1. By Alex Kacik
Staff Writer
Aspeer-to-peerrentalserviceslikeAirbnb
grow, cities throughout the tri-county region
havestruggledtoadjusttotheincreasinglypopu-
lar trend.
JustasNetflixrevolutionizedTVandUber
changedtransportation,home-sharingsiteslike
Airbnbaretransformingthetourismindustry.
Travelerscanstaylongerandspendmore
moneybecauseofcheaperlodgingoptions.Busi-
nessesgetmoretouristdollars,citiescollectad-
ditionaltaxesandhomeownershaveextracash
to spend.
Thedilemmaisthatsomehomeownersdon’t
wantvacationers,whocanbenoisy,stayingin
their neighbors’ houses.
As angry residents’ calls mounted, cities
scrambledtofindshort-termrentalownersand
demandbusinesslicensingandtaxes.Butthe
thought of going through all the paperwork,
payingtaxesandcoughinguppossiblefinesfor
thoseoverduelevieshasdrivenmanyhomeown-
ers underground.
There are some who play by the rules,
but tri-county officials estimate there are
hundredsofrentalunitsstilloffthebooks.The
Tri-county cities test limits of home sharing
This is a column about how dys-
function in Washington is handing
billions over to Wall Street while
threateningthousandsofjobsonthe
Central Coast.
Justayearago,Allerganshutits
Goletabreastimplantoperationafter
itcameundersiegefromcorporate
raiders,Activis,aNewJersey-based
companythatusedanacquisitionin
Ireland to shift its home base and
avoid billions in taxes. Activis gob-
bled up Allergan, based in Irvine,
shuttheGoletaoperationand,presto,
changed its name back to Allergan.
The jobs? They’re still gone.
The government raised a stink about
theseso-called“taxinversions”andthefu-
ror died down. That was until Aug. 4 when
Shire,anotherIrishdrugmaker,proposeda
hostiletakeoverofBaxalta,acompanythat
has been in existence for just 30 days.
MindBody
beatestimates
butlostmoney
By Philip Joens
Staff Writer
Duringasecondquarterearningscallon
Aug. 4, it was all cheers for MindBody CEO
Rick Stollmeyer.
StollmeyerandMindBodyChiefFinancial
Officer Brett White had a giddy tone during
theSanLuisObispocompany’sfirstconfer-
ence call after its initial public offering.
“Congratsonagreatquarter,”oneanalyst
said.
MindBody,whichdevelopssoftwareand
providesmerchantprocessingforyogastu-
diosandfitnessclubs,hadreasontocelebrate.
Theyhemorrhagedmoneyduringthesecond
quarter,butdidn’tloseasmuchmoneyasana-
lysts feared.
MindBodybeatanalystestimates,which
predictedlossesof31centspershare.Mind-
Body lost just 21 cents per share.
Thesurprisingearningsreportwasarare
recentbrightspotforthecompany,whichcon-
tinued a long history of losses.
Revenues were up 49 percent for Mind-
Body in the second quarter, from $16.5 mil-
lion last year to $24.7 million this year. Sub-
scriptionswerealsoup50percentduringthe
WashingtondysfunctionovertaxescouldcostjobsinTri-Counties
Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, who lives in Santa Barbara, discusses his legacy.
Tech Titans
By Philip Joens
Staff Writer
Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins
loves sports.
Youcanhearitinthewayhetalksabout
JoeMontanaandDwightClark,orrattlesoff
tales of playing football.
Asateen,Hawkinsdreamedofcreating
a digital simulation of real life so he could
pretendtobeoneofhisgridironheroes.Ulti-
mately,that’swhatdrovehimtocreateElec-
tronic Arts and launch the wildly popular
MaddenNFLseriesofvideogamesin1988.
Hawkins,61,movedtoSantaBarbarain
April,andheisnowhelpingentrepreneurs
throughout the Central Coast.
“Well, my mission now, and for the rest
ofmylife,istohelpthenerdstakeoverthe
world,” Hawkins told the Business Times.
