My Day Meeting Three Pillars of the Startup and Investment Communities in Sacramento
Today I had the distinct pleasure of meeting three pillars of the startup and investment communities in Sacramento area. Traveling with my new travel partner and mentor, Dave Sanders, it was a full day of back-to-back meetings concerning the transformation of the region into a viable tech hub.
Roger Akers, Smart Guy
I first met Roger at the SacAngels Dinner. The event, which promotes itself as "the GPS for Startups" is held several times per year at the Granite Bay Golf Club and attracts a crowd of the area's most esteemed angel investors and top startups. I knew I was talking to a man of local renown when I first got introduced to Roger. You could tell his questions and comments carried extra weight in the room. And then again, at our meeting today, Roger asks such incisive questions and delivered such quality insights for us that we asked him to become an advisor to our Digital Sacramento initiative (which we're this close to unveiling. THIS close!)
Location: Worldbridge Partner offices in Roseville.
Loius Stewart, Chief Innovation Officer for the Sacramento Mayor's Office
Very bright guy. Picked a decent Japanese Restaurant called Takumi Izakaya, wherein I quietly savoured spicy pork Ramen while the real professionals were talking about how to work with the Sacramento Mayor’s Office to grow the areas tech community.
Location: Takumi Izakaya
Seung Bach, Professor of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship
Last on the menu, met with a very interesting fellow who immigrated from South Korea and has several tie-ins to the tech community, not the least of which is the Professor of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship at CSUS. We got acquainted with each other over a delightful wine (Blake Zinfandel) at House of Oliver and discussed and what area tech companies can do for students.
Location: House of Oliver
Back in time to take a nap and do a few hours of client work.