Forget the Dos Equis guy–Dr. Richard Garriott de Cayeux is Austin’s most interesting man, at the very least. He invented the gaming phrase “avatar,” spent nearly his entire net worth to visit the International Space Station and is the only single person to own part of the moon. He also helped found the Google Lunar X Prize, which will award any privately-funded spaceflight team that can successfully launch a robotic spacecraft that can land and travel across the surface of the Moon while sending back to Earth specified images and other data. He joked: “If you can land on the part of the moon I own, I’ll pay you $1 million for finding it–then charge you $1 million for trespassing.” He created his wealth through the multiple gaming companies he started, beginning in the 1970s. He says his games are different because he ties in real social issues, such as racism. “I like to make games that are worthy of your time to play on a personal level. As a society, we are still struggling with equality issues on every level. Games are inclusive, but most gamemakers are white males. It’s really hard to find a woman who is a programmer. In my whole life, I’ve interviewed three, maybe four. And it’s the anonymity of games that allow people to act in their worst ways.” He is extremely interested in a variety of topics, and has the collections to prove it. One of his interests guided some of his investments. […]
Read MoreOctober Face-2-Face Recap with Joel Trammell
Photo Credit: Austin Business Journal The Austin Business Journal’s monthly Face-2-Face speaker series featured Joel Trammell, CEO of Khorus, entrepreneur and author. Khorus provides a business management system and Trammell has 20 years experience in IT-related software companies. He is also co-founder of Lone Rock Technology Group and chair emeritus of Austin Technology Council, along with serving on multiple boards of non- and for-profit companies. Trammell started his first business, a white box PC business, at age 25 after exiting the Naval Nuclear Power School. He began multiple companies before selling them for profits. He says after he sells a business, he goes crazy for about six months because he needs a purpose in life. “What’s for lunch isn’t a purpose in life.” Trammell also discussed his failures. He invested in a business outside his expertise and realized that when investing in something, you need to be personally involved. He believes that in order for people to follow him or any leader, they need to focus on portraying the three C’s: credible, competence and care. His current company, Khorus, is two years old and attempts to help CEOs with software enterprise leadership platforms. He sees it as a way to run an organization that promotes health and well-being. Trammell emphasized that he is “big on partnerships” because there is a better chance at success with a partner than going at something alone. Joel Trammell gives advice on his blog, The American CEO, and also wrote a book, The CEO Tightrope, which gives […]
Read MoreSeptember’s Face 2 Face Recap with Laura Roberts
Photo Credit: Austin Business Journal This month’s Austin Business Journal’s FACE 2 FACE speaker series brought in the co-founder and CEO of Pantheon Enterprises, Laura Roberts. Roberts formed Pantheon Enterprises to end the myth that green technologies are less effective and more expensive. The company’s mission continues to be to develop and commercialize products that help increase financial growth, while at the same time sustaining human health and safety. Prior to joining the company, Laura was a self-described “treehugger” and owned many “kill corporate America” t-shirts while working as an elementary school teacher in the ’90s. Her transition to Pantheon was circumstantial after her father passed away. Both parents owned a small chemical company, and in an effort to help her mother save her business, Roberts stepped in. She frequently stated during the interview that she recognized her own empathetic nature from a young age. Roberts aims to be an example for women entrepreneurs. She persevered after 300 investors said “no” to funding an elementary school teacher’s company. “Not having industry specific management” was the top reason for venture capitalists not to invest. She was pitching during the “dot-com era,” where there was much more of a focus for investors receiving liquidity in a 3-5 return. Since then, there has been a shift to the “impact” investor that is not so focused on the fast return, but the real change the company is trying to make. She advises young entrepreneurs to only take from shareholders who are purpose-aligned and mentioned […]
Read MoreAugust’s Face 2 Face Recap with Joseph Kopser
This month’s Austin Business Journal‘s Face 2 Face event featured Joseph Kopser, CEO and Co-Founder of RideScout. Since the app launched in 2013, RideScout is now in more than 69 cities in the U.S. and Canada, earning the 2014 U.S. DOT Data Innovation Award as well as Joseph’s recognition as a White House Champion of Change as a Veteran in Clean Energy in part for his work with RideScout. Prior to RideScout, Joseph served in the army for 20 years. He earned the Combat Action Badge, Army Ranger Tab and Bronze Star. Joseph is a graduate of West Point with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and also received a masters from the Harvard Kennedy School in 2002. In his free time, he works closely with The Bunker Austin, an organization dedicated to supporting veteran entrepreneurs. In addition, he volunteers as Chairman of NSTXL, working to improve U.S. Energy Security policy. He lives in Austin with his wife and three daughters. During his time in D.C. working for the Pentagon, he began to notice how main highway lanes were always congested while the HOV lanes were always open. People in D.C. would combat this by informally doing a “rideshare.” Joseph personally witnessed this informal ridesharing at the Pentagon. He watched as people waited outside the Pentagon in a line. People would drive together if they were heading in the same direction. Joseph’s “aha moment” came one day when he noticed people waiting in line in the freezing rain and sleet for […]