NIKBLASKOVICHPHOTOS
see TECH TITAN on page 19A
see HOME SHARING on page 19A
see MINDBODY on page 18A
see DUBROFF on page 17A
henry
dubroff
Editor
$1.50
Milpas mom-and-pops
fighting assessment
See page 3A
Technology
Tesla opens showroom
in Santa Barbara
See page 7A
THE INDEX
THE LIST: VC employers.... . . . . . . 15A
Commentary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16A
Leads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12A
Newsmakers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6A
REAL ESTATE . . . . . . . . . 4A
Headquarters get green light
AGRICULTURE. . . . . . . . 6A
El Nino could damage crops
August 7-13, 2015 Proudly serving Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties Vol. 16, No. 23
15th
An n i v e r s a r y
Friday, August 14, 2015
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m
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To purchase tickets,
please visit our website at www.pacbiztimes.com
SPIRIT of SMALL BUSINESS
Purchase your tickets now
For more
info see
page 20
EAfounderturnedhispassionintoanindustry
A Business
Times series

2. 18A Pacific Coast Business Times August 7-13, 2015 August 7-13, 2015 Pacific Coast Business Times 19A
TECH TITAN
Continued from page 1A
MILPAS
Continued from page 3A
HOME SHARING
Continued from page 1A
STREET SMARTS
Continued from page 3A
MINDBODY
Continued from page 1A
With $164,000 per year, the proposed
Eastside Business Improvement District
couldattractmorevisitors,associationof-
ficials said.
“Whywouldsomeonewanttoshutthis
down?”wroteAlanBleecker,theassociation
presidentandownerofCapitolHardware,a
fixture on Milpas since 1964, in an op-ed.
AsktheLatinoownersof80mom-and-
popstoresonMilpas.Somefirstheardabout
theplanfromabarberwhohappenedtosee
thecouncilmeetingontelevision.Soonthey
wereputtingupbilingualposters,denounc-
ingthe“MilpasTakeover”andurgingbusi-
nessesnottosigntheassociation’spetitions.
In February, a youth group protested at a
Latino-ownedrestaurantthatsupportsthe
association.
Nowthemoms-and-popsarerevivingthe
GreaterEastsideMerchantsAssociation,the
groupthathistoricallyrantheMilpasHoli-
dayParade.TheywanttocreatetheMilpas
BusinessImprovementDistrictonjustfive
blocks,leavingoutCapitolHardwareand
otherkeyMilpas CommunityAssociation
supporters, such as McDonald’s.
Themom-and-popspresentedthecity
council with their own plan to assess 106
businessesinthe200through600blocksof
NorthMilpasonly$50peryear,foratotalof
$6,000 annually.
“Weunitedbecausetheywantedtodo
thingsbehindourback,”saidJuanBravo,
theownerofLucy’sBoutiqueandBotanica
Divina Fe, adding that he cannot afford to
paythe$430peryeartheMilpasCommu-
nity Association wants to charge.
“We’re not naïve,” Bravo said. “Their
goal is to get rid of us. They just want to
controlMilpasandputinbigbusinessand
corporations, like on State Street.”
Fuelingthedispute,somebusinessessay,
Bleeckertoredownthepostersonajewelry
storeandhairsalon,thenreturnedlaterto
apologize.
ArmandoVargas,ownerofTorresanta
Insurance,saidBleeckerorderedhimtotake
down his poster but he refused.
“I brought up the First Amendment,”
Vargassaid,addingthathecouldnotafford
topaytheproposedMilpasCommunityAs-
sociationlevyof $215yearly.“Wearenot
millionairebusinessmen.Westruggleday
todayandarebarelysurviving.Wealready
paytaxes,permitfees,bills,rent,phoneand
insurance–andnowthisassessment?We
worry that it will get to the point where we
have to close our doors.”
Bleeckercouldnotbereachedforcom-
mentbutDavidPeterson,aMilpasCommu-
nityAssociationfounderandtheownerof
sixlocalMcDonald’s,saidhewas“absolute-
lybaffled”bytheopposition.Petersonsaid
hehasdonated$500monthlyforMilpasim-
provements for years.
“I think it’s time all of us contributed to
make Milpas better,” he said.
The defection of 80 mom-and-pops
makesitharderforPeterson’sgrouptoget
thesupportof50percentofbusinessowners,
theminimumitneedsforcityreview.Sofar,
160 businesses have signed up.
