All successful Central Coast entrepreneurs need help along the way. Now you can get the Success Blueprints to our local resources—what’s available, what’s needed, and how you can Connect the Dots to leverage these resources and grow your business.
Keynote: The MindBody Story – Rick Stollmeyer, Founder
Rick Stollmeyer co-founded MINDBODY in his San Luis Obispo garage in January 2001, and is the lead futurist and guardian of Core Values at the company. Rick credits the success of MINDBODY to having a mission greater than itself, careful alignment around meaningful core values, and competent, principled, compassionate leadership.
These principles have paid off. Since its humble beginnings with a handful of clients in LA and San Francisco, MINDBODY has grown to over 14,000 clients in over 60 countries, and continues to grow over 60% y/y. The company has been listed for the last four consecutive years in the Inc 500/5000, and was included in Deloitte’s 2010 “Fast 500,” named among the most innovative 100 technology companies in North America by Red Herring 100 and identified as one of The 50 Best Places to Work by Outside Magazine.
Prior to MINDBODY, Rick worked in engineering, sales and project management. After graduating from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, he served in the Navy for six years aboard the nuclear fast attack boat USS Chicago (SSN-721) where he developed an appreciation for other cultures and the interconnectedness of all peoples, as well as a deep, personal commitment to peace. Rick practices Gyrotonics and yoga, and enjoys camping, waterskiing, dirt bike riding and spending time with his three kids – not necessarily in that order!
Your Event Hosts: Russ Levanway, President, Softec, Ermina Karim, CEO, SLO Chamber, and Michael Gunther, Founder, Collaboration LLC
Panel Session 1: Finding the Right Dots to Connect – How We Did It!
While there may be countless local resources available to entrepreneurs, they aren’t always easy to track down and employ. Hear how these entrepreneurs utilized local and remote resources to grow and succeed.
- Kyle Wiens, Founder, iFixit + Dozuki
Kyle Wiens is the CEO of iFixit, a collaborative repair community and Apple parts retailer. iFixit is dedicated to helping people everywhere keep their hardware running longer. In 2011, he started Dozuki, an online technical documentation platform. He co-authored the first free repair manuals for Apple hardware while studying Computer Science at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Kyle is a board member of Softec and the IEEE CE Society. He has spoken widely on cloud computing, technical writing, repair, making service documentation accessible to a global audience, and sustainable consumer electronics device design. In his spare time, Kyle kayaks and tinkers with robots.
- Karen Duggan, Founder, Playful Planet
As the Founder of Playful Planet, Karen was inspired by her 5-year-old daughter Lily’s excitement for the small things: blades of grass, clogs of dirt, animals of all kind. Playful Planet encourages family time and connects kids with nature; with the end goal of ensuring that our kids inherit a healthy planet. Karen produced their premier video Storyland Yoga, which connects kids with nature through yoga and storytelling. This was not the first time Karen worked in the entertainment industry. Prior to Playful Planet, she developed and produced a pilot for a reality TV series, worked in post-production on NBC’s hit Fear Factor, and was executive producer of a feature documentary.
Panel Session 2 – A Closer Look at Connecting the Dots
This panel of experts will lead you through the roadmap of local resources that businesses can use to launch, grow, and be profitable. You will walk away with your own roadmap of resources that you can implement immediately.
- Mike E. Manchak, President & CEO, Economic Vitality Corporation (EVC)
Michael currently serves as President and CEO of the Economic Vitality Corporation, a regional economic development organization. He previously served as Project Manager for Cal Poly’s California Central Coast Research Partnership; Managing Partner of Terranalysis Corporation; Vice President at ATW Alternative Technologies; and Construction Finance Analyst at Chase Manhattan Corporation. His industry experience includes banking, real estate finance, technology transfer, economics, fundraising, regional economic strategies, and economic development.
- Jim Dunning, Cal Poly Tech Park
Jim has served as the Project Administrator for the California Central Coast Research Partnership, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo since 2007. Reporting to the Dean of Research and Graduate Programs, he is responsible for collaboration between Cal Poly and business/industry by acting as the interface between the university and interested collaborators. He managed the Cal Poly Tech Park; facilitates and enhances the transfer of intellectual property, resources, and information between Cal Poly and the business community; develops partnerships between faculty and industry to leverage the expertise of businesses, faculty, and students; and coordinates Cal Poly’s outreach to business and industry for research and development collaborations.
- Jonathan York, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Orfalea College of Business, Cal Poly State University
Jonathan York is an entrepreneur and educator who has dedicated his career to helping companies succeed and students learn the issues of entrepreneurship. He recently joined the faculty of the Orfalea College of Business at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo as the first professor dedicated to entrepreneurship, where he is focused on helping students understand and experience the challenges of management and decision-making growth companies. As a CEO and consultant, he has worked for years in entrepreneurial companies facing key strategic and operational issues: readiness to raise capital; marketing and sales development; people and team issues; board and investor relations; product development.
