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Aug 12, 2026
Hussein Yahfoufi - Eventship
Hussein Yahfoufi - Eventship
00:00
33:48
Transcript
0:00
Now EventShip's kinda like the anti-LinkedIn LinkedIn, you know? And like it's the in real life LinkedIn. Yeah. That was never the intention- Yeah... but it's kinda turning into- Pac moves low key.
0:09
Found in the wild, yeah, they techin' through the feed. Howl in the night, not a whole chorus sync. Two new necks deep before we order a drink. Wow, been so low, now you walk out with friends.
0:18
Social coyote, steppin' to the den. What's with the pencil? This? What is with the pencil? Um, I got it at this barbecue restaurant. They said the kids always like 'em, so they gave it to me.
0:30
[laughs] But I forgot that I had it. I usually, yeah- [laughs]... I put it in my hat in the car. It's so funny. [laughs] Oh my gosh. All right, Hussein. Yeah. Where are we right now? Home.
0:42
Now, what, what are we talking about? [laughs] Where is home? Encinitas, baby. [laughs] That's right. No, I, so I kick things off 'cause, 'cause I'm, like, going into, I'm lea- I'm leave.
0:50
That's one thing that makes- Uh-huh... this funny and, and harder- Yeah... is that I'm like, everyone's like, "Where's your studio?" I'm like, "It's everywhere." And so it's actually funny.
0:57
So I'm, so we're at your place. Yeah. This is awesome. Yeah. We got, we're repping. Representing right here. Yeah. World Cup. [laughs] World Cup. World Cup representing. Um, but no, I'm going to interesting places.
1:09
That's what's making this really fun, which is also making it harder to record, but you know what? We don't do things easy. You know this. Yeah. Yeah. You've been building things for, for a million years. Yeah.
1:16
That's why we've got flies and everything flying around. Oh my God. Yeah. Great, guys. [laughs] It's true. Yeah, right? We're being attacked. No. Um,
1:24
I, I, we've both, we've actually both been in, like, the San Diego ecosystem for a long time, but you've actually been building things for an, a very long time, but I hadn't really met you until you pulled out a spreadsheet, started to organize some people in Encinitas.
1:37
Mm-hmm.
1:38
And it was interesting because you kind of identified that, uh, maybe am- among other things, that a lot of people had moved north after the pandemic, and I don't know if you wanna, like, jump in and say, like, how- Yeah...
1:47
what was, what was even that? Like, how did you start to even wanna get people together, and where did that come from? So really it was a couple of things. Um,
1:55
I, because of COVID and all that, started working from home, started working remote. I had sold my previous company to a Bay Area company- Yeah... and now I'm literally in this office- Yeah, yeah...
2:05
um, all day, all night and everything, and I wanted to meet more people, especially in San Diego. And, um, hosting events started because I would go to events, but they were all basically 52 and below. Okay.
2:20
And I had to go through that dang 8:05 and five merger- Yeah... that nobody wants to go through, like, unless- Yeah... it's the middle of the night. [laughs] And so I started asking around, "Can I...
2:30
Like, why aren't there events in, in North County?" Yeah. "We should do something in North County." And then, uh, Brent Cooper, uh, actually was the one who said, "Well, why don't you host your own?" Yeah.
2:39
"Just host one in North County." And I put together my first mixer, and Brent, you know, um, decides to share it with a bunch of people.
2:48
So Al and a bunch of, um, others in San Diego, investors and founders, just showed up- Yeah... to this thing, and the rest is history. That's awesome.
2:56
I do remember looking at that, that photo, kind of zooming in- Yeah... and being like, "Oh, man." I was like, "I didn't g- I wanna do that," you know?
3:02
And so you kinda created this bit of FOMO around it, but I, I always found that to be...
3:07
I thought that was a really cool story, and especially because, um, I don't know, this probably happens to you a lot now, a lot of times, but, um, people are like, "We need this type of meetup. We need- Mm...
3:17
that type of meetup." And it's always like, "Okay, cool. Like, do it." Yeah. "Go for it." I think that would be, that would be, um, certainly something to do.
3:26
But you know what's interesting about, you know, the experience that you had 'cause you said you sold your company, you were operating solo here in San Diego, I, I get a lot of outreach, and, and you probably do too, with people who are like, "San Diego's awesome.
3:38
I'm gonna move there and be remote." So you end up being here- Yeah... in your similar position by yourself being like, "Shoot, where's, where are the people?" Yeah.
3:45
So I mean, you kind of solved that in a way, but how do you get, like, how'd you get a spreadsheet of 10 people, and why, like, why'd you build this?
3:52
[laughs] Why'd you build, how'd you build a company out of a, out of a spreadsheet? Yeah. So the whole thing started because I hosted my first event.
3:58
I had a registration page, and then, uh, what I wanted to do at the event is everybody who showed up, I tried to introduce them to somebody. Sweet. Right?
