About Me: Mike Krenn
We’re Growing the Best Innovation Ecosystem on the Planet
If you know me, you know I don’t like to talk about myself. I don’t ever want it to be about me. It’s about what WE can do. But i’ve been asked to share some info about myself…
My experiences have certainly helped me execute better as a community leader — but I believe we’re always still learning, that we should never become old or set in our ways, and that we always need to evolve. The past is great, but only when applied to make the future better.
So … to provide some thesis of credibility i guess, here goes:
I despise arrogance.
My wife is my best friend. I met her when the kids were 2 and 4. I secretly wish the kids and I shared genes. Being their dad has made my life far more meaningful, and I’m grateful for it. My wife is a first grade teacher who loves to teach science and math. She makes a difference. I mention this, because it too, is a part of who I am.
I think I’ve been meaningful to San Diego’s innovation community. I feel good at heart that I’ve led some impactful initiatives. As far as data points people seem to care about: I’m pretty confident I’ve read more biz plans than anyone in San Diego. I’ve advised more companies. I’ve helped more companies raise money. I’m pretty sure it’s over $1 billion dollars i’ve helped companies raise, for which I’ve pocketed zero dollars in fees, commissions and equity. I’m also pretty confident that the programs I’ve helped launch and build are at the heart of San Diego’s transition from a $1B venture market, to one that drew in almost $20B in just the last three years.
I like Q&A much more than I like public speaking. Let’s be real. Tough questions are good questions.
I’ve spent years working hard to build Connect up as an “institution” — with a solid CRM and foundation, with an incredibly strong team. This is a big deal to me. If you know anything about Connect — you know it was there at the beginning. And you know it has had its ups and downs, largely based around the CEO’s persona and reach. Bill Otterson and Duane Roth led great runs. When each passed away, Connect (and the SD innovation ecosystem) faltered. That’s not gonna happen again.
I don’t sleep well. I’m generally awake 6 nites a week from 2–4am. It’s when I do my crazy thinking, strategy planning, etc. It’s a strangely good time to think creatively and strategically. But.. it’s not ideal to be awake at such hours. I don’t recommend it.
Chronological Crapola — The details of getting to San Diego:
I grew up in Mountain View, a few miles from Google’s future HQ. Left in the middle of the night Jan 1984 and enrolled myself at SDSU the next morning and found an apartment. Paid my way through school by moving furniture.
Graduated and took a job at the SD Business Journal in 1989. In 1991, I went back to grad school at night. Graduated in 1993, left the Business Journal and opened up my own marketing shop. Crushed it immediately… Hahaha!
Three years later in 1996, one of my clients, Cooley Godward, brought me in house. I became the first business development guy at a law firm (apologies to all). I started working with tech and life sci startups, and met Bill Otterson from Connect. And then it started…
1997: I founded the San Diego Band of Angels — San Diego’s first angel group. The group changed its name to Tech Coast Angels, and is now NuFund — San Diego’s most prolific angel group.
1998: I founded the San Diego Telecom Council. It changed its name to CommNexus, and is now EvoNexus. Credit goes to others (Rory Moore and Admiral Walter Davis) — who pivoted EvoNexus to become San Diego’s first and most successful incubator/accelerator.
2000: I joined a startup as COO, two weeks before the market crashed. I was one of the last three individuals there when the doors were closed a year later. Startup life was honestly quite fun.
2001: I founded The Venture Pipeline Group within the firm of DLA Piper. It was the first business unit of its kind — helping startups from multiple tech cities (Austin, Wash DC, Seattle, Bay Area and San Diego) raise venture capital. It was very successful, and became widely replicated across the country; and would later became the model for San Diego’s plan to raise capital.
2006: I was fortunate to get a taste of LP action in a venture fund, when i was invited to be a small (unfortunately very small) LP in Sequoia. I also delved into a few angel investments.
2007 — Led global biz dev efforts for DLA Piper, then the world’s largest law firm. Had teams in EMEA, Asia and Australia. Almost moved to London.
Overall:
2001–2014: During my time with the Tech Coast Angels and Venture Pipeline, i helped over 80 companies raise over $500M in just series A dollars. Across tech and life sciences.
2014 — I was asked to lead the San Diego Venture Group. I thought it would be a two year role — a way to get reintegrated into San Diego and also give back. I figured I knew what to do. The piece missing in San Diego was exactly what i did with Venture Pipeline. The challenge was most of my VC connections had gone stale. But, I knew the game. So on the road i went — VC conversation after VC conversation. One by one by one. Fortunately, a percentage listened.
It was certainly a grind. And on many occasions, I wondered if we could actually gather enough quality early stage co’s, enough CEOs, and enough VCs together — to create that “substance effect” in San Diego — where it would be tangible. There was some begging done along the way… but ten years later …it seems the many moving pieces came together, and it worked. San Diego is crushing it.
The Business Journal did a nice story on me in 2017.
Some Post Reflections (2024):
I believe a key to our success was centered around being entrepreneurial, like the companies we serve. Getting outside the playbook, being innovative, taking risks, and leading with community support was key.
One Important Nugget:
The region’s “personality” has always been very important to me. We must never lose our sense of self. I love San Diego, because it is San Diego. It’s more than just the weather. It’s an attitude. It’s a culture. It’s friendly. We’re different than Silicon Valley — and that’s good.
Sooo many people advised me to counter our image along the way. And at almost every step of the way — we did the opposite. We embraced what others wanted us to hide. In fact, we oftentimes doubled down on it.
Some examples:
Locals told me — “we need density. We need a front door. We need to be like San Francisco.” My spin was the opposite: “We have room to grow. We have 70 miles of coastline. It’s an advantage and we embrace it.”
We were known as a “laid back beach town” full of surfers. Instead of arguing, we embraced that too. When Bay Area conversations went down the “beach town” path, the answer was: “Yes, we have amazing beaches. It’s a bummer you don’t.”
When they said our entrepreneurs weren’t focused and were surfing, we turned that on its head too: “It’s a great filter for us. If they’re out surfing, we know they’re not committed. It’s easy to figure out who the grinders are.”
They would say our talent was subpar. We flipped that too. “Your turnover rate among engineers is 1.2 years. Our engineers stay in their roles for over 4 years. We have continuity.”
Now I’m not so naive to think that dialogue worked on the spot. However, over time, that messaging, alongside showing them great companies, began to resonate. Those features turned from a detraction to an attraction.
San Diego’s personality is important. Silicon Valley is a unique place on the planet, and always will be. But we as a region HAVE to stop comparing ourselves to Silicon Valley. We can do better. Not bigger — better.
We must never become arrogant as individuals or as a community. We need to fight to maintain our identity. Embrace our San Diego vibe. And as we grow and attract others from outside San Diego, it’s monumentally important to me that we integrate the newcomers to our culture, and not the other way around. Remember — they moved here for a reason.
It seems simple — but it’s important we never forget or take for granted:
WE ARE SAN DIEGO.
2014–Present
If you want to learn more about how we moved the market forward, you can start here.
