Citizenship, Community, and Mentoring (December Newsletter)
/The year-end always catches me off guard, leaving many things undone and unsaid. So, this December I want to succinctly thank the “doers.” Lets start with Citizenship: citizens take action to the benefit of a community. Residents just “live there” and enjoy the fruits of others’ commitment. So, here’s to all you excellent citizens in our SDSI community. You have selflessly built a community of common interest in the San Diego lifestyle industry. We now have 40,000 employees in our cluster, 1200 businesses and have a $6.3 Billion dollar economic impact. We are a long way from our start as a cottage industry!
And about this “community” concept….one of the obligations of community leadership is giving to the benefit of all. In this case, our Accelerator now enjoys a roster of 100 Mentors, each of whom will volunteer over 40 hours of expert advice to an entrepreneur to help them successfully scale and grow their business. Our Mentor Teams in total devote between 80 and 100 total hours of guidance to each individual member of each cohort. Does it work? SDSI has matriculated over 140 companies, helped raise in excess of $90M in capital, has a 75% “survival” rate, 51% of our graduate companies are in sport tech…and…amazingly, 35% of all companies are female founded or led! We make commerce, new companies and jobs, all in a place we truly love.
Our biggest thank you to all our SDSI citizens and best wishes to the OG’s, Ted Roth, with fondest of memories of his amazing brother Duane, Pat Kilkenny, Bill Walton, Marco Thompson, and John Sarkisian. Your leadership inspires us all.
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SDSI Honors Our Founders and Long Standing Members
We had a great opportunity this year to stop and reflect on SDSI's past and the path to where we are today. We were humbled to honor our original Founders and all our long time members that have been supporting our business community for more than 10 years. It was so much fun hearing their stories and lessons learned along the way . Check out the awards photos here and the full list of honorees here.
SDSI's 'Views From the Bus" Podcast - Kevin Tighe
We are also happy to announce Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP as the official sponsor of the Views from the Bus podcast. To listen to the newest episode, and hear Kevin's story of successful growth click here. In the latest episode of Views from the Bus, Bob talks with Kevin Tighe, CEO & Co-founder of Beachly Brands. Beachly is a subscription brand rooted in beach, outdoor, and active lifestyles. They have also been named one of the top 500 fastest-growing brands in America for back-to-back years.
Holiday Season is Nearly Over...Take Action Now With Member Discount Program
The Holiday season is now and there is no better way to support our local community than by shopping locally this Holiday Season. From Selk'bags, to Sunday Golf, Reef to Sun Bum, innovative products from up-and-coming brands, and more….the SDSI Member2Member Discount Program has got you covered! The program is for SDSI Members and Mentors only,reach out to get access now or if your company would like to be added to the list.
Welcome Back Renewing Member Isle Surf
Thank you Reed Naliboff and ISLE Surf & SUP for renewing their membership again. If you don't know ISLE Surf, they are a primarily a DTC company selling water sports gear for all. Including paddle boards, soft top surf boards, hybrid kayaks, and a bunch more for life on the water. Click here to check their Holiday sale going on now!