4:07
To make sure everyone had a connection, and that's something here, you know, Neil Bloom does. Yeah. Right? And I had gone to a bunch of Neil Bloom events, and he's always introduced me to somebody.
4:16
And so when the event was 10, 15, 20 people, that was pretty easy 'cause I knew pretty much everyone. Right.
4:23
And then as it got to 20 and 25, and people started bringing their friends, and I didn't know who these people were, I thought, "Sh- crap, like, how do I introduce these people?" Yeah.
4:33
So, um, I sent out a Google Sheet, and I said, "Here, fill this up, and then that way I'll know who you are. People will know who you are.
4:40
We'll share it with everybody coming, and then I'll be able to introduce you to the right person at the event." Yeah.
4:45
Um, but then people started complaining, and they said, you know, um, "Every time I go to one of your events, I have to refill this spreadsheet." So then I started adding tabs, you know, to the same- Yeah...
4:55
sheet so you can just copy, paste- Ah. [laughs]... and get going. [laughs] It's so iterative. That was the beginning. Yeah, for sure, man. [laughs] Wait, is this how you built... Is this kinda like, uh...
5:03
Did you take the same approach as what you've done in the past, like, just building products where you're kinda like, "Don't go, don't go too far. Just sort of, like, do little tests and kind of use them..."
5:12
I guess complaints is maybe- Yeah... the word. User feedback, let's just say. It, the, the idea with it is like, first of all, I never thought that I would build anything for this. Like, this was just- Okay...
5:23
me putting together a mixer to meet people and- Yeah... and build a network in San Diego. 'Cause you had still been working. You were- I was employed. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.
5:32
Uh, now part of, you know, my job with, which was called Artha Finance- Yeah... was to grow community and bring people on the platform and that kind of thing. Okay. And so
5:42
the, the mixer was a way for me to build my own network, but also help the company I was working for. Mm. And, um, yeah, and we kinda grew from there. Oh, cool.
5:51
Okay, so there's some pretty good overlap with your, I'll just say business goals or to a degree, but, like, but it was also, like, that personal network side where you're like, "Who- Yeah...
6:00
who all is in this commun-" I've had some really interesting people at your mixers- Yeah... by the way. Yeah. And you can- It's been fun. Yeah. So how did you... So then, okay, so at, at some point you're like...
6:08
'Cause I m- I remember, I remember actually those spreadsheets. They're kind of awesome.
6:11
I remember going through, and, and partly what I really liked about it, and this is, like, I don't know, maybe a connection philosophy I have, is, like, it's really easy to sort of-...
6:18
meet someone, and it's really easy to go surface level quickly, especially at a big group, 'cause, you know, there's just all this movement and, you know, it's kinda hard to, to get a little deeper. But when you get...
6:28
When I was look- I remember looking at your sheets, and you could kind of be like, "Well, I didn't know that Dave was into that." Yeah.
6:33
And, and it's cool because, and that's probably the intention, is now I get to be like, "Dave, w- uh, you're a water skier? Like, I had no idea." Yeah. Any specific Dave, but like- Yeah, yeah...
6:41
the, the persona Dave, wherever. But I always find that to be one of the most, more interesting parts- Yeah...
6:46
of this, and I think that's what makes either San Diego or Getting Connected much more interesting, is that everybody has this well-rounded, kind of- Yeah... probably set of hobbies or whatever.
6:55
But I thought that was cool that you did that, but obviously that doesn't, didn't scale 'cause people were- Yeah... you know, making tabs and complaining about it. [laughs] And so you had, you had to build, build more.
7:04
Yeah. What was the next thing after that? So the next thing was, How do I make it to where you didn't have to answer the same question every time you were coming to my mixer? Yeah. Right?
7:15
And so the idea was just have a little landing page where you can log in- Yeah... and you answer those questions, and then, um, and that was it.
7:22
And then it was still, I was using Luma at the time for registration- Yeah... and then I would tell people, "Go to the site so you can fill up your profile." Yeah.
7:30
Which, again, I got complaints about 'cause now I had two sites to manage, right? There was what was called Startup Beach at the time- Yeah... to go fill your profile. That's now 43. Uh, the, yeah, I loved that name.
7:40
[laughs] Right? So that was where you filled up your profile to go to the event- Yeah... but then you also went to Luma to register for the event. No, yeah. And the complaint was, "Can you put them together?" Yeah.
7:50
And so I never thought I'd build a ticketing and events- Yeah... platform, but I tried to use, you know, in a way, like, the Luma API to connect to the spreadsheet and, like, make it work better- Yeah...
8:02
and it just wouldn't work. And so then I added ticketing to the, the, the platform- Yeah... Startup Beach. But really V1 ticketing wasn't really ticketing. It was, "Are you coming to the next mixer, yes or no?"
8:14
Yeah, yeah, right. That is it, right? And then- That was your ticket... to use your pro- That was the ticket. Uh, and then eventually it turned into, well, I forgot, so then I added the calendar invite- Yeah...
