Austin Tech Connect: The Podcast For The Austin Technology Ecosystem, Business Leaders, and Tech Entrepreneurs!

CC Mullen is the Founder and CEO of Abilities Amplified and CEO of Compensation and Organization Solutions. She is a Certified Master Modeler of Excellence, a Certified Neuro-linguistics Master Practitioner, and a Partnership in Business Trainer. She is a graduate of Boston University with an MBA from Pepperdine University and has loved living in Austin since 2000.  CC is passionate about helping companies and the people in them succeed together.  For over 30 years, CC and her colleagues in Compensation and Organization Solutions helped companies implement strategic total compensation infrastructures that increased engagement, productivity,and company profitability.   CC founded Abilities Amplified in 2022 to focus on helping individuals, teams, and companies amplify abilities and “level up” by capturing and replicating the excellence, the genius, the “secret sauce” under the key abilities of the superstars to grow the performance of the rest. Everyone wins. About Abilities Amplified  Abilities Amplified helps organizations improve performance and increase engagement, productivity, and profits by leveraging the excellence of their best performers to amplify the abilities and performance of the rest. Abilities Amplified has a proven methodology and processes for successfully decoding the “secret sauce” under the key abilities of the superstars, their mastery, and distilling that pivotal information into easily implemented Models of Excellence (Mastery Practice Sets) that help others replicate and grow those high-performing abilities.  These Mastery Practice Sets improve performance and provide training and development assets for the entire life cycle of Talent Development through acquisition, development, engagement programs, and succession planning.   Companies are able to duplicate proven success unique to their culture and specific to their business and improve learning agility, performance, and profits. Abilities are amplified and engagement, productivity, performance, and profits increase. About Austin Technology Council Austin Tech Connect is the official podcast of the Austin Technology Council.  ATC was founded in 1992 to help promote the growth of Austin technology companies and to help create more community in the growth tech ecosystem.  Today the organization is a leading organization and a major voice for the continued growth of tech in Central Texas.

In this episode of Austin Tech Connect, Thom Singer sit down with Clay Scovill from Wells Fargo Technology Banking Group.  In this conversation, they talk about the state of banking for tech companies in Austin, Texas.   A lot has happened in the world of banking over the past year, and every technology leader should listen to this conversation to make sure that you were in a banking relationship that is serving you at your current stage and beyond.   About Clay Scovill   Clay Scovill is a Sr. Technology Bank in the Wells Fargo Commercial Banking Group, based in Austin, TX.  He has a 15-year career in banking and private equity in New York and more recently Austin, TX.  Clay’s focuses on software, fintech, internet platforms and semi-conductor companies mainly based in Texas.  Key areas of expertise include debt and equity capital markets, cash management and payment structures.  Clay focuses on tech companies from Series A through IPO and mid-corporate companies post-IPO.  Clay lives in Austin with his wife and three kids (7, 4, 2).    About Wells Fargo Technology Banking Group   The Technology Banking Group (TBG) team is a Specialized Industry banking team focused on providing banking services to technology companies. Clients generally have venture capital (VC) investors or were formerly VC backed. The group focuses on companies from early stage (less than $25 million in equity raised and minimal revenues) to mid-corporate (greater than $100 million in revenue). Companies may be private or public and are characterized by rapid growth.  With over 25 years of lending history and more than 1,000 clients, the TBG team has developed the pattern recognition to quickly evaluate opportunities and provide the right solutions. The team also leverages a deep network of investors, non-bank lenders, and other centers of influence (COI) in the technology ecosystem. TBG primarily acquires new clients through: Strong relationships with investors and an established referral network. Connectivity with strategic partnerships and information technology (IT) sourcing to evaluate, buy, and invest in new technology. Its ability to accelerate strategic dialogue between the client and Wells Fargo   About Austin Technology Council Austin Tech Connect is the official podcast of the Austin Technology Council.  ATC was founded in 1992 to help promote the growth of Austin technology companies and to help create more community in the growth tech ecosystem.  Today the organization is a leading organization and a major voice for the continued growth of tech in Central Texas.

