer, product designer, and entrepreneur. He is founder and CEO of CleverPet, a startup that uses smart hardware to teach pets automatically through advanced cognitive and behavioral science techniques. Leo is an alumnus of San Diego's EvoNexus and the Qualcomm Robotics Accelerator (powered by Techstars). He has a degree from the cognitive science and A.I. program at the University of Toronto, and started CleverPet while a PhD candidate at UC San Diego. Before CleverPet, Leo ran Scholarpedia, Wikipedia's academic equivalent, where he worked with Nobel Laureates to “wikify scholarly canons.” About The Long Leash  Thank you for joining us. If you have enjoyed listening, please SUBSCRIBE so you'll never miss out!   Check out Dog Podcast Network for other dog-adjacent shows.  Follow us in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. 

Neal: Welcome everyone to the weekly San Diego Tech News by Neal Bloom and Jonah Peake from Fresh Brewed Tech. Every Friday at 12:30pm Pacific on Clubhouse and now we record them for you to enjoy as well.  I'm Neal Bloom, entrepreneur, investor, and community builder    Jonah: And I'm Jonah Peake, serial tech operator and investor both, both of us big fans of growing the San Diego tech community. Let's dive into our five stories of the week For week of Aug 27, 2021 ​​Smartphones in the sky: Qualcomm launches first 5G and AI platform targeting commercial drones Qualcomm stated on mars Supplying chips to NASA for Ingenuity helicopter Because why not start with a challenge QQ unveiled tech to power beyond line of site flight on earth  What do you think of this name?  Operation Swarm or Digital Eagle or  Platform is called RB5 5G platform Crop inspection Wsin turbine monitoring Package delivery Mapping Many other application potential Enabling applications like: They are also launching a physical drone kit   ModalAI https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210817005256/en/ModalAI-Serves-as-Distributor-for-Qualcomm%E2%80%99s-World-First-5G-and-AI-Enabled-Drone-Platform-and-Reference-Design   Pretty clever strategy Speed up innovation for commercial applications Drone body, rotors, etc To date 12 flights 1 mile total flight Graduated from demonstration to aerial scout for Perseverance Rover A quick update on Ingenuity:    Rare defense unicorn: San Diego AI startup corrals $210M for drone technology used by military Shield AI is now worth over a billion After raising  Unicorn status completed An AI startup making military surveillance drones Used in combat zones over last 3 years US forces in the middle east Allows operations in low gps Degraded GPS environments They have a platform: Nova-class   Pretty cool origin story   Founded by Navy Seal Brandon Tseng Goal: Help US forces scout for threats  Enter buildings Send back surveillance (maps or photos) An MIT Grad Who sold company WiPower to Qualcomm Brandon teamed up with brother Ryan Who worked on Draper Labs Robotic guidance system Pairing with last founder, Andrew Reiter   Shield has been growing through acquisition   Heron Systems: which makes software designed to power autonomous jets Martin UAV: maker of 125 lb drones launched from vehicles From 200 to nearly 400 Both acquisitions doubled the head count over night Shield is based out of DT SD!    Incubator News - find deadlines and links Founders Institute   Final Admissions Deadline: Sep 19, 2021 San Diego Virtual 2021 Focus: pre-seed startup accelerator,   ConnectAll   Fall 2021 Cohort 5 applications are open! Apply by Aug. 30 Focus: low to moderate income and diverse founders from broad backgrounds   EvoNexus   Rolling Focus: DeepTech (MedTech, FinTech, AI/ML, IoT, Hardware)   Logicboost   Application deadline is September 30, 2021. Focus: SaaS   StartBlue - Looking for mentors https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe6Yb63O4zwaYHqAFDDEwKJTa0tTd5X0W0QfyWIgdqWrNfwNg/viewform Focus: StartBlue, the new accelerator from UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Rady School of Management Please complete this form by Friday, September 10, 2021 for consideration.   Techstars Anywhere   October 6, 2021 Program starts January Join the Techstars Anywhere three-month virtual accelerator to gain funding, mentorship, and access to the Techstars network for life. We Tha Plug - We Tha Incubator - https://www.wethaplug.com/new-page Application for Cohort 2 due September 24, 2021 Have applied to an accelerator or incubator, but have not been accepted. Have been working on an idea, but cant figure out steps next.   Launched and still not getting the traction you need to scale.  Focus:    Torrey Project - https://www.torreyproject.org/bootcamp We are offering a discounted early bird rate for our tuition until August 31st. Entrepreneurs who embrace stakeholder capitalism and use their business as a force for good.   