8:23
and then I added the reminders. And then, uh, Neil was the one who hosted the first, um, paid event. Okay. So then I had to do, you know, a Stripe integration so we can have paid events- Oh, my God...
8:34
and it just kept growing from there. We... And at that point, were you like, "This is a product now," or you're just like, "Eh, I'll just, I can just add a little thing over the weekend"? It was still a hobby. Yeah.
8:42
I think you hosted the first n- event that wasn't mine. Oh, okay. Wow. It was the, it was Coyote Coffees. Yeah, right. Neil hosted the first paid event, which was Tech to Halls- Oh, that was-... a couple of years ago...
8:54
true. And then, um, but it was still just a side project hobby for San Diego to, to get together. Yeah. Yeah. When did, so when did it actually get to that point where you're like, "Okay, fine. This is..." Was it like...
9:09
'Cause, 'cause you have paid. Yeah. You have tickets. You have not you using it. Yeah. You know? Yeah. It's like, it's almost like, y- I mean, in retrospect, it's like you're kind of there already- Yeah...
9:19
but you're still, you're still just sort of, like, tinkering with it. And y- and, and by the way, like, what was your mixer at at that point?
9:25
There was, it was hu- it was a hun- like, it was- The mixer- I remember watching it grow... yeah, the mixer was already 120 to 150- Yeah, it was gonna be a month... yeah.
9:34
And at that point, the mixer was officially monthly, 'cause in the beginning it was, you know- Right... every, every other month. Yeah, whenever you want. Uh, so then it was monthly. Mm-hmm.
9:42
And then, um, yeah, the moment where I decided, "Okay, this is, this needs to be an actual product"- Yeah... which is also when I changed the name from Startup Beach- Mm-hmm...
9:52
to EventShip and all of that, um, I think it was, like, my three-plus-years anniversary at Arda Finance. I was trying to decide, what do I wanted to do next?
10:01
Things were kinda changing at Arda, and I decided before jumping into the next thing, I should really take a look at the event space.
10:09
So I spent probably two to three weeks doing deep research, talking to people about the event space, ticketing, registrations, all of that, to figure out, is there something missing? Hmm. Right?
10:21
Like, is this working only because I'm in San Diego and you're using it- Mm-hmm... and Neil's using it, and, like, we kinda home grow- grew it for us? Fair.
10:30
Or is there something here that would be used outside of San Diego and there's a real business there? Yeah. And then once I finished that research, I realized there's actually still a gap in the market. Yeah.
10:41
Um, there's a lot of registration and ticketing sites- Mm... but there aren't anything that help you really build community in person, right? And there aren't, uh, especially professional communities. Yeah.
10:53
So a lot of people actually sent me notes, and they're like, you know, EventShip's kinda like the anti-LinkedIn LinkedIn, you know? Like, it's the in real life LinkedIn. Oh. That was never the intention- Yeah...
11:03
but it's kinda turning into that with this idea of you go to EventShip to build community- Yeah... and then you go to EventShip to find community. Um, and now the evolution of it is going into bigger and bigger events.
11:17
That makes sense. That's really interesting 'cause it kinda feels like... Well, there's always this tension between building what you
11:26
think and want it to be ultimately and letting the people using it kind of guide- Yeah... what it becomes. Yeah. Because, like, the, I mean, like you were saying at the beginning of this- Yeah...
11:36
it was literally- Yeah... a fun side thing to host your own event that ended up getting kinda big, and it's easy to be like, "Great, that was it." Yeah. "I met a ton of people. Cool."
11:45
I would say 99% of the features on EventShip were not my idea. Uh, so the way I do it is I collect, you know, feedback. People send me requests- Hmm... all the time on things that they want. Yeah.
11:57
I don't act on all of them- Yeah... but as things, feedback starts to come in, you start seeing kinda themes. Hmm.
12:04
And then I do apply kinda product thinking and design and UX and that kind of thing to think through, okay, why are they asking for this feature? Hmm. What problem are they trying to solve? Yeah.
12:16
Is there a better way to do it? And then that's what I go build. Yeah. So I don't necessarily build things verbatim to, to the way people ask. Right.
12:25
But the benefit of doing it this way is every feature that I launch already has a customer, right? Wow.
12:30
So I don't have to w- and not necessarily a paid customer, but I don't have to build something and then see if anybody's gonna care and anybody's gonna use it. Yeah, that's a good point. How do you...
12:40
But that sounds tricky, though, because there's probably tension between a lot of the requests. There is, but it's not, um, y- y- you can find similarities. Yeah.
12:53
Like, at the end of the day, it's who's using EventShip, right? Yeah. Either they're finding community and looking- Yeah... to connect or they're building community. There's different reasons to build community. Sure.
13:04
Um, so ultimately, they're all looking for the same- Yeah... um, features. Where there is tension is f- figuring out how to keep it simple enough, right? Mm-hmm. Because it's very easy to say- Yeah...
