building that feedstock mechanism is venture capital. Poizner said the amount of capital that VCs invest in Silicon Valley startups is about five times the amount invested in all of Southern California. “There’s a decent amount of seed capital, but the big gigantic chasm in Southern California is in Series A [funding]. That’s a very tough hill to climb.”
The recipe for a great technology hub is not one or two things, Poizner said. The recipe has multiple components—at least seven or eight—and includes academic institutions, great technologists, large companies, seasoned entrepreneurs, venture capital, and a risk-taking culture, he said.
Southern California doesn’t have all the pieces yet, Poizner said. One dilemma he said he has agonized over is whether to focus the alliance initially on improving the availability of venture capital or on strengthening the community of entrepreneurs. “I really think the focus has to be on the seasoned entrepreneurs, to team them up with the technologists, and get some success stories,” he said. “Seasoned entrepreneurs with a track record can get money from Sand Hill Road.”
To get the alliance started, Poizner persuaded seven Southern California universities and the San Diego-based Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine to join the alliance earlier this year, and to work together to advance innovation throughout the region. Since then, Poizner said, two new schools have joined the alliance: Harvey Mudd College and the University of San Diego.
He also has recruited a number of California power brokers to serve as Alliance advisers, including Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt. His eight-member board includes Qualcomm president Derek Aberle, former Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing, and Salk Institute president Elizabeth Blackburn.
While Southern California has its share of innovation, Poizner said, “There is a broad recognition in Southern California’s academic and business communities that that trajectory won’t change unless people come together.”
Why is Poizner leading this effort? When asked about his motivation, Poizner said he’s been getting that question a lot.
Boosting the innovation economy in Southern California could earn Poizner some political kudos, and he has been actively involved in state and national politics. After serving one term as California’s elected commissioner of insurance, Poizner ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for governor in 2010—losing in the primary to former eBay CEO Meg Whitman.
He said in an interview that he has no current plans to run again for public office, and he’s not working now on anything that has to do with politics. But he wouldn’t rule it out, either; for the time being, Poizner said his main focus is the SoCal innovation alliance.
“This is going to take some time to be successful,” he said. “I don’t see my whole next five to 10 years planned out exactly.” For now, he added, “This thing is consuming me. It’s all I do. It’s a seven-day a week volunteer job, and I need to continue playing this role for some time.”