We hear a lot about AI, but this is much more than ChatGPT.  Stephen Straus looked at the coming of the Age of AI as being similar to when Netscape went public in the 1990s and launched the Age of the Internet. Five years ago he founded KUNGFU.AI.   In this interview Stephen and Thom Singer talk about his career, AI, and the future of tech in Austin.   About KUNGFU.AI KUNGFU.AI partners with clients to realize the real business value of Artificial Intelligence to help them compete and lead in the age of AI ethically and responsibly. Our team of AI-native experts deliver strategy, engineering, and operations services to achieve AI-centric transformation. We deliver return on AI (ROAI) by increasing revenue, increasing profits and increasing overall company valuation for our clients. About Stephen Straus Stephen Straus is co-founder and Managing Director of KUNGFU.AI, an artificial intelligence professional services firm based in Austin that strategically partners with clients to help them achieve AI-centric transformation to compete and lead in the age of AI ethically and responsibly. Stephen is a serial entrepreneur and former venture capitalist who has started, ran, and successfully sold two companies. He was also a Kauffman Fellow and General Partner at Austin Ventures, at the time the largest venture capital between the two coasts, during the dot-com boom and bust. He is a graduate of Colgate University and received his MBA from Harvard Business School. He is founding Chair of Impact Dyslexia, a non-profit focused on creating bold solutions to the dyslexia crisis, serves on the Engineering Advisory Board of the Cockrell College of Engineering at the University of Texas and is a former member of the Board of Directors of Sustainable Food Center and Austin Film Society.  He is also currently spearheading The Startup Diversity and Inclusion Pledge and is a partner and mentor at Capital Factory. Stephen lives in Austin with his terrific wife and they have four great kids. About Austin Technology Council Austin Tech Connect is the official podcast of the Austin Technology Council.  ATC was founded in 1992 to help promote the growth of Austin technology companies and to help create more community in the growth tech ecosystem.  Today the organization is a leading organization and a major voice for the continued growth of tech in Central Texas.

In this episode you will hear everything about the vibe of connections in Austin's tech scene.  Thom Singer sits down with Marc Nathan (arguably the most connected person in Austin) to talk about the state of networking in the Texas capital city.   Both Thom and Marc are connectors, and they share their views of why Austin has a good community, and what are some areas where we can all improve in getting the human connection side of business back to the forefront.    About Marc Nathan Marc is an experienced connector in the startup community who supports all forms of entrepreneurship across Texas. Throughout his career,  Marc has assisted hundreds of companies with business strategy, capital acquisition, marketing, customer development, strategic partnerships and product development. Marc founded T-Squared Agency (www.tsquaredagency.com), a boutique consulting firm that supports selected clients with comprehensive funding strategies and the means to execute growth.  Through T-Squared, Marc launched the Texas-Squared Startup Newsletter and the Texas-Boxed CPG Newsletter which cover startup news, opinions, and events that affect the startup tech and Consumer Packaged Goods communities respectively. Marc also hosts the monthly OpenCoffee Club (Tech) and Wake Up! Meetups (CPG) that gather entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers in a casual morning setting. Marc serves as VP of Client Strategy for Technology and Venture Capital practice group in the law firm of Egan Nelson, LLP (www.egannelson.com).  As a deeply experienced and connected consultant in the Texas technology startup community, Marc assists E/N’s early-stage clients with fundraising strategy, including connecting with angel and VC investors, structuring financing rounds, and general strategic advisory with respect to seed and early-stage fundraising. Marc also enjoys facilitating connections between founders and other advisors, executives, and service providers throughout the various ecosystems in which he works.   About Austin Technology Council Austin Tech Connect is the official podcast of the Austin Technology Council.  ATC was founded in 1992 to help promote the growth of Austin technology companies and to help create more community in the growth tech ecosystem.  Today the organization is a leading organization and a major voice for the continued growth of tech in Central Texas.

The Austin Technology Council June event featured a full house of 60+ people at Calavista Software for a presentation on "presentation skills" for business.  The session was lead by the CEO at ATC, Thom Singer.  Thom has experience as a professional speaker and has coached hundreds of executives on how to give a better speech.     Regardless of if you are speaking inside your company or at an industry conference, having great skills as a speaker can be your secret weapon for success.    In this hour-long session. Thom covered the "5 Tips For Business Speaking" and had an engaging and interactive session.  After the program some in the room asked if it had been recorded, as they wanted to share it with their teams at the office.  Also in the next two days several people who were not at the event asked for a link to the recording.     Thus for this episode of Austin Tech Connect, Thom has recreated the presentation with the tips you need to be more effective when you present.   Check out this episode and share it with your team. About Austin Technology Council Austin Tech Connect is the official podcast of the Austin Technology Council.  ATC was founded in 1992 to help promote the growth of Austin technology companies and to help create more community in the growth tech ecosystem.  Today the organization is a leading organization and a major voice for the continued growth of tech in Central Texas.

