Meet Zach Sekar of The Fulcrum

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zach Sekar.

Hi Zach, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In 2011, I co-founded a fintech startup in Los Angeles. To grow our network and support this business venture, we also began hosting events to gather local startup founders and technologists. So began my adventure into startup entrepreneurship and community building. 

The event series that took off starting in 2011 was based on our desire for in-person technology and startup networking opportunities. We called it LA Tech Happy Hour, and it rapidly became the largest technology Meetup in Los Angeles, clearly validating that the local market was also demanding opportunities to form a community. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has had plenty of peaks and valleys! After a year, my business partner and I chose to exit the financial software business. Instead of seeking employment, I became curious about the fast-growing meetup series we had started and began exploring and further mastering the art of in-person community building. 

Steady growth eventually resulted in a calendar of events large enough to be its own business entity, leading to Startup Coil’s founding. Startup Coil now hosts and produces many of the most-attended startup and innovation events in Los Angeles, including the ever-popular Tech Happy Hour series, the pitch competition Startup Arena, and several speaker/interview series, and is ultimately an opportunity engine, allowing me and everyone who participates a platform to share knowledge, collaborate, and benefit from the serendipity of meeting the exact person or having the specific conversation that starts a whole adventure. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Personally, Startup Coil has allowed me to explore, along with a community of interested humans, any topic that captured my curiosity. I’ve gotten to join and found businesses in software, marketing, manufacturing, and consulting. I host events and conferences exploring artificial intelligence, cannabis technology, venture capital, robotics, blockchain, social media, and more. I even co-founded the largest web3 gathering in California called NFT LA. 

I’m continuing to explore my lifelong interests in science and technology. I’m creating a science show called Smarter with Science with my friend Stanley Bishop, one of the thousands of incredible people I’ve met through hosting events. On that show, we’ll explore AI medicine, decentralized science, marine biology, scientific simulation, quantum physics, and whether we can talk to animals. 

Business and entrepreneurship remain another area of interest, and lately, I’m most curious about what I think of as “founder leverage.” With today’s technology infrastructure, automation tools, artificial intelligence, media opportunities, and the capabilities of outsourced teams, solo founders and small teams can create huge impacts in the world. Many believe it is a near-term inevitability that some of the next billion-dollar companies will be solo entrepreneurs. We’re exploring mastering these capabilities in a new project called The Fulcrum. We intend to invent opportunities for the next economy. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://startupcoil.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachsekar/
• Yelp: https://www.youtube.com/@SmarterwithScience