FEATURE
Veyo Each year, about 3.6 million people in the US miss doctor’s appointments because they can’t get a ride. A lift in an ambulance costs about $2,800 in San Diego. Veyo decided to apply the Uber model to non-emergency medical transportation, charging a dollar a ride. Their drivers get trained in CPR, HIPAA guidelines, and ADA requirements. Acquired by MTM in 2022, the company has a new HQ in La Jolla Square. ClickUp San Diego Business runs on collaboration. Digital collaboration. But we still have a natural fear of tech, so the software’s gotta be dynamic, e ffi cient, and incredibly easy to use for borderline Luddites (thus why Canva is a $40 billion company). The ultimate no- brainer productivity and collaboration software has been one of the holy grails of the digital age, and San
Big Ideas BY LUCY BYAM AND TATYANA WELLS Every great business began as a great idea. After all, a thriving brand is merely a cultural desire being properly met, and SD is home to plenty of big-time players giving the people what they want. Who knew that making cool sunglasses at a reasonable price could bring in big bucks? Or that switching from wood to metal could be the beginning of a golf empire? Our city’s companies have innovated and disrupted their way to the top in all kinds of sectors, some that are no-brainers (SD is, after all, biotech’s ground zero) and others that may take you by surprise (turns out sweatproof sleepwear is in high demand). Here are some big ideas making San Diego industry go.
Diego’s ClickUp is a frontrunner. Since 2017, more than 300 massive global companies (including our very own Padres) have swooned over their teamsy flow. Upper Deck Started in 1988 by three friends (including a former equipment manager for the LA Rams), Upper Deck premium-ized the trading card experience. Compared to baseball cards of the ’70s and ’80s, theirs used higher-quality card stock with incredibly crisp photos that seemed almost 3D (their “diamond-cut” technology). They were also the first to patent an autograph- authentication process (forgeries are big, bad business). Upper Deck won the MLB contract in 1989, the NFL in 1990, the rest after that. They built a massive house of cards in Carlsbad, then expanded into games and experiences. Time to raid grandpa’s attic for any unopened packs. Carvin Corporation A good amount of America’s electric guitars are made by a family in Carmel Mountain Ranch. Lowell Kiesel created Carvin in 1946, and now the third gen of Kiesels runs it, expanding into audio gear like amps, pedals, and in-ear monitors (the tech that lets musicians hear themselves on stage). Weirdo rock legend Frank Zappa (a San Diego kid who attended Grossmont College and Mission Bay High) used Carvins. A decade ago, the family launched a spino ff , Kiesel Guitars.
TaylorMade In 1979, Gary Adams created a golf club called the Pittsburgh Persimmon—the first golf driver with a head made of stainless steel instead of wood. (Pittsburgh is the city of steel, and persimmon is the wood old-timey golf clubs were made of.) It radically altered the game. Drives went farther, players felt mightier, scores got better, and TaylorMade became a household name. Illumina DNA is the Rosetta Stone of us, and untangling it is a massive industry. Launched in 1998, Illumina is a leader in plug- and-play gene-sequencing tech, with products that help researchers fight cancer and find faster answers for disease. Breakthroughs like “semiconductor sequencing” are complicated stu ff , but important. And lucrative.
78 NOVEMBER 2023
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