Roman Smolevskiy

Sunnyvale’s Downtown – A Live–Work–Play Model for Smart Growth 🏙️🌱 Sunnyvale, CA, shows how urban planning can balance growth and livability. Its downtown revival demonstrates the power of mixed-use development and smart land use. What’s changing: 🏗️ Nearly 1M sq ft of new office space developed and occupied 🛍️ Retail, dining, and housing integrated into a vibrant downtown 📉 Office vacancy at 18%, outperforming regional peers 👫 Walkable, connected environment attracts both residents and employers The lesson: data-driven planning + mixed-use design creates thriving downtowns—even in regions facing economic headwinds. 🔗 Read more: https://lnkd.in/gYx5vJK3 #UrbanPlanning #SmartGrowth #Mobility #SmartCities #UrbanDesign #MixedUseDevelopment #CityPlanning

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Mana Up is a venture capital (VC) firm and accelerator that supports Hawaii-based entrepreneurs to grow their businesses globally. Their investment range has not publicly disclosed.

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Had a 30-minute masterclass on real estate investing with Riaz Taplin, founder and CEO of ArtHaus Partners (formerly Riaz Capital), a workforce housing developer in the Bay Area. 🤓 Their platform is valued at around $1B with $325M - $350M in investor capital raised. Under his leadership, the company expanded from 88 units to 4,000 units, residences, and beds in operation and development. He started young— at 16, and professionally by 21. With 20+ years in the game, he’s mastered how to read the market and create opportunities that help investors maximize and protect their capital. Interesting how their platform delivers twofold value. 1/ Bridge the Bay Area’s middle-class housing gap. 2/ Deliver steady, tax-advantaged returns for investors. Other things I learned from our convo: ↳ Going solo in real estate = betting everything on one property. You miss out on diversified, steady gains from scale and expertise. ↳ Calling real estate a disaster = missing the nuance. Some classes, like multifamily housing, stay strong even when others crash. ↳ Investing without a tax strategy = giving away returns. Take advantage of tax provisions such as a 1031 exchange. Huge thank you to Riaz for sharing his wisdom! 💚 We talked about how to read markets, scale without overexposure, create impact while building wealth, and more! If you’d like to catch the full conversation, I'll drop the link in the comments. 👇 And please send some love to Riaz. He’s doing incredible work bridging the Bay Area’s middle-class housing gap while helping investors grow sustainably. 🦁🚀

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I attended the USC Venture and innovation summit, and the conversation about LA as an innovation hub was refreshingly direct. The takeaway: Los Angeles has the raw materials — top-tier universities, anchor biotech and aerospace companies, deep manufacturing capability, and unmatched demographic diversity. What we lack is system coherence. Capital, especially zero-to-one experimentation capital, remains a constraint. Venture funding today prioritizes traction over technical risk, which disproportionately impacts biotech and advanced industries. We also face a “missing middle” problem. Without enough second-time founders and experienced operators, scaling from years 2–5 is harder. In denser ecosystems, failure is survivable. In LA, career risk is higher. Clinical trials represent a major opportunity. With our diverse patient base, LA should be a Phase III leader — but fragmented processes and logistical friction reduce competitiveness. The discussion wasn’t about replicating Boston or the Bay. It was about leaning into LA’s convergence advantage: biotech + aerospace + AI + advanced manufacturing. LA is not under-resourced. It is under-integrated. The opportunity now is to build the connective tissue that turns strong assets into a durable ecosystem.

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In a nutshell: Five of the top Sacramento business stories of 2025 Sacramento's 2025 business landscape showcases five key developments: 1. **Tech Startups**: Rapid growth due to local support and investment. 2. **Sustainability**: Increased eco-friendly practices among businesses and consumers. 3. **Remote Workspaces**: Rise in coworking spaces promoting flexibility and collaboration. 4. **Economic Initiatives**: Local government enhancing infrastructure and supporting small businesses. 5. **Community Strategies**: Emphasis on social responsibility and community engagement among entrepreneurs. Overall, the landscape reflects exciting growth and collaboration. #Entrepreneur #GrowthMindset #SuccessStory #Property #Rental #Investing #RealEstate #Mortgage #Appreciation #ROI #FinancialFreedom #WealthBuilding Read the full blog here:

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