Neal sits down with Eric Weiss, a fellow longtime builder in San Diego’s startup ecosystem. Eric is a self-described “parallel entrepreneur,” founder coach, President of the Design Forward Alliance - which produces San Diego Design Week—and Vice Chair of Startup San Diego.

Neal and Eric first crossed paths during the early days of San Diego’s startup community, around EvoNexus and the 101 Broadway vertical campus that helped give rise to Startup Week and Startup San Diego. They revisit that era and trace Eric’s unconventional path from teenage black-hat hacker to earning an MBA in entrepreneurship at SDSU, followed by roles at Raytheon, Sony and Qualcomm. He eventually made the leap into the startup world with EvoNexus company Rock My Run.

At the heart of the conversation is the connective tissue that makes an entrepreneurial community work. Neal and Eric discuss what San Diego lost after COVID, why “third spaces” and professional community management matter more than a coworking lease, and Eric’s tendency to step into leadership vacuums - including helping San Diego become the first U.S. city, and first binational region, named World Design Capital.

Eric also makes the case that San Diego’s smaller, more tightly connected network—and its constraints - can be an advantage. The conversation closes with a preview of San Diego Design Week, running September 15–20, and a sleeper taco recommendation near the marina.

Key topics

The “founding cradle”: EvoNexus, The Vine, and 101 Broadway
Reformed hacker to Raytheon, Sony (PS3), and Qualcomm data science
Why he’s a “parallel entrepreneur” who falls into leadership vacuums
San Diego becoming the first American World Design Capital
Opening Design Week beyond digital - fashion, architecture, interiors
Connective tissue: third spaces and professional community management
San Diego vs. the Bay: tighter networks, constraints that filter imposters
Where San Diego wins: deep tech, hardware, and life science
The investor-vs-community-builder tension of being “the picker”

Links & resources

Connect on LinkedIn

Rising Tide Partners

The Connective Tissue