Mike is the Regional Director of the Orange County and Inland Empire Small Business Development Center Network, which assists aspiring entrepreneurs and current business owners throughout Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. Before this role he was the director of an SBDC office in Long Beach for 5 years.
He has been and is a business owner and entrepreneur himself. He started with a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store in LA, and then opened a second location in Long Beach, eventually employing 20 people including managers at both locations. He eventually sold the LA store and took minority position in several other locations. He has the retail bug, though, as he has another store in Long Beach now called Sugar Daddies Sweet Shoppe. We had a good discussion about starting as a franchisee and then developing his own brand.
Mike is an entrepreneur, working with other entrepreneurs, and managing a critical support system that our government provides to small businesses here. He sees so much activity that I was excited to hear his important perspective and input. I learned a lot about trends in small businesses in Orange County.
Tom Ferry - CEO of Ferry International & #1 Real Estate Coach
Jessica Oslo - Founding Partner & Clinical Director of Vantis Institute
Re-release: Tony Smith - Co-founder & CEO of Restaurant365
Re-release: Ray Grainger - CEO & Founder of Mavenlink
Kate Buckley - CEO of Buckley Media
Jeff Gardner - President & CEO of CalAmp (Nasdaq: CAMP)
Maryam Rofougaran - Founder, Co-CEO & COO of Movandi Corporation
Nicole Suydam - President & CEO of Goodwill of Orange County
Larry Armstrong - Chairman, Former CEO of Ware Malcomb
Nick Zasowski - Director of Global Startup Studio Network (GSSN)
David Friedman - President of Tech Coast Angels (TCA), Orange County chapter
Fred Haney - Investor, Author, Former Venture Capitalist & CEO
Neal Polachek - Founder, ThinkLikeAnApp
Paul O'Brien - CEO of MediaTech Ventures
Derek Herrera - Founder of Spinal Singularity
Spencer Rascoff - Founder of dot.LA, Former CEO of Zillow
John Bradley Jackson - Investor, CSUF Professor, Author, Startup Adviser
Nicole McMackin - President & CEO of Irvine Technology Corporation
Dr. Wallace Walrod - Chief Economic Adviser of Orange County Business Council
Steve Pfrenzinger - Serial Entrepreneur, Hall of Fame Angel Investor and Executive Coach
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