The East Bay’s first Startup Grind Chapter, a sure sign of momentum in Fremont’s innovation ecosystem, launched last week featuring a discussion with Poshmark CEO Manish Chandra. Startup Grind, an international business startup community with the mission of connecting, educating, and inspiring entrepreneurs, has chapters in over 175 cities and 70 countries,.

Next Thursday, October 1, Startup Grind Fremontwill host its second event with Karl Mehta, CEO of EdCast, a personal learning network company. Mehta, a Fremont resident, has vast experience in entrepreneurship and business. Prior to founding EdCast, he started and served as CEO of Playspan, a gaming monetization platform which VISA purchased in 2011 for over $240 million. Mehta originally got the idea for Playspan from his then 12-year-old son. He has also personally invested in many tech companies and served as a venture partner for Menlo Ventures. The Obama Administration tapped Mehta as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow, and he currently sits on the Workforce Investment Board for the State of California. Looking to make a positive impact, Mehta founded Code for India in 2013, a non-profit tech community that encourages tech developers to build technology solutions to social issues and help NGOs. Don’t miss this conversation on Thursday, October 1, from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. at DeVry University. Tickets can be purchased online.

In last week’s initial Startup Grind event, guest entrepreneur Manish Chandra, CEO of Poshmark and a long-time East Bay resident, shared his startup journey with a receptive audience at DeVry University in Ardenwood last Wednesday.

Among many nuggets of wisdom, Chandra described how he used his psychological insight to fuel the success of Poshmark. For example, Poshmark’s user interface leverages women’s visceral conviction that a “yellow dress” is so much more than what it appears on the surface — a yellow-colored, A-line, singular piece of clothing. Chandra has also worked with the United States Postal Service to create a new flat rate mailing price system based on box size. For a detailed recap of the Q&A from theperspective of an event attendee, check out this piece from Vinod Narayan, of Pen Positive.

Can’t make next week’s event with Karl Mehta? No worries. We have three more events scheduled in the upcoming months:

  • October 29: Steve Basta, former CEO of AlterG, producer of an anti-gravity treadmill.
  • November 19: Andrew Ponec, founder of dFly Systems, creator of a solar power amplifier.
  • December 16: Dr. Micah Yari, CTO & founder of Tactus Technology, a touch screen technology company.

 

If you have any
question or suggestions for guest speakers, send an email to Shilpi Sharma, Co-founder &
CEO of Kvantum, and Chapter Director for
Startupgrind Fremont.