Austin Next

Gary Hoover, founder of Hoover Academy and Executive Director at American Business History Center, shares his lessons for entrepreneurs and innovators today, including the importance of being curious, studying, and understanding the world. In this spotlight episode, he expresses his thoughts on the difference in the level of innovation today versus breakthrough innovations before, and how it's difficult to predict the patterns of evolution. He also delves into his favorite topics to lecture on at the University of Texas at Austin.Episode Links American Business History Center Gary's GoFundMe Page  -------------------Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedInEcosystem Metacognition Substack

Roy Spence is the co-founder and chairman of GSD&M, an Austin-based advertising agency. With his significant background in the advertising industry, Roy and his team have played a pivotal role in shaping Austin's reputation as a city of ideas and innovation. Roy is also the founder of Make It Movement, a non-profit organization that helps young people discover their own purpose. In this episode, we will delve into Roy's journey as a business leader and advertising pioneer, exploring the early days of GSD&M, how he navigated the challenges of preserving the core values and purpose of Austin, the role of large events in shaping Austin's narrative, and his vision for the future of Austin. The episode will also shed light on Roy's thoughts on the intersection of purpose, values, and business.Episode HighlightsThe fundamental challenge that Austin faces with our hypergrowth is navigating the tension between persevering the core and stimulating progressThe original GSD&M Plan - "Well, we wanna stay together. We wanna stay in Austin. We wanna make a difference and get rich. And we’ve lived up to our business plan""We will continue the journey of punching above our weight...if we will continue to be not just a city of innovation...but a city of new ideas"The Make It Movement is about letting young people discover what they could become great at and let them start learning to become great. Whether it's a lawyer or whether it's a welder.What's next Austin - "We gotta rediscover what made us. I think Austin should do a citywide purpose project"Episode Links Roy Spence GSD&M Make It Movement  -------------------Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedInEcosystem Metacognition Substack

2023 is here and so is a whole new season of Austin Next. We are back and looking at the future of Austin and our transformation from a thriving ecosystem into a superstar region.What's next Austin? -------------------Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedInEcosystem Metacognition Substack

One of the biggest changes over the last few years in the Austin region is the influx of new venture capital firms and the raising of record funds by our homegrown firms. We spoke with long-time local VC, Brian Smith Managing Director of S3 Ventures about how the funding environment evolved, where is funding being deployed, and what the future holds. Since the airing of this episode S3 has expanded their team and announced a $250M Fund VII. Original episode aired October 26, 2021 -------------------Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedInEcosystem Metacognition Substack

Surprising when we started exploring the subject, but this has turned into one of our most popular episodes. The regional innovation ecosystem is more than downtown and more than just Austin. The entire metro from Bastrop to Dripping Springs and San Marcos to Temple is maturing and changing. We are establishing numerous innovation hubs that operate independently from each other and come together into mesh network that is our region. We spoke with John Garrett, Founder and CEO of Community Impact about this hyper-local phenomena and what is means for media, innovation, and the future of Austin.Original episode aired May 31, 2022 -------------------Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedInEcosystem Metacognition Substack

We are traveling back to our very first episode with John Sibley Butler of UT Austin. Professor Butler has been a part of the ecosystem for decades and takes us through a journey from the beginning of the ecosystem to what it is today.  We can't explore what's next before we know where we have been. Original episode aired July 13, 2021Episode LinksJohn Sibley Butler: UT Austin Bio, LinkedIn, Twitter -------------------Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedInEcosystem Metacognition Substack

Michael and Jason take a moment to reflect back on what we learned in 22, the new questions we are asking in '23, and some surprising additional elements we are adding to the show. -------------------Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedInEcosystem Metacognition Substack

Bringing back the wooly mammoth, computer aided design for biology, is this a sci-fi novel or just a taste of what’s going on at the intersection of biology, technology, and Austin. Our next guest is Ben Lamm, CEO and Founder of Colossal Biosciences, Founder and Board Member of Form Bio, and a serial technology entrepreneur driven to solve the most complex challenges facing our planet.  We talk about the Austin Bio Sector, how his team is leaning into our new distributed model of work, and what's next for the region.What's next Austin?Episode LinksBen Lamm: LinkedIn, TwitterColossal Biosciences: Website, Twitter, LinkedInForm Bio: Website, Twitter, LinkedIn -------------------Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedInEcosystem Metacognition Substack

Austin Next did our first live recording on LinkedIn Live. Jason was joined by Jawad Ali (Austin Medtech Connect), and Dennis McWilliams (Santé Ventures) for a discussion on how we actually define the bio sector here in Austin, what makes us unique, our challenges, and more. What's next Austin?Episode LinksJawad AliAustin Medtech ConnectDennis McWilliamsSante Ventures -------------------Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedInEcosystem Metacognition Substack

The Informa Tech AI/IoT/Quantum Computing conference landed in Austin November 2nd and 3rd. Austin Next was there, listening, learning, and supporting the conference.  With speakers ranging from chess champions and NFL quarterbacks to Austin’s Mayor and UT’s Athletic Director, everyone was here to talk and learn about changes and the intersections in the IoT, quantum computing and AI worlds. In the midst of a busy conference, we snagged Jenalea Howell, the VP AI & IoT Markets at Informa Tech for a discussion of conferences, Austin, and what it’s like to return home. What’s next Austin? Episode LinksJenalea HowellThe AI Summit Austin -------------------Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedInEcosystem Metacognition Substack