Press Releases & Media Archives

July 22, 2010 | NBC San Diego
CONNECT's Entrepreneurs for Young Innovators seeks middle and high schools
Arena Pharmaceuticals' weight-loss pill passed a major milestone by being featured in the New England Journal of Medicine. CONNECT CEO Duane Roth issued a statement about the possibility of the FDA panel approving the drug. Roth said an approval would continue to show San Diego's strength in the area of drug development and would help in the larger fight against a national problem. "Drugs are being developed -- not only by Arena but by other companies -- and the more we do that, the more we start to impact really serious disease epidemics," Roth stated. Read more at NBC San Diego.

July 15, 2010
CONNECT's Entrepreneurs for Young Innovators seeks middle and high schools
CONNECT's program Entrepreneurs for Young Innovators is set to launch in September for the 2010-2011 academic year. The program was made possible by a grant from Biogen-Idec. Entrepreneurs with exciting life sciences products will visit classes in middle and high schools with the goal of inspiring students to pursue coursework, degrees and careers in the life sciences. The program is currently working to open doors at individual schools. If you have connections to particular schools and would make the introduction for us, please contact Kevin Dunn at kdunn@connect.org. Read more on the Entrepreneurs for Young Innovators here.

July 15, 2010
CONNECT opens 2010 Most Innovative New Product Awards call for nominations
CONNECT has just opened the call for nominations for the 23rd Annual Most Innovative New Product Awards. The awards are open to the most innovative new products launched within San Diego, in San Diego's largest tech categories including: action and sport technologies, aerospace and security technologies, clean technology, communications and IT, hardware and general technology, life science-diagnostics and research tools, life science-medical products and software. The deadline for nominations is September 2.  

For eligibility criteria and the online nomination form, please click here.

July 9, 2010
Use CONNECT's new Resource Guide to get to market faster and more competitively
Business models for financing innovation are evolving rapidly, especially with today's constraints on capital. Professional Service Partners (PSPs) have emerged in the past few years to provide U.S.-based outsourcing services at each point in the product development cycle. Life sciences, technology, cleantech, software and defense companies can get to market more quickly, cost-effectively and competitively. Niche PSPs offer top talent on-call and with no costly infrastructure.  If you're interested in increasing the speed to market of your product click here to access CONNECT's online Resource Guide.  In the Guide you'll find outsourcing partners in wide ranging fields.  Choices include pre-clinical through product development, manufacturing and regulatory consulting, software, product design, engineering and manufacturing as well as general services in infrastructure, marketing and consulting. Click here to access.

July 9, 2010 | Malakye
CONNECT SDSI adds KPMG to Board of Directors
Executive Chairman of CONNECT San Diego Sport Innovators (SDSI) Bill Walton announced that David Down and David Fredrickson will represent the KPMG board seat on the SDSI board of directors. Down is the Managing Partner for KPMG LLP's San Diego office. He has participated in KPMG's National Instructors Program as well as several of the firm's national and local training programs. Fredrickson is an Audit partner at KPMG LLP and has served KPMG nationally as a national instructor and as a member of the Training and Methodology Team. Both are active in several civic and charitable organizations. CONNECT SDSI is dedicated to the action sports and active lifestyle innovation cluster offering innovative programs and services for start-ups, mature companies and service providers. Read more in Malakye.

July 9, 2010
CONNECT joins the Wiki world
Find us on Wikipedia under CONNECT Organization.

July 6, 2010 | Malakye and Shop-Eat-Surf.com
CONNECT SDSI Board of Directors expands with Reef's VP of Marketing
CONNECT San Diego Sport Innovators Executive Chairman and NBA legend Bill Walton announced that Kevin Flanagan, vice-president of marketing at Reef, has joined the SDSI board of directors. "Through his extensive marketing experience with Oakley, Globe and now Reef, Kevin has become a prominent figure in the action sports industry," said Walton. "Kevin will prove to be a major player in the future of SDSI and our continued efforts to accelerate the innovation of our sports economy here in Southern California." CONNECT SDSI, a business accelerating trade organization, currently reaches out to more than 600 action sport and active lifestyle companies in the San Diego sport industry. Read more on Malakye and Shop-Eat-Surf.com.

July 6, 2010 | Xconomy
CONNECT Springboard highlighted in Xconomy's venture incubators guide
CONNECT's Springboard was one of the programs featured in Xconomy's 2010 national Guide to Venture Incubators. The detailed guide gives insight to programs across the country that aim to surround startups with entrepreneur comrades, seasoned executives and investors and to provide both community as well as guidance. Read more in Xconomy.

July 6, 2010 | The San Diego Union-Tribune
CONNECT CEO co-authors SDUT opinion piece on the impact of state budget cuts on public higher education
CONNECT CEO Duane Roth, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce CEO Ruben Barrales and San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation CEO Julie Meier Wright, published a piece indicating that a further fiscal squeeze on California's public higher education system will cause irreparable damage to our economic engine. Read more in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

July 6, 2010 | San Diego Business Journal and The San Diego Union-Tribune
CONNECT community, Hamlisch celebrate CONNECT's Silver Anniversary
Emotions ran high at CONNECT's 25th Anniversary as the founders and the CONNECT community joined together to observe 25 years of innovation and commemorate the legacy of Bill Otterson. Co-founder Mary Walshok gave a heartwarming account of CONNECT's history. Award winning conductor and composer Marvin Hamlisch was introduced by Irwin Jacobs and entertained the audience with a humorous take on CONNECT's history. He performed a number CONNECT Co-founder David Hale accepts Proclamation from Mayor Jerry Sanders of favorites and then his Oscar winning arrangement The Entertainer to a photo montage of 25 years of CONNECT. The Mayor of San Diego presented co-founder and CONNECT Chairman David Hale with a proclamation making Tuesday CONNECT 25th Anniversary Day and Hale announced the formation of the Bill Otterson Legacy Fund. Click here to view the pictures. To watch clips of CONNECT's Silver Anniversary, click here. Read more in San Diego Business Journal and The San Diego Union-Tribune.

July 6, 2010 | North County Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune and Xconomy
Governor designates San Diego an iHub; CONNECT to coordinate efforts of 34 iHub partners r is 6% of employers but 25% of wages paid
The Governor's Office of Economic Development announced on June 29 that San Diego has been granted an official designation as a regional innovation hub (iHub). CONNECT will coordinate the effort that brings together 34 of San Diego's leading research and academic institutions, trade associations, economic development organizations and capital providers to support funding, start-up, development and job creation in the wireless, genomic health, energy storage and biofuels clusters.  Read more in the North County Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune and Xconomy.

July 6, 2010 | San Diego Business Journal
Formation of new tech start-ups in San Diego down almost 40% while M&A deals jump almost 60%; New quarterly CONNECT Innovation Report shows tech sector is 6% of employers but 25% of wages paid
The new data published by CONNECT shows formation of new tech companies that dropped about 45% in San Diego and almost 40% across the State in the first quarter of this year. Patents granted jumped almost 25% while M&A deals jumped by almost 60% over the last quarter. VC funding jumped 240% over the same time last year, but actually dropped by almost 30% when compared to the last quarter of 2009. Southern California led the nation in National Science Foundation funding. New data also shows that San Diego's tech sector represents only six percent of employers but just over 11% of all jobs in the county and more than a quarter of the region's payrolls. Average pay among tech firms is 80% higher than the overall average industry wage. According to Kelly Cunningham, Economist and Senior Fellow, National University Institute for Policy Research, "Average pay among tech firms is $85,800, more than 80 percent higher than San Diego's overall average of $47,400 per job. Communications and equipment manufacturers ($101,900) and computer and electronics ($98,000) have the highest averages, followed by software ($85,000), biotechnology and pharmaceuticals ($82,100), defense/transportation ($79,400), and environmental technology ($78,100)." Cunningham provides the Report's economic analysis. Click here for the Report as published by the San Diego Business Journal. Read more in Xconomy.

June 24, 2010
CONNECT Springboard team participates in review panels for the Cleantech Innovation and Commercialization grant program
Three teams from UC San Diego and San Diego State University will receive $50,000 each for prototype development and proof-of-concept studies to commercialize clean technology research projects through a partnership between the local universities, private companies, and the city of San Diego. CONNECT Director of Business Creation and Development, Ruprecht von Buttlar, and Senior Program Manager, Steve Hoey participated on an expert panel of over 18 reviewers and helped select the winners.

June 17, 2010 (Malakye and Shop-Eat-Surf.com)
NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton recruits John Wilson to join CONNECT SDSI Board
Bill Walton, executive chairman of CONNECT San Diego Sport Innovators (SDSI), announced today the addition of former Reef President John Wilson to the SDSI board of directors. CONNECT SDSI is dedicated to the active sports and active lifestyle innovation cluster offering innovative programs and services for start-ups, mature companies and service providers. Read more in Malakye and Shop-Eat-Surf.com.

