Hero House Glendale Director, Armine Galstyan on Why They're More Than Your Average Accelerator.

Glendale continues forging a path to becoming one of Southern California’s premier regional tech hubs and the launch of the City’s first accelerator, Hero House Glendale, is evidence of the lengths that the City of Glendale will go to to cultivate an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship.

In 2019, the City received a $1 million grant from the State of California to launch and support a Start-Up Accelerator. Two top notch operators were selected to run accelerators in the City. Hero House, backed by their in-house venture capital fund SmartGateVC recently launched its first cohort. We had an opportunity to talk with Hero House’s Director, Armine Galstyan.

Thank you for joining us today, Armine. Let’s kick things off by telling us a little about yourself.

First of all, thank you for having me for the interview.

I started college in 2014, at a time when the tech and startup industry in Eastern Europe was booming. I went to the American University of Armenia and got a bachelor's degree in Business. During my freshman and sophomore years, I spent a lot of my time out of classes, taking short internships and meeting people at the newly launched university startup incubator. Out of this grew a project, which eventually led me into the startup and tech scene of Eastern Europe.

This is when I met the partners of SmartGateVC, a deep tech seed VC fund backed by serial entrepreneurs and notable venture capitalists. I had been planning to work in the banking industry back then. I even accepted a job offer and only to realized later that I was having way more fun working on this project.

The project did not take off, so I went on to join the sales team of one of the leading mobility and transportation startups in Armenia. However, when SmartGateVC was officially launched, I joined the fund as one of the first hires at 19.

Currently, I am the Managing Director of Hero House Glendale. My experience spans from accelerator management to startup advisory, partnerships, and community management. Throughout my work at the Fund, I led SmartGateVC's deep tech incubation and pre-acceleration programs, where I had a chance to work with 100+ early-stage startups and helped entrepreneurs to raise pre-seed funding. At SmartGateVC, I am also part of the investment team with 20 portfolio companies as of March 2021.

We’re excited to have Hero House launch in Glendale. What is your vision for the accelerator and how is it unique compared to other tech accelerators in SoCal?

Hero House Glendale is a technology hub that aims to arm companies with path-breaking technological advancements and scalable business models by connecting business development talent and opportunities in the SoCal area with the deep tech teams in Eastern Europe.

The first phase of the program at Hero House is the GateWay accelerator, where participants go through a 12-week mentorship program focused on establishing their growth framework, refining and validating their sales strategies. This is followed by 8 weeks of on-site customer development and fundraising assistance in Southern California.

The accelerator is uniquely positioned to efficiently leverage the talent and business opportunities of both the North American and European continents. Hero House Glendale goes beyond running only the startup program. The vision of the hub is to consolidate local scientific/engineering potential and smart money around cutting-edge entrepreneurship through various value add partnerships.

Hero House sounds like an exciting opportunity for startups. Break it down for us, how does a startup benefit from participating?

The program uses an individualized approach for addressing companies’ needs and challenges.

Participants have access to a large pool of mentors and industry experts who will prepare them for raising seed funding. Throughout the program, the mentors will guide the companies in sales and growth hacking.

Partnerships with world-renowned companies such as IBM, Zeplin, Flexy, and others, arms founders with the best resources for building their products. The total value of perks exceeds $600K per company. Moreover, companies will receive assistance for setting up highly qualified yet cost-efficient tech teams in Eastern Europe.

After working towards achieving milestones, founders will pitch in front of a carefully selected, 100+ invite-only audience of US investors during “Demo Day”.

What are the types of startups we should look forward to seeing on Demo Day?

As a result of a detailed selection process, 13 companies have been chosen. Investors should look forward to seeing deep tech startups with early traction from industries ranging from healthtech, business intelligence, fintech to entertainment, proptech, and more.

You have worked with 100+ early-stage startups and helped entrepreneurs to raise pre-seed funding – what is the one piece of advice you would give early-stage startups looking for funding?

Target only value-add investors and go after smart money.

I hear that you are going to be a judge at Pitchfest. What tips do you have for our participants to elevate their pitch?

I would recommend that participants keep their pitch within 2.5-3.5 minutes and focus on what differentiates them from the competition. I personally will prioritize and vote for the companies that have teams with strong expertise and background in their industries and are solving substantial problems for big markets.

Why should startups consider Glendale when looking to locate their business?

Glendale has strong foundations to become the next hub for technology and innovation. Talent, quality of life, access to transit, cost-efficient office spaces, and more factors make the City an attractive home for startups.

Glendale is also home to big corporations and tech giants such as Walt Disney Animation Studios, DreamWorks Studios, ServiceTitan, etc., that create a favorable environment for innovation to thrive. In addition to this Glendale, is surrounded by world-class scientific and educational institutions such as USC, UCLA, Caltech, etc. Thus, startups can employ highly-ranked professionals in the Glendale area and collaborate with the universities to utilize the tech research and scientific potential in the area.

