Ventures
Find where a group of people can't get what they need to grow - capital, mentors, market access, a classroom tied to a real business - then build the program or the institution that closes it.
Emerge and Rise
Started for immigrant and underserved entrepreneurs who lacked access to capital, mentorship, and networks, the way I once did. Emerge and Rise is a San Antonio 501(c)3 venture development organization running workshops, panels, and community programming in digital literacy, financial literacy, and business sustainability.
"Emerge and Rise is more like a front porch, a place where ideas meet action, and building a business means building community."
Since founding it in 2021, we've run 100+ workshops, panels, and community events, engaged 300+ entrepreneurs and small business owners, and built partnerships with 45 organizations, universities, and institutions, with active ecosystem ties across seven countries: Japan, Germany, the UK, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Mexico, and Canada.
Reach out if you're an entrepreneur, a mentor, or an organization looking to partner. Visit site →
WINC Circle
For women founders who wanted a community built on their own terms, not a networking event designed around someone else's. Co-led with Christine Colburn, WINC (Women in Collective) describes itself as a space to "build what matters, self, story, and future," open to women at every stage: launching a business, changing careers, rebuilding an identity, or just looking for real connection.
"Leadership looks different here, and that's the point."
The community runs through curated gatherings rather than standard mixers, events like the Her Circle Social Hour, with free membership through Luma.
Reach out if you're a woman founder looking for community, or an organization interested in partnering. Visit site →
San Antonio Applied Innovation Council
For companies relocating to or expanding in San Antonio who needed introductions and market access that data alone can't provide. The Council is a private-sector working group, powered by Emerge and Rise, aligning industry, public infrastructure, and higher education to accelerate business expansion and applied innovation in the city. Founding leadership includes Danielle Littleton Larish (Membership Chair, tech transfer and commercialization) and Christine Colburn (Engagement Chair), alongside advisors in defense, policy, and biotechnology.
"The data makes the case. People make it happen."
Membership is invitation-only, based on sector relevance and decision-making authority, since the Council's work happens through relationships that move opportunities from conversation to contract, not through open enrollment.
Reach out if you're a company relocating to or expanding in San Antonio. Visit site →
Founder Institute — San Antonio
For early-stage founders who needed a structured, cohort-based path from idea to company, and a city that didn't have a local chapter yet. Founder Institute was co-founded in 2009 by Adeo Ressi and Jonathan Greechan and has grown into the largest pre-seed accelerator network in the world: 200+ cities, nearly 100 countries, thousands of companies launched, with alumni founders collectively raising well over $1.8 billion.
"We're not an accelerator. We're a company builder, and the distinction matters." — Adeo Ressi, Founder Institute co‑founder
Martin Martinez leads Founder Institute Texas, overseeing chapters in Austin, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio; since 2017 he's guided 65+ companies through the program to a combined $1M+ raised. I brought the accelerator to San Antonio in 2024 and co-lead the local chapter, running founders through the 14-week, part-time curriculum from idea to company formation.
Reach out if you're an early-stage founder in San Antonio ready to build. Read the accelerator page →
Korevia Advisory Group
I ran my own consulting practice, Atlas Start, from 2017 to 2025. In 2026, I co-founded Korevia Advisory Group with Christine Colburn. We advise scaling companies, seed through Series B, and international firms entering the U.S., across five industries: AI and emerging tech, defense and dual-use innovation, healthcare tech, enterprise SaaS, and advanced manufacturing.
"Advise at moments where the next decision defines long-term value."
What we sell isn't a report. It's access: warm introductions to the executives and capital providers who actually make the call, and enough insight into how those decision-makers weigh risk to walk in prepared. That's relationship-driven work, curated and built for the long term instead of volume outreach, and it's the part no AI tool can replicate: the actual relationships, the actual room.
Reach out if you're an SME leadership team planning expansion, a new market entry, or a capital raise. Visit site →
Palo Alto College, Alamo Colleges District
For students who needed coursework connected to real businesses instead of theory alone. I teach in Palo Alto College's Bachelor of Applied Technology in Operations Management program, starting as an adjunct and moving to full-time faculty in August 2023. Every project in my classroom runs on a real San Antonio business, never a hypothetical case study: students research an actual company, work inside its actual constraints, and hand over something the owner can use. I also helped launch the PAC Biz Innovators student club, so that building and pitching don't have to wait for a syllabus.
"Students tell me that they feel a real sense of belonging in our program."
Teaching is where everything else I do comes back around. A negotiation I'm running at Korevia, a program I built at Emerge and Rise, a growth call I'm making for Abov3: it all turns into a real example in the classroom instead of a textbook chapter. Most small businesses in San Antonio still don't have a website, let alone an AI strategy, so the gap my students are learning to close is the same one I spend the rest of my week working inside. Out in the field and back into the room, on repeat, that loop is what makes this the most rewarding thing I do.
Reach out if you're a San Antonio business open to a student partnership, or a student looking for hands-on coursework. Read the spotlight →
Abov3
The kind of advisory work I don't get to talk about in detail: strategy for a company building something ambitious in AI. Abov3 is a sophisticated AI ecosystem. I advise on growth strategy; details are confidential under NDA.
Visit site →Texas World of Wheels
An entertainment and education venue built around a subject most people don't expect to find a growth story in: the history and evolution of wheeled transportation. I advise on growth strategy.
Visit site →
