3 Reasons This Beautiful, Sun-Drenched City is a Hotbed for Business Innovation San Diego's gorgeous beaches and perfect weather aren't the only reasons the city has become home to some of the world's brightest tech businesses.

In this increasingly digital age, one may assume that where a business is physically located doesn't matter. But that couldn't be further from the truth. A growing business with big ambitions requires a location that includes things like excellent infrastructure, business-friendly policies, access to capital, and helps foster happiness and well-being among employees.

There's one U.S. city that has all of this and more: San Diego. Sure, the city's average forecast is 72 degrees and sunny, and it boasts 70 miles of amazing coastline with an outstanding outdoor lifestyle. But America's Finest City is more than just its good looks. San Diego has a powerful BIZ Experiencesial ecosystem that fosters creativity and is brimming with innovation.

"You can be part of something exciting in terms of pushing the envelope, something that gets recognition around the world, but at the same time you can have a quality of life here that is very hard to find anywhere else," says Anantha Krishnan, Senior Vice President of the Energy Group at San Diego-based General Atomics.

San Diego is inspiring and inviting, but that just scratches the surface. Here are three reasons the city has become a hotbed for business innovation.

The wealth of top-notch education

San Diego is home to some of the most highly acclaimed colleges and universities in the U.S., including the University of California, San Diego; University of San Diego; San Diego State University; and Point Loma Nazarene University, just to name a few. The facilities and research that is happening at these institutions attract some of the top minds from all over the world.

"We have a strategy of innovation and BIZ Experiencesship across the campus," says Pradeep Khosla, an internationally renowned electrical and computer engineer and Chancellor of UC San Diego. A campus with more than 45,000 students, UC San Diego was recently named the sixth best public university in the country and came in at No. 22 among the Most Innovative Schools¹.

"It doesn't matter what your major is, where you live, where you come from—you can innovate in your domain, and you can be an BIZ Experiences," Khosla says. "Our job is to enable and empower everybody who comes to us. Let's see how we can help them go out and achieve their dreams."

One of the many local businesses that benefit from the qualified talent coming from San Diego schools is General Atomics, a global energy and defense business specializing in unmanned aircraft systems, nuclear energy, electromagnetic systems, advanced weapons, and more. The company was founded in San Diego in 1955.

Krishnan says the focus of General Atomics' Energy Group is on developing fusion energy, which it does alongside the U.S. Department of Energy and via frequent collaborations with researchers at UC San Diego. With the right resources, and continued teamwork across organizations in San Diego and beyond, Krishnan says he's optimistic that commercial applications for fusion energy will indeed become a reality.

A passionate BIZ Experiencesial ecosystem

Krishnan and Khosla agree that successful collaborations across organizations are possible because of San Diego's passionate and supportive BIZ Experiencesial ecosystem.

"This city is one of the most collaborative cities I've ever seen," Khosla says. "If you put two smart people together who are both 'hyperachievers,' they will figure out how to combine their strengths to accomplish something that neither one of them can do alone. That leads to innovation in science, which leads to innovation in technology."

Over the decades, San Diego has become a hotbed of innovation in areas such as biomedical, wireless, nuclear, and national security-related technologies, among others. The ecosystem is "very focused," operating in spaces that are different from other places like Silicon Valley, Krishnan says.

"There's a lot of interaction that is encouraged by the proximity of all of these people being within the greater San Diego community that brings together people and helps enable ideas to get exchanged," he says.

An energy that's conducive to success

"When I first came to San Diego, I was surprised by how people drive at or below the speed limit," Krishnan recalls with a laugh. "I found myself honking at people on the streets. And then I realized within the first week, hey, I'm being a jerk."

Unlike the hustle and bustle of most big cities, there's something inherently un-hectic about San Diego. "When I come to work in the morning, I drive the road that's along the coast," Krishnan continues. "I see people crossing the road with their surfboards and they've just come off the ocean and spent their morning surfing before work."

This easy-going lifestyle doesn't mean that San Diegans don't work hard. Instead, it creates a positive frame of mind that leads to creativity, collaboration, and what Khosla calls a "small-town mentality"—people who genuinely care about each other and about what happens in their hometown, backyard, neighborhood, to their neighbors.

"I think San Diego is destined to be one of the meccas of high-tech," Khosla says. "I'm very bullish on what San Diego is and where it is going."

Click here learn more about why San Diego is one of the best places for tech, innovation, and business.

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^{1 2025 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings}