See the Top 6 Startups and Invest Alongside San Diego’s Angel Community - Friday, May 29
The San Diego Angel Conference Finale on May 29 will showcase six startups chosen from an initial pool of 135 applicants. The finalists span healthcare, consumer, and enterprise tech, and will pitch live to an audience of founders, investors, and students. Accredited investors can join SDAC Fund VIII, which plans to invest in at least two of the companies, providing diversified exposure. The event emphasizes angel investing as a collaborative, team‑sport approach rather than a single‑bet gamble.
10 Lessons I Shared with UC San Diego Students About Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, and Building a Meaningful Career
The author returned to UC San Diego to share ten hard‑earned lessons on entrepreneurship, venture capital, and career building. He stresses gaining real‑world experience, turning every contact into a lasting network, and investing in founders over ideas. The talk also...
The Final 6: SDAC VIII Enters Due Diligence
San Diego Angel Conference (SDAC) VIII has announced its final six startups—Cytodyme, My Village Innovations, PolyVascular, Sesh Incorporated, Shezza, and Vayim—moving into formal due diligence ahead of the May 29 finale at SDSU. Over the next three weeks, investor teams will...
What Two Operators Learned Writing First Checks
The episode follows two founders-turned-angel investors as they recount their journeys from early startup failures to successful exits and subsequent investing. One guest describes pivoting from a failed "LinkedIn for engineers" idea to a student-focused platform, raising $900K, and experiencing...
The 2026 San Diego Hardtech 50
The 2026 San Diego Hardtech 50 showcases a $10.1 billion capital pool, with $4.55 billion raised in the last 12 months, and a robust IP moat of 689 patent families and 1,935 filings. The list spans five major clusters—Defense & Autonomy, Energy & Battery,...
AI’s Next Bottleneck Isn’t the Model — It’s the System
A recent Google panel argued that AI’s next bottleneck is not model size but system constraints such as energy, memory, and distribution. Speakers highlighted the stark efficiency gap between biological brains and today’s power‑hungry GPUs, urging a rethink of compute...
From AI Fear to Action
Neal Bloom’s Rising Tide Partners hosted a Burbank Tech Talks session highlighting how AI is unsettling long‑standing media roles. Attendees, seasoned in film and TV production, recognize AI’s impact but struggle to translate their existing skills into the new landscape....
A Portfolio Approach to Angel Investing
The episode walks listeners through Angel Academy’s portfolio‑based angel investing program, explaining how a group of accredited investors can pool capital into a fund that backs a curated set of early‑stage startups. Hosts outline the fund’s structure—minimum commitment of 37...
What VCs Actually Look For in Defense Tech Right Now
Venture capitalists at TEVCON say early‑stage defense tech is no longer judged on invention alone; the ability to field and scale solutions quickly is the new bottleneck. Investors are gravitating toward dual‑use companies that originate in commercial markets and later...
Inside a Live Venture Fund: 12 Startups, $250K+, 6 Weeks to Invest
Neal’s post reveals the inner workings of San Diego Angel Conference Fund VIII, a live venture fund that has raised roughly $250,000 and is evaluating 12 finalist startups. Over the next six weeks the fund will narrow the field to...
What Landon Donovan Revealed About Identity, Peace, and Reinvention
Landon Donovan’s new memoir, *Landon*, moves beyond the soccer legend’s on‑field triumphs to examine his personal identity, therapy journey, and search for peace after fame. Co‑author Ryan Berman frames the narrative as a candid exploration of the man behind the...
Something I’ve Been Building (and Didn’t Fully Realize Until Now)
The founder behind a series of informal gatherings has recognized that these events are creating a dense network of founders, operators, and investors. To capitalize on this momentum, he is launching RTP Communities—a structured yet flexible ecosystem that offers weekly...
Blueprint Equity’s $333M Bet on Early Growth Software
In this episode of Tacos and Tech, Blueprint Equity co‑founders Bobby Ocampo and Sheldon Lewis explain their early‑growth equity model—investing in SaaS companies with $1‑$7 M ARR that are scaling 75%+ year‑over‑year—and announce a $333 M fund dedicated to that niche. They...
Podcast: Sleep, Science & Invisible Care
In this episode, host Neil Bloom chats with Suzy Harbuth, founder of the Inspira Fund and its first portfolio company, Sensi, which focuses on sleep wellness. Suzy shares her entrepreneurial journey—from a refugee background and early venture‑capital exposure in the...
Inside Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas
Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas, spanning roughly 2,500 acres with over 10 million square feet of production space, serves as the company’s global headquarters and a hub for Model Y and upcoming Cybertruck builds. A recent tour revealed a manufacturing philosophy centered on extreme...