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StartOut San Francisco

Founded in 2009, our San Francisco chapter utilizes the focus and density of the city’s startup culture to provide opportunities for serendipitous connections, as well as a mature ecosystem of angels to service providers, to give your startup a boost toward success.

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Applications for the StartOut Growth Lab sponsored by Nixon Peabody are now open for the Fall 2018 Cohort.

 

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Success Stories

LGBTQ Connections Beyond Dating Apps – Sidao Li’s Journey to Creating Chippr
A recent business graduate from the University of California, San Diego, Sidao Li was first introduced to the StartOut Community through his submission for the #OutEntrepreneur video contest. … READ MORE
Matthew Cooper – Transforming the Consumer Loan Payment Experience
Although widely known, statistics for student loan debt in the United States are still quite shocking: Americans owe nearly $1.3 trillion in student loan debt … READ MORE
Dr. Jennelle Yopchick’s Big Change of Heart
Whether it's moving to a new city, having a baby, or mourning the death of a loved one, dealing with major life transitions can be an unsettling and scary experience. … READ MORE
Merritt Baer’s Got the Golden Tickets
When they first met at a New York theatre camp, 12 year-old Merritt Baer and Brian Fenty dreamed of setting the theatre world on its ear. 18 years later, they have. … READ MORE
Jennifer Brown – How Jennifer Found Her Voice

On September 8, 2012, Jennifer Brown took the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts stage. Although she entered to strains of opera music, the classically trained opera singer was not there to sing. … READ MORE

Michael Belkin – Connecting LGBT Youth
Michael Belkin first came out to a couple of friends, and to himself, in 2006 as a 19 year-old undergraduate at Cornell University. "On that day I was instantly part of this new community and movement … READ MORE
Sean Howell – Building a Better Hornet
When Sean Howell was a college student at Pacific Lutheran University in Seattle, he had no gay peers or role models. But he did find gay.com."The chat rooms were a way to talk to people about anything … READ MORE
Bonnie Lai – The Space Saver

People who live in cities have a lot of stuff – but not always enough space to store or park it all. That's why Bonnie Lai (who goes by "Bon") and her business partner Jonathan Gillon co-founded roost.com in March 2014. … READ MORE

Lee Edwards – Living the Dream
Many kids grew up dreaming of building robots, starting companies, and becoming successful by 30. Lee Edwards has done all of these. … READ MORE
Arun Apte – How Coming Out Changed the Course of His Business
Arun Apte was born in the Bay Area in a typical Indian family. And like most expectations coming from Indian parents, according to Apte, he was expected to be a doctor, lawyer or engineer. … READ MORE
Nick Hodulik – Marriage of the Minds
Nick Hodulik has had two happy marriages. His husband of five years, Jonathan Taylor ("JT"), joined him as VP then COO of General Things, the web and mobile applications company that he founded in 2004. … READ MORE

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Volunteer Programming Board

Jesse Lee Eller

Programming Board Chair

Jesse Lee Eller, CEO & Founder at Studio 5 – Learning and Development, LLC, a creative learning firm that specializes in people development. The international firm serves as an external resource for companies that either lack people development divisions or whose people development division teams need additional resources. 
Marcus Lee Hollan

Programming Board Secretary

Marcus Lee Hollan, Chief Learning Officer at Studio 5 Learning and Development, a creative design firm based in San Francisco that specializes in growing people that grow companies. The international firm is recognized for their innovation and positive disruption of the learning and development industry.

Dylan Chouinard

 

Dylan has a wide-range of interests and skills having guided outdoor adventures, helped run commercial shoots, and developed mapping tools for Apple. He’s now interested in creating compelling content and running a business of his own some day! He enjoys cycling, hiking, the desert, dogs, and witty web series.

Michael DiCato

 

Michael DiCato, an intellectual property attorney with Perkins Coie, assists clients in formulating an overall intellectual property strategy and developing an intellectual property portfolio. Michael also serves on the Board of Directors for the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free and low-cost legal assistance to persons living with HIV/AIDS.

Kevin Hawkins

 

Kevin Hawkins is a user/customer experience consultant and digital designer, originally from Washington, DC. He tries to make the world more accessible via his startup QReview, like a Yelp but for Discrimination, and is an active organizer and advisor for startups, conferences, pride festivals, and more.

Simma Lieberman

 

Simma Lieberman, “The Inclusionist,” is a internationally recognized authority on diversity and inclusion culture strategy in organizations. She is the co-founder of the new video project, “Everyday Conversations on Race for Everyday People.” Simma has authored three books on diversity and one on personal resilience.

Eric Park

 

Eric is a dedicated techie focused on cloud solutions. Currently working at Google, he focuses on bridging the divide between business needs and technical solutions. At StartOut, he is dedicated to promoting community and intersectionality within the tech industry. In his spare time, Eric enjoys working on his vertical garden with his earthworm Jim.

Dave Schreiber

 

Dave Schreiber is a mobile developer and startup entrepreneur. A veteran of several startups, including the Y Combinator-backed Loopt, he is currently doing freelance full-stack mobile development and working on a new startup. Dave lives in Mountain View.