Thirst Is a Lagging Indicator
Dr. Debbie Chen found the water signal in her own PhD data around 2007, laughed it off, and did nothing with it for a decade. Then came year...
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Technology
Tacos and Tech Podcast
The Tacos and Tech Podcast highlights the builders of companies, technologies, and the ecosystem of San Diego with a local flair for our lifestyle as well.
Episodes
20 of 214 episodes
Measure It at the Source
Max Darsonval spent twelve years in the SEAL teams, most of it as a combat medic, and left on what he calls a 50.01% decision. He’s now foun...
A Different Person in Every Game
Cody Germain spent seven years at Riot - leading competitive games on League of Legends, with the Valorant and Legends of Runeterra launches...
Teams Don’t Exist in Business
Larry Coval spent nearly four decades leading organizations at AT&T, Global Crossing, and Cox Business, and came out the other side convince...
Food for the People
Neal nerds out on tacos with Mauricio Velázquez de León - Mexico City-born writer-turned-publisher, founder of Duo Press, and author of An I...
Signals Before Symptoms
Neal sits down with Adam Jacobs, President of Xzōm, a San Diego company developing a near-patient platform for isolating and analyzing exoso...
The Connective Tissue
Neal sits down with Eric Weiss, a fellow longtime builder in San Diego’s startup ecosystem. Eric is a self-described “parallel entrepreneur,...
Beyond the Blueprint
Episode Summary Neal sits down with Janine McMurdie, Chief Commercial Officer of Pictor, a proteomics platform company that expanded from Ne...
Why Great Companies Go Bad
Episode Summary Recorded live at the San Diego Angel Conference finale at SDSU, Eric Ries — author of The Lean Startup — sits down with prod...
Diversification Is Overrated
Episode Summary Neal sits down with Dr. Adam Link, founder of Fireweed Capital and a recovering engineer who spent a decade in tech — includ...
Inside the San Diego Angel Conference
Episode Summary Recorded live at the San Diego Angel Conference (SDAC 8) finale at SDSU, where Neal - the SDAC Fund 8 manager - and 40+ inve...
Greener Only Scales When It's Less Expensive
Episode Summary Recorded at Natilus HQ in downtown San Diego, Neal sits down with Aleksey Matyushev, CEO and co-founder of Natilus, and Dr....
Sleep Is the Last Unprotected Hour
Neal sits down with co-founders John Sjolund (CEO) and Jon Brilliant(CFO) of Luna Diabetes, two serial diabetes tech founders building what...
Rebuilding the Protein Stack
Tony Martens, co-founder of Plantible Foods, joins Neal to walk through the company’s eight-year arc - from a free greenhouse in San Marcos...
SAFEs, Notes, and SPVs
Angel Academy Session 5 brings in Brian Dirkmaat, a startup attorney at Rimon, P.C and longtime SDAC sponsor, to walk the room through the l...
From Operator to Fund Manager
Episode Summary Neal sits down with Will Alaynick, managing partner at Phase Two Ventures, for a fireside chat on what it actually looks lik...
The Operator's Edge: From San Diego Angel Academy
Angel Academy Session 3 brings together a panel of San Diego operators who crossed over to the investor side - including Katherine Chapin, D...
This Week in San Diego Tech News - May 2026
Listen & subscribe on Apple , Spotify , YouTube . Welcome everyone to the weekly San Diego Tech News! I’m Neal Bloom from Rising Tide Partne...
What Two Operators Learned Writing First Checks
Angel Academy Session 2 puts two founder-turned-investors on stage: Neal Bloom and Ashok Kamal. Both built companies, stumbled through first...
Podcast with Paige Craig of Outlander VC: People Over Plans
Neal sits down with Paige Craig, Founder and Managing Partner at Outlander VC, the first-check fund that backs founders as early as humanly...