Meet Bobby Dunn | Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bobby Dunn and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bobby, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I would say I thrive on risk. All of the best things I have worked on started because I did something everyone else said was a bad idea. For example: one of my projects is a coworking space in San Francisco, called Anchor. It is located right at the main intersection of town. I was able to get probably one of the best real estate deals in the history of SF, the reason it was a risk is that my lease was going to be for 1 year then month to month because the building was going to be torn down. I knew it would take longer than a year but did not think that it would still be here 9 years later. I like to call it the gift that keeps on giving.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your businesses? Maybe you can list them out for us?
Triggit Rickshaw
Anchor
Boosted
WIld Ones Group

Triggit: this was my first real company.  I had moved to the west coast from Minnesota about a year before receiving a call from a college friend who had been getting his masters Ireland.  He asked me how I liked California and said he was thinking about moving there or to NYC to work on Wall Street.  I told him he should move to California and we should start a company.  2 weeks later he was sleeping on my couch. Less than a month later we had somehow convinced someone to give us $100,000 based solely on our hustle. We didn’t have anything thought out. I quit my job the same day and we were off to the races.

Rickshaw: After about 4 years after Triggit a music venue that I helped some friends build was up for sale.  Since I helped build it and had been bartending for fun I decided that was my next move.  I was 30 and taking on something I had no clue what I was doing, but I wanted to throw a party every night.  We had Ellie Goulding, Sam Smith, Foster the People and more.  We were the place to find bands and dis that were going to be big. We also had one of the most popular dance parties for many years called Non-stop Bhangra. To this day it is still a staple in San Francisco.

Boosted:  After Rickshaw I wanted to do something a little more ‘normal’.  I was introduced to some guys who made an electric skateboard. The second I touched it, it was part of my body.  We turned this into a world wide brand and probably one of the best rides of my life/best thing I have ever worked on.

Anchor:  While we were getting Boosted off the ground I realized that I needed to educate people on how to skate. So I started looking for a venue for that. I found one of the best real estate deals of the century for SF, $2,000 a month for almost 10,000 sf of space at the main intersection of the city.  My original idea was to tear out the walls and make it into an indoor skatepark but then ended up making it into a coworking space. 9 years in and we have had thousands of people work there.

WIld Ones Group:  While working on Boosted I was introduced to a bunch of influencers and famous people.  We had to shut Boosted down in 2020 right before Covid (not Covid related) so I took some time off before I was inspired by something else.  A few of my friends who were influencers asked me to be their manager.  I called up my business partner and told him this was our new thing. Wild Ones Group is high level a talent management company, we are very hands on. I joke that I am their CEO and they just need to keep creating while my partner and I keep the ship moving.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
San Francisco I love taking people around and showing them all the things.
First I would take them to meet my morning coffee group at Menotti’s in Venice. From there I would make sure that we stopped by the skate bowl and then walk along the beach and boardwalk. We’d stop at my friend Gregs apartment which is right on the board walk. Greg is an interesting person. He is a voice over actor and one of the ninja turtles. Then we’d have brunch at Gjusta. After if we get lucky my buddy lets up take his canoe out in the canals. If that doesn’t pan out then we’d wander along Abbott Kinney.
I love Giffith Observatory for the views, I always feel relaxed after being there.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Aunt Shirt and Uncle Win: They taught me how to travel the world and how to utilize my network. Grandparents: They were just awesome.
MaiTai: This used to be an invite only group for kiteboarding entrepreneurs. There were some pretty insane people in the group who I am lucky to call my peers.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobbydunn/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertcharlesdunn/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/anchor-coworking-san-francisco-2

Image Credits
STMNT Studios