June 17, 2010 (San Diego Metropolitan Magazine)
CONNECT's 25 year history featured in San Diego Metropolitan Magazine
Co-founder Mary Walshok and CEO Duane Roth discuss the transformation of the San Diego economy, 25 years after the birth of CONNECT. CONNECT has become a worldwide model for technology and life science innovation, fostering job-generating businesses. Read more in the The San Diego Metropolitan Magazine.

June 11, 2010 (The San Diego Union-Tribune, New York Times and ESPN)
In honor of John Wooden, SDSI Executive Chairman and NBA Legend, Bill Walton, shares memories with NYT and on ESPN
On June 4, 2010, beloved Coach John Wooden passed away. Bill Walton discusses significant personal and professional memories, "Every pregame speech was the same. He'd say: 'Men, I've done my job; the rest is up to you. When the game starts, don't look to the sidelines, because there's nothing I can do for you," said Walton. Read full article in The San Diego Union-Tribune, The New York Times and ESPN.  

June 3, 2010
CONNECT CEO receives the Economic Opportunity Award from LEAD San Diego
Duane Roth, CONNECT CEO, was honored last week at the 2010 LEAD San Diego Visionary Awards at The Marriott San Diego Hotel & Marina. The Awards honor true visionaries who find solutions and go above and beyond to help others lead more productive and meaningful lives. At the Visionary Awards Duane was honored with the Economic Opportunity Award recognizing visionary leadership in creating economic opportunities that improve the quality of life in our region, and that might not otherwise exist absent their efforts.  

June 3, 2010
Jeff Kearl joins NBA Legend, Bill Walton, on CONNECT SDSI's board of directors
Bill Walton, executive chairman of CONNECT San Diego Sport Innovators (SDSI), announced today that Jeff Kearl, executive chairman of SkullCandy and chief executive officer of Stance Inc., has joined the SDSI board of directors. CONNECT SDSI is a business accelerator that connects and drives the growth of San Diego's action sport and active lifestyle innovation cluster, now numbering more than 600 action and sporting goods companies.  

"The diverse knowledge and relationships Jeff brings will be extremely valuable to the SDSI initiative," Walton said. "Jeff has a lifetime of experience investing and building start-ups, the root of what SDSI is about. His expertise will further our commitment to up and coming innovative sport businesses in San Diego; to help grow the next Adidas or Callaway." Kearl has focused his career on building or investing in early-stage companies. He is the founder and managing director of Monarch Partners, an angel fund whose investments include Allegiance Technologies, Costa Vida Mexican Restaurants, Logoworks, Longboards Ice Cream, Skullcandy and Stance. Kearl founded and raised two rounds of venture capital for Logoworks, an online graphic design company he sold to HP in 2007. He is chairman of the board at Skullcandy, an audio products company with revenues exceeding $100M. He also is on the investment committee of Innoventures Capital Partners, a fund focused on providing loans to early-stage and venture-backed companies. He currently acts as chief executive officer of his most recent investment, Stance Inc., a start-up company focusing on socks for the action sports industry.  

"CONNECT has a long history of helping entrepreneurs build great companies through education and fundraising support, among other things," Kearl said. "It is probably the most successful organization of its kind in the country. Once I found out that CONNECT had started to focus on action sports businesses, in addition to the technology and life sciences companies it already serves, I became intrigued. Once Bill Walton took the reins I knew the fun meter would be all-time. I was in." Read more in Transworld Business, Malakye, and Shop-Eat-Surf.

June 3, 2010
MIT Enterprise Forum dissects why hospitals resist SaaS 
A VC debates a panel of CEOs about the real reason for resistance by hospital IT departments to Software as a Service (SaaS). The May Forum was presented by Concerro, Inc. Read the MIT Enterprise Forum summary here.

June 3, 2010
CONNECT CEO is featured speaker at Human BioMolecular Research Institute Open House to celebrate stem cell research 
On May 21st, 2010, the Human BioMolecular Research Institute (HBRI) hosted an Open House to celebrate advancements in stem cell research. In collaboration with Professor Mark Mercola and Evan Snyder of the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, HBRI is developing small molecules to direct maturation of human stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells.  

Duane Roth, CEO of CONNECT and Vice Chair of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, was the featured speaker. Mr. Roth spoke about why patients need to be involved in the advocacy process for drug development. Along with a presentation by Mr. Roth, HBRI also honored two distinguished guests with Disease Advocate Awards. These awards were presented to Joan Samuelson J.D., and David Serrano Sewell J.D., two Patient Advocates that have been particularly motivated and outspoken about patient causes including Parkinson's disease, Multiple Sclerosis and ALS (or Lou Gehrig's disease), and have worked tirelessly to make stem cell research for these diseases possible. Their advocacy efforts will provide technology for greater numbers of cells for research and eventually, clinical purposes. Their dedication to support research is an inspiration to all.

May 28, 2010
CONNECT and USD Law School partner to offer Technology Entrepreneurship Law Clinic; Law firms, students and Springboard companies to benefit
Read more here.

May 28, 2010 (Xconomy)
CONNECT launches Professional Service Partnership Initiative with Symposium on the benefits of outsourcing
CONNECT successfully launched one of its five 2010 Innovation Initiatives last week with the Professional Service Partnership Symposium at the law offices of Mintz Levin. The sold-out Symposium - Accelerate Growth, Reduce Risk and Cut Costs by Outsourcing in San Diego - discussed why companies of all sizes are not only outsourcing to increase efficiency but even more importantly to increase innovation. In fact, as a part of the process of engineering the first bacterial cell with a synthetic genome, The J. Craig Venter Institute used Seattle-based Blue Heron to synthesize all the data into genes that gave rise to the bacterial cell. Read story in Xconomy.

Speakers included Carl Eibl, Partner, Enterprise Partners Venture Capital; Tim Wollaeger, Managing Director, Sanderling Ventures; Magda Marquet, Founder and Co-chair, Althea Technologies and Althea Dx; Lincoln Krochmal, President and CEO, Excaliard; Bill Gerhart, President & CEO, Elevation Pharmaceuticals; Sanfor B. Ehrlich, Qualcomm Executive Director for the Entrepreneurial Management Center, SDSU; Gad Shaanan, President and CEO, GadLIGHT; Graham Milner, EVP, Global Innovation, WD-40; Sean Mallean, CEO, Itragomobility; Jo Marie Diamond, VP, East County Economic Development Council; and Duane Roth, CEO, CONNECT. Event sponsors included Invetech, Biocrossroads, Althea Dx and The City of Murietta.

May 28, 2010
CONNECT attracts record crowd for Connect with CONNECT
Last Thursday, more than 700 San Diego technology leaders gathered to network and check out the latest San Diego convergence innovation in life sciences, wireless health, robotics, communications, sports, software and cleantech at the outdoor courtyard of Mintz Levin's office. Forty exhibits were displayed, including CareFusion's intelligent system to reduce medication errors and hospital acquired infections; Qualcomm's clean technology for plug-in electric vehicle services, their Mirasol reflective display mimicking butterfly wings and their FLO TV personal TV device; Verimatrix's content and revenue security solutions for TV, PCs and mobile devices; California MedTech's outsourced medical device design, development and manufacturing services; ISE Corporation's hybrid electric bus destined for the London Olympics; Cox's green fleet vehicle; and Invetech's outsourced product development and custom automation solutions. Attendees also toasted the new offices of Mutual of Omaha Bank with a Convergence Martini and enjoyed fine foods from Hilton Garden Inn and the Wild Thyme Group. Mintz Levin was lead sponsor of the annual event along with supporting sponsors Mutual of Omaha Bank, TriNet Group Inc., Hilton Garden Inn and The Wild Thyme Group. Missed the event? Click here to view photos.

May 28, 2010 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
CONNECT Frameworks panel on SBA loans lands front page UT coverage
Security Business Bank, a CONNECT SDSI founding member sponsored the program. Thomas Welch, who heads the SBA lending program at the bank, said that taking such simple steps as consolidating debts or rearranging debt payments can help companies access SBA loans. "It's really important for people to build a relationship with their banker before taking out a loan, so they'll know about how the business operates and can make suggestions about improving cash flow," he said. Read full article in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

May 28, 2010 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
CONNECT CEO advises Escondido City Council on building an outsourcing cluster
Duane Roth made a pitch to the Escondido City Council and city commissions last week, stating that a lot of start-ups cannot afford to build manufacturing or lab space just to perform a couple of clinical tests and need to contract out that service. Now is the time for Escondido to get in on the action, Roth said, pointing out the convenience of the city's proximity to numerous tech and life sciences facilities. Read full article in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

May 28, 2010 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
CONNECT CEO comments to UT on wireless technology cluster taking off in San Diego
Technology now promises to transform the medical industry and the San Diego region is playing a major role in making it a reality. "Suddenly, San Diego is on fire," said Duane Roth, CEO of CONNECT, "You can name 40 [wireless health start-ups] pretty easily and there are probably 50 or 60 more you haven't heard of." Read more in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

May 20, 2010 (Xconomy)
CONNECT receives major grant from Biogen Idec Foundation for science education program for 7-12th grades
CONNECT announced that it has received a $100,000 Transformational Grant in science education from the Biogen Idec Foundation. The grant will be used to develop a pilot program in support of the Biogen Idec Foundation Entrepreneurs for Young Innovators, which is designed to inspire 7th through 12th grade students to pursue careers in life sciences, by introducing them to charismatic local entrepreneurs who are developing products that may improve lives worldwide. Read more here and Xconomy article, "Biogen Idec Grant Sends San Diego's Aspiring Biotech Rock Stars into Local Schools."

