We spent the weekend in Austin for SXSW.
Part field trip, part excuse to bounce between a lot of rooms full of interesting people. This was my first time exploring SXSW.
I mostly used the trip to gather field notes for what we’re building here in San Diego.
Weather-wise, SD is undefeated. Austin managed to go from sweating to freezing and back to sweating in about 24 hours.
All events take a minute to warm up. Happy hours too. Even coffees.
This seemed to be a recurring pattern. Give the room a little time, and the energy builds. I’m thankful it’s not just me.
The best events at SXSW had one thing in common: a culture of curiosity, something San Diego has in spades.
People introduce themselves. Conversations start easily. Interesting people seem to appear out of nowhere.
As long as we’re open to them.
What would it take to have our own tech conference of this size? We have Comic-Con, our closest equivalent, but could Startup Week or TechCon SoCal grow to this size someday?
The last thing I loved was how many smaller events were built around the larger ones. You’d find yourself going from the Midwest Tech House to watching the best AI startups out of the UK pitch, then into a conversation with documentary filmmakers.
Let’s let our curiosity fuel our connections and conversations this week.
What we’re howling about this week: |
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Monday, March 16
San Diego County Startup Mixer at 5:30 PM - Bay Park 🐾 … see you tonight?
Tuesday, March 17
Hussein’s North County SD Startup Mixer at 5:30 PM - Encinitas
Wednesday, March 18
Founder of Volcom: Thom McElroy at 6:00 PM - SDSU
Thursday, March 19
Escondido AgX Gathering at 9:00 AM - Escondido
San Diego Medtech Mixer at 5:30 PM - Sorrento Valley
Friday, March 20
Hera Hub Business Acceleration Expo 2026 at 10:30 AM - Sorrento Valley
Saturday, March 21
North County AI Coffee Chat at 8:30 AM - Oceanside
Weekend Function() { Software Developer Meetup } at 12:00 PM - Little Italy
Coffee Break ☕ |
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Good things take a minute to warm up.
Coffee. Rooms. Communities.
What we’re howling about next week: |
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Tuesday, March 24
CTO Talks: Women Driving The Future of Tech at 12:00 AM - SDSU
Wednesday, March 25
($) March Mingle - 20th Edition at 7:00 PM - Mission Valley 🐾 … see you there?
Thursday, March 26
San Diego Gaming Leaders Happy Hour at 5:30 PM - RSVP for Location
The Four Horsemen of AI - Where To Now? at 5:30 PM - Scripps Ranch
SDEE: Happy Hour at 5:30 PM - Miramar
Friday, March 27
comma_hack (six) at 6:00 PM - comma HQ
Only Coyotes with 3+ Pack Referrals Can See This 🔓 |
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You helped grow the pack. Thank you!
🐾 The SD Builder Rolodex is now open to you.
A growing list of founders, builders, and operators in the community.
If there’s someone you’d like to meet, reply to this email and I’ll try to make the intro.
A few more happenings to have on our radar |
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Tuesday, April 14
Qualcomm Ventures AI Startup Showcase at 2:30 PM - Sorrento Valley
Thursday, April 23
($) Naturally Rising 2026 at 4:30 PM - Liberty Station
Friday, May 22
($) TechCon SoCal 2026 - SDSU … use code: SOCAL26HOWLYEAH 🐾
Friday, May 29
($) San Diego Angel Conference Finale - SDSU … tickets not on sale yet
Howl yeah, it’s Monday!
Jonah 🐺
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A few helpful links:
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Looking for cool San Diego companies? Career Coyote
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