13:17
"Oh, let me just add another setting. Let me add another button." Yeah. And now you've got a screen with 10,000 buttons when somebody's just trying to put together a meetup. That's a really good point.
13:25
So that's where it becomes a little complex and- Yeah... um, yeah, so. But you took a really interesting approach. I remember you saying this.
13:33
I don't know if this quote still hands, like, holds, but you said you're kinda trying to bring the Beehiiv approach to events. Yep. And I don't know if that's still what you're thinking, but I mean, I keep getting...
13:44
You know, I run, run my newsletters on Beehiiv, and I'm a fan, but there's always a button that's just like, "You wanna monetize it?" [laughs] And I'm like, "Ooh, I should click that, huh?"
13:51
But it's a nice way to think about this really hard part because, you know, we're putting together some events now, and it's just like, "Oh, great, do I wanna, like, go down and call a list of people and do all the stuff?"
14:00
Yeah. And it's actually...
14:02
I mean, it, it works if you have the right contacts kind of around it, but that, that is kind of one of the harder pieces of putting it all together because it makes it just that much more awesome if people wanna contribute a little bit.
14:13
Yeah. So- Yeah... I don't know. Is that still something that fits with what you're trying to do? It is. Or maybe there's evolved from since then.
14:18
The idea with the Beehiiv model, right, is what they did for newsletters is they said, "If you're running a newsletter, chances are you have a webpage for your newsletter," right? Mm-hmm.
14:27
So you have a copy of the blog, and then you send it via your newsletter. And people used to use WordPress for the blog part- Yeah... and then some other tool, a ConvertKit, whatever, for the, the newsletter, right?
14:40
And Beehiiv, Substack, a bunch of them said, "No, they're one and the thing- Mm-hmm... and the same." Same, yeah. Because you wanna send it out, but you also want it to live on a site. Mm-hmm.
14:48
But then what Beehiiv did was they also went further, and they said- Yeah... "Well, when you're doing that, you're also trying to find sponsors. You're also trying to find advertisers." Right.
14:58
"You're also trying to cross-promote somebody else's newsletter. You're also trying to do all of these other things. Why do I need different tools to do that?" Mm-hmm. "I should be able to do it all in one platform."
15:09
Yeah. So the idea with EventShip is very similar. Um, you've got your event. Uh, you can also find sponsors. We have an ad network, and we keep adding these features so that, uh, it all becomes in one place, right?
15:23
So it's never going to be your business CRM. Yeah. Within EventShip, you can see who's attending your events, what company they work for, how many people from that company attended your events. Yeah.
15:35
How many people, you know, uh, like, are there specific groups or types of people that attend your events? Like, things like that are available, uh, that makes it where it's not just a registration page, right? Right.
15:47
It's also a CRM. We don't do newsletters, but we do what we call broadcasts. Yeah. So ahead of your event, you can send a mass email to everybody that follows you.
15:57
Um, website builder is something that we're launching soon, too, and then cross-promotions of events, too, right? So the idea is bring it all into one place. Yeah, that's cool. It's, it's funny. It's, like, such a--
16:10
It's such-- It's so far from the spreadsheet. Oh, yeah. [laughs] It's actually interesting. No, I'm really impressed with you because, like [laughs] 'cause I remember you kind of, you're like, "We need..."
16:19
You know, "It's gonna be an event platform," and then you look at the event platform landscape. You know how they do those, like, quadrant views- Yeah, yeah, yeah...
16:24
of, like, all the companies laid out, and I'm like, I'm like, "I don't really know the landscape very well, but I, I count, I'm counting to about a hundred," and- Yeah... [laughs] like, that's a scary space. Yeah.
16:32
So you gotta respect... I gotta respect that you id...
16:34
where, like, identified an actual problem, and maybe that's, maybe that's kinda what happens when you are just trying to do something, and you're trying all the tools, and you're, you're realizing that- Yep...
16:44
there is a gap. But, um, it is kind of interesting. That's a really good point. Well, I, I do have to thank you because there was this one point when we were both kind of finding our way.
16:53
We were growing up, and we were both kind of trying to figure out how to, to help San Diego kind of get more connected in the same way.
17:00
And I remember there was, like, this period of a couple months where I was like, every week I would send out this email, and I was like, "That's so interesting that all my links are EventShip."
17:08
[laughs] I was like, "Wow," like, "This is crazy." And so, you know, in the back of your mind, you're like, "Are we doing the same thing?"
17:13
And you had said, we, we were, you know, we were getting closer to that point, and you were mentioning, you're like, "No, it's...
17:18
We're taking such different approaches to solving, you know, a s- a similar type of problem," but you're, you're kind of going at a tech-related, you know, angle, and I was kinda trying to do how you, however you describe it as, like, maybe more of, like, a media curation kind of angle.