May 20, 2010 (North County Times and Voiceofsandiego.org)
CONNECT CEO says Escondido is poised to become new biotech hub
Duane Roth says Escondido is the leading candidate for a biotech assembly cluster. Roth indicates that biotech companies want to maintain their research and development teams in La Jolla and Sorrento Valley, but that they'd like to move assembly of biotech products to where land and labor are cheaper. Read more in North County Times and in Voiceofsandiego.org.

May 14, 2010 (Xconomy)
Turnaround advice to Detroit; CONNECT CEO unlocks San Diego's secrets to transformation to innovation economy
Roth notes there are five main things that San Diego has learned about innovation: 1. Analyze what you do best and do that; 2. Don't minimize the importance of small companies; 3. Cultivate technology clusters; 4. Collaborate (institutions need to work with industry, industry needs to work with local government and local government must be educated by all of the above); and 5. Establish nonprofit organizations like San Diego's CONNECT. Read full article written by Duane Roth in Xconomy.

May 14, 2010
CONNECT partners with SDBJ and COX Business for the 3rd Annual IT Executive of the Year Awards: Winners announced
The Information Technology Executive of the Year Awards was held on May 6 at the Hall of Champions. Nine IT executives received awards. For the full list click here. CONNECT would like to congratulate CONNECT members Ron Broersma of SPAWAR and Capt. Mark Kohlheim of SPAWAR for receiving awards and Joe Beery of Life Technologies Corporation and Rich Pickett of San Diego State University for being selected as finalists. Dana Di Ferdinando of Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. participated as one of the competition judges.

May 14, 2010 (The New York Times)
CONNECT SDSI Executive Chairman, Bill Walton, profiled in The New York Times
To help others with back problems and other injuries, Walton tells his story. "Basketball is one of those rare opportunities where you can make a difference, not only for yourself, but for other people," said Walton. Read full article in The New York Times.

May 6, 2010

CONNECT Frontiers biomimicry presenter featured on Bloomberg's "Innovators" TV series
CONNECT Frontiers in Science and Technology recently focused on Exercising Your Imagination through Biomimicry with two guest speakers from the Zoological Society of San Diego. The San Diego Zoo is featured as a biomimicry leader in the area, and Bloomberg's "Innovators" dedicates a whole episode to the topic. Click here to view video.

May 6, 2010
Security Business Bank becomes a CONNECT SDSI founding investor (SDBJ)
Security Business Bank (SBB) recently became a founding investor of CONNECT San Diego Sport Innovators (SDSI) and its CEO, Paul Rodeno, joined SDSI's advisory board. Read more in the San Diego Business Journal.

May 6, 2010
CONNECT co-sponsors 3rd Annual Information Technology Executive of the Year Awards (SDBJ)
Congratulations to the 2010 honorees. Read more in the San Diego Business Journal.

May 6, 2010
Jeff Kearl and John Wilson join CONNECT SDSI board
Jeff Kearl, founder and managing director of the seed stage venture capital firm Monarch Partners and Chairman of the Board of Skull Candy; and John Wilson, president and founder of Stance Inc. and former president of REEF, are the newest members of the CONNECT SD Sport Innovators board. Read Kearl and Wilson's bios here.

April 30, 2010
CONNECT inducts software pioneer, Peter Preuss, into Entrepreneur Hall of Fame (Xconomy)
On Thursday, April 22, 2010, computer software pioneer and philanthropist, Peter Preuss, was inducted into CONNECT's Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. A sold-out audience of 250 celebrated the achievements of this visionary leader at a luncheon and heard his story through a live interview with COX 4 San Diego's, Jane Mitchell. "The criteria is that they built great companies, but they also gave back to the community," said CONNECT CEO, Duane Roth. Read full article in Xconomy. See more pictures here.

April 30, 2010
NBC interview with CONNECT CEO, Duane Roth and SDSI Chairman, Bill Walton (NBC)

Click to view full interview

George Chamberlain explores how CONNECT is helping to make San Diego a hot spot in the country for technology industry companies The Daily Transcript.

April 30, 2010
CONNECT brings dollars and sense to San Diego's sports industry says SDDT 
Read article in The Daily Transcript. View SDSI Web site here.

April 30, 2010
Board Member Spotlight: James Sahagian, Vice President Commercial Development, Sempra Generation 
Sahagian's strategic priorities: Sempra Generation operates power plants for the competitive market in North America and is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy.  Sahagian is responsible for the commercial development of new, renewable-generation investment opportunities.

e-News:  What made you decide to join CONNECT and what role do you see CONNECT playing as a part of the San Diego community?   

Sahagian: CONNECT does a phenomenal job of providing the glue that the San Diego business community so very much needs to make those important synergistic linkages. I spent many years in Silicon Valley where networking was a way of life and venture capital was a vibrant industry. It was a very small community of people who were connected together, especially in the Palo Alto area where I resided for nearly 15 years. The efforts of CONNECT and its personnel have been instrumental in contributing to the creation of a similar business climate in San Diego. Keep up your good and important work.

April 30, 2010
Learn the value of outsourcing in San Diego at CONNECT's first Professional Service Partnership Symposium 
If you're bootstrapping your company reducing burn rate is critical to survival. Find out why venture capitalists see outsourcing as the way to minimize risk and maximize innovation. Learn how to pick the right outsourcing partner. Find out more about the 220 outsourcing companies in our region. The New York Times recently highlighted this new approach to creating companies in an article called "The Rise of the Fleet-Footed Start-Up". Read more here.

April 30, 2010
USD Law School and CONNECT launch unique new Law Clinic for technology start-ups 
CONNECT, regarded as the world's most successful regional program linking inventors and entrepreneurs with the resources they need for success and the University of San Diego (USD) School of Law today announced that they are launching a new Technology Entrepreneurship Law Clinic. The clinic will provide USD law students with mentoring from practicing attorneys along with real world experience assisting start-ups in CONNECT's internationally recognized Springboard mentoring program with corporate, intellectual property and employment legal needs.

April 30, 2010
Symphony Principal Pops conductor, Marvin Hamlisch, to make cameo appearance at CONNECT's Silver Anniversary celebration 
If you've participated in any of the thousands of CONNECT programs over the past 25 years, you're a member of our family. Thanks to our community's culture of collaboration, CONNECT has become a San Diego institution and the "gold standard" for innovation accelerators around the world. Join our founders on June 29 at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines for our Silver Anniversary Celebration-an evening of camaraderie, entertainment, fine wines and gourmet cuisine. Share the memories and celebrate San Diego's future as the premier region for innovation. More information here.

April 30, 2010 (Inc. Magazine)
Inc. Magazine spotlights CONNECT as one of 20 business incubators across the U.S. "Where Great Ideas are Born" 
In a feature called "Incubation Nation," the May issue of Inc. puts the spotlight on 20 initiatives across the nation that are working to transform the raw materials of ideas into fully formed, job-generating businesses.  CONNECT is the only accelerator highlighted in California, "San Diego: CONNECT, one of the nation's first incubators, has been working with start-ups since 1985; the 2,000 ventures it has assisted have received more than $10 billion in funding.  Participants get advice from mentors, as well as help with building prototypes, securing intellectual property, or performing preclinical trials. Who gets in: Early-stage tech firms. Breakout company:  ecoATM, creator of a vending machine that automates the process of recycling electronic devices." Read more here.

April 23, 2010
CONNECT releases 1Q10 Springboard Report - applications and graduations hit record highs 
The first quarter of 2010 saw 52 applications to Springboard--a record number. The number of graduation panels completed in 1Q jumped 45 percent. With the help of our law firm sponsors, our new due diligence review process continued to ensure graduates are investment-ready. Four Springboard companies completed due-diligence reviews prior to presenting in our Deal Network Program, where scrubbed companies present in a private home to high networth investors. The Springboard pipeline continues to be robust with 109 companies participating in the program at the end of March 2010.We continued to see participation from all the major technology clusters in San Diego. More than 200 EIRs and 300 Domain Experts are now available to provide mentoring. Read the full CONNECT 1Q10 Springboard Report here.