OnJuly14,thecitycouncilsaiditdidnot
wanttochoosebetweentwoplansforMil-
pasandtabledthematteruntilanewcouncil
takes over in January.
“You’re late arrivals trying to get in the
doorfirst,sothatdoesn’thaveagoodfeelto
me,tobehonest,”saidCouncilmanFrank
Hotchkiss, speaking to about 40 Latino
mom-and-popownerswhohadclosedup
shoptoattend.“Ihopewhenyoulookinthe
mirror,you’llthinkmaybethatdoesn’tlook
so good.”
María Pérez, the 84-year-old owner of
Centro Musical and a former director of
GreaterEastsideMerchants,saidshewasof-
fendedbythecomments.She’sbeenonMil-
passince1980,sellinggoodsrangingfrom
embroiderypatternsandvideostoyarnand
men’sworkboots,andsheownsherstore
building.
“I felt, like, this big because they didn’t
understandourcause,”shesaid,indicating
aquarter-inchbetweenherthumbandindex
finger.“It’salackofrespect.Wemom-and-
popsarethebackboneoftheeconomy.Why
dotheywanttocollectsomuchmoneyfrom
us?”
ideaistodeviseaplanthatpersuadesviolators
togolegitimate.Asofnow,thereisn’tmuch
incentive,saidVenturaCountyTreasurer-Tax
Collector Steven Hintz.
“The disincentive, of course, is they get
foundoutandgetissuedassessmentsorbills
thathavepenaltiesthatcouldgobackseveral
years,” he said.
WhilethecitiesofVenturaandSanLuis
Obispohavecraftedordinancestomanage
theseproperties,SantaBarbarahasyetto
adopt one.
Eventhoughit’sillegalinSantaBarbarato
operateabusinessandrentoutroomstova-
cationersinaresidentiallyzonedhousehold,
thecityhaslookedtheotherwaysoitcould
collecttransientoccupancytaxes,$2pernight
feesformarketingbrochuresandbusiness
permittingfees,saidGeorgeBuell,thecity’s
communitydevelopmentdirector.TOTfrom
short-termvacationrentalstotaled$1.19mil-
lioninthe2014-15fiscalyear,accordingtoa
city staff report.
“That’sinlargepartwhycouncildirected
stafftotaketheissueuptoreconcilethatin-
consistency,” he said.
Buellisdraftingareportthathewillpres-
enttotheSantaBarbaraCityCouncilonAug.
11thatattemptstorectifythecontradiction.
It will include zoning regulations allowing
homeownerstochargevisitorstostayinpart
of their house for less than 30 days.
Theproposedordinancewouldnotallow
anyshort-termvacationrentals,oroneswhere
vacationerscanrenttheentirehouse,regard-
lessofhowitiszoned.Hisstaffwillalsoask
thecitycouncilforemployeesandmoneyto
seek out unpermitted rental units.
“Becausethephenomenonisreallynew
andthere’sadifferentreactionineverycom-
munity,wehavetoproactivelyapproachthe
issuefromazoningenforcementperspective
in order to be effective,” Buell said. “There
are361vacationrentalownerswhohavebusi-
nesslicensesandarepayingTOT.Weknow
thatthereareover1,000vacationrentalunits
onvariousonlinerentalplatformsinSanta
Barbara.Thetotalnumberislikelyinthevi-
cinity of 1,500.”
SantaBarbarahasthebenefitoflearning
fromVenturaandSanLuisObispo.Ventura
implementeditsordinancein2009,whichal-
lowssomeonetostayinahouse,withorwith-
outtheowner,forlessthan30days.Itrequires
ashort-termvacationrentalpermitthatdesig-
natesaresponsiblepersonwhomustrespond
toanoisecomplaintwithin45minutesand
a$1,500bondthatcoverspossibleviolations,
similartoadeposit.Butmosthomeowners
choosetowaivethatfeebyincludinga“quiet
hours” stipulation from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.,
VenturatreasurysupervisorJaneyDunnsaid.