PureWater SD project - San Diego launching Pure Water, largest infrastructure project in city's history It's formally been launched 3 years ago sewage recycling system that will boost local water independence Multi Billion Dollar Project named: Pure Water  Slowing it down Some Nimby Some Toilet to Tap That has navigated through a number of lawsuits   This story might be a little misleading   Broke ground 3 years ago Stalling at a construction of a few critical components   The 3 essential pieces:   Sewage purification plant in Miramar A pipeline through Clairemont supplying the plant Pump station in Morena   At completion of the first phase in 2025   34 million gallons of potable water / day Another 53 million gallons come online in 2035 This project will drop imported water from 85% to less than 50% Prior to this project, only 8% of sewage had been recycled into irrigation water What are the steps of the water purification? Ozonization:  Ozone gas destroys microorganisms,  then consumers and converted them into O2 helpful bacteria thrive in O2 environment Consuming 30-50% anything that was or is living Biological activated filters,  Steps:   Membrane filtration   Particles, viruses, bacteria  Only salt, water and other very small molecules can pass through 300 times narrower than a human hair pulling out additional materials 50k smaller than smallest bacteria Reverse osmosis,    Ultraviolet Disinfection   Light (similar to extremely concentrated sunlight) Destroys DNA of any microbes left Other contaminants This results in water that meets or exceeds standards  But we need to factor in a rise in price  This is slightly more expensive at current rates Orange County produces 70 million gallons of purified water per day and is in the process of expanding production to 100 million gallons per day.  Singapore, Australia, Virginia, Texas, and Colorado Growing need and others are looking at this system: IPOs - Carlsbad-based Tyra Bio files for IPO https://endpts.com/ra-capital-aims-to-take-preclinical-biotech-to-nasdaq-as-tyra-files-s-1-during-summer-lull/   Fundings - ShieldAI - $200M Series D AdarxPharm - $75M ContaktWorld - $1.35M Acq - SOCi acq Anaheim-based Brandify https://www.sdbj.com/news/2021/aug/15/soci-makes-first-acquisition/   Highmetric acquires NewRocket https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/highmetric-acquires-newrocket-301359129.html Ra Medical  acq by Strata Skincare https://www.marketwatch.com/story/strata-skin-sciences-acquires-u-s-dermatology-business-of-ra-medical-271629147631 Copia https://www.sdbj.com/news/2021/aug/19/san-diego-based-biosurplus-merges-form-copia-scien/   Carwave acq by Kar for $450M https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kar-to-accelerate-dealer-to-dealer-growth-profitability-through-acquisition-of-carwave-301360260.html   Find us on twitter / Linkedin: @NealBloom & JonahPeake And find this news and more at FreshBrewedTech.com

San Diego has fostered quite the startup scene, with bright new entrepreneurs cementing their path in today’s growing tech ecosystem. Every novel idea needs space to fully develop, and Rory Moore, co-founder and CEO of EvoNexus, was one of the leaders to make it happen, launching a non-profit incubator organized to re-energize San Diego’s early-stage startup ecosystem.  Listen in as Neal Bloom chats with Rory Moore about the evolution of EvoNexus as well as his personal growth in the San Diego tech industry.  4:00 Rory takes us through his early ventures. Growing up, he held a keen fascination with aerospace, so he started his first aerospace and aviation company in the mid-70s. He joined the airforce straight out of high school and subsequently studied at University of Michigan. After college, Rory started his first venture, a company in the aerospace and aviation industry. This was the first of many startups he built, during the first of many economic crises he’s faced as an entrepreneur.  8:05 Though San Diego is now commonly referred to as a tech hub, it was not always that way. Rory shares that, in the 90s, Qualcomm was not even a chip company, but rather focused its efforts towards improving digital communication and geolocation technology. Rory also sheds light on the state of several other 90s tech companies. 11:34 In Rory’s early days as a San Diego entrepreneur, there weren’t many resources available for entrepreneurs. With limited resources, it was not uncommon for entrepreneurs like Rory to refinance their homes, rent subpar office spaces, and do other scrappy things to make ends meet. And to keep one of his early businesses alive, Rory and his team were able to raise $18.5 million in angel money over the course of several years. 14:53 Amid the Great Recession, Rory felt that it was his personal responsibility to help local entrepreneurs. As a result, he and his business partner set out to find companies that would support the idea of a free incubator; Qualcomm and Viasat, among others, agreed to help set up this resource, and they got to work fashioning an incubator from the ground up. 17:55 Some may wonder why large companies would help kickstart a free resource for early-stage ventures. Rory explains that to these large companies, the early-stage ecosystem matters because it fosters a healthy economy, attracts venture capital to the region, and retains talent.  