There is a moment — just before a truly new thing enters the world — when everyone says it can't be done. We live in that moment. We work in it. We find what's possible inside it.
At Southpoint Ventures, we don't chase trends. We ask the questions no one else is willing to ask, and we follow those questions all the way to the answer.
This is where groundbreaking innovation begins.
Southpoint Ventures is a Utah-based creative think tank built around a single, relentless belief: that the best ideas in the world are still waiting to be discovered.
We are part artist, part scientist, part inventor. We explore new materials, new methods, and new possibilities — and when an idea proves worthy, we protect it, develop it, and bring it to the people who need it most.
We are rigorous where others are casual. We are curious where others are satisfied. And we are patient enough to do the work that matters.
Every breakthrough starts with a question most people walk past. We don't walk past it. We stop. We dig. We pull at every thread until we understand not just what something is, but why it works the way it does — and whether it could work better.
We begin with curiosity and no assumptions. Every new product development project starts with open inquiry — no predetermined answers, no convenient shortcuts. We explore materials science, systems, forms, and functions with the same intensity an artist brings to a blank canvas.
We work alongside materials scientists, researchers, and domain experts to test our hypotheses against reality. Ideas that survive contact with science become something worth building.
When an idea proves itself, we protect it. We pursue patents to secure the innovations we develop — because a great idea deserves to be owned, defended, and built upon.
We don't create for the sake of creating. When the work is ready, we bring it forward — to the industries, partners, and markets that can use it to change something.
The easy path has a well-worn groove in it. You can see where everyone else has walked. It leads to incremental progress, to refinement, to things that are slightly better than what came before.
We don't take that path.
We believe that the most important thing you can do at the beginning of any research and development process is ask the question that makes people uncomfortable. The one that challenges the assumption everyone has agreed to stop questioning.
We are incessantly curious. We investigate details others consider irrelevant. We are not satisfied with "good enough" because good enough has never changed anything.
We believe creativity and science are not opposites — they are partners. The best innovations live at the intersection of imagination and evidence. That is where we build.
Ask harder questions. Build better things.
Joseph Dominguez has spent more than thirty years doing something most people cannot do: he sees what isn't there yet, and he builds it anyway.
His career as a professional image maker has taken him from broadcast television to the research labs of Silicon Valley — from art directing live news for 600,000 viewers to working inside Apple's Marcom group, where he spent years producing the product imagery that defines how the world sees Apple hardware. iPhone. Apple Watch. MacBook Pro. iPad. If you have ever looked at an Apple product image and believed it, there is a good chance you were looking at his work.
That work was not photography in any conventional sense. It was the construction of reality — compositing 3D-rendered assets with high-resolution photography and precision illustration to build images deployed globally across Apple.com, retail environments, Keynote launch presentations, and worldwide marketing campaigns.
In 2017, Google selected him as one of a small group of professional photographers to evaluate AI-generated imagery for its Machine Perception research team — work that was published on the Google Research Blog.
His extensive body of client work includes some of the most demanding and innovative organizations in the world: Apple, Google Research, Square, Nest, Fitbit, Spotify, National Geographic, Wired, and Toyota.
Dominguez founded Southpoint Ventures because the questions he has always asked — why does this work the way it does, and what would happen if it worked differently — have never been satisfied by executing someone else's vision.
He brings to this work what no traditional research background produces: the eye of an artist, the precision of a craftsman, the systems thinking of an engineer, and the hard-won credibility of someone who has operated at the highest levels of the most demanding creative organizations on earth.
Utah is no longer a secret.
What was once overlooked is now unmistakable: a state with a business and innovation environment unlike any other in the country, where industry investment is accelerating and serious research and development is taking root. The University of Utah and Utah Valley University are not peripheral institutions — they are anchor points for a growing ecosystem of scientific inquiry, innovation, and entrepreneurial energy.
We are here because this is where the work makes sense.
Utah gives us proximity to world-class research, access to emerging materials science, and a community that takes the business of building things seriously. The Mountain West is not waiting for the future. It is building it.
Southpoint Ventures is part of that story. And we are just getting started.
What is Southpoint Ventures?
Southpoint Ventures, LLC is a Utah-based creative think tank and innovation firm focused on the exploration, development, and protection of new ideas. We research emerging materials, collaborate with materials scientists and domain experts, pursue patents for original innovations, and bring proven concepts to market.
What does a creative think tank do?
A creative think tank explores ideas at the intersection of imagination and evidence. At Southpoint Ventures, that means asking hard questions about how things work, why they work that way, and whether they could work better.
Does Southpoint Ventures file patents?
Yes. When an idea survives our research and development process and proves itself worthy, we pursue intellectual property protection through the patent system. We believe a great idea deserves to be owned, defended, and built upon.
What industries does Southpoint Ventures work in?
Southpoint Ventures operates across industries wherever new materials, new methods, or new forms of thinking can create meaningful change. We do not limit ourselves to a single vertical.
Where is Southpoint Ventures located?
Southpoint Ventures is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Utah's rapidly growing innovation ecosystem — anchored by the University of Utah and Utah Valley University — provides proximity to world-class research, materials science expertise, and a business-friendly environment.
Who leads Southpoint Ventures?
Southpoint Ventures is led by Joseph Dominguez, founder and Principal Investigator, with more than thirty years of experience as a professional image maker, visual artist, and creative technologist. His career includes years at Apple and a research engagement with Google's Machine Perception team.
What makes Southpoint Ventures different?
Most innovation firms begin with data. We begin with a question. The combination of artistic vision, scientific rigor, and intellectual property strategy is not common. It is what defines us.
Does Southpoint Ventures work with outside partners?
Yes. We are selective about the partnerships we pursue, but collaboration is central to our process. We work with materials scientists, researchers, domain experts, and industry partners whose expertise sharpens and validates our ideas.
We are selective about the work we take on and the innovation partnerships we pursue. If you have an idea that demands a harder look, or a curiosity about what materials science and creativity can do together — we want to hear from you.
Southpoint Ventures, LLC · Salt Lake City, Utah
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Southpoint Ventures, LLC · Salt Lake City, Utah