Beyond Limits Has AI Technology “In-the-Bag.” A Sit Down With CEO & Founder AJ Abdallat

Artificial technology today makes life easier in so many ways that we don’t even realize when we’re interacting with technology that’s powered by AI. When we check our email, listen to music, post on social media and shop online, AI is working behind the scenes to make our experience effortless. One might say that it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to perform any of these daily tasks, but there are real world challenges that the geniuses at Beyond Limits are solving from right here in Downtown Glendale draw on technology that’s out of this world. With their AI roots firmly planted back in their Caltech & JPL days, the team at Beyond limits works to provide AI solutions to some of Planet Earth’s most complex industries. They apply their knowledge and experience from working on NASA’s space programs to address big challenges in the energy industry and beyond.

We sat down with Beyond Limits’ Founder and CEO AJ Abdallat to learn more about what goes on at their bustling Glendale headquarters.

Please share a little about your company: its origins, founders, and mission.

Beyond Limits is a full-stack artificial intelligence engineering company creating advanced software solutions that go beyond conventional AI. Our breakthrough cognitive technology blends conventional AI tools together with symbolic AI (which emulates human intuition) to deliver cognitive reasoning and intelligence. Founded in 2014, Beyond Limits was formed to bring technology proven in space down to the most demanding industries here on earth. Our heritage (and leadership team) emerged from Caltech and NASA’s Jet Pro Lab, and now Beyond Limits possesses one of the most comprehensive, cognitive reasoning technology portfolios in the world. Our AI solves intricate problems and provides people with more comprehensive information for faster, better decisions that reduce risk.

What need does your company meet or solve?

Beyond Limits solves complex, mission-threatening business problems with advanced cognitive AI for the world’s most demanding industries. By creating automated solutions with human-like powers of reasoning, our AI systems bolster the expertise and proficiencies of people. Our cognitive systems are educated and trained to leverage layers of data alongside expert human knowledge to solve problems, even with missing or misleading information.

Why is your company an important and unique player in the AI field? 

Currently, there is a growing need for explainable artificial intelligence among high-value industries. We have implemented this vital requirement since the early days of AI at NASA. Conventional AI can learn from data but cannot explain how it arrived at an answer. Beyond Limits’ cognitive AI solutions establish trust by providing clear explanations behind their reasoning, as opposed to just spitting out answers with no visibility.

What were some of the challenges you had to overcome to get to where you are today?

 Ensuring everyone in the organization is going in the same direction (believing in the same vision and goals) can be a strenuous endeavor. Contradictory agendas can impede headway past both larger and smaller obstacles that test us as we reach each milestone. However- the process of working through unforeseen challenges, learning from differences of opinion, and coming out the other side with better information is what makes us stronger in the end.

What is the number one secret to your success and how do you define success?

We have the technology in-the-bag. What takes our success to the next level, what makes all the difference, and what really matters comes down to the people. Investing in our people, our employees, is key. When a company values its employees, the employees will value their company. We have the same approach with our customers. Real success comes to play when everyone feels compelled to work cohesively toward accomplishing a worthwhile, shared goal.

What is something that is happening in your company right now that you are excited about?

Over the summer, we announced a very exciting partnership with Xcell to build the world’s first cognitive AI power plant. We’ll be adding our cognitive AI intelligence technology to the plant’s entire process to make every part of its operations more efficient, productive, and environmentally friendly.

How do you continue to foster a culture of innovation and creativity with your employees?

Our company’s values show the importance we place on a culture that encourages pioneering visionaries and innovation driven by the confidence to explore without fear. A big part is the freedom to speak up and make your voice heard. A variety of voices matters, and unpredictable points of view add a lot of value - which makes inclusion and diverse collaboration vital elements of our company culture as well.

Why did you choose Glendale to be home to your company and what do you love most about our city?

A huge perk of this locale is the ability to neighbor with JPL. That’s probably #1. Seeing that view of those foothills surrounding the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from our office windows every day reminds us of exactly where we started. The opportunity to bring more tech into a community as supportive as Glendale has an appealing draw as well. It is part of our mission (and corporate responsibility) to give back to our community, and we are proud that [Glendale Tech Week] provided us the opportunity to bring an educational tech panel to our local students at Theodore Roosevelt Middle School. Educating our younger generations on the future of technology is vital for peaking their interests around prospective career opportunities they may not have had knowledge of otherwise.

Drawing on your experience, what advice would you give to new startups and entrepreneurs hoping to break into the tech industry?

Tough positions teach you more than easy ones. When I was a young technical advisor, I was unexpectedly thrown into a gigantic senior program management position. The situation looked like a disaster waiting to happen. And it was happening to me. Turns out, what may have seemed like an unrecoverable scenario was actually an opportunity to rise above and beyond to prove that you can accomplish anything. I ended up winning this seemingly insurmountable program through hard work and a fresh perspective. My advice to any entrepreneurs, innovators, and the like, would be to keep in mind that opportunities can really disguise themselves as disasters. No matter how bleak something may look, don’t give up on the prospect of diving into challenges that may appear legitimately impossible. A lot of times, you really can discover brand new solutions within the darkest corners of a problem. It helps to hire the kind of people who will think outside the box right alongside you and offer support when venturing into the unknown and beyond.

Want more?
Watch our face-to-face interview with AJ Abdallat at his Downtown Glendale headquarters.