Meet Doug Winter, founder and CEO of Seismic, an enterprise SaaS tool for sales enablement that's been around for 8 years. It helps sales and marketing teams work together more effectively and efficiently as it relates to sales cycles.

Thanks to our friends at Cox Business for their support of this episode.

While Doug grew up in Ohio, he went to Virginia Tech and studied electrical and mechanical engineering. After college, he took a job with Westinghouse in their Navy Nuclear program training sailors on running the nuclear machinery on boats at sea. It was a great leadership experience as he was given a lot of responsibility quickly but decided to go back to school - for a degree in Leaders for Manufacturing at MIT, a combo of business and engineering with an eye towards operations.

His last winter there was 'the worst winter in Boston' and he asked 'how far away from this can I get? Enter San Diego.

Doug landed a job at Qualcomm in 1996. Qualcomm had just won the battle of CDMA and just started a division building their own phones and infrastructure. He took new products from engineering and was the bridge to put them into production. He had great bosses and mentors at Qualcomm but kept hearing about the Dot Com buzz and knew that he'd eventually leave Qualcomm and become an entrepreneur. His dad was an entrepreneur and Doug saw how happy his dad was doing this kind of work and it stuck with him.

Doug rode through the Dot Com boom and bust and tells some sentimental stories that paint a graphic picture of the times. It was exciting for him to sit front row and ride the rollercoaster of starting a company and was a valuable learning experience.

Over the next decade, Doug started another company, Objectiva. Objectiva was hired to rebuild Document Science's product line. Great relationships were formed from this partnership and Document Sciences ended up buying Objectiva and Doug became COO of Document Sciences, which was then bought by EMC. EMC had also bought Carlsbad-based Captiva. Very quickly he realized that the big company culture wasn't for him so worked through a transition to leave, but observed that the existing tools for content management were clunky and nobody was doing a real SaaS business around content development. The problems they saw at Document Sciences were real and thought they could do what Salesforce and Workday - taking CRM/HRM and consumerized it and put in on the cloud. Nobody was doing this for content management and they set out to fill this void.

Enter Seismic in 2010 to solve this problem. The first office was a basement in an apartment building in downtown Encinitas. By the time they left they had about 12-14 people working there so it was quite cozy. Through all the growth they've remained in North County, to Solana Beach and now residing in Del Mar Heights. One of SD's challenges is how wide-spread out everything is so they've tried to stay central for their employees.

One of the founders, Ed Callan, is born and raised in Boston. Started an office in Boston in an addict and really grew as a two-office company from the very beginning and both offices are about the same size. They recently acquired a business in Chicago - their competitor Savo - and now have a foothold in that major hub.

Curious where the term sales enablement came from? Listen in!

Two years ago they acquired local Email Co-pilot which brought in expertise on data and AI.

Listen how Doug explains the capital environment and where Seismic is headed in the next few years. A great later stage San Diego story that has plenty more to write. Doug would love to continue to grow here and put SD on the map as would we all.

Some of Doug's local food favorites -

Tacos - Sara's in Mission Beach.

Coffee - Coffee Coffee and Pannikin in Leucadia.

Beer - A fan of Green Flash

Follow Doug on social:

Twitter

LinkedIn

Meet Scot Chisholm, CEO & co-founder of Classy - A social enterprise fundraising software focused on helping non-profits grow their revenue. Classy was named while he and his friends were first brainstorming the concept of Classy while watching Anchor Man - Stay Classy San Diego. Classy is now a 200+ employee SaaS startup that has now processed over $1 billion in funds for non-profits through its platform.

Scot grew up in Massachusetts and went to UMass Amherst where he spent only one semester as a computer science major before switching to engineering. He was drawn to San Diego when his college friends had moved out here while he was finishing college. When he graduated he convinced his dad and brother to drive cross-country with him and he landed in Ocean Beach. The day he got here he saw a pizza shop that advertised 'Boston-style pizza'. He was curious and stopped in. As it so happens, this was the first day the shop was open and he asked if he could be their first employee. And he was hit by the entrepreneurship bug. If you're curious to know which pizza place this is (it's still around!), listen to the full episode.