24:02 Expanding EvoNexus’s reach across multiple locations wasn't always the goal for Rory and the team; they were content with just focusing on the UTC/Golden Triangle area. However, they were approached by Irvine Company with an offer to expand into Downtown, and to focus on helping startups in the software space.  31:55 Long before COVID-19 struck, the EvoNexus decided to eliminate geographic boundaries and adopt a virtual incubator setting. This allowed companies from all around to work with remote access to venture capitalists, mentors, regimen, and programs. Though he is a proponent of the benefits of a digital work environment, Rory believes that in-person interaction is crucial to developing startups, and will eventually revert to being the norm. 40:00 Rory expresses his thoughts on the San Diego startup scene’s future, including the presence of prominent VCs. He believes that local universities need to stress the importance of entrepreneurship among their students more than they currently do in order to foster a stronger startup ecosystem in San Diego.    Rory’s favorite local tacos:  Taco Surf in Pacific Beach   Connect with Rory: LinkedIn   Keep up with EvoNexus: Website: https://evonexus.org/ LinkedIn Instagram: @EvoNexus_Incubator Facebook: @EvoNexus Twitter: @EvoNexus   Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem.

Melani Gordon is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor; she is currently the CEO of TapHunter, in the process of launching her third company, and working to open her own coaching business.  After graduating from San Diego State University, Melani got the entrepreneurship bug from one of her professors who let her work on his MBA internet marketing projects. During her time in college, she got a job at the startup Z57 where she met her husband Flash and learned the basics of startups and sales. They went on to start multiple businesses together. The first company Melani opened was gWave Consulting which specialized in marketing consultations for large corporations. The idea of subscription based models interested her, leading her to open TapHunter, a software startup in the beer industry in 2009. They were admitted to the EvoNexus startup incubator in 2012 where mentors and advisors convinced her to turn TapHunter into a B2B company.  While at EvoNexus, she began external mentoring and advising programs about entrepreneurship which ultimately transformed into the nonprofit known today as Startup San Diego.  Recognizing potential for burnout and experiencing a sudden death in her family, Melani realized she needed to change things up: she chose to use her life experience and skills to help other founders and provide support to the San Diego startup community. Check out her current blog and podcast! Tune in as Melani joins host Neal Bloom to discuss her journey as an entrepreneur in the San Diego tech scene. Thanks to our partners at Cox Business for their support in enabling us to grow the San Diego ecosystem. Melani’s favorite local tacos: La Fachada Tacos El Paisa Connect with Melani:  LinkedIn Keep up with TapHunter:  https://www.taphunter.com/ LinkedIn

In this Better Satellite World episode of the SSPI podcast, Director of Development and Innovation Lou Zacharilla interviews Richard Baldridge, Dr. Norman Jacknis and Professor Roberto Gallardo about satellites and how satellite and broadband connectivity provide rural citizens with opportunities to participate in the global economy without leaving the place they call home. Richard Baldridge joined Viasat in April 1999, serving as our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer from 2000 and as our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from 2002. Mr. Baldridge assumed his current role as President and Chief Operating Officer in 2003. Mr. Baldridge was elected to the Board of Directors of Viasat in 2016. In addition, Mr. Baldridge serves as a director of Ducommun Incorporated, a provider of engineering and manufacturing services to the aerospace and defense industries, and EvoNexus, a San Diego based non-profit technology incubator. Prior to joining Viasat, Mr. Baldridge served as Vice President and General Manager of Raytheon Corporation’s Training Systems Division from January 1998 to April 1999. From June 1994 to December 1997, Mr. Baldridge served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for Hughes Information Systems and Hughes Training Inc., prior to their acquisition by Raytheon in 1997. Mr. Baldridge’s other experience includes various senior financial and general management roles with General Dynamics Corporation. Mr. Baldridge holds a B.S.B.A. degree in Information Systems from New Mexico State University. Dr. Norman Jacknis is currently Senior Fellow at the Intelligent Community Forum. His responsibilities