"Austin is better because St Edward's is here".  This episode is a great conversation with the President of St Edward's University, Dr. Montse Fuentes.  She is a mathematician and a problem solver who has spent her career helping people through education to help elevate the next generation.    In this conversation we hear about her career and how she came to Austin to lead this 138 year old institution.  She believes in community and bringing people together, and she is passionate about workforce development.     About Dr. Montse Fuentes   Dr. Montserrat “Montse” Fuentes began her tenure as the 24th President of St. Edward’s University on July 1, 2021, serving as the first Hispanic and second female president. Dr. Fuentes also holds an appointment as Professor of Mathematics. Before this appointment, she served as executive vice president and provost and professor of Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Iowa. President Fuentes has a rich history of academic and administrative leadership in higher education. She is a first-generation college student and received a dual bachelor’s degree in mathematics and music (piano performance) from the University of Valladolid in Spain and a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Chicago. Dr. Fuentes has authored more than 100 scientific publications and served as principal or coprincipal investigator on more than 20 research grants, with total funding of more than $28 million. President Fuentes is actively involved in the greater Austin community, serving as a member of the Austin Community Foundation Board of Governors, Austin Area Research Organization (AARO), Austin Diocesan School Advisory Board, Ballet Austin Board of Directors, Austin Symphony Advisory Council, Frost Bank Board of Directors, the Austin Catholic Cemeteries Board of Directors, and the Ascension Seton Board of Trustees.    About St. Edward’s University    St. Edward’s University is a private university in the Catholic, Holy Cross tradition with approximately 3,600 students. Located in Austin, Texas, it is one of the top universities in the state and offers more than 55 undergraduate and 8 graduate programs. St. Edward’s delivers a premier, highly personalized education that provides students distinctive academics and extensive internships, research and service learning opportunities on a vibrant and inclusive hilltop campus in a world-class city. St. Edward’s has been recognized for 20 consecutive years as one of “America’s Best Colleges” by U.S. News & World Report. In the 2022-2023 Best Colleges rankings, St. Edward’s remains in the list of top 10 Best Regional Universities in the West for the 4th consecutive year.     About Austin Technology Council Austin Tech Connect is the official podcast of the Austin Technology Council.  ATC was founded in 1992 to help promote the growth of Austin technology companies and to help create more community in the growth tech ecosystem.  Today the organization is a leading organization and a major voice for the continued growth of tech in Central Texas.

In this episdoe of "Austin Tech Connect", Thom Singer sits down with Ronnie Sheth from Senen Group.  Ronnie was into "Data" before data was the hot topic it is today. She is passionalte about how data applies to all businesses, large and small. Founded in 2010 in Toronto, Canada, SENEN was established to provide strategic advisory services to high-tech startups. With a complete understanding of how technology ecosystems operate, they provided critical insights to technical founders and teams around navigating the B2B sales and marketing space. As they added larger enterprises to their client base, Senen Group realized that organizations both large and small struggle to address three key challenges: Senen group is a one-of-a-kind marketing firm that combines strategy, creativity and agile execution to achieve maximum total customer lifetime value. Instead of solely focusing on traditional top-of-the-funnel activities, they adopted a holistic, life-cycle marketing approach across the funnel to fuel rapid growth. Ronnie Sheth helps Tech, Retail, CPG & Energy enterprises optimize revenue & drive above-average growth using a combination of data-centered strategic consulting and agile execution of recommended strategies. Select Clients: Nike (Retail), Pepsico (CPG), IBM (Technology), Emera Technologies (Energy), Iconixx (VC-backed scale-up).   *** Recognized as one of the Top 300 Innovators & Innovation Enablers in Austin***  