17:32
And they're, they're very different, but it was just like we, we both were so heavy in the tech scene- Yeah... you know, that it just sort of so happened. And that was actually only... That wasn't that long of a period.
17:42
I think it was, like, a couple weeks, months, and then you kind of really kept growing in, in a direction where you started to see a lot of other really kind of interesting events, and I was like, "Oh, okay, cool, so I'll just kind of own this tech sector."
17:53
But I, I have to thank you. [laughs] I haven't actually thanked you publicly for that because it was, it was definitely, like, an interesting place. Yeah. I was like, "Huh," like, "uh, is this..."
18:01
Because, because some people were even, like, uh, whispering. They're like, "You guys should just, like, merge your thing." Yeah. And I was like, "I don't even know what that would look like," and, and whatever.
18:08
And so other... You know, w- we weren't the only ones noticing there was kind of- Yeah, yeah... similarity. Yeah. But I, I love that there's... I like that...
18:16
I mean, maybe that's a San Diego thing, but I like that we can kind of all sort of approach the problem- Totally...
18:21
that is everybody is kind of everywhere, and like you said, 52, scary, long and thin coastline type community. There's, like, there's a lot that could and needs to be done here. Yeah.
18:31
No, I mean, I think even from the, the beginning when you and I used to talk, 'cause I used to get those too. Yeah. That is, "Are you and Jonah competing?" I'm like, "No, we're buddies." Yeah, yeah. "We're...
18:40
It's not the same." Yeah. Right? My whole thing was build a platform that helps people connect. Yeah. Right?
18:46
And I feel like from my side, looking at what you were doing, you've done a great job with the branding of The Social Coyote, that it's kinda become part of the San Diego tech ecosystem. Mm-hmm. Right?
18:57
Somebody comes to San Diego, it's like, "Do you know the Coyote?" Right. "Do you know the Coyote guy? Are you on Social Coyote?" Yeah, right. [laughs] "Career Coyote," all of those things.
19:05
And it- but also there was a taste part of it. Mm. Right? So you're kinda like the taste maker.
19:12
Um, it's not that different from e- a lot of people right now say, "Oh, you don't need engineers or designers, you just have AI do it."
19:19
But you still need somebody who has good taste to be able to build a, a product- That's fair... and, and make it look good.
19:26
And so I've always felt like for you, The Social So- Social Coyote, the newsletter at least, was more about this is your taste, right? Yeah. 'Cause not every event lands on The Social Coyote. Right. Right?
19:36
Like, you have to be good enough to be on his newsletter. Uh-huh. [laughs] Uh, but the idea was cool. Like, I like to... I mean, even today, I'm still subscribed- Yeah...
19:45
and I still read through it, even though, yes, a lot of the events are on EventShip- Yeah... like, thank you, everybody. But the whole idea is these are the events that I know you're interested in- Yeah...
19:56
which means have a tech play and they're more interesting- Yeah... to look at, and I still look through them and click through them and [laughs] Yeah... that kind of thing.
20:03
Well, well, but now, I mean, 'cause we've, we've evolved to the point where now, you know, there's, there's a lot of really cool stuff- Yeah... to look through, and so you, you can kinda start to pull things out.
20:11
But what's maybe... What I'm finding actually is a little bit difficult is, like, now it's, it's, um, understanding kind of... And, and you don't have to think about this 'cause you kinda wanna make- Mm-hmm...
20:22
it easy for people to create events. Now you have to think about is there, what, you know, what's their... Is there a motive behind it, and how are people thinking about it, and is this gonna be one and done?
20:32
Is this gonna be recurring? What's the experience gonna be like? And so all those things, when you look at it that way, it's, it's such a different approach, um, to kinda how you think about kind of events and curation.
20:42
Um, I'm actually curious 'cause you are seeing everything. Yeah. How, how... Well, I'll start, start with this basic one, is, like, how important do you think it is to be sort of consistent and recurring?
20:53
'Cause you had no system- Yeah... at the beginning with your spreadsheet, right? You're like, "Ah, every two months or whenever I feel like it," and then it became monthly, and now people kind of expect it. Yeah.
21:01
And i- do you think that's, like, an important piece to s- sort of building a specific community- Yeah... in, in San Diego or everywhere, I guess? I think recurring is critical. Yeah. Right?
21:11
Because especially in the beginning, like, when you host your first event, look, if you get a handful of people, that's a win. Yeah. That's a big win. My first event, I think we were 12 total, right?
21:24
And, um, because nobody knows you yet. Right. They don't know who you are. They don't know what the event is. They don't know what the vibe of the event is going to be. Yeah.
21:32
And every host that hosts an event, like, if somebody else were to host the North County San Diego Startup Mixer- Yeah... it's not gonna have the same vibe, right? Because- Fair...
21:41
the host kinda helps manage and control the vibe from the description of the event, to the reminders, to the communication and how we talk about things.
