Uncovering Austin FinTech as an Ecosystem
Thursday, 13 April 2023
I have a confession to get off my chest. In my work through Austin, I’ve long celebrated and promoted the maturing of Austin’s startup ecosystem by illuminating that we’re starting to specialize and move beyond downtown; that, as the most effective startup ecosystems do, the city of Austin isn’t generically “tech” and shouldn’t be considered
10 Comments
Developing Austin’s Startup Ecosystem
Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Regional culture, history, and infrastructure are the qualities of a region of the world that drives innovation, jobs, and economic development because technology is ultimately about people and their potential. A really a wonderful article about Austin in The New Yorker sparked a series of wonderful discussions of the past and present of the Austin
The Epicenter of Texas Technology
Monday, 12 September 2022
Regional culture, history, and infrastructure are the qualities of a region of the world that drives innovation, jobs, and economic development because technology is ultimately about people and their potential. Our work in MediaTech Ventures has touched upon that fact a few times, whether in John Zozzaro’s look at Culture and Buildings or our exploration
- Published in Industry, Insights / Research
Opportunity. What is causing so many people to move to Austin? Not (just) Tech, nor Startups, it’s Opportunity
Monday, 12 April 2021
Opportunity Education Technology Entrepreneurs Infrastructure Resulting in Opportunity. You know that licking of your lips and grasping at air that one does when trying to put in to words a dream. How you think through, as you’re talking with someone, something you just can’t quite simplify. What I’m thinking about is not a dream but
- Published in Industry, Insights / Research
Does a University like Stanford Produce more Successful Startups? This Might be Why
Friday, 05 April 2019
Culture. It all, always, comes down to the culture of community. Why does Silicon Valley produce startups differently than elsewhere? Why does Hollywood have a style and way about their films that really isn’t replicated elsewhere? Why is Arizona State University a “party school” that produces highly social people? As entrepreneurs, we like to THINK
- Published in Austin, Insights / Research, Startups
Venture Capital in Texas
Thursday, 26 July 2018
The last time I had an opportunity to do this at such a scale was during Amazon’s Startup Day. What is the state of the Texas venture capital ecosystem? Interestingly, personally, since speaking for Amazon, Austin has been hemming and hawing about HQ2 and while the merit of that happening or not, is fodder for
- Published in Conferences, Insights / Research, Startups
Conspire to Change Austin Startups
Friday, 11 August 2017
Peter Thiel, notable by way of PayPal, Founders Fund, and Zero to One, if you’re not familiar, noted once that, “a great company is a conspiracy to change the world.” I was honored recently to be asked by one of Austin’s great mentors and investors, Ryan Merket, to keynote Amazon’s AWS Startup Day in Austin.
- Published in Startups