include leading ICF’s Rural Imperative, building on the ideas he developed for the US Conference of Mayors on a future-oriented economic growth strategy for cities. Before joining ICF, he was Director, Cisco’s IBSG Public Sector Group (the company’s open innovation and pro-bono strategic advisory group), where he worked extensively with states and local government, the National Association of Counties, the US Conference of Mayors and the staff responsible for the Federal government’s website and citizen engagement. In addition to citizen engagement, his focus was on economic growth, innovation, and the future of technology. Before Cisco, he was technology commissioner for Westchester County, New York, when it was one of ICF’s Top 7. In addition to his regular Looking Forward blog for elected government executives and earlier articles, Dr. Jacknis has recently written articles and book chapters on “Beyond Smarter City Infrastructure – The New Urban Experience”, “A New Kind Of Public Square For Urban America, “Government’s Role In Facilitating An Innovative Economy” and “Transformation of the Local Government CTO/CIO”. He has been a frequent speaker at state/local government and technology industry events, in North America, Latin America, Europe, China, Korea and Australia. He led frequent economic partnership missions to China starting in 1998. He received his Doctorate, Master's and Bachelor's degrees from Princeton University. Among several leadership positions in the technology, education and library communities, he is President of the New York Metropolitan Library Council. Roberto Gallardo is Assistant Director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development and a Purdue Extension Community & Regional Economics Specialist. He holds an electronics engineering undergraduate degree, a master's in economic development, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration. Gallardo has worked with rural communities over the past decade conducting local & regional community economic development, including use of technology for development. He has authored more than 70 articles including peer-reviewed and news-related regarding rural trends, socioeconomic analysis, industrial clusters, the digital divide, and leveraging broadband applications for community economic development. He is also the author of the book “Responsive Countryside: The Digital Age & Rural Communities”, which highlights a 21st century community development model that helps rural communities transition to, plan for, and prosper in the digital age. Dr. Gallardo is a TEDx speaker and his work has been featured in a WIRED magazine article, a MIC.com documentary, and a RFDTV documentary. He lives in West Lafayette with his wife and two daughters.

Meet Kristin Slink, co-founder & Chief Product Officer of LoanHero which was just acquired by LendingPoint. In this episode we get to go into the trenches with an operator on the consumer finance tech industry.   Kristin came to San Diego on accident. She thought she was visiting San Francisco and ended up touring San Diego and fell in love while going to school on the East Coast. Immediately after college she moved straight to San Diego with no job but landed one very quickly after. In San Diego, she met her future co-founder Derek Barclay when they tried working with a multilevel marketing company but immediately fell in love with the entrepreneurial path. Six years ago made the leap of starting her first company with Derek called FirstLookApproval. “Turning browsers into buyers!” Along the way of learning the fintech space, she and Derek created LoanHero to empower merchants to bring personal financing to the point of sale. While this was Kristin’s first software business, she quickly became the product and operations owner and at one point LoanHero was doing $8M/mo in loans. LoanHero made the strategic decision to grow their product quickly by partnering with Tijuana-based Sonata Services to help beef up the software development team. They also were luckily enough to get into EvoNexus to give them a foundation while growing their first software company and meet other founders simultaneously. After a few years, the company got to the size where it was time to either raise a new round of funding or join forces to grow even faster and in early 2018, LoanHero was acquired by LendingPoint. While sadly this means Kristin is moving to Atlanta to help with the transition, we know she will be back, because San Diego.   Kristin’s favorites in San Diego: Tacos: The Taco Stand Beer: Love sours including Fall Brewing Jazz Hands (walking distance from her home in North Park) Coffee: BetterBuzz   Follow her on Instagram @KristinSlink Thanks for joining us Kristin and wishing you all the best in Atlanta! Come back soon! Thanks also to our sponsor Cox Business for their support of the San Diego tech community. Come join them on May 30th at the TechArt Night of Applied Blockchain for technical enthusiasts and leaders.