“Initially, we had a bond requirement of
$15,000andpeoplehadaheckofatimeob-
tainingthem,”saidDunn,addingthatinthe
sixyearsoftheordinance’sexistence,thecity
hasn’t had to fine anyone.
Ontopoftherentalpermit,homeowners
mustobtainabusinesslicenseandcollectand
remita10percentTOT.Thecityalsosends
letters to the entire neighborhood when it
grants a permit.
Venturahas94short-termvacationrentals
listedthatnetted$151,299ofTOTduringthe
2014-15fiscalyear,accordingtoCityMan-
ager Mark Watkins.
SanLuisObispo’sordinance,approvedin
February,allowshomesharingifit’swithin
anowner’sprimaryresidence.Theymustget
abusinesslicensethatrangesfrom$350to
$850,havearesponsiblepartythat’swithin
a15-minutedrive,payTOTandverifyit’sa
primaryresidence,saidGregHermann,aSan
LuisObispoprojectmanagerwhoworkedon
theordinance.Thecityinstitutesacapoffour
people and requires appropriate parking.
San Luis Obispo also provided an am-
nestytopeoplewhoreportedtheirshort-term
rentalunitswithinthefirst90daysoftheor-
dinance’simplementationandforgaveover-
due fees and taxes, Hermann said.
“It’simportanttohearbothsidesandhave
astrongpublicoutreachprocess,”hesaid.
Santa Barbara will host another public
meetingonAug.11tohopefullyensureboth
sidesareheard.Thoseagainstshort-term
rentalunitsarguethattheyreducethehousing
supply,inflaterents,aren’talwaysuptohealth
andsafetystandards,andpotentiallythreaten
hospitality jobs and wages.
PaulHoyle,manageroftheSantaBarba-
ra-basedSimpsonHouseInn,saidtheflood
ofvacationrentalandhome-sharingoptions
have had a significant impact on the hotel
industry.TheSimpsonHousehashadfewer
bookingsinJuly,whichisoddbecausesum-
meristypicallythebusiesttimeoftheyear,
Hoyle said.
On the other hand, Santa Barbara staff
estimatesthatshort-termrentalswillbring
in$1.27millioninTOTinthe2015-16fiscal
yearandvacationrentalsprovidemuch-need-
ed income for middle-class families.
“Itisadifficultbalancingact,”Buellsaid.
“The residents are an essential part of the
coreofthecommunityandreasonablepeople
agreetherearereasonableexpectationsfor
quiet enjoyment of their home.”
Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins
NIKBLASKOVICHPHOTO
SIMI VALLEY LEADERS LAUDED
Simi Valley Community Foundation is honoring for-
merChamberofCommercePresidentLeighNixonand
threeotherleadersatanAug.29galaatLostCanyons.
Nixon,whoisalsoafounderofthecommunityfounda-
tion,hasbeenamemberofthehospitalboardandanum-
berofotherorganizations.Alsobeinghonoredaresenior
advocate William Witt, business owner Anil Garg, and
longtime Pac Western banker Dee Dee Cavanaugh.
For information and sponsorships, contact Joanne
Abruzzese at joannesvcf@live.com.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
•AlsointhecardsisaRoarin’20sBalltocelebratethe
20thanniversaryoftheSanLuisObispoPerformingArts
CenterwitharetirementtributetoPACManagingDirec-
torRonRegier.Theprogramtakesplaceat5p.m.Sept.19.
Info at www.fpacslo.org.
•Senior Concerns presents the 30th anniversary of
theUltimateDiningExperience onSept.26attheHyatt
WestlakePlazawithlegendarydiscjockeyGaryBryan.
Information at www.seniorconcerns.org.
THEMED SCHEDULE
The Oaks at Ojai rolls out a new themed week and
weekendschedulethroughtheendof2015withratesstart-
ing at $250 per person.
ProgramsincludeOjaiDanceWeek,YogaCribandthe
popularMother/Daughterweek.Informationatoaksspa.
com.
PRE-CAREER PROGRAMS
Charter School River Oaks Academy in Westlake is
developingaseriesofpre-careerprogramsinengineer-
ingtechnology,hospitality,software,machiningandlegal
practices.
