Chapter One: A Run Across Petco Park
By Juan Sotelo, CEO and co-founder of CyberDyme
There were about 15 minutes left before the event ended when Brian Crook replied to my follow-up message on LinkedIn.
He was in the VIP area.
Elsewhere in Petco Park, Alex Bordbar, our Head of Technology, and I had spent the day showcasing CyberDyme at Innovation Day in San Diego. I had no meeting on Brian’s calendar and no VIP wristband. But someone I believed could help us see where the company could go was within reach.
I felt a little panicked. If I waited, I might miss him.
So I ran.
Christie opened the door
It was September 2024. Christie Marcella, then Chief Operating Officer of Connect, had been working with me and invited CyberDyme to showcase our product at Innovation Day.
Connect is a San Diego nonprofit that helps technology and life science companies grow. Christie was helping us find our place in that community. Her invitation gave us a booth, an audience and a deadline.
The product we planned to demonstrate was only ready two days before the event. We had about 24 hours of testing before we would be showing it live.
You believe in the work. You know how much has gone into it. Then you picture someone standing in front of you, trying it for the first time.
We had accepted the opportunity. Now we had to make it work.
Why I wanted that conversation
Our work at CyberDyme brought together my experience in teaching and corporate training with the VR work we had done at Payscout. We wanted to give people a place to practice difficult conversations before facing them in real life.
I understood the problem we were trying to solve. I wanted Brian’s perspective on how far we could take it.
At the time, Brian was Google Cloud’s Head of Cloud AI Solution Architecture and a mentor in the Google for Startups Cloud AI Accelerator. He had the technical experience and a commitment to helping founders. I had looked into his background and reached out on LinkedIn before the event, hoping we might connect.
Fifteen minutes left
As the event wound down, I messaged Brian again to see whether we could meet in person. When he told me where he was, I knew I had a small window.
The team had worked hard to get CyberDyme in front of this community. I could not let the day end without at least introducing myself.
I headed across Petco Park, picking up my pace until I was jogging.
Brian was standing at a high-top table in the VIP area, talking with several people. I walked up.
“Hi Brian. My name is Juan.”
I knew I was interrupting. I hoped for a few minutes and a reason to follow up.
Brian paused his conversation and gave me his attention.
I began explaining CyberDyme. He listened and engaged with what I was saying. I did not feel hurried through an introduction.
That was the surprise. After the rush to reach him, I had time to talk.
Before we parted, Brian suggested that we meet again in San Diego for a deeper discussion.
And we did.
He made time at the event. Then he made time again.
As a founder, you have plenty of promising conversations that never become anything more. Brian followed through. That was the beginning of a relationship we could build on.
A relationship that grew with the company
Over the following year, Brian helped me understand which Google for Startups resources fit our stage, who to speak with and when to reach out as CyberDyme gained momentum.
“Dream it. Build it. Scale it.” was becoming practical.
Christie had helped put us in the room. Brian listened and kept showing up. Our relationship with Google for Startups grew through that community, one conversation at a time.
At Petco Park, I had a company I believed in and about 15 minutes left.
I am glad I ran.
Brian would eventually introduce me to Uday Ghatikar, Global Founder Advocate and Field CTO at Google. I would enter that conversation focused on our training product and leave seeing a much larger possibility for CyberDyme.
In chapter two: The conversation that challenged us to think 100x.