April 23, 2010
Conference highlights benefits of exporting as a key strategy to returning the economy to health
Duane Roth, CEO of CONNECT and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, spoke at the North American Competitiveness, Innovation and Clean Energy Conference at University of San Diego on April 14 on the benefits of innovation as a key strategy to returning the economy to health. Read more in San Diego Business Journal.

April 23, 2010 (New York Times)
Lean start-ups to explore benefits of "cloud manufacturing" at CONNECT's first Professional Service Partners Symposium
With more than 250 outsourcing companies in San Diego, CONNECT is organizing a symposium to bring together small businesses with contract service companies in a roundtable discussion on the benefits of finding the right outsource partner on May 20 from 3-5pm at Mintz Levin. Start-ups now have to be "much leaner, much more capital-efficient, much smarter in accessing worldwide talent and quicker to market in order to do more with less," said Bevil Hogg, a founder of Trek Bicycle Corporation. Thomas Friedman's perspective on cloud manufacturing's benefits to start-ups was featured in the New York Times.

April 23, 2010
CONNECT Board Member Spotlight - Interview with Bruce Breslau,  Senior Vice President, Market Manager of San Diego Corporate  Banking at Union Bank
View full interview here.

April 23, 2010 (San Diego Business Journal)
Congratulations to Peter Preuss - the 8th inductee into CONNECT's Entrepreneur Hall of Fame
On Thursday, April 22, 2010, computer software pioneer and philanthropist, Peter Preuss, was inducted into CONNECT's Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame. A sold-out audience of 250 celebrated the achievements of this visionary leader at a luncheon at Estancia La Jolla, and heard his story through a live interview with COX 4 San Diego anchor, Jane Mitchell. In addition to the live interview, guests enjoyed music performed by a string quartet made up of Preuss School students as well as a video tribute to Peter. CONNECT would like to thank sponsors Sempra Energy, Sanford|Burnham Medical Research Institute, Ernst & Young, COX Business and UC San Diego; Young Innovators hosts Irwin & Joan Jacobs Foundation, Walter & Betty Zable Foundation, Ferrell Family Foundation, Patricia & Christopher Weil Family Foundation, Julia Brown and Enterprise Partners Venture Capital; and all of the folks and organizations who purchased tables and tickets to the event for their support and contribution. Congratulations, Peter Preuss, for being the 8th inductee in CONNECT's Entrepreneur Hall of Fame! Other Hall of Fame members include Dr. Irwin Jacobs, Walter Zable, Dr. Ivor Royston, Dr. William Rastetter, Dr. J. Robert Beyster and Neal and Linden Blue. Read more in the San Diego Business Journal.

April 16, 2010
MIT Enterprise Forum of San Diego rated in "Top Tier"
Each year the MIT Enterprise Forum staff and global board of directors review chapter performance and rate the 25 chapters based on their alignment with the chapter operating procedures. For FY 09, the MIT Enterprise Forum of San Diego, managed by CONNECT, was ranked in the "Top Tier." It is the first time in many years that the MIT Enterprise Forum of San Diego has been ranked in the "Top Tier."

April 8, 2010
CONNECT Innovation Report on SBA radio
On April 1, Steve Hoey, senior program manager at CONNECT, was interviewed on SBA radio about CONNECT, the Innovation Report, Springboard and more.

April 1, 2010
Technology Transfer Tactics features CONNECT’s CEO coauthors Kauffman paper
The Distributed Partnering Model (DPM) “describes a way to think a little differently, perhaps more rationally about how we fund early stage innovation,” said Duane Roth, CEO of CONNECT.

April 1, 2010
CONNECT CEO participates in Department of Commerce symposiums to accelerate tech transfer and innovation clusters
The symposiums were held at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. and tackled the issues of “Catalyzing University Research for a Stronger Economy” and “Clustering for 21st Century Prosperity.” Topics included: From the Lab to the Marketplace - Crossing the Valley of Death, University Strategies to Support Commercialization, Universities and Regional Economic Development, The Administration’s Cluster Initiative, The DOE Energy Hubs and The NIST Contribution to Cluster Development. Full agendas: Catalyzing ; Clustering.

April 1, 2010 (North County Times)
North American Competitive Innovation & Clean Energy Conference financing panel moderated by CONNECT CEO
The financial model needs to be fixed. The problem is especially acute in this region because it is one of the nation's top centers of biomedicine. What is worse than failure is the survival of companies that just cling to life. Fewer, better-grounded companies would be better than many shaky ones, said Duane Roth, CEO of CONNECT. "We don't need 300 cancer companies, we need 300 cancer products."

April 1, 2010 (San Diego Chamber)
North American Competitive Innovation & Clean Energy Conference financing panel moderated by CONNECT CEO
Gary Locke, US Secretary of Commerce, Tony Clement, Canadian Minister of Industry, and Gerardo Ruiz Mateos, Mexican Secretary of Economy lead an April 14 conference at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at USD. The Conference is designed to ensure that North America is working in collaboration on key issues of global competitiveness. Discussion topics will include: Transitioning to a Low-Carbon Economy, A 21st Century Green Energy Workforce, International Financing Briefing, Innovative Supply Chains and Improved Capacity and Border Efficiency Through Enhanced Infrastructure. Duane Roth, CEO of CONNECT will be moderating an International Financing Briefing Breakout Session from 11:45 AM to 12:30 PM.

March 25, 2010
CONNECT, Syapse, Celgene and Fish & Richardson host panel on collaboration and information sharing of biomedical project data
Recent advances in semantic modeling have enabled breakthrough solutions that allow large amounts of scientific information to be managed, made easily available and effectively linked to key decisions in the product development process. This week at a half day conference the panelists discussed current issues in information sharing and collaboration, with the aim of providing practical solutions that the attendees could apply to solve problems within their respective institutions. Cultural and organizational issues were identified as the main impediments to effective information sharing within and between institutions. The most successful collaborations came through connecting opportunities to internal champions and facilitating personal interactions.

March 25, 2010
CONNECT to induct visionary leader Peter Preuss into Entrepreneur Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame brings together San Diego’s biotech and high tech leaders and educators to honor individuals who have achieved distinction in their career for founding, leading or advancing a San Diego life sciences or technology-based business or organization. Peter is the 8th inductee and is being honored due to his lifelong accomplishments and contributions to the San Diego community. He created revolutionary change in the computer software industry as president of Integrated Software Systems Corporation (ISSCO) which he founded in 1970. As a community builder, he created The Preuss School to educate and inspire today’s underprivileged students to become tomorrow’s innovators. As a philanthropist he has been instrumental in the development, growth and success of such organizations as CONNECT, BIOCOM, UC San Diego, The Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (formerly Burnham Institute for Medical Research) and The Preuss Foundation for Brain Tumor Research. Peter was appointed Regent of the University of California in 1996 where he served a 12-year term. We will celebrate the achievements of this visionary leader at a luncheon event where everyone can meet him.

March 25, 2010
Access all federal grants with new CONNECT federal funding portal @ Calit2
Now you can easily source all federal grants that apply to your business on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. To set up a tailored profile for you company e-mail membership@connect.org for a username and password. This will allow you to access the secure system from Calit2. To visit the portal at www.connect.org - click on the Capital icon and choose Federal Grants Database.

March 25, 2010 (Xconomy, San Diego Union-Tribune, and SDNN)
Searching for signs of a comeback in San Diego’s innovation economy
The CONNECT Innovation Report for Q4 2009 was released last week and the Report indicates 319 start-ups were launched in 2009, including 74 in the fourth quarter. That is about 13 percent better than the 282 local start-ups tracked in 2008. CONNECT estimated that the new start-ups were responsible for creating more than 1,000 jobs in the county. Read the report in Xconomy, San Diego Union-Tribune, and SDNN.

March 18, 2010 (San Diego Business Journal)
SDBJ covers CONNECTS’s La Jolla Research and Innovation Summit
Innovation: UC San Diego professor Rajesh Gupta introduces prototype shown to reduce 92 percent of the power used by PCs.

March 18, 2010 (San Diego Business Journal)
San Diego’s biomedical sector: a growth leader in California with 25 start-ups in Q4 of 2009
Steve Hoey, senior program manager for the CONNECT Innovation Report comments “We have a concentration of world-class research institutes on the Torrey Pines Mesa that talk to each other and a lot of relatively small to midsized biotechs that are aggressive innovators.”

March 18, 2010
Angel investing up; workshop to educate start-ups on attracting angel capital
Tech Coast Angels (TCA), the largest angel investment network in the U.S., raised $4.7 million through direct TCA investments and an additional $57 million through other sources for the network's entrepreneurial companies in 2009. In addition, according to a recent survey, CONNECT Springboard graduates raised over $5.5M in angel funding in the second half of 2009 - more than twice the $2.3M raised in the first six months of 2009.