Theprogramdevelopmentefforthasresultedinagrant
fromthestate’sCareerTechnicalEducationprogram.In-
formation at www.roavc.com.
FOUNDATION EXECUTIVE WINS AWARD
PalRonGallo,presidentoftheSantaBarbaraFoun-
dation, is going to take home some hardware on Oct. 3
whenhe’shonoredbytheSantaBarbaraRescueMission
attheirannualRockAroundtheBayoueventatRancho
DosPueblos.Gallohasspentmorethanthreedecadesas
anexecutiveinthefoundationarena.Thisyear’sprogram
has a 1950s theme, replete with hot rods.
Informationviaemailtorweber@sbrm.orgorcheck
out www.sbrm.org.
FINAL SCENES
•DISMISSED: “No Brainwork Required, It’s That
Simple,” is the latest book from the folks at Westlake
Village-basedGetDismissed.com.AuthorSteveMiller
explains how to contest routine traffic tickets.
•PUBLISHED:AuthorGwenAlfereshasanewbook
aboutFosterPark,anowforgottencommunityonHigh-
way33betweenVenturaandOjaithatwashometonu-
merous music greats including Johnny Cash.
“ImagesofAmerica:TheForgottenFosterPark”will
bethetopicofaSept.5talkattheOjaiLibrary.Informa-
tion at www.arcadiapublishing.com.
•HAPPY 90TH: Chef Julian Martinez headlines the
90thanniversaryfestivitiesforCasaDelHerreroonAug.
18. Information at www.casadelherrero.com.
•COLLECTION CALLING: Consortium Media will
handle PR for the Collection at Riverpark in Oxnard.
second quarter.
Still, MindBody lost $8.85 million this
quarter after figuring in $24.5 million in
operatingexpenses,whichisamuchlarger
lossthanthe$5.5millionitlostduringthe
samequarterlastyear.MindBodyalsolost
$7.9millionduringthefirstquarterofthis
year.
The company lost $16.2 million and
$24.6 million in 2013 and 2014, respec-
tively.
Before the announcement Aug. 4,
MindBodysharesendeddownforaninth
consecutive day. The stock surged in af-
terhourstradingonAug.4,up71centsto
$9.95.MindbodycontinueditsriseonAug.
5.Itwasup74centsto$9.98andendeda
regular day of trading in the black for the
first time since July 23.
StollmeyeroutlinedMindBody’sthree-
prongedplantobecomeprofitableduring
theearningscall.MindBodycurrentlyhas
about45,000businesssubscribersin132
countries.MindBodyalsowantstoengage
consumers who use the MindBody app.
“Our software is deeply embedded in
theselocalbusinessesandinthelivesof
theentrepreneursweserve,”Stollmeyer
said.
Perhaps, the most crucial piece of
MindBody’s growth strategy is its inte-
gratedpaymentplatform,whichfacilitates
salesbetweenbusinessesandconsumers.
“Ourintegratedpaymentplatformpro-
cessed more than $4.5 billion dollars of
consumerelectronicpaymentsinthetrail-
ing12months,andcontributed37percent
of our revenue,” Stollmeyer said.
MindBody raised $101 million by sell-
ing7.2millionsharesfor$14pershareon
June 18.
TradingopenedonJune19muchhigher
thanexpectedat$16.22pershareonthe
Nasdaq.
To be fair, MindBody has a history of
revenue gains each quarter. Yearly rev-
enuesincreasedforMindBodyby34per-
cent in 2013 from $32 million in 2012 to
almost $48.7 million in 2013. Revenues
also increased last year by 30 percent in
2014 to $70 million.
MindBodyalsosawquarterlyrevenues
rise30percentinthefirstquarterof2015
from $15.7 million last year to $22.3 mil-
lion this year.
But MindBody seems to increase ex-
pensesatthesameraterevenuesclimb.In
thesecondquarter,MindBodyhadagross
profit of $15.95 million, but operating ex-
penses of $24.5 million.
During the first two quarters of this
year, MindBody’s revenues were up 45
percent,grossprofitswereup57.4percent,
andoperatingexpenseswereup57.3per-
cent.
Despite the question of profitability,
analystsstillbelievethestockispositioned
well.