21:49
Like, my vibe has always been I want this to feel like a block party. Mm. Like, I want this to feel like this is where you come decompress. Yes, we'll talk business and there- there'll be- Yeah...
21:59
shop talk, but at the end of the day, this is more about just come have fun and chill. Yeah. Like, this is very Encinitas. So even choosing The Leucadian as a location- Mm. Right... so it's very intentional, right?
22:11
'Cause that's a dive bar, man. Like, all the drug deals used to happen at The Leucadian back in the day. [laughs] It's not like that anymore. [laughs] Like, much love for the new ownership.
22:18
But, um, you know, but that controls the vibe. Sure. And so as people come to the event, they know what to expect. Yeah.
22:27
So if you're hosting your first event and then you give up or you don't host again for another six months, whoever that dozen people that showed up to the first one, they're not gonna be the same that come at the next one.
22:38
Mm. Mm. So you're kinda starting over. So being, you know, recurring is key. Uh, Neosha started hosting, you know, the Founder Friday. Yeah. Uh, and that, same thing.
22:48
He started with a couple of people, and then it grew to, like, 20, 30 people. Unfortunately, he was recruited to the Bay Area, so he moved. There. [laughs] But now Pedro took over. Yeah, yeah. Right?
22:58
But even with Pedro taking over, like, the, the community is still there, but it's starting to change a little bit- Yeah... which is okay, 'cause the host is different. Right.
23:06
But because it's recurring, like, people look forward to it, right? It's a really good point. I, I mean, you have this vantage point as well, but it's like, you know, you see the evolution of, of that exact thing.
23:18
And I don't wanna necessarily... We don't have to name specific communities, but there's two or three that you specifically see where the host moves away, hands it off, and you're like, the momentum changes. Yeah.
23:27
And if that happens another time, uh, it, you know, the whole thing can kinda be deflated, or it takes months to, to kind of organize. And there's just some...
23:36
This cycle of events, that's what's actually been kinda fun tracking all this, is there's a whole ton of groups that have... You know, I'm like,
23:42
spreadsheet, uh, like you, but it's like the green ones, I'm like, this group will always have stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whether or not it's quarterly or whatever.
23:48
And then there's, like, these yellow ones where you're like, "You should keep an eye on them," and those are the red ones. You're like, they're just, they are, they have moved away, gone quiet or, or whatever.
23:55
Um, and some of those actually are, are really interesting examples of, uh, communities that are successful other places, and they try to bring, drop ship it in, and they bring- Yeah... a person in. Yeah.
24:04
And I have mixed feelings on that 'cause I've seen a lot of those come in for a little and then just kinda disappear. Um, but it is really interesting.
24:11
What, what else are you seeing from kind of, uh, looking down at the San Diego specifically- Yeah, yeah... or even how other peoples are doing? 'Cause there's gotta be some cool innovations.
24:20
There's gotta be some trends that you're noticing that maybe we should all- Yeah... at least be aware of. I mean, there's a couple of things I'm seeing. I am seeing a lot more-...
24:28
workshop type events Mm-hmm, mm-hmm You know, they're usually paid, but it's usually 10, 20, 25 bucks. Totally reasonable. Um, but the idea is go learn something. Mm.
24:38
Like, like you're not-- My mixer is once a month, come disengage. Not gonna... I mean, you might learn something depending on who you talk to. Sure. But the idea is come chill. Yeah.
24:47
Uh, but I'm seeing a lot of events where it's about upskilling, it's about learning something new. That's cool. It's about, um, you know, getting-- Uh, especially, like, with AI, there's always a ton of AI stuff. Yeah.
24:57
But there's also non-AI things, uh, and those are really cool. Yeah. And those are popping everywhere.
25:03
Do-- And I'm trying-- I'm-- I-- You gotta-- I'm gonna-- Maybe after this or at some point, you gotta help me think about how to work through some of those, 'cause some of them- Yeah...
25:10
are very clearly business plays for people. Yeah. And that's okay. You know, it's like 70, 80, 100 bucks. Yeah. And you're like, "I don't know how to evaluate if this is even, you know, if- Yeah...
25:21
w-we could stamp that." Um, but I see your point too where it's actually kind of awesome to know that you're going in with that intention. Yeah, yep.
25:27
I've also heard of other stories where someone comes in and it's like, "I was just sold cloud services for 40 minutes" And it's like, "Oh, well I thought I was gonna learn how to build," you know? I've been to those.
25:34
Yeah, yeah, right. Yeah, yeah. I don't know how to think about some of those- Yeah... so typically I just kind of, I'm like, "Eh, leave them." Well, and I think that's where knowing the host, uh, is critical, right?
25:44
'Cause you kinda know the vibe. Yeah. And then you can see what happens at the event. Yeah. And that's when the event starts to spread, then people- That's fair... share the event, right? That's a good point. Um, yeah.
