This episode of Creative Tea Podcast brought Saran Luvsanjambaa and Alex Cordeiro, of dip studio, a product design and manufacturing studio and our studio neighbors in Little Italy. We chatted with the  two and sat down to trade stories about why they chose San Diego over San Francisco, a hard-won Kickstarter lesson, and a major life update: dip studio is going bicontinental, with a move to Shenzhen, China this fall.

Quick Takes

• Choosing San Diego Over Silicon Valley: Rather than compete in an already-saturated Bay Area design scene, Alex and Saran decided San Diego offered a chance to build something of their own, a shot at becoming, as Saran put it, “the IDEO in San Diego.”
• Come Out From Behind the Monitors: Alex’s hot take is that San Diego’s laid-back reputation hides a genuinely active creative and startup ecosystem, but only for people willing to step away from their screens and show up to it.
• A Kickstarter Reality Check: Their surf-brand passion project, Saal, taught them that Kickstarter today is dominated by established companies, not just scrappy startups, and that success depends entirely on the community you bring with you, not the platform itself.
• Big News, A Move to Shenzhen: Saran and Alex are relocating to Shenzhen, China this October, aiming to build a bicontinental presence for dip studio while immersing themselves in one of the world’s biggest manufacturing and innovation hubs.

Why San Diego, Not San Francisco

Saran and Alex originally weighed relocating between San Francisco and San Diego before choosing Little Italy for their studio. Rather than competing directly in the Bay Area’s crowded design and innovation scene where a firm like IDEO already dominates. They saw an opportunity to build that same kind of creative footprint in San Diego, a market where it didn’t yet exist. Alex added that San Diego’s climate, its border-adjacent healthcare and biotech industry, and its resemblance to his hometown of Florianópolis, Brazil, made the decision an easy one. Alex first visited San Diego 15 years earlier as a student intern and found a familiar climate and community waiting for him.

The Hot Take: Get Out From Behind Your Monitors

Alex’s contribution to the “hot tea” segment centered on a common misconception about San Diego, that it’s a laid-back, purely surf-and-beach town with little creative or entrepreneurial energy. In his experience, the opposite is true: there’s no shortage of startup events and creative communities here, but tapping into them requires actually showing up, rather than staying isolated behind a desk and monitors. Ella (Matra) echoed the sentiment, noting how supportive and community-driven the local startup scene has been in their own experience, crediting that environment with giving them the confidence to build in public.

Lessons from a Kickstarter Passion Project

The conversation turned to Saal, Alex’s 30-years-in-the-making surf brand passion project and internal Kickstarter campaign at dip studio. The goal was twofold: give the team a creative outlet beyond client work, and learn the Kickstarter process firsthand so they could better advise their own clients on crowdfunding. The lesson that stuck most was how much the platform has shifted. Established companies now use Kickstarter alongside true startups, and audience-building matters more than the platform itself. Notably, they found that roughly 70% of their buyers had never purchased anything on Kickstarter before, revealing just how much community-building work goes into a successful campaign.

The Big News: Moving to Shenzhen

Saran and Alex closed the episode with a major announcement. They’re relocating to Shenzhen, China this October, bringing their dog Lala along for the move. The decision stems partly from Alex’s fascination with manufacturing, a driving force behind his path into product design; he described Shenzhen as the manufacturing capital of the world and a place he’s long felt drawn to. The pair plan to build a bicontinental presence for dip Studio, staying rooted in San Diego while establishing new footing within Shenzhen’s maker and innovation community, and they’ve already extended an open invitation for the hosts to visit once they’re settled.

Connect with Saran and Alex

Follow dip studio’s journey on Instagram @dipdesign.studio, or follow founders Alex Cordeiro and Saran Luvsanjambaa individually to keep up with their move and the studio’s next chapter.

Want to Be Part of the Creative Tea Podcast?

Are you a designer, writer, artist, creative, dancer? Want to share your hot tea? Join us for Founders Cafe or Community Co-Working Days at the Consultancy to be part of the podcast. Follow us at @sdfounderscafe or @consultancy.at.merrimac