Who is Amanda Lettmann? Amanda Lettmann, a US Air Force Veteran, is an executive and serial entrepreneur with 20 years of global Business Operations and Transformation expertise for startups and Fortune 500 companies in the HiTech, InsurTech and FinTech industries.  She has an extensive M&A background with $4B in acquisition execution in the past 10 years.  As the Founder and CEO of Kardia Ventures, Amanda is an advisor, consultant and Angel Investor for tech startups.  She is also the Co-Founder and COO of SimpleDisability Inc, a data analytics InsurTech startup in Silicon Valley. Amanda holds an MBA in Technology Management, she is a Business Advisor at The Founder Institute and EvoNexus, and Board Advisor at Girls in Tech San Diego and SmartMoney Veterans.    Show Highlights Amanda was active duty Air Force and separated in 2000.  She realized she didn’t want to be a flight nurse for the rest of her career Amanda was recruited by someone in semi-conductor in 1999 by an esteemed colleague and was a business operations manager and then pursued her master’s degree in technology in 2000 She consulted at the Pentagon which led to consulting with other parts of the government.  Her company was acquired by EMC so she went from a small firm to a massive firm.  At EMC, she proposed a new business plan that was ultimately accepted and moved her to Orange County to lead the West Coast consulting practice.  She then got recruited by Adobe and moved up to San Jose. Terri comments on how Amanda takes advantage of and creates opportunities for herself. 11 years ago, Amanda was an athlete in good health and started getting ill.  After collapsing she found out that a virus had attacked her blood and ultimately led to her organs shutting down.  She was in the hospital for 6-9 months.    She later learned that her heart valves were damaged by the virus and that they were failing which lead to open heart surgery Amanda was a medical anomaly because of the virus and the treatment, and she had many people studying and following her. Amanda shares who was there to support her during her illness and recovery.  She had to embrace vulnerability.  Amanda remembers her life before the illness.  Her essence didn’t change but she found herself seeking high quality, deep substance people with heart.  Her life before was all about competency.  Her life after became more about heart and not just skill, which ended up changing her life.  She became more recognized because of her personal story which she uses to inspire others.  People now get to know her for more than her skills.  Amanda is working with ESPN BisTalk Radio. She wants to do an inspirational series for women to share their stories.  She is creating a speaker series on ‘Women of Impact’. She finds that women talk about taking action to inspire others, to be proactive, to turn their potential into action. She thinks others are looking for this deep, inspiration.  Terri talks about why she started her podcast, Piloting Your Life, to give a platform for these voices and stories and inspire these same people. Amanda has a consulting company called Kardia which means heart in Greek. She advises and consults enterprises, entrepreneurs, and does angel investing.  Amanda invests in seed stage, technology startups and looks to co-invest in SaaS companies looking to disrupt the market using artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), ALP, big data, and predictive analytics.  She looks for female founders and veteran founders.  She is now a mentor with a new program called SmartMoney Veterans sponsored by UCSD and SmartMoney Startups. The experience for veterans is different as they need to relearn skills after getting out of the military.  Terri has seen a few startups that are helping veterans bridge the gap between military and civilian work. Companies like Skillmil and Shift are helping with this.  Terri comments on how impressed she is with UCSD and its support of the startup ecosystem.  Amanda said that UCSD also supports veterans.  There is a significant number of veterans in the San Diego area. Amanda is an advisor for EvoNexus (an incubator/accelerator) and the Founder Institute in San Diego.  Transformation is an important concept for Amanda.  She has been through several transformations and which led to coaching others on transforming.  She loves seeing both enterprise transformation (through M&A) and individuals transform.  If Amanda could wave a magic wand, she would create a future where entrepreneurs and businesses come in all varieties and embrace their responsibility to co-create for equality and social good.  Terri asks how we can help with this wish.  Amanda said that companies should be filling out the diversity of their teams.  As investors, we should invest in companies who are working towards more diverse teams and products.    Terri’s Key Takeaway If the opportunities aren’t there, create them.  If the opportunities present themselves, take them.    References in the Podcast Kardia Ventures: http://kardiaventures.com/ Skillmil: https://www.skillmil.com/ Shift: https://www.shift.org/ SmartMoney Startups: https://www.smartmoneystartups.com/ SmartMoney Veterans:  https://www.smartmoneyveterans.com/ EvoNexus: https://evonexus.org/ Founder Institute:  https://fi.co/     Contact Amanda can be reached via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandalettmann/ or through her website http://kardiaventures.com/ You can follow Terri on Twitter at @terrihansonmead or go to her website at www.terrihansonmead.com or on Medium:  https://medium.com/@terrihansonmead.  Feel free to email Terri at PilotingYourLife@gmail.com. To continue the conversation, go to Twitter at @PilotingLife and use hashtag #PilotingYourLife.