“The fact that they’re positioned to of-
ferpaymentservicesin40countriesisno
smallfeatandindicatestheseriousnessof
their effort and a very serious approach
tomaximizetheirrevenueopportunities,”
said Rick Tico, vice president at Bank of
the West in Santa Barbara.
TicosaidthatrightnowMindBodyisin
a high-growth phase.
“At some point their infrastructure is
built,theiroperatingexpenseswillflatten
outrelativetorevenuegrowth,”Ticosaid.
Investment research firm Zacks was
lukewarmonthestockbeforethecompa-
ny’s initial public offering, and it was still
lukewarm before MindBody reported its
earnings this week.
“While the market for management
softwaresolutionsforthewellnessbusi-
nessisslatedtogrow17percentbetween
2015 and 2018, it is unclear if MindBody
willbeabletotakeadvantage,”Zackssaid.
MindBody may not be profitable for
several years. The company originally
targeted profitability by 2018, but said it
should be profitable sooner.
Whenpressedbyananalystattheend
oftheearningscallaboutwhenMindBody
would be profitable, White said, “I don’t
wanttopickadate,butwe’redefinitelyac-
celerating our efforts.”
HawkinsmovedtoSantaBarbaraafter
finishinghislatestventure,aneducational
gamingcompanycalledIfYouCan.Witha
sonandanephewattendingUCSantaBar-
bara,Hawkinssaidhewantedtomovetothe
area to help other “nerds” like him.
OnJune12,Hawkinsgavetheregiona
boostonnationaltelevisionwhenhesaid,on
BloombergWest,“I’vebeeninSiliconVal-
leyalongtime,andIseeinSantaBarbaraa
lot of what I saw in Silicon Valley.”
Hawkins grew up in La Jolla and, as a
teen,dreamedofstartinghisowngaming
company.
As a 19-year-old, Hawkins borrowed
$5,000 from his dad and started his first
company,whichmarketedatabletopfootball
simulation game.
Hawkins took out ads in NFL football
programsandseveralothermagazines.His
company failed miserably, but Hawkins
learned several lessons.
“Itwasprobablythemostprofoundlearn-
ingexperienceI’veeverhadbecauseIreal-
izedthatIjusthadtodoitagain,”Hawkins
said.
Televisionandcomputerswerecoming,
andHawkinscouldseethedigitalageun-
foldingbeforehim.TVatthetimewasstatic,
butHawkinscouldseethatonedayitwould
become interactive.
“Thekindofsportssimulationgamesthat
Iliked(were)verydifficulttoplaybecause
youhadtobethecomputer,”Hawkinssaid.
“Frankly, a lot of people don’t want to
playagamelikethatbecauseit’sverylabori-
ous, so I realized as a kid that if you had a
computer,youcouldtakeallthatbusywork
andhavethecomputerdoallofthatoutof
view.”
HawkinsattendedHarvardUniversityfor
hisundergraddegree.He’sunapologeticin
hisdislikeforHarvardnow.Atthetime,he
buckedthesysteminHarvard’s“toxicenvi-
ronment”bycreatinghisowngame-themed
major called Strategy and Applied Game
Theory.Hawkinssaidcollegewasnotabout
gettingaliberalartseducation,itwasabout
learning how to run his own business.
Togethismaster’sdegree,Hawkinsat-
tended Stanford University.
“Stanford was a breath of fresh air,”
Hawkinssaid.“WhenIarrivedatStanford,
itwasn’ttoolongbeforeIimmediatelystart-
edtopickuponwhatSiliconValleywasall
about.”
Withplanstostartagamingcompanyby
1982,HawkinstookajobasApple’sdirector
ofstrategyandmarketingin1978.Applehad
25employeesatthetime,hadjustreleased
theAppleIIandwasassemblingonlyabout
100 computers per month.
For the next four years, Hawkins was
taskedwithsellingcomputerstobusiness-
es.Amongotherthings,Hawkinsoversaw
Apple’sdevelopmentofdesktopappssuch
aswordprocessorsandspreadsheetsthat
broadened the reach of computers.
As1982approached,Hawkinsstarted
creatingplanstofoundEA.Duringhistime
atApple,Hawkinsandhisclosefriendand
mentorSteveJobsbuttedheads,butpushed
each other.
