Thank you to all who joined us last night for the 2025 Titans Awards! We include individual videos of each Titan, and a smattering of photos.

Steve Fortunato’s CEO Works talk reframed leadership as hospitality: stop acting like a hero extracting value, start hosting to create it. After decades of keynote speakers, he stands out as the best corporate retreat speaker I’ve ever heard.

Jesse Abrams’ talk at the Santa Cruz Works CEO Luncheon revealed how ADHD and digital overload reshape attention, motivation, and leadership. He urged leaders to design work around individual brain processes, purpose, and healthy dopamine—creating teams built for focus and resilience.

Did you miss our CEO Works Luncheon event with Becca Davis? This one was packed full of great information and includes interactive components.

Did you miss our August 27th CEO Works luncheon event with David Doolin? Check out the recording here!

Did you miss our vibe coding webinar with Ian McHenry and Craig Vachon? Check it out here!

On July 29, Santa Cruz Works hosted a powerful session led by Peggy Tierney Galvin, Chief Strategy Officer at Force4, unveiling one of the most urgent shifts in digital marketing: the rise of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). For attendees seeking to stay ahead of the curve, Galvin’s message was clear—search as we’ve known it is dying, and AI-driven discovery is taking its place.

Did you miss our webinar with Confluent last week? Check out the recap and recording here to learn aobut Apache Katfka & Data Streaming for Startups.

Our Summer rooftop mixer was a huge success with over 250 attendees from CruzHacks 2025, Santa Cruz Launchpad 2025, and the usual suspects (the Santa Cruz entrepreneurial community). Such a beautiful venue at Anton Pacific. Photos by Genevieve Rico.

In its 8th year, Santa Cruz Launchpad 2025 was a huge success. Over the next 2 weeks, we will make a full story and videos of the events. For now, we have 2 collections of photos: Business Plan Pitch Competition, and Job Fair.