March 18, 2010 (San Diego Business Journal)
CEO of CONNECT speaks on outsourcing as a solution to control costs faced by San Diego’s biotech industry
“One promising solution is outsourcing — largely unavailable in San Diego until recently. If you wanted to start a biotech company, you had to build all of that infrastructure in order to get the data for a product,” said Roth. “If the infrastructure exists and there are professionals there to do it, you can design the study and they will implement it.” The cost-ineffective alternative for a startup or early-stage biotech company is “to spend millions of dollars on a facility you would use once or twice.” CONNECT aims to increase the visibility of San Diego’s life sciences contract firms. “Unlike some of the high-tech areas where Korea — and now China — have become places to go for manufacturing, in the biotech field we have a chance to keep the manufacturing here,” said Roth.

March 18, 2010
Springboard Research Report shows Springboard grads raised $24M in last half of 2009
As of December 2009, 143 companies have graduated from Springboard in the last five years. Seventy percent are still in business. Cumulatively, 67 graduates have raised over $142M over the last five years. Seventeen companies account for 80% of that amount. Last year, $30M was raised by 37 companies. The majority was raised in the last half of the year with 26 graduates raising $24M.

In the first half of 2009, 90% of funding came from friends, family and angels. In the second half, 65% came from VCs. This major shift was due to two companies raising $15.5M from VCs in the second half of the year. Graduates raised over $5.5M in friends, family and angel funding in the second half of 2009 – more than twice the $2.3M raised in the first six months of 2009. Graduates reported employing over 550 people at the end of 2009 – up 124% from the 246 employed before they entered the Springboard program. Read full report here.

March 18, 2010
CONNECT Innovation Report Released with 2009 Wrap-up on the Health of San Diego’s Innovation Economy
The CONNECT Innovation Report (CIR) is the first to provide an economic indicator of the strength and impact of the innovation economy in San Diego. More than 300 new technology start-ups were formed in San Diego in 2009, up 13% from the previous year. Statewide, San Diego had 74 start-ups or 11% of new technology businesses in the fourth quarter of 2009, ranking third after Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties. Click here for press release. Read full report here.

March 11, 2010 (BikeRadar)
Along with 3,000 fellow participants, Bill Walton cycles the 2nd-annual Colnago Gran Fondo

March 11, 2010 (San Diego Metropolitan Magazine)
Garrett Hale joins CONNECT staff to support basketball Hall of Famer, Bill Walton

March 11, 2010 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
CONNECT CEO Duane Roth, co-publishes new Kauffman paper revamping the traditional financing model
In a recent white paper, Roth has proposed a new model for financing: Have teams of scientists — such as those at CONNECT’s La Jolla Research and Innovation Summit — go into the market with a portfolio of several ideas, some of which may be doomed to failure, while others may hit home runs. Under his plan, angel investors would finance the earliest phase of development and then potential buyers — such as the big pharmaceutical companies — would step in to work in partnership with the scientific teams to develop the most promising technologies.

March 11, 2010 (San Diego Metropolitan Magazine)
CONNECT recruiting full-time lobbyist for D.C. office, to represent San Diego innovators
More than 70% of funding for innovation in San Diego is coming from the federal government yet there is no organization in D.C. to represent local interests. The focus of the lobbyist will be federal policy issues that will foster or hinder innovation in San Diego. CONNECT believes it is critical to be at the table to explain the impact on innovation and small business. To become aware of and gain access to these critical discussions CONNECT will now have a consistent presence and close relationships with legislative offices and administration officials, said CONNECT CEO, Duane Roth.

March 11, 2010 (Voice of San Diego)
The next reinvention of Bill Walton
Bill Walton, executive chairman of SD Sport Innovators, sheds light on his journey; from NBA star, to renowned commentator and now businessman.

March 11, 2010 (NBC)
CONNECT transfers research to technology: Live NBC interview with CONNECT CEO Duane Roth and SD Sport Innovators Chairman Bill Walton

March 11, 2010 (LEAD San Diego)
CONNECT CEO, Duane Roth, recipient of The Economic Opportunity Award at LEAD SD’s Visionary Awards

Roth recognized for his visionary leadership in creating economic opportunities that improve the quality of life in our region.

March 4, 2010 (Xconomy)
Innovation Summit Highlights Drug Development, Cleantech, and Potential Impact of Drought

The La Jolla Research & Innovation Summit held yesterday at the Salk Institute was a smaller and a much more modest affair than the inaugural summit that Connect CEO Duane Roth organized last year.

 

February 26, 2010 (The Wall Street Journal)
Skateboards Now Hang in Galleries, But Are They Wheelie Art?

Mark Schmid, SD Sport Innovators board member, featured in The Wall Street Journal cover feature.

 

February 25, 2010 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Bill Walton Joins Greener Dawn Team

Greener Dawn, which focuses on sustainability, clean technology and energy efficiency, has announced an alliance with NBA legend Bill Walton. Bill Walton has joined the Green Dawn team as their Green Ambassador to help brand and market the company on the local and national level.

 

February 23, 2010 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Big Apple hopes to emulate our high-tech success

The city of San Diego had a prominent mention in New York City’s 2010 State of the City address. Why?

 

February 19, 2010 (San Diego Business Journal)
CONNECT Association Names Three to Board

CONNECT has named Phil Jelsma, Bill Walton and Jim Waring to the CONNECT Association board of directors, the organization said Feb. 16.

 

February 18, 2010 (Crain's New York.com)
Speaker Quinn unveils job recovery plan

She announced High Tech Connect, patterned after a successful program in San Diego that pairs budding tech companies with successful entrepreneurs in the industry, and helps them develop business plans and find work space.

 

February 18, 2010
Access federal grants with new CONNECT Federal Funding Portal

Working with the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) CONNECT has developed a new set of tools to help member companies and local entrepreneurs identify federal research funding opportunities. CONNECT members should email membership@connect.org for their username and password for accessing the secure system from Calit2. Visit the portal at www.connect.org – click on the “Capital” icon and choose “Federal Grants Database.”

 

February 18, 2010 (CONNECT Document)
Springboard Quarterly Results: Four CONNECT mentored companies land EvoNexus incubator spots

The last quarter of 2009 saw a major increase in activity on all fronts. A number of our graduates were honored in prestigious competitions.

 

February 18, 2010 (Press Release)
CONNECT Association elects San Diego Sport Innovators Chair Bill Walton, CleanTECH San Diego Chair Jim Waring and Luce Forward Partner Phil Jelsma to Board.

 

February 17, 2010
Trading Lessons Learned at MIT Enterprise Forum in February

Neil Senturia of San Diego News Network engaged in a lively sparring match with long time friend Alan Webber, founding editor of Fast Company magazine and author of Rules of Thumb, at last month’s MIT Enterprise Forum. “Change is a math formula … wouldn’t you like to know what the formula is?”

 

February 15, 2010 (The Daily Transcript)
New technologies could improve patient care, cut costs

Priority areas are speed, responsiveness and forward presence that networks and related systems provide.

 

February 11, 2010 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Connect to open D.C. office for lobbying

San Diego’s Connect, a nonprofit group dedicated to helping build clean-tech, high-tech and biotech businesses in the county, is opening an office in Washington, D.C., to lobby the federal government to provide more support for innovative startups.

 

February 8, 2010 (San Diego Business Journal)
CONNECT Goes to Washington

Most high-tech entrepreneurs and innovators don’t have time to put on a tie and sit through a three-hour meeting about policy issues in Washington, D.C. They are too busy creating the next generation of digital mobile applications and lifesaving health care products, and creating jobs for the new innovation economy. There has not been a strong voice or presence in the nation’s capital to represent these innovators, who neither have the money nor bandwidth to lobby or educate representatives on their needs and interests — until now.

 

February 8, 2010 (Xconomy)
Connect Creates Post for Innovation Lobbyist in Washington DC

Connect, the San Diego non-profit that supports local technology and entrepreneurship, says it is opening an office in Washington D.C. “to be part of the process,” and to represent the interests of San Diego’s innovation community.

 

February 8, 2010 (Press Release)
CONNECT Opens DC Office - New Voice Will Represent Innovators

CONNECT today announced that it is opening an office in Washington, DC to ensure that there is a strong link between the San Diego innovation community and the federal government.

 

February 5, 2010 (San Diego News Network)
CONNECT in the Capitol

CONNECT San Diego is building its presence in Washington, D.C. The nonprofit accelerator for San Diego technology and life sciences companies is hiring a full-time D.C.-based director to represent San Diego’s innovation community, and to build relationships with legislators and advocate for policy.

