2. Credits
This guide was put together based on the book Startup Communities by Brad Feld
and the similar guides put together for Boulder and Los Angeles.
•Brad Feld @bfeld book: “Startup Communities” http://www.amazon.com/Startup-
Communities-Building-Entrepreneurial-Ecosystem/dp/1118441540
•David Cohen “Hitchhiker’s guide to Boulder Startup Community”
http://www.slideshare.net/dgcohen23/a-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-boulder-startup-
community-1
•Sam Teller/LaunchPAD LA “An intro to LA startup community”
http://launchpad.la/private/33809102871/tumblr_mc2e6he2621rw790y
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3. Contributors
This guide was started after seeing the similar ones for Boulder and LA and how
useful they were and hope other tech founders based in OC or with information
about OC tech scene will let us know. please comment with additions or
corrections.
•Darius Vasefi @dariusvasefi
•Andrew Bermudez @andrewbermudez
•you :-)
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4. Characteristics of a vibrant startup
community
• Lead by entrepreneurs (i.e. tech startup founders)
• Be all-inclusive, not owned by one person or group...
• Have continual, meaningful activities for entire entrepreneurial stack
(founders, sales, dev, mktg, legal, finance, etc.)
• Mentorship-driven (not advisor-driven)
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5. About
Orange
County
• Located between Los
Angeles and San Diego
• Population: 3,055,745 (7/11)
• Traditional industries: Real
estate/construction,
automotive, apparel, ...
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7. Tech Startups
“Active” software/hardware/web/mobile companies based in OC
[partial list - WIP]
[partial list - WIP]
Startup Contact [partial list - WIP] Product / service
Stage Vertical / industry
CatchFree public availability
Real estate
Dealworks @
Telephony
Drumbi @getdrumbi
?
EyeOnJewels @eyeonjewels Pilot program e-commerce, retail, jewelry
Red 5 Studios Inc gaming software
SignNow @signnow Electronic signatures
YouMail Inc. Smart phone apps
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8. Startup-friendly larger Tech companies
with significant presence in OC
• Google (Newport Beach)
• Microsoft (Aliso Viejo)
• SendGrid (Irvine)
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9. Mentors
People helping startups NOT expecting anything in return.
People helping startups NOT expecting anything in return.
• Coming soon
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10. Blogs
www.daggle.com
Danny Sullivan @dannysullivan Editor of SearchEngineLand.com
www.startup-marketing.com
Sean Ellis
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11. Meetups
(Useful, educational content - not just networking/party)
(Useful, educational content - not just networking/party)
• meetup.com/OC-Tech-Startup
• meetup.com/StartupOC/
• meetup.com/OCHackerz/ @OCHackerz
• meetup.com/oc-php/
• http://www.ocux.org
• http://www.meetup.com/techcoastangels/
• http://www.meetup.com/RockfieldLabs/
• http://www.meetup.com/106MilesSoCal/ [some OC meetups]
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12. Events & Conferences
• Startup Weekend: orangecounty.startupweekend.org
• VC in the OC (biotech?)
• Ted-X Orange County
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13. Universities
• UC Irvine
• Cal State Fullerton
• Chapman
• Community colleges
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14. - Have office in OC
Venture Capital - Invest in OC (software/Web)
- Active (at least 2-3 investments/year)
- Mentorship activities
- Contact/social: (blog, twitter, Linkedin, etc...)
’11/’12 OC Software/Web investments
Miramar
Okapi
Palomar
Sail
Miramar Venture Partners
Bruce Hallett Okapi Venture Capital
Bob Holmen B. MARC AVERITT
Sail Venture Partners Heiner Sussner
Palomar Ventures
Sharon Stevenson
Henry Habicht Rick Fink (949) 715-5555
http://www.miramarvp.com Jim Gauger
Walter Schindler www.OKAPIVC.COM
Corona Del Mar, Bob Obuch
Alan Sellers
Early and Expansion Stage Amanda Reed
Michael Hammons
IT Services/Software Scott Walters
Chris Rhoades
http://www.palomarventures.com
http://www.sailcapital.com
Irvine
Irvine
Startup Seed, Early Stage
Startup/Seed, Early Stage, Expansion, Later Stage
IT
Financial, Energy, IT Services, Software
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15. Angel Investors
That are “actively” investing in OC tech startups
“Active = have invested in at least 1 OC-based startup in past 12 months as
identified on AngelList (?)”
“Active = have invested in at least 1 OC-based startup in past 12 months as
identified on AngelList (?)”
“Active = have invested in at least 1 OC-based startup in past 12 months as
identified on AngelList (?)”
angel.co/orange-county
•Amir Banifatemi
•Matt Mireles
•Tech Coast Angels - group
•Ray Chan
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17. Support organizations
Non-profit organizations “active” in helping tech startups
Non-profit organizations “active” in helping tech startups
• Microsoft BizSpark
• Octane
• Chapman university has a program?
• Anything at UCI?
• Cal State Fullerton?
• TCVN
• OCVG
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28. Engage - add to this guide
We are looking for feedback from all Orange County startup folks to make this
guide more complete and useful. Please contact us with your comments and
information.
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