While serving pizzas he talked to a lot of customers, one of whom worked at Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) which is how Scot ended up at his job there. During his time at BAH he started Classy as a side project. It came to be that he and his friends had all been affected by cancer in some way and they wanted to volunteer with the American Cancer Society (ACS). Unfortunately, it was hard to get involved and their only option was the Walk For The Cure. Being in their mid-20's, Scot and his friends all agreed that there had to be a different way to help than walking for 24 hours. They decided to do a pub crawl around Pacific Beach to raise money.

You'd think it'd be really easy to GIVE an organization like the ACS monetary donations. Turns out, it's not. He was told he'd have to attend the Walk For The Cure and donate the money through that event. The same event they wanted to avoid.

And Classy was born. Classy didn't start as a tech company. It started as an organization that held events to engage with the people who would donate, so they knew what exactly they were donating to. And these were no small events - they held a music festival and were able to get headliners like Matisyahu, Bassnectar, Mason Jennings and attracted more than 5,000 people. Their tangled system of payment software soon wasn't able to support them anymore and only then did they set out to become a tech company to create a solution that would work for them. This was around 2009-2010 and was first a way for people to purchase tickets and donate money to their specific events. Once the organizations learned about Classy they started approaching Scot asking if they could use the platform to collect donations that weren't tied to a certain event. Lightbulb moment.

Fast-forward and Classy was now in the UCSD Springboard program, CONNECT. Getting investors and support was a challenge since they were an events company trying to pivot to SaaS. It's hard to imagine that these same people are questioning their judgment now that Classy just hit 1 billion dollars in collected donations!

Listen to the full episode to hear how he and Classy went full circle with the ACS which includes what could have been a very awkward conversation with their CFO.

Scot describes the San Diego tech scene as being a 2.0 version and he's proud to be one of the leaders in this stage. During 1.0, Scot looked up to companies like Active. For 2.0, he's looking to non-San Francisco based companies who are integrating and developing their cities as they grow, companies like HubSpot and MailChimp

Hear Scot talk more about their path to funding and San Diego's interest in mission-driven companies, Classy's growth in Downtown San Diego, and what he thinks the future of e-commerce philanthropy will be.

Check out Scot's favorites:

Tacos - Ortiz's Taco Shop in Point Loma and Colima's Mexican Food in North Park.

Coffee - Pappalecco, more recently it's Peets who 'has the best espresso'.

Beer - Sculpin. Alpine Brewing is also a new favorite.

Find Scot and follow Classy:

Classy.org - there's a very active blog that Scot recommends you read

LinkedIn: Classy | Scot Chisholm

Twitter: @classy | @scotchisholm

Facebook

Instagram: classy_org

Thanks to Cox Business for their support of the local San Diego startup ecosystem and for helping to make this episode possible.

On October 24, Tech Coast Angels San Diego, San Diego Venture Group, and Cox Business came together to put on one huge blockbuster event, The 12 Annual John G. Watson Quick Pitch Competition. With a record number of applications - 280+ submissions - the organizers had a big task of weeding down to 10 finalists to present.

In this episode of Tacos & Tech, you get a backstage pass to the exhilarating night. We pick up where Part 1 left off, after four pitches, we'll here from Rae Lietzau at DoWhop and continue on to hear who wins!

With a cool $75,000 on the line, let's raise the curtain one more time.

After listening, message us on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook on who you thought had the best pitch.

On October 24, Tech Coast Angels San Diego, San Diego Venture Group, and Cox Business came together to put on one huge blockbuster event, The 12 Annual John G. Watson Quick Pitch Competition. With a record number of applications - 280+ submissions - the organizers had a big task of weeding down to 10 finalists to present.

In this episode of Tacos & Tech, you get a backstage pass to the exhilarating night. From the excitement in the green rooms, judges and the entrepreneurs before and after their pitches. You also get to hear a live performance by The School of Rap.

A cool $75,000 is on the line and entrepreneurs are pitching in front of over 700 audience members. The energy is electric and the curtain is ready to raise.

After listening, message us on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook on who you thought had the best pitch.

Meet Samantha Urban, CEO of Urban Translations and an all around inspiring founder in tech. Urban Translations, which translates paper menus into interactive experiences and languages.

Originally from Ventura County, Samantha grew up in the 80's when tech was still a new thing, and seeing women in tech was rare. At the age of 10 she bought a computer running on Windows 3.1, the tech bug bit her, and she's been chasing it ever since. After studying Computer Science, she worked in the U.S. Patent Office and MyYearbook.com, where she saw her first exit, and then with Stuzo before starting her own computer, Urban Translations.