 

February 4, 2010 (Press Release)
CONNECT Promotes Two Program Managers

Steve Hoey is promoted to Senior Program Manager and Linda Wells to Program Manager

 

February 4, 2010 (Press Release)
CONNECT Adds Garrett Hale, Madelaine Holden and Ashley Strange to Program Team

CONNECT today announced that Garrett Hale, Madelaine Holden and Ashley Strange have joined the organization.

 

February 1, 2010 (The Daily Transcript)
Issa discusses hold-up on patent reform

The politics behind patent reform are both what's holding it up and also the only thing that will propel it forward. This is what U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) told technology and life science industry members at a Connect event Monday. Issa said it has been a struggle to get the Senate and House to collaborate on a meaningful reform bill, and the partisan rancor in Washington hasn't helped either.

 

February 1, 2010 (Press Release)
CONNECT Foundation Expands Board of Directors

CONNECT today announced the nomination and approval of Paul Laikind PhD, Bruce Breslau and Helder Sebastiao PhD as the newest members of the CONNECT Foundation 501(c) 3 Board of Directors.

 

January 2010 (Press Release)
The Distributed Partnering Model for Drug Discovery and Development

A new Kauffman Paper called: From a Trickle to a Tidal Wave has been released and was co-authored by Duane Roth, CONNECT CEO. The paper outlines a potential solution for filling our drug development pipeline and protecting U.S. global dominance in biomedical products. Roth and co-author Pedro Cuatrecasas, a biochemist and adjunct professor for the Departments of Pharmacology and Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, say their distributed partnering model could foster productive, efficient advancement of biomedical innovations.

 

January 26, 2010 (Xconomy)
Addressing the Innovation “Valley of Death:” It’s the Products, Stupid!

Duane Roth, CONNECT CEO writes about the Distributed Partnering Model a new funding model for innovation proposed by Roth and Pedro Cuatrecasas a professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and of Internal Medicine at UC San Diego that was just recently published as a paper called From a Trickle to a Tidal Wave by the Kauffman Foundation.

 

January 25, 2010 (Kauffman Paper)
From a Trickle to a Tidal Wave: New Kauffman Paper Outlines Potential Solution for Filling Drug Pipeline and Protecting U.S. Global Dominance in Biomedical Products

Duane Roth, chief executive officer of CONNECT is the co-author of a new Kauffman Paper that outlines a potential solution for filling our drug development pipeline and protecting U.S. global dominance in biomedical products called: From a Trickle to a Tidal Wave. The paper’s authors say drug discovery is in jeopardy and recommend new 'distributed partnership' model for speeding therapeutic products to market. The paper indicates the United States could speed the flow of new therapeutic drugs into thirsty industry pipelines by creating a new model for drug discovery and development. Roth and co-author Pedro Cuatrecasas, a biochemist and adjunct professor for the Departments of Pharmacology and Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, say their distributed partnering model could foster productive, efficient advancement of biomedical innovations.

 

January 25, 2010 (San Diego Business Journal)
Slam-Dunk

CONNECT Teams With Bill Walton, Establishes New Trade Organization In Support of Local Sports and Entertainment Industry

 

January 22, 2010 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Connect tries hand at sports, entertainment

Connect in San Diego has been renowned for linking up academic researchers and entrepreneurs with investors and business mentors, mostly in technology and biotech fields. Now it is setting its sights on the sports and entertainment industries. The nonprofit organization has named Bill Walton, a former UCLA and NBA player and TV sports commentator, as executive chairman of Connect Sports and Entertainment Innovators.

 

January 15, 2010 (Malakye.com)
Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton to Lead CONNECT’s Sports and Entertainment Innovators organization

The sport and entertainment innovation cluster is more than 600 companies strong in San Diego and a regional economic powerhouse. Yet until now, no trade organization has existed to help young companies in the industry to find funding, source innovation or understand business basics. To help remedy this situation, CONNECT is incubating a new sports and entertainment trade organization. San Diego native and lifelong resident, Bill Walton, who also starred at UCLA and in the NBA, will champion the effort as Executive Chairman.

 

January 14, 2010 (San Diego Metopolitan)
Bill Walton to Lead New Sports and Entertainment Venture

CONNECT, the nonprofit organization that promotes the growth of San Diego’s high-tech and life science industries, is “incubating” a new sports and entertainment trade organization and has chosen basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton to lead it as executive chairman.

 

January 5, 2010 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Community, elected leaders think big when it comes to resolutions

As we start the first full week of 2010, here’s how some local leaders are resolving to make San Diego County a better place to live.

 

January 2, 2010 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Local leaders cite 2009’s top events

The year 2009 is now history, and 2010 is fertile territory for dreams. So I polled several local leaders on their views of the best of 2009 as well as how they hope to make San Diego a better place this year. Here is their take on the most significant events of 2009.

 

December 2009 (Video)
San Diego Fox5 coverage on 2009 Connect MIP Awards

 

December 2009 (Video)
San Diego 6 coverage on 2009 Connect MIP Awards

 

December 11, 2009 (San Diego Business Journal)
Connect honors companies for innovation

The technology trade group Connect held its annual Most Innovative Product awards Friday, announcing winners in six categories and one special award.

 

December 3, 2009 (The Daily Transcript)
Pills, wellness and reform angst

The future of health-care reform has been dangling like a dark cloud over the White House and Congress ever since President Obama took on the challenge for change. November legislation cleared the first hurdle when the House came up with a convoluted bill that is still being debated this week in the Senate.

 

October 28, 2009 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
El Cajon is much more than one famous alum

While it may be popular to advocate for recognition of today's entertainers and sports performers, lobbying for their canonization to the derision of the cities where they were raised is, at best, misguided.

 

October 21, 2009 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Solving San Diego’s Venture Capital Crisis is Mission for New Task Force of Tech Leaders

The evaporation of much of San Diego’s hometown venture capital base has prompted the city’s technology community to organize a business task force to find new ways of getting startup capital to early stage companies.

 

October 16, 2009 (FierceBiotech)
New bill boosts federal funding for biotech

Congress is getting set to consider a bill that would help provide new funding for fledgling tech businesses, including biotech start-ups.

 

October 15, 2009 (Union Tribune)
Strong wireless network essential

San Diego is home to the largest cluster of wireless companies in the world and a growing wireless health cluster of innovation. This burgeoning industry comprises more than 200 companies and is a vital part of our economy.

 

October 6, 2009 (North County Times)
INNOVATION: E-waste to cash gets innovation nod

The consumer electronics boom has produced a corresponding plethora in something less desirable: ever-growing mountains of discarded cell phones, cordless phones, PlayStations, GameBoys, iPods, etc. But what if you could get rid of e-waste as easily as you bought it ---- and get some money back?

 

September 28, 2009
CONNECT Announces Finalists For 22nd Annual Most Innovative New Product Awards

CONNECT, regarded as the world's most successful regional program linking inventors and entrepreneurs with the resources they need for success, today announced the finalists for the 2009 Most Innovative New Product (MIP) Awards. Winners will be announced on December 11th at the MIP Awards Luncheon, held at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, to an audience of over 800 of San Diego's top executives, entrepreneurs, service providers and academics.

 

September 21, 2009 (San Diego Business Journal)
Pulse Strengthening for Region’s Startups

Connect, a 300-member trade group based in San Diego, issued its much-anticipated second-quarter Innovation Report on Sept. 16 that examines crucial sectors of the region’s economy and offers insight into the rebound under way among life sciences and technology startup firms.

 

September 15, 2009
The Distributed Partnering Model for Drug Discovery and Development

Once upon a time, the U.S. industry was prolific in developing new and innovative medicines.

 

September 15, 2009 (U.S. News)
US News and World Report Ranks San Diego one of the Top 10 Cities for Tech Jobs

It's a recession, so few things are booming and no city is exactly thriving. But within the tech industry, some cities clearly have more job opportunities than others.

 

September 15, 2009 (San Diego News Network)
San Diego’s venture capital investments nearly doubled in Q2

Start-up companies and federal grants in the life science industries also see jump in second quarter this year. San Diego’s technology and life science industries are seeing signs of renewal.

 

September 15, 2009 (Xconomy)
Report: San Diego’s Innovation Economy Shows Q2 Uptick in Startups, Patents, and Investments

A just-released report on San Diego’s innovation economy shows 102 new technology companies were created during the three months that ended on June 30—a 53 percent increase over the 66 startups launched during the first three months of 2009, and 34 percent more than the 76 companies started during the second quarter of 2008.

 

September 14, 2009 (San Diego Business Journal)
For Tightfisted Investors, Only the Best Ideas Will Do

The sands of venture capital markets are shifting amid a protracted recession that’s stifling the prospects of many technology startups.