The Tacos and Tech Podcast highlights the builders of companies, technologies, and the ecosystem of San Diego with a local flair for our lifestyle as well.   Meet Ashley Van Zeeland, who came to San Diego in 2008 as a postdoc scientist at Scripps Translational Science Institute and within 10 years never left a 2.5 radius mile of La Jolla/Torrey Pines. From finishing her postdoc, getting her MBA at UCSD Rady School, being the first female-led and genomics company in startup incubator EvoNexus, and acquired by cloud-first genomics unicorn Human Longevity, she has had quite the San Diego journey. She’s now advising multiple startups as she works on her next endeavor. Ashley co-founded Cypher Genomics in 2010 with Eric Topol, Ali Torkamani, and Nik Schork while in the lab at Scripps which developed software to dramatically reduce the time required to interpret raw data produced by genome sequencing. Cypher Genomics was acquired by Human Longevity in 2015 and she became the CTO of the company in 2016. Ashley speaks to the strong need for technical talent in genomics: “We have four chambers of a beating heart in genomics. We need Bioinformaticians, Software Engineers, User Experience (UX), Dev Ops skill sets.”   Favorite taco spot: Oscar’s & Galaxy Taco in Pacific Beach Favorite beer: Modern Times Fortunate Islands Favorite coffee spot: Brick & Bell or Birdrock Coffee   Follow @Ashley_VanZ on Twitter to see what she’s working on next!   Thanks to our sponsor Cox Business for their support of the San Diego tech community. Come out to their May 10th celebration of our tech leaders by visiting http://www.toptechexecs.com/

Kim Walpole, co-founder and CEO, Trials.ai an EvoNexus portfolio company that is replacing paper based clinical trial systems with digital access to the hundreds of data points from participants, leveraging artificial intelligence to allow for more efficient trials, and providing transparency for patients and researchers. @evonexus Trials.ai

Thursday, October 27th, 2016 at 12 Noon PT/3PM ET our special guest is Clint McClellan,  Founder & President, Indie Health. Indie Health's mission is to: 'work with best-in-class partners to deliver state-of-the-art products and services for independent living and empowerment.  Clint's Bio: Leveraging 15+ years as a wireless health executive, Clint’s latest venture, Indie Health, is developing a portfolio of the most highly standardized, highly certified and easiest to integrate health devices in the industry. 'He most recently was a co-founder of Qualcomm Life and prior to that established Qualcomm’s Global Industry Analyst and Global Market Intelligence programs. Clint has served as the President and Chairman of Continua Health Alliance where he led the efforts to get the Continua Standards adopted by the UN standards body, the ITU-T, as the world’s only connected health standard. Clint was the founding Chairman of the CEA Health and Fitness Division and also served on the boards of the San Diego Telecom Council, CommNexus and as the Board Chairman for the Foundation for the Children of the Californias. Clint is also on the advisory councils of EvoNexus, Larta and the Veterans Research Alliance (VRA). Most recently Clint joined UC Irvine as an Expert In Residence in its Applied Innovation Center and joined the Case School of Engineering and Case Western Reserve University as an Advisor for Wireless Health and Wearable Solutions.' Join co-hosts Fred Goldstein and Gregg Masters to lean more about Indie Health.