So, how did she get into the hospitality industry? Much of her family works in hospitality so she has a unique perspective. But what really drove her to create her latest software, Urban Translations was a trip to Brazil. Listen in to hear the founding story.

Samantha finds that San Diegans are much more genuine and the culture fits how she wants to build her company and she's been able to find her people. She's a naturally fast-paced person and she appreciates the balance that the calmness and peacefulness of San Diego brings. Most people in San Diego, San Francisco, and Los Angeles are not born there. Each of these cities is very distinct and have their own culture, and it's that culture that attracts the kind of people who fit in there. San Diego has her people.

So what's next for Urban Translations? Samantha was thrilled to announce that they have been working with Samsung and are now working with Google. There is so much more that Urban Translation can do and Google and Samsung see this and want to collaborate on initiatives the hospitality industry hasn't yet seen. Listen to the full podcast to hear more!

Best taco spot - This has been an easy answer for most guests, but surprisingly, Samantha doesn't have one. Instead, she dropped a crazy cool announcement - HEAR IT HERE FIRST - Her desire is for everyone to have a good experience while dining out and for restaurants to make good money. We are what we eat and when we feed it good and organic products, we all become healthier. She learned this first-hand. Samantha has a passion for quality food and wants for restaurants to give us better food. Any restaurant with organic foods, good oils, etc. is eligible to get free software, service, and tablets if they serve better food. There will be a vetting process, and she wants to get at least one in 2018. If you know of a restaurant that could qualify, connect them with Samantha!

Eventually she wants to expand this offer to hotels and resorts all over.

And if you're a San Diego company that offers healthy food, contact her for advertising opportunities within the Urban Translations platform.

Best beer - Although she doesn't drink anymore, her favorite was Modern Times.

Best coffee- Modern Times as well. OB Garden Cafe, who are making good waves for organic options and also has outdoor/indoor seating and yoga on the roof.

You can find Samantha and Urban Translations on Twitter, on Facebook, Instgram, and LinkedIn as Urban Translations.

Meet Jason Pang, serial entrepreneur and most recently co-founder of Whiff, which helps people find their perfect scent.

While Jason originally thought he was going to be an Accenture lifer, he quickly got a taste of the startup life as the first employee of DivX in 2000. He joined Jordan Greenhall, Tay Nguyen, Darrius Thompson, Jerome Rota and rode it through an IPO in 2006 and up to a marketcap of $1.1 billion. Interesting tidbits: DivX was started in a General Atomics building in UTC which was also in the same building as MP3.com and even after two IPOs and being acquired multiple times, there's still original team members at the company 18 years later.

Jason eventually moved on to found multiple companies with both wins and some failures. His latest venture Whiff.com with Paul Tran brings together a few different industries, including consumer packaged goods, online market influencer utilization, and taps into the biotech space in attempting to create customized scent sequencing for each person.

Jason is also a prolific mentor and advisor to both startup founders and to students alike. At any given time, you'll just as much find him speaking to a class as much as he is building companies.

Some of Jason's faves:

Fave beer: Belching Beaver in San Marcos and Viewpoint Brewery in Del Mar

Fave coffee: Philz

Fave tacos: Las Brisas and albondigas soup

Find Jason on LinkedIn and be sure to check out Whiff.com

Meet Sarah Lubeck, Director of Marketing and Communications for the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (SD EDC).

Sarah grew up in Philly and is still a lifelong Eagles fan but found herself in San Diego seven years ago after chasing the surf and working as a journalist and freelance writer.

Learn about what gift Sarah would give San Diego, what percentage of East Coast Ph.D.s can point to San Diego on the map, and how a Japanese delegation compared San Diego to Los Angeles.

Her faves:

Tacos: For street tacos: TJ or Tacos El Gordo in Chula Vista. For seafood tacos, Oscars

Coffee: Moniker in Liberty Station and Heartwork Coffee in Mission Hills

Beer: Any San Diego IPA by Rough Draft or Mike Hess, and the specially crafted Ballast Point Made In San Diego lager, which donates proceeds to resources to help entrepreneurs in local underrepresented areas.

Find Sarah on Twitter @s_lubeck and tell her your favorite taco or coffee spot or a great story about a local tech company. You can also help amplify the San Diego story by following SD Life Changing on Twitter & Insta

Thanks to our sponsor Cox Business for their support of the San Diego tech ecosystem and join us at the QuickPitch competition on October 24th.