 

September 11, 2009
Welcome to CONNECT: Helicon Therapeutics and Dart Neuroscience LLC

Dr. Tim Tully bounds into the lobby of his sleek Sorrento Mesa facility, greets me and charges off to one of his two offices; one he occupies as Chief Science Officer of Helicon, the other as CSO of Dart Neuroscience LLC. We settle into the second space, looking out over the hills and scrub to a distant view of the ocean, and Tully begins the Helicon story. It is the story of a quest and how this company, recently transplanted from Farmingdale New York, is searching for a scientific Holy Grail: the biological basis of memory and the creation of drugs that will enhance cognition.

 

September 7, 2009 (San Diego Business Journal)
Life Sciences Startups Landing Grants

With venture capital funding all but dried up for many life sciences startups, some have turned to agencies that specialize in navigating complex government databases and matching businesses with sometimes lucrative grants.

 

August 21, 2009 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
San Diego's Connect Takes Offensive, Sets Agenda for Stoking the Region's Innovation Economy

Lots of people have been saying the VC model for funding technology innovation is broken. Now San Diego’s Duane Roth has some ideas for ways the regional technology community can try to do things differently.

 

August 20, 2009 (Forbes.com)
Springboard Graduate - Kerosene and a Match - Highlighted on Forbes.com as Americas Most Promising Companies

San Clemente, Calif.-based Kerosene and a Match (KaaM), launched in 2008 by Cleve Adams, aims to amp up online searching with software that acts as a complement to Google, Yahoo! or any other search engine by allowing users to rummage through non-text-based content such as images, audio or video.

 

August 2009 (San Diego Metropolitan)
San Diego’s sports firms get pep talk at Connect S.I. forum

San Diego is home to more than 650 action and sports companies, serving such markets as surfing, skating, skiing, lifestyle and street wear. Now CONNECT S.I., which stands for Sports Innovators, formed this January, is helping accelerate the growth of these emerging action sports, sporting goods and traditional sports companies.

 

July 29, 2009 (press release)
CONNECT Announces Five New Initiatives in Support of the San Diego Innovation Economy

CONNECT, the architect of San Diego’s innovation economy, today announced a major expansion to address the challenges and opportunities to commercialize early stage San Diego technology innovations.

 

July 2009 (press release)
CONNECT Innovation Report Reveals Rate of Startups and Grants Hold Steady in San Diego Despite Economy

CONNECT, the San Diego region’s non-profit technology and life sciences accelerator, released its 2009 first quarter CONNECT Innovation Report (CIR) on June 15. The report, developed in partnership with the National University System Institute for Policy Research, University of California, San Diego Extension, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Procopio, tracks and measures the state of San Diego’s and California’s innovation economy. The data reports federal research funding to San Diego has sharply increased and start-ups were up over the same period in 2008. Venture capital investment in San Diego fell to its lowest level in twelve years.

 

May 13, 2009 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Stem Cell Board Elects Roth Vice-Chair

Duane Roth, CEO of San Diego’s Connect (and an Xconomist), was elected today as vice-chair of the governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state’s stem cell agency.

 

May 2009 (Entrepreneur Magazine)
A New Take on Incubators: Today's incubators provide cutting-edge support for your startup

Business incubators--organizations that help entrepreneurs get off the ground through mentoring, funding and facilities--have been around since the 1950s. At the turn of the millennium, for-profit incubators were a hot commodity until they deflated with the dotcom bubble. But this year, despite a down economy, the luster is returning to incubation. President Obama has pledged $250 million a year in federal funds to seed a regional network of such organizations--an effort aimed at growing jobs and innovation. So people are talking about incubators again.

 

May 7, 2009 (Malakye.com)
Action Sports Execs Join Connect S.I. Advisory Board

CONNECT Sports Innovators, an accelerator program dedicated to emerging action sports, sporting goods and traditional sports companies in San Diego, announced today, the newest members to its 2009 advisory board. CONNECT Sports Innovators currently reaches out to more than 900 action, sports and active lifestyle companies; an increasingly technology-centric industry that employs between 25,000 and 35,000 San Diego residents and includes everything from surf to bike to golf gear.

 

April 9, 2009 (Xconomy)
Navy Showcases R&D Lab to Business Community and High Tech Execs

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders has referred to SPAWAR, the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, as one of the city’s best kept secrets, and I started to understand why during a presentation yesterday at San Diego’s Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.

 

April 4, 2009 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Scientists and investors mingle at summit

A sort of debutant ball for high-tech scientists unfolded in La Jolla this week in an effort to introduce the region's top professionals and their cutting-edge ideas to venture capital investors from across the country. Instead of ball gowns and big hair, there were lots of PowerPoint presentations and gray suits, and talk of how hair can be turned into embryonic-like stem cells for therapeutics and drug testing. The inaugural La Jolla Research and Innovation Summit was organized to show investors where San Diego's many research institutes are heading in biotechnology, clean tech, wireless and information technology.

 

April 3, 2009 (Xconomy)
Venter Outlines Progress in Engineering Microbes to Make Fuels

Connect CEO Duane Roth says that when he was organizing an “innovation summit” to showcase San Diego’s prowess in advanced research and innovation, he wanted to start each session of the two-day event with a scientific headliner as keynote speaker. And J. Craig Venter, who gained fame for his sequencing and analysis of the human genome, lived up to his billing as summit’s opening act yesterday.

 

April 2, 2009 (San Diego News Network)
Scientists and investors mingle at summit

About 100 venture capitalists gathered in La Jolla on Thursday to learn about scientific discoveries that could fuel the clean tech, biotech and wireless technology industries of the future.

 

March 23, 2009 (Press Release)
CONNECT Mentoring Leads to Strong Impact on Local Economy and Start-up Financing

CONNECT, San Diego’s technology and life sciences accelerator, graduated 118 companies from its Springboard program and high-tech and life sciences mentoring program over the past four years and 89, or 75%, are still in business. On average, these 89 companies are making an average impact on the San Diego economy of $3 million per company, according to two new studies released today.

 

March 19, 2009 (Press Release)
"Top Venture Capitalists to Pow Wow with World Class San Diego Researchers, April 2-3 2009"

CONNECT has developed a new program, The La Jolla Research & Innovation Summit - a closed meeting to showcase San Diego research excellence to an exclusive group of 50 out-of-town venture capitalists. Josh Green, Partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures said, “We are eagerly awaiting the CONNECT La Jolla Research & Innovation Summit – San Diego seems to be an untapped market with an extraordinary amount of innovation and opportunity for future investment.”

 

March 17, 2009 (Xconomy)
A Snapshot of San Diego’s Innovation Economy

San Diego’s spirit of entrepreneurship remained resilient in 2008, despite a credit crisis that precipitated one of the worst financial periods in U.S. history, according to Connect, a San Diego nonprofit group that promotes technology innovation and entrepreneurship.

 

March 16, 2009 (Press Release)
CONNECT Innovation Report Reveals Steady Innovation in San Diego

CONNECT’s Fourth Quarter Data Reveals New Company Start-up Creation Better Than Expected; Higher Local VC Investment Compared to Q3; Patent Applications Up

 

February 20, 2009 (Press Release)
Connect with CONNECT: San Diego Sport and Active Lifestyle Industry Gathers for Evening of Networking

CONNECT Sport Innovators will host a premier networking event, Connect with CONNECT, on Wednesday, Feb. 25. San Diego is home to more than 650 action & sport companies in the surf, skate, swim, snow, moto, wake, lifestyle and street wear industries that are leading the latest high tech, clean tech and online technology. Local sport innovators, leaders and entrepreneurs will gather to check out the latest tech gear and demos, get connected with key players and pick up on trends that are driving customer acceptance in diverse segments of the action sports industry.

 

February 9, 2009 (Press Release)
MIT Enterprise Forum of San Diego Presents: Building Your Business in the Face of Global Competition-Entrepreneurship in Difficult Times

 

January 19, 2009 (Press Release)
CONNECT to Induct General Atomics’ Neal and Linden Blue into Entrepreneur Hall of Fame; Jan. 28

Neal Blue, chairman and CEO of General Atomics, and Linden Blue, vice chairman of General Atomics, will be inducted into the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame on Jan. 28, by CONNECT, the San Diego region’s non-profit technology and life sciences accelerator.

 

January 12, 2009 (Press Release)
CONNECT Seeks Venture-Ready Life Sciences Companies

CONNECT, one of the nation's most successful regional economic development programs for life science innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs, is accepting applications from companies to participate in its 2009 Life Sciences Venture Roundtable scheduled for March 10.

 

January 11, 2009 (Voice of San Diego)
Venture Capital at a Crossroads

"Like so many things in the world of finance, the way in which small start-up companies in San Diego and elsewhere get their seed money might be forever changed by the crash of 2008.

The explosive growth of San Diego's high tech and biotech sectors over the past two decades was largely dependent on the venture capital financing model, a model that industry experts say has broken down over the past year..."

