🔒The Entrepreneurs’ Entrepreneur: Salinas helps build talent pipeline, innovation ecosystem with New Haven’s ‘District’

David Salinas traces his passion for entrepreneurship back to age 12 — and his first job as a busser in a New York City restaurant.

He recalls quickly realizing he could earn extra money as a percentage of tips the waiters got, which Salinas knew was based in large part on the customer experience.

“In my early jobs, I always saw area for improvement in places that I worked,” Salinas said. “Everything comes down to [providing] better experiences and I’ve built my businesses around that philosophy.”

Experiences, he says, build relationships and relationships build brands.

Salinas’ most high-profile business — which opened in 2018 — is District, a 9-acre, $25 million campus on James Street in New Haven that features more than 110,000 square feet of office space for technology and innovation-driven startups and businesses.

Located on the site of a former Connecticut Department of Transportation bus depot, Salinas said many people doubted that he could bring his vision of a startup ecosystem to fruition.

Among the early skeptics of the project was Matt McCooe, CEO of Connecticut Innovations, the state’s quasi-public venture capital arm, who said he valued Salinas’ vision but understood the daunting challenge of converting the space.

“It was a tough location and I remember [wondering] why anyone would take that on, or how [Salinas] would raise the money [for the project],” McCooe said. “But David is a visionary, and not just someone with the vision, but who can also execute on it.”

Asking tough questions

Salinas said he credits his father with instilling in him a sense of fearlessness and getting out of his comfort zone, characteristics he’s found valuable in his entrepreneurial ventures.

“One of my favorite lessons from my dad was never to be afraid to ask questions,” Salinas said. “Even if it makes people uneasy to [be] asked the question, it’s OK, as long as you don’t fear the answer.”

Salinas, for instance, recalls questioning his managers and making recommendations for improvements.

“They were reluctant to listen to me and one person told me at [age] 16 that I should run my own business if I wanted to tell people how to run theirs,” Salinas said.

In time, Salinas took that advice to heart and started an Italian ice business in Florida at age 19, and then a small recording studio in Connecticut in his early 20s.

“I am interested in a lot of things and I think the world is very blended and cross-functional,” Salinas said. “[Lessons] I learned in the music industry can be applied to a variety of businesses and industries.”

In 2007, at age 26, Salinas co-founded Digital Surgeons, a digital marketing agency and consultancy firm, which has worked with a wide range of clients — from stars like Lady Gaga to startups and Fortune 50 companies. The company has grown from Salinas’ initial $5,000 investment to a multimillion-dollar business with 52 employees.

But given his passion for economic development, entrepreneurship and New Haven, Salinas wanted to do a project that would benefit all three.

His original plan was to transform the building where Digital Surgeons was located, but when he failed to sell the property owner on his vision, Salinas found the James Street District location with the goal of creating a robust community of entrepreneurs.

And its design and amenities — which include a brewery and athletic club — have attracted a wide spectrum of businesses including digital health, biotech, fintech, marketing, education and finance companies. The property is currently 100% leased with coworking space and more than 400 members.

New ventures

Garrett Sheehan, president and CEO of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, which leases space at District, said the campus has the feel and energy of a large technology company.

“It really brandishes a sense of innovation and collaboration,” Sheehan said. “David is always coming up with new ideas and a different way to do things. Even when he’s successful in something, he’s finding something else to [improve].”

In fact, Salinas’ other business investments and launches include Arccos Golf, Specialty Food Partners and District Athletic Club.

He also recently invested in two new companies. The first is Chief Seconds LLC, a professional services marketing firm that offers fractional chief marketing officer services, strategic marketing consulting and marketing due diligence and integration for mergers and acquisitions.

The second is HUUE, a company developing fresh-pressed dry herb “pucks” and a handheld vaping device to support the growing cannabis market, which globally is expected to grow by 28% annually from a $20 billion market to more than $90 billion over the next five years, according to ResearchandMarkets.com data.

“It’s a real innovation for the vaporization space,” said Salinas, adding the company sees opportunities with more states, including Connecticut, legalizing the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana. “The dryer vaping is actually healthier because you’re not burning the [cannabis], which … has more carcinogens.”

But Salinas is not simply supporting today’s entrepreneurs; he’s also looking to build a pipeline of future tech talent for the region and state.

Through District’s Arts and Education, a nonprofit chaired by Salinas, he helped establish the Holberton School at District. Founded in the Silicon Valley, Holberton offers a technical education with a focus on preparing students for data-driven and digital-centric careers.

“Our school systems in Connecticut have struggled to bring technology to the forefront of education and that’s a [big part] of equity,” Salinas said. “If we want to help Black and brown communities, we need to [build skills] in those areas that are going to be the most lucrative for the next couple of decades.”

At 41, Salinas is positioned to be a major player in the New Haven ecosystem for years to come. He wants to continue to expand to more ventures in the cannabis market and said he would like to add two additional District-like projects in the state, if not in the Elm City.

It’s a vision that might bring some naysayers, but Salinas is unphased.

“Someone once called me a rhino,” Salinas said. “What he was saying was [as an entrepreneur] you have to have thick skin, a hard head to break through obstacles, a big heart for family, which is community, and you never see them walk backwards.”