“Wehadsomereallygoodarguments,but
therewasalotofmutualrespect,”Hawkins
said.“HewaslikePrometheus.Hestolecom-
puting from the gods and gave it to man.”
Hawkins is reflective as he talks about
Jobs.Hisspeechslowsandthetoneinhis
voice drops as he ponders how to put into
wordswhathisfriendshipwithJobsmeant.
“Therewasamomentformethatwasreal
importantbecausehesaid,‘YouknowTrip,
you’rereallycreative,’andnobodyimportant
to me had ever really said that.”
Jobsoftenblacklistedemployeesthatleft,
swearingthatleavingApplewastheultimate
act of personal betrayal.
“Hewantedtohaveaconnection,buthe
wantedtomakesurethatyouknewyouwere
a piece of shit.”
WhenHawkinsfoundedEAin1982,he
changed the industry.
UnderHawkins,EAtreatedgamedevel-
operslikerockstars.Earlygameswerere-
leasedinrecordalbums,sometimeswithde-
velopers’namesonthecover.Hawkinsalso
changedthewaygamesweresoldbyselling
gamesdirectlytoretailers,insteadofgoing
through distributors.
HawkinssaidhewantedtobringHolly-
woodtogamedevelopment.Softwaredevel-
opmentisanart,witheachpixelonascreen,
andeachmovementinagame,painstakingly
created and transformed into code. With
Hawkins treating his staff well, EA quickly
attractedthebestdevelopersintheindustry.
Hisbiggestlegacythoughmaybestarting
theMaddenNFLseries,whichhassoldmore
than100millioncopies.AsaSanFrancisco
49ersfan,HawkinswantedJoeMontanato
endorsethegame,butMontanawasalready
hawking Atari consoles at the time.
Hawkinsthenthoughthecouldpossibly
approachUCBerkeleyfootballcoachJoe
Kappaboutendorsingthegame,butKapp
demandednearlyasmuchmoneyasJohn
Madden at the time.
“IfI’mgoingtohaveabrandname,Iwant
the best brand name I can get,” Hawkins
said.“MaddenwasalreadytheAceHard-
wareguy.Hewasalreadyalargerthanlife
character.”
WhileatEA,HawkinsfoundedThe3DO
Company, which was originally a division
ofElectronicArts.Hawkinswaseventually
pushedoutatElectronicArts,and3DOwas
spun off.
As the CEO of 3DO, his team created
technology that was ahead of its time, but
unlovedbyconsumers.3DOlaunchedits
firstconsolein1993,andstoppedproduc-
ingconsolesin1995.Thecompanyfiledfor
bankruptcy in 2003.
3DO humbled Hawkins.
“Iwasjustwaytoococky,”Hawkinssaid.
“I was at the peak of my power.”
Now,Hawkinsisreflective,admittingthat
his biggest successes are behind him.
“In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t left EA,”
Hawkinssaid.“InawayIseparatedfrommy
first child.”
Now that Hawkins has learned these
painfullessons,he’shelpingentrepreneursin
the region.
Oneplacehe’sdoingthatisattheUCSB
CenterforDigitalGamesResearch.Hawkins
hasdonatedmoneytothecenter,talkedto
studentsandfaculty,andisinterestedinthe
center’s research.
“Trip has been a mentor, but he’s also
beenintroducingustoanumberofindustry
leaders,”saidDebraLieberman,thecenter’s
director.
SincemovingtoSantaBarbara,helping
entrepreneurshasbecomeHawkins’mission
in life. The region has a lot of promise, he
said, so he’s been talking to investors.
“BayAreaventurefirmsarepayingmore
attentiontothisarea,”Hawkinssaid.“Ifyou
lookatSantaBarbara,theuniversityisreally
connectedtothecommunityandparticularly
the tech side of things.”
OneofSantaBarbara’sbigadvantages
overtheBayisthatthebusinesscommunity
is more relaxed.
“In the Bay Area, it’s a little unhealthy.
It’s a little bit dog eat dog,” he said.
“I find people here pretty friendly and
collaborativeandnotasstressedoutorover-
competitive.”