25:54
I mean, there's-- Yesterday I was chatting with a, a lady that I recently met. Her name's Autumn, and she's hosting an event
26:02
which is basically targeting if you're new to San Diego and you wanna meet people and get integrated, like, how do you do that? Mm-hmm. What are the steps to do that? That's cool. Right? So she's hosting an event.
26:12
She used to be an ESL teacher, so English second language. Yeah, right.
26:16
And she said, "One of the things I notice is people move, international people, right, to the US, and then they don't even know how to talk to people." Hmm.
26:24
So this is an event where if you're a foreigner, uh, and you wanna try to, you know, if you're spending a few months in San Diego, go to this event and then you'll learn how to, how to meet people and talk to people and make friends while you're in town.
26:38
Yeah. So, like, those kinds of events are starting to pop, which I feel like are really interesting, you know? What's it-- I mean, it's, it's like, almost feels critical for a, a community like San Diego. Yeah.
26:49
'Cause like we were saying in the beginning, it's like people just wanna be here. Yeah. So they'll just sort of move here.
26:53
I get a lot of the-- You, maybe you too, but I get a lot of those messages where it's like, "I'm gonna be there in a couple months at some point." Yeah. Like, "I'll eventually be there." Yeah. "I'm coming soon." Yep.
27:01
And you know, what, why? Why? Why? You know? And it's always like, uh, you know, "Let me figure out how to help you best," or what's the, the whole reason and they're like, it's always like, "It's awesome.
27:10
The weather's cool, and it seems..." You know, and it's like- Yeah... "Okay, great. Well-" Yeah.
27:13
And so that's such a draw, but then you're right, because we have this culture in many ways where, um, you can get, I think you-- I forget who was saying this, but you can get, like, 20 minutes into a conversation before someone's like, "Oh, and I do this for my career."
27:26
Oh, yeah. You know? And it's kind of awesome, 'cause it's like, "Where did you surf? Great." Yeah. "We talked about your family. That's cool. Okay, wait." Yeah. "You do, do you work? What are you doing up here?"
27:34
You know? [laughs] Exactly. Yeah.
27:35
And so actually, so the-- what, what Autumn's doing is interesting because it's like if you came from New York City and you started going to startup events and you started just shoving business cards into people's hands- It's not gonna work...
27:46
you would be just, like, rejected quickly, right? It's not gonna work. It's not gonna work. You know? Yeah, yeah. So you kind of-- Having a nice sort of entry point is actually really pretty- Yeah...
27:54
it's a pretty creative angle. I, I, I should- Right... I'll reach out to her too. Yeah. Sounds pretty cool. Yeah. I don't know.
28:00
Have you been-- Have you-- Okay, so you're-- Are you looking at all the events that come through, or there's too many now? I, I try to browse through them. I don't- Yeah.
28:07
I mean, in the beginning, I looked at every single one. Sure. I looked at every single one. Yeah. I clicked on every one. [laughs] I, I don't do that as much. Yeah. But I try to take a look just to see what's happening.
28:17
Yeah. Because a lot of people also reach out to me, and- Yep... you know, they'll say, "I'm trying to host this kind of event." Mm-hmm. And I'll say, "Look, there's 10 others, right?" Like- That's funny...
28:26
if you don't create something different, why would anybody come to yours? Like, don't just duplicate the event. Yeah. Uh, try to do something different. Yeah. Or at least do it in a different location, you know? Yeah.
28:36
Uh, so I, I have- Right... to keep kind of a pulse on what's going on. That's really interesting. Do-- That would be kind of ni- We should collaborate on something like that. Yeah.
28:44
Just kind of like where like, uh-- And you wanna do that, by the way? Yeah. Like, where, like, where, where are there some ga-- Like, where can people kind of- Yeah... organize some stuff? Yeah. 'Cause I agree with you.
28:51
There's, you know, there's, like, the eighth walk, like, at Mission Bay has been- Mm-hmm... scheduled, and it's probably an AI walk. It's cool. Yeah. We need them. Yeah. But it's like they, they start to overlap.
28:59
Have you-- Do you ever just-- Do you-- Are you just like, "That event looks cool," you didn't even know it was there, and you just go? [laughs] Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. [laughs] For sure. For sure. Yeah.
29:07
And that's, that's one fun thing that's changed, right? In the beginning, everybody that hosted an event was because I talked to them, we talked about it, they put up the event- Mm-hmm...
29:15
they created their profile, all of that, and now I just see things pop. Yeah. Uh, and then I'll look at them and go, "I should go to this. This sounds fun," you know?
29:23
Or I'll send them to my wife like, "Hey, look- Yeah... there's some women thing you should attend." Yeah. That is kinda cool, 'cause it really was focused, and now it's just...
29:30
So where are you t- You, last time w-we were chatting, you were out in Portland. Yeah. How are you finding these startup communities? Yeah. Or are they finding you? Uh, it's a kind of a hybrid. Okay.