 

January 7, 2009 (Press Release)
MIT Enterprise Forum of San Diego Presents: Sell, Spin-off or Go It Alone: Illuminating OPOTEK’s Path to Success

MIT Enterprise Forum to Provide Expert Insight into Igniting a Profitable Business’s Growth Potential; Jan. 21

 

January 7, 2009
CONNECT and San Diego's Generation Innovation

 

December 22, 2008 (Daily Journal)
In San Diego, Action Sports Lawyers Offer Valuable Advice to New Ventures

Feel the adrenaline rush. The heart-pumping thrill of riding a wave, careening down an icy slope or skate boarding into bliss. You are a champ.

So, how hard can it be to cash in on your passion? Transform your weekend hobby into a money-maker...?

December 16, 2008 (biz San Diego)
CONNECT Announces San Diego’s Most Innovative New Products of 2008

 

December 15, 2008 (San Diego Metropolitan)
Daily Business Report

 

December 13, 2008 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
CONNECT hands out awards for innovation

 

December 12, 2008 (Xconomy)
Dude! San Diego’s Connect Gives Surf Board Maker (And 8 Others) Technology Award

 

November 25, 2008 (Daily Business Report)
Electric scooter 'zuums' into play

"Almost two decades ago, when this product was first launched into the market, Connect awarded the 1989 Most Innovative New Product Award to MedStation," says Duane Roth, CEO of Connect. "MedStation revolutionized the industry with new ..."

 

November 24, 2008 (Press Release)
MedStation by Pyxis to Receive 2008 William W. Otterson Award

 

November 19, 2008 (Press Release)
CONNECT Leader Helps San Diego Land Prestigious TEDMED2009 Conference

Brilliant Minds in Life Sciences and Health Care To Gather in San Diego for Annual Leadership Conference

 

October 31, 2008 (Video)
CleanTECH San Diego

Overview video of the mission and role of CleanTECH San Diego

 

October 14, 2008 (SignonSanDiego.com)
First half of 2008 strong for startups

Despite the growing sluggishness of the local economy, San Diego County was a strong center for high-tech business startups during the first half of the year, with strong year-to-year growth in entrepreneurial activity.

 

October 1, 2008 (UT News Article)
Electric scooter 'zuums' into play

Self-described tinkerer and car enthusiast Tom Boyd was a successful salesman with no engineering training 3½ years ago when he came up with an interesting idea for a vehicle steered by its rear wheels.

 

September 18, 2008 (NY Times News Article)
Entrepreneurial Edge: Helping New Technologies Grow Into Businesses, the San Diego Way

So far, San Diego remains a fertile breeding ground for entrepreneurs, despite the problems in the broader economy.

That is due in large part to a nonprofit organization, Connect, that was created 23 years ago to bring together people knowledgeable about business and investment capital with researchers at the universities and research institutes in San Diego.

 

September 29, 2008 (Press Release)
CONNECT Announces the 2008 MIP Finalists

CONNECT, one of the nation's most successful regional economic development programs for high technology and life science innovators, today announced the finalists for this year’s Most Innovative New Product (MIP) Awards. The winners will be announced December 12th at the 21st Annual MIP Awards Luncheon, held at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, to an audience of over 800 of San Diego's top executives, entrepreneurs, service providers and academics.

 

July 14, 2008 (Press Release)
CONNECT Adds New Categories and Opens Call for Nominations For 2008 Most Innovative New Product Awards

CONNECT, one of the nation's most successful regional economic development programs for high technology and life science innovators, announced that it has added two new award categories for the 2008 Most Innovative New Product (MIP) Awards -- action and sport technologies and aerospace technology -- to mirror new economic growth and achievements in the sectors.

 

May 17, 2008 (News Article)
ENTREPRENEURS: Connect rebounds as advocate and guide

At the center of this beehive of entrepreneurs is Connect, a non-profit organization founded in 1985. Connect teaches entrepreneurs how to form companies and commercialize technologies. It also hosts events that brings together people from academia, business and finance.

 

May 01, 2008 (Radio Interview)
Creating New Energy Solutions and ‘Green-collar’ Jobs

Camille Sobrain, COO of CONNECT, is interviewed on NPR's These Days Show talking about the clean movement.

 

March 22, 2008 (Video)
VOZ Sports featured on KUSI news segment

Most Innovative New Product Awards 2008 winner, Voz Sports, is featured on KUSI

 

March 3, 2008 (Press Release)
Human Genome Pioneer Dr. J. Craig Venter to Speak: On Genomic Advances & New Energy Sources on March 20

CONNECT, CleanTECH San Diego, BIOCOM and UC San Diego Set 5 p.m. event as part of Frontiers in Science lecture series

 

February 28, 2008 (San Diego Business Journal)
Sports Enthusiasts Take Action to Organize Their Cottage Industry: Hundreds Attend CONNECT’s Inaugural Event for Innovators

While sports-related businesses in the county employ more than 30,000 people, according to the San Diego technology and life sciences networking group Connect, the action sports industry often gets overlooked by investors. Its entrepreneurs tend to be younger and less polished, says Thompson, but they compensate for their lack of formal training with youth and passion.

 

February 25, 2008 (Press Release)
CONNECT to Induct Dr. J. Robert Beyster of SAIC into Entrepreneur Hall of Fame on March 20

Recognized Authority on National Security and Reactor Physics to be Honored for 40 Years of Business, Technology, Civic Achievements

 

February 25, 2008 (Press Release)
CONNECT Seeks Clean Technology Innovators

Applications Being Accepted from Entrepreneurs to Present to Investors at Private Showcase on May 7

 

February 11, 2008 (shop-eat-surf.com Article)
New opportunities to score business help

Two items arrived in my inbox lately that I think are of interest to some of you out there, especially the emerging brands. Two groups are offering business advice to help take companies to the next level. One is a new San Diego-based organization Action & Sport Innovators (ASI), which is offering free mentoring to entrepreneurs to help them tap into financing and connect with other resources. ASI is having its inaugural networking event this Tuesday night in San Diego. Details about ASI and the event are below.

 

February 11, 2008 (Press Release)
San Diego MIT Enterprise Forum Presents Creating Companies from Emerging Technologies on Feb. 20

Expert forum to provide perspectives from Cambridge, Menlo Park and San Diego,
and a sneak preview of the top ten technologies for 2008

 

February 4, 2008 (Press Release)
Action and Sports Leaders to Gather for 'X-treme Networking of Feb. 12th.

Incubated within CONNECT, new business accelerator expected to help fuel multibillion-dollar industry

 

January 10, 2008 (Press Release)
From Scooters to SUVs: CONNECT’s MIT Enterprise Forum Presents Revolutionary Transmission Technology; Jan. 16

Fallbrook Technologies Inc. to display and discuss their Nu Vinici® CVP, a gearless technology transforming modern transportation

 

January 11, 2008 (KUSI Video)
CONNECT 2007 Annual Report

Action Sports Innovators' founder, Marco Thompson, was in our studio Friday morning to share with us why San Diego is the Mecca of the action sports industry.

 

January 1, 2008 (CONNECT Document)
CONNECT 2007 Annual Report

A look back at CONNECT's 2007 programming activities, financial status, and membership body

 

November 28, 2007 (Press Release)
U.S. Patent and Trade Office Director to Speak on Local Effect of Landmark IP Law Changes; Dec. 11

CONNECT and Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP Host Policy Forum to Outline Impact on San Diego Tech Companies

 

November 19, 2007 (Press Release)
CONNECT to Announce 2007’s Most Innovative Products at 20th Annual Awards Luncheon Dec. 14; Mayor to Speak

Product developed by Cymer Inc. to receive Otterson Award for Enabling Semiconductor Chip Production

 

November 6, 2007 (Press Release)
Scripps Founder, Designer of Insulin, and Discoverer of Obesity Gene to Participate in Local Biotech Symposium

Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Ferring Research Institute Host 2nd Annual Peptide Therapeutics Symposium Nov. 10

 

October 29, 2007 (Press Release)
CONNECT Extends Application Deadline for Life Sciences Venture Roundtable

Roundtable Open to Companies and Scientists Interested in Presenting Technologies to San Diego Venture Capital Community

 

October 17, 2007 (Press Release)
Life Science Community to Gather for 2nd Annual Stem Cell Research Symposium Oct. 19th.

One year, 29 grants and $38 million dollars in funding later, San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine invites diverse panel to discuss progress in stem cell research

 

October 16, 2007 (Press Release)
CONNECT Names Tricia Geringer Director of Public Policy and Development

Over 10 years as Policy Advisory to U.S. Congressman, Significant Media and Political Experience

 

October 15, 2007 (Press Release)
CONNECT Announces Breakaway Innovation™ Series To Accelerate New Business Growth and Innovation

Exclusive Three-Part Series to Delve into the Latest Theories In Strategy, Mindset and Launch