Startup Ventura is national news. The feature, “Luke Erickson Launches Startup Ventura to Build a New Home for Technology Founders in Ventura County,” published August 31 and is running on Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, and the Associated Press wire, putting the case for this county in front of a national audience.
The piece tells the story we have been building toward: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit accelerator founded on the belief that entrepreneurs should not have to leave Ventura County for Los Angeles or Silicon Valley to find the resources to build a high-growth company. It covers the founding investment from the City of Ventura, the partnership with the Ventura County Community College District, and Candid’s Platinum Seal of Transparency.
It also introduces the board to a wider audience: operators representing more than $4.5 billion in combined exit value, including Brent-Stig Kraus, who held leadership roles at Lynda.com, MINDBODY, and SevenRooms through their acquisitions, and Brian Gonzalez, Y Combinator backed co-founder and CTO of Curri, the logistics technology company headquartered in downtown Ventura.
The framing matters as much as the facts. The article places Startup Ventura against the backdrop of a county that has watched jobs and talent drift toward bigger tech hubs for a decade, and argues the moment is right to reverse it: modern tools have made it possible to build a serious company from anywhere, and founders should get to choose home. As Luke puts it in the piece, “You can build a serious company and a good life in the same place.”
Read the full feature on Yahoo Finance. To be part of what it describes, explore the program, support the mission, or reach out.