29:42
So Portland was more intentional. So, uh, Ryan Kuder here in town- Yeah... um, you know, he was connected with the guys in Portland that host events. They're- Cool... you know, there's, uh, he's kinda like Josh Carter.
29:55
He's the equivalent-- He's the Neil Bloom of Portland- Nice... basically. There's always a, there's always a- Yeah, yeah, yeah. [laughs] Yeah, there's like the... Yeah.
30:01
And so Ryan had said, "Hey, if you want, I can intro you- Yeah... to, to Josh- Yeah... and see how it goes." And so that's how I met him, and then they ended up putting Portland's- Yeah... Startup Week on EventShare.
30:11
Sweet. And so I went to Portland to, to be there- Yeah... during the week and support. That's cool. 'Cause I'm always wondering, 'cause I went to Austin, same thing.
30:18
They're like, "You gotta meet this person, this person"- Yeah... "this person." So I was sitting there talking to them, and I was like, "Do they have..."... a homegrown events thing. Do they have like- Yeah. [laughs]...
30:25
local newsletter guys? Like, who's like, is every city kind of have its own? I don't think so, yeah. I don't think that's true- Yeah... because Portland, it sounded like it did, right?
30:31
They didn't have an event, uh, platform. They definitely had the Social Coyote equivalent. Oh, they did have that, right? Yeah, yeah. It's always, like, the newsletter guy. But yeah, right. Yeah. Right, right, right.
30:40
The person who's, like, kinda doing that. The name, ah, it's like a random name, though. You did much better- Okay, right... with the branding. [laughs] 'Cause I kind of do think, uh, yeah, you're right.
30:48
It, it is funny each one has these little pockets of- Yeah... or whatever. Um, that's awesome. What's next for you guys? What are you, what, you, you, 'cause you said you're going upstream. Yeah, yeah.
30:57
So my big thing now is really focused on larger events- Okay... and conferences. Mm-hmm. So the idea was build the platform, uh, build the community, all of that, to get it solid. Mm-hmm.
31:08
And now that we've, we've grown and we've got, you know, 20,000, uh, actually, I think 22,000 users, all of that, uh, we can support much bigger events. And so- Mm...
31:19
uh, we just signed on with DEF CON, which is a conference that happens once a year in San Diego, which- Right... nobody from San Diego goes to, and it's a defense conference, so- Go to DEF CON... people, go to DEF CON.
31:30
[laughs] So that's launching soon, and that- Right... will be the launch of the, uh, kind of the custom white labeled websites done through EventShip- Cool... to keep to that beehive model- Yeah...
31:41
you know, conversation, yeah. That's amazing. That's gonna be huge, because I think- Yeah... then s- 'cause then that's just gonna get you credibility into that space. Yeah.
31:49
What are other people using for that level of conference? So there's, uh, Cvent is probably the most popular one- Yeah, okay... uh, for- Yeah... large conferences. And then, um, there's a few others- Yeah...
32:01
but that's the big one. Okay, so there's kinda the, I, I assume maybe a little bit of a legacy thing. Yeah. Um, shoot, this has been fun. Thanks for having me here. What's, what's like- Yeah...
32:09
what's like one thing that you think people should take away from this conversation? 'Cause clearly you've, like, just, you, you know, you weren't like, "I'm going to build this event platform." Yeah.
32:16
You kind of just, like, tinkered your way to kind of a huge business- Yeah... which I think is unbelievably cool, and I got to see it, but what do you think? Um,
32:25
if I focus on the product side, I would say, like, build when you have a customer. Mm. Right? Especially nowadays, where you can go to Cloud, Lovable, a bunch of these sites and just build, build, build. Yeah.
32:38
And you get the, you know, there's, there's a lot of dopamine hits, right? Like, "I'm gonna build this," and then you keep building, and next thing you know, it's like three weeks later, you're still building.
32:47
Uh, if you don't have somebody who's gonna use your product, like, don't start building. Yeah. Right? Like, find your first customer first, and then start building.
32:55
Uh, and then on the other side, I would say go to in-person events. Like, meet people- Yeah, that's right... in person. Community is critical, right? Like, everything...
33:05
You know, I've had a great career in San Diego, but I didn't start building community until maybe three or four years ago, and my life has changed completely because of community. That's the move. Yeah.
33:14
I think, I mean, I think that's, that feels like the trend that we're going towards, and, um, thanks for doing all that for us. Yeah, man. I appreciate it. You too. Thanks for having me here, Dan. Thanks for coming over.
33:25
Yeah, yeah. Pulling up as beat, pack moves low-key. Signal in the wire, yeah, they find me through the feed. Howl in the night, not a whole core in sync. Two new next deed before we order a drink.
33:36
No stage, no pitch, just a nod and a grin. Walking solo, know you walk out with friends. From the street to the circle, let the right ones in. Social Coyote, welcome to the den. Den, den,
33:47
den, den, den, den, den, den, den, den, den, den, den, den, den, den
Into the Den
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