The First Inning · No. 1
Opening Day
Four bases, one loop, and why October is the best time to build a team.
Hello Incubator family,
Tomorrow the Dodgers open the National League Division Series at home against the Braves. They earned the top seed and a week of rest, and now the real season starts. My other team, the Twins, finished 76 and 84 and will be watching from home. They're in the first inning of a rebuild under a new manager, and I'll be rooting for them to get it right.
That's where the Innovation Incubator is too. I've stepped in as Faculty Director for 2026–27, and I want to start with a simple idea: the first inning decides more than people think. Ask any founder. The first ten people you bring on shape what the company becomes.
The DART Diamond
I teach and write about talent with a model I call the DART Diamond. Think of a baseball diamond. A run only counts if you touch every base.
- D, Direct & Deploy (home plate): Start with strategy. What work has to get done, and who does it?
- A, Attract & Assess (first base): Find people who want early-stage work, and judge them fairly.
- R, Reward & Retain (second base): Pay people fairly, with the right mix of cash, equity, title and learning.
- T, Teach & Transform (third base): Grow people into the roles your next strategy needs. Teaching brings the run home.
Then you go around again, every month. Hiring is an event. Managing talent is a cadence.
This newsletter will run the bases with you. Each issue takes one base and gives you something you can use this week, whether you're a student with an idea, a small business owner in Carson or Compton, or a mentor helping someone get their start.
Lineup Card: this month at the Incubator
- Weekly team check-in: Mondays at 2:00 PM in the I&I Building, starting October 5.
- Open hours: Thursdays, 2:00 to 6:00 PM, I&I 4507. Bring an idea, a question or a draft pitch.
- Fly Compton Saturdays: October 3 and 17, November 7 and 21, December 5, in II 2240. Student volunteers welcome.
- Fall Career & Internship Fair: Wednesday, October 7.
Scouting Report: we're looking for teammates
The Incubator runs on students. We need help with events, video, social media, writing and web work this fall. If you're interested, let the Incubator team know the hours you can give each week.
Box Score
Last spring, CSUDH teams won 7 of 8 prizes at the AIRE renewable energy competition. Our Carson Small Business Growth Academy finished its eighth cohort in April. Not a bad first half.
Home Run: where we came from
The Incubator opened in January 2017 with a promise: We Empower Entrepreneurs. One of our first clients, Orozco's Auto Service, joined that June and grew into a franchisor. Read the full story at toroinnovation.com/history.
On deck
This month I'm launching The DART Diamond, a podcast for founders building their first team. The first episodes cover each base, followed by interviews with founders about their earliest hires. Find it at thedartdiamond.com.
Next issue, first base: how to make your first hire without striking out.
Go Dodgers, and wait till next year, Twins.
Tom