- Claire Clark, Economic Development Manager, City of SLO Economic Development Program
Claire Clark has been serving as the Economic Development Manager for the City of San Luis Obispo since 2006. Claire brings a background in real estate law and education to the position. Before relocating to the Central Coast in the early 1990’s, she worked in real estate development in Massachusetts focusing on complex real estate projects. She began with the City as its Seismic Coordinator in 2004. As Economic Development Manager, she continued to lead the City’s seismic efforts until this year. In her economic development role she is the liaison between the business community and the City government encouraging businesses to locate here, stay here, and thrive here.
- Thea A. Chase, Director, Cal Poly Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for Innovation & Managing Director, Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Thea has vast experience in business development with a specialty in business incubation and as an entrepreneurship educator. She is currently the Director of the Cal Poly SBDC for Innovation, providing consulting and training opportunities that assist in the launch and growth of companies in San Luis Obispo County. She has also been instrumental in the start-up of the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and serves as its’ Managing Director. Claire participates in numerous community efforts in Colorado and nationally to develop strategies for economic
- David Ryal Program Director, Women’s Business Center for Mission Community Services Corporaito
Since 2009, David Ryal has served as the Program Director of the Women’s Business Center for the non-profit Mission Community Services Corporation (MCSC). He also served as the Executive Director of MCSC between May 2009 – June 2011. Previously, David spent ten years as a Director of local Small Business Development Center programs and eleven years as Executive Director of Chambers of Commerce in Southern and Central California, where he worked closely with government agencies and elected officials at city, county, state and federal levels. David currently serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors for Coastal Business Finance and teaches the Entrepreneurial Training Program for Adult Education at Santa Barbara City College.
- Peter Houck, Counselor & Mentor, SCORE
Peter has been sharing his expertise to Central Coast businesses for over 15 years. As a counselor and mentor at SCORE, he works with business owners and entrepreneurs to identify and capitalize on their growth opportunity. His areas of expertise include strategic planning, customer/supplier partnerships, design and engineering integration management, industry benchmark analysis, and marketing partnerships. He founded and managed his own business consulting firm, Haven Partners, in which he served as the Regional Manager for Advantage Homes. Peter has previously worked as the President and CEO at his hardware manufacturing company, Houck Industries, and as the Communications Captain for USAF.
- Israel S. Dominguez, MBA, Director of Business & Entrepreneurship Center, Cuesta College
Israel has been with Cuesta College for four years and currently serves as the Director of the Business & Entrepreneurship Center. Prior to joining Cuesta College, he served as the Director of Contact Center Operations for Fusion Marketing Partners in Santa Maria, Regional Marketing Director for the University of La Verne’s Central Coast Campus and brings over sixteen years combined experience in business administration, marketing, and operations management. His corporate experience primarily focused in the telecommunications industry sector. Israel holds a Master in Business Administration degree with a concentration in Leadership and Management from the University of La Verne, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree with a concentration in Marketing Management from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
- Jo Anne Miller, Co-Founder, SLO SEED Ventures
Jo Anne Miller is a partner with Milk Street Ventures, a Managing Director at Golden Seeds Angel Network and a Co-Founder of SLO Seed Ventures. She has over 29 years of telecommunications and computer industry experience in general management, software and hardware systems development, as well as software engineering and product management for wireless, wireline and data communications products. After ten years of entrepreneurial venture-backed start-ups in cellular and wire line infrastructure equipment manufacturing, she moved into early stage investing in 2003. Jo Anne has an MBA from the University of Chicago, MSCS from the University of Colorado and BS Mathematics from the University of Michigan.
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As co-founder and CEO of TekTegrity, this up-state New York native is responsible for operations and business infrastructure. Russ...
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Kyle Wiens is the CEO of iFixit , a collaborative repair community and Apple parts retailer. iFixit is dedicated to helping people...
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As the Founder of Playful Planet, Karen was inspired by her 5-year-old daughter Lily’s excitement for the small things: blades...
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Jim has served as the Project Administrator for the California Central Coast Research Partnership, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo since 2007...
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Claire Clark has been serving as the Economic Development Manager for the City of San Luis Obispo since 2006. Claire brings a background...
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Thea has vast experience in business development with a specialty in business incubation and as an entrepreneurship educator. She is...
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Peter has been sharing his expertise to Central Coast businesses for over 15 years. As a counselor and mentor at SCORE, he works with...
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Jo Anne Miller is a partner with Milk Street Ventures, a Managing Director at Golden Seeds Angel Network and a Co-Founder of SLO Seed...
read more