Meet James Martin, founder and CEO of Rally Corp., a messaging platform that engages customers by shortening the feedback loop.

James, a former Texas police officer, entered the tech world after he drew the short stick to reset computers in his department. His sergeant suggested he get a degree in technology, which eventually led him to business analysis in the public safety industry.

James eventually joined Tyler Technologies and helped take it from 30 employees to a public company.

James moved to San Diego to start Monk Development in 2007 and built it with Etienne de Bruin for eight years until selling it in 2015. He then took a year off, only to start Rally Corp. shortly after.

In the episode, you'll learn how Brant Cooper and Jeremiah Gardner, authors of The Lean Brand, inspired him to name his new company.

Some of James' favorite San Diego haunts:

Favorite tacos: The Taco Stand and Taco Surf

Favorite brewery: Council Brewery in Kearny Mesa

Favorite coffees: James Coffee

Favorite Business book How To Wow

You can find James and Rally Corp. online and on Twitter

RallyCorp.com & @RallyCorp

@MrJamesMartin

James is giving away five copies of The Lean Brand to the first five people who text 'nealbloom' to 24365. Get at it!

And thank you to our sponsor Cox Business for their support of the tech community. Applications are open until August 31st for the QuickPitchSD.com competition with Tech Coast Angels San Diego, San Diego Venture Group, and Cox Business for $75,000 in cash prize for the winning entrepreneur. Apply here TODAY is the last day!

Meet April Wensel, founder of Compassionate Coding, which provides training curriculum for technical teams to build supportive, diverse, and inclusive cultures, implement better code review practices, and foster better communication between engineers and other employees.

Wensel's love of computer games during her youth led her to software engineering in college and her career. After attending Pomona College, she moved to Silicon Valley to work in the software development world for companies such as Sony, edtech startup Zoodles, AI startup Cognoa, and others.

After witnessing a multitude of company cultures, she discovered how companies were ignoring empathy and only speaking to a specific type of engineer. With this in mind, she founded Compassionate Coding to effect positive change in a company's culture.

At the Tacos and Tech event in Mountain View in 2017, Wensel met a lot of San Diego companies who were very open to speaking about their culture and diversity. She also loved the promise of nearly year-round sunshine. Following this, she packed up the car, made the drive down, and landed in Cardiff-by-the-Sea in North County San Diego.

Listen in as she talks about the differences between company culture in San Diego and the Bay Area.

April's San Diego picks:

Favorite Tacos: Ranchos Cocina for vegan tacos

Favorite Coffee: Better Buzz in Encinitas & Swell Coffee in Del Mar

Favorite Beer: The Lost Abbey Confessional tasting room in Cardiff, which has several vegan options.

Visit Compassionatecoding.com to sign up for the company's newsletter to get more content on emotional intelligence and creating more effective teams.

April can also be found on Twitter: @aprilwensel & @compassioncode

Meet Maksim Pecherskiy, Chief Data Officer for the City of San Diego!

Maksim has been Chief Data Officer for over 3 years in accordance with the SD Open Data Policy in which he and his team are tasked with pushing city data out to the public to be built on top of.

Maksim was born in the Ukraine and has been programming since he was 7 years old. His dad got him into computers and he continued playing in the cybersecurity space and web development arena for both startups and enterprise-size companies.

At some point, he had a feeling that he could help the world in a better way and so he joined Code For America. This took him to Puerto Rico, which he loved and got to help build a search engine to help Puerto Rican citizens find the help they needed from specific government agencies. While back in SF afterwards, randomly he found the Chief Data Officer on a job posting and applied! The rest is history.

The data team of the City automatically releases and uploads to https://data.sandiego.gov/. They also work with organizations like SCALE SD and SDXD to help inform the community on what is available and hear what are the needs of the community from a data perspective.

Maksim and his team are involved in the SmartCities initiative throughout San Diego, including sensors in streetlights and other devices, being a custodian of the data captured, and create APIs.

Recruiting talent for roles in the government makes Maksim get creative. Afterall, not all software jobs require the company to offer sleeping pods.

Like most of San Diegans, Maksim love tacos:

Favorite Tacos - City Tacos & Humbertos

Favorite Local Distillery - Malahat Rum

Favorite Coffee - Krakatoa

You can get in touch with Maksim on Twitter @MrMaksimize

Or at [email protected]