Her Network Helps Nurture Start-Ups

Egg Company 2, the Annenberg Incubator Project at USC, is one of the original high-tech business incubators in Los Angeles. As EC2’s executive director, JON GOODMAN is personally involved with more than a dozen start-up companies. And each week, she meets with a dozen or so new companies.

With a contact list like that, Goodman is one of the Tech Coast’s premier networkers. She uses her contacts to help companies help each other grow by making key introductions. Her busy public speaking schedule--audiences include government agencies and technology industry groups--helps raise the Tech Coast’s profile around the country.

At home, Goodman is nurturing companies that can produce compelling entertainment to take advantage of the new high-bandwidth computer networks being introduced by cable, phone and satellite companies. In her view, the efforts to date have been underwhelming. But she strongly believes that Southern California should own the growing Internet content industry.

“That speaks directly to the region’s strengths,” said Goodman, 57. “The greatest storytellers on the planet live south of Santa Barbara, and that’s what it’s going to come down to: the ability to weave new forms of entertainment and education and bring them into people’s living rooms.”