In this episode we talk to Hugh Forrest, the Co-President and Chief Programming Officer at SXSW.  Hugh joined SXSW in 1989 (you gotta hear his story of how he got there and the early years of the organization).     SXSW has clearly had an impact on the growth on Austin's global tech footprint, and this interview we talk about our past, present, and future.    About Hugh Forrest   Hugh Forrest serves as Co-President and Chief Programming Officer for South by Southwest (SXSW). For his role of Chief Programming Officer, he oversees content for the SXSW Conference, as well as the SXSW Music Festival, the SXSW Film Festival, the SXSW Comedy Festival and SXSW EDU.   Forrest was named "Austinite of the Year" in 2012 by the Austin Chamber of Commerce (along with fellow SXSW Directors Roland Swenson, Louis Black and Nick Barbaro). In 2014, Forrest and these other SXSW Directors were named Austin Entrepreneurs of the Year by Ernst & Young. He was awarded a Key to the City in January 2023 by Austin Mayor Steve Adler.   He received an honorary doctorate of humane letters in 2018 from Kenyon College, his alma matter. In 2021, he was awarded Diversity Champion of the Year by the Austin Black Business Journal.   In addition to his work at SXSW, he has previously served on of the National Advisory Board for the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. He has also served on the Board of Directors for Austin Habitat for Humanity. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Austin-based accessibility company Knowbility. Via his decades of work with the Austin Reggae Festival, he has helped to raise more than $1 million in funding for the Central Texas Food Bank.   Before joining the SXSW team in the dark ages of 1989, he founded a small monthly alternative publication called The Austin Challenger. He also wrote for several other newspapers and publications, including the Austin Chronicle, the Texas Sports Chronicle, the West Austin News, Willamette Week and the Seattle Weekly.   For 2024, SXSW is scheduled March 8-16.    About Austin Technology Council Austin Tech Connect is the official podcast of the Austin Technology Council.  ATC was founded in 1992 to help promote the growth of Austin technology companies and to help create more community in the growth tech ecosystem.  Today the organization is a leading organization and a major voice for the continued growth of tech in Central Texas.

This week we are hosting a special "Crossover Episode" with the "Austin Next Podcast".  Do you remember the excitement when two of your favorite TV Shows had a "Crossover" (when characters from one appeared on the other show and vice versa).  Depending you age you might recall the 6 Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman.... or When the cast of Mad About You walked into Central Perk on Friends,  or when Hanna Montana was on the Suite Life with Zach and Cody?  This episode involves the hosts of both shows, Thom Singer from Austin Tech Connect, and Michael and Jason Scharf from Austin Next conducting one interview.    In this crossover episode of Austin Next and Austin Tech Connect, we welcome Lou Senko, the Chief Availability Officer at Q2 Software. Lou, an industry veteran with over two decades of experience in spearheading enterprise-wide solutions, enlightens us about Q2's mission-driven approach. We explore Q2's dynamic role in innovation, its extensive engagement with the vibrant Austin community, and its strategic focus on fostering a sustainable future for digital banking.   Check out this episode and be sure to learn more about Austin Next if this is your first exposure to the show.    About Austin Technology Council Austin Tech Connect is the official podcast of the Austin Technology Council.  ATC was founded in 1992 to help promote the growth of Austin technology companies and to help create more community in the growth tech ecosystem.  Today the organization is a leading organization and a major voice for the continued growth of tech in Central Texas.

Collaboration for the success of Austin means all the different non-profits working together for the common good of the community.  The team at Austin Women in Technology has been a great friend to the Austin Technology Council, and we work together to help promote both organizations.   In this week's episode, Thom Singer sits down with Heather Trumpfheller and Emily Gupton from AWT to hear about all they do to serve the Austin community.   AWT: Austin Women in Technology (awtaustin.org) is a 501c3 non-profit organization that empowers women in the technology industry in Austin. AWT was founded in 1992 with the goal of helping women in tech advance their careers, build professional networks, and develop leadership skills. AWT hosts regular events and workshops, as well as a mentorship program, to connect women in the technology industry with resources and opportunities to help them succeed in their careers. Additionally, AWT promotes diversity and inclusion in the tech industry and works to increase the representation of women in leadership positions.   Heather: Heather Trumpfheller, President of Austin Women in Technology, is connector and advocate of women. In her day job, she works as a Delivery Manager at TEKsystems, a tech consulting company, where she supports the growth of TEKsystems' state government work. https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathertrumpfheller/   Emily: Emily Gupton, Community Partnerships Director of Austin Women in Technology, is passionate about driving collaboration and connection in the Austin community. In her day job, she works as COO of a local tech startup, FOLIO, where she manages day-to-day operations, product, development, and customer experience. https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-gupton/   About Austin Technology Council Austin Tech Connect is the official podcast of the Austin Technology Council.  ATC was founded in 1992 to help promote the growth of Austin technology companies and to help create more community in the growth tech ecosystem.  Today the organization is a leading organization and a major voice for the continued growth of tech in Central Texas.