Read MoreJuly’s Face 2 Face Recap with Ingrid Vanderveldt
July’s Face 2 Face speaker series, sponsored by the Austin Business Journal and Whole Foods, hosted Ingrid Vanderveldt. Vanderveldt is the founder of Empowering a Billion Women by 2020. EBW2020 is made up of three of Vanderveldt’s organizations: EBW2020, Ingrid Vanderveldt LLC and the EBW Foundation. The EBW Foundation was launched with a mentor-matching program during SXSW this past March. EBW aims to do just that–empower a billion women by 2020 by providing education, mentoring and policy programs for women to improve their businesses. According to Vanderveldt’s website, EBW works by “getting $1B of credit into the hands of women worldwide, enabling them to create leverage to buy up to $10B infrastructure they need to build and scale [and] creating $100B worth of overall global market impact.” Vanderveldt says the only way to reach this lofty goal of one billion women is through technology–“get a phone in a woman’s hands!” By partnering with Dell to launch this project, they reached 600 million women last year through the program. Ingrid previously worked for Dell as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence and says her personal goal is to be the female version of Michael Dell. Her advice for entrepreneurs is to not be afraid to fail. Her first business venture failed, but she continued to try and try again until she became successful. Vanderveldt said for women to succeed, they need three things: mentorship, financial literacy and technology, with a heavy emphasis on mentorship. She also emphasized that women are part of a “sisterhood,” and by building up each other […]
Read MoreJune’s Face 2 Face Recap
Each month, the Austin Business Journal hosts a Face 2 Face speaker series at Whole Foods, featuring leaders of all types of industries. This month’s speaker was Terry Lundgren, CEO and Chairman of Macy’s. Macy’s is a $28 billion corporation with 176,000 full-time employees and 800 stores. Macy’s is also the 7th largest Internet company. Lundgren commented that while the company embraces technology as a powerful source of commerce, he believes “people first, technology second.” Terry Lundgren has been high on the Macy’s ladder since 1997, with his roles including president and chief merchandising officer, among others. He started his career in retail in 1975, slowing climbing his way from trainee to management to buying to director of stores before becoming an executive. His advice to young adults entering the workforce: “Bloom where you are planted,” meaning not to focus so much on where you are going next, but to perform your current job better than anyone else to get noticed. When moderator Colin Pope asked if it is lonely at the top, Lundgren responded that he has a great team of management and board members. “When we make decisions, we move forward together. Success has many fathers, but failure has none.” Lundgren is notorious for showing up to his stores unannounced, to get a real feel for the atmosphere and customer service being provided. He says he enjoys watching and learning from his star performers. He believes localization is the reason Macy’s has been able to grow while maintaining […]
Read MoreMay Face 2 Face Recap with Alejandro Ruelas
May’s Face 2 Face speaker series, sponsored by the Austin Business Journal and Whole Foods, hosted Alejandro Ruelas, the co-founder of LatinWorks. LatinWorks is a cultural branding agency headquartered in Austin. “My advice to corporations when entering the multicultural space is to not just check off the ‘appeal to minority ethnic groups’ box. Companies need to really focus on the way their minority clients live and work, and cater to the like mindsets of different cultures.” — Alejandro Ruelas LatinWorks began in St. Louis, but later moved to Austin. Ruelas said some of the reasons for the move to Austin included the diversity of the city’s people, affordability, growing size of the city and the large pool of minority graduates from the University of Texas advertising program. LatinWorks is the most awarded multicultural agency in the advertising industry. The agency has won nine Cannes Lions, was recognized as Multicultural Agency of the year (twice by Adweek and three times by Ad Age), among many other national and international awards. LatinWorks was named by Ad Age as one of the top ten advertising agencies in the country on two separate occasions in 2010 and 2014. LatinWorks clients include Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo, Lowe’s, Domino’s Pizza and Target, among others. Ruelas said his biggest mistake when starting LatinWorks was that he took on too much work himself and did not delegate enough. “One of my biggest mistakes when building my company was to not trust the talented staff that surrounded me. I stuck my […]
Read MoreApril Face 2 Face Recap with Michael Hsu
Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, formerly Michael Hsu Design Office, was formed in 2005 with the goal of producing locally engaged, design-driven architecture and interiors in Austin. Hsu’s work has yielded head-turning structures for beloved brands such as Amy’s Ice Creams, Uchi and Uchiko, P. Terry’s Burger Stand and the ZACH Theater, leading to a 2013 ABJ cover story that deemed Hsu as the designer of Austin 2.0. We had the opportunity to hear from Hsu during this month’s Face 2 Face series at Whole Foods. United Way for Greater Austin is proud to serve as the nonprofit partner for this ongoing lecture series. One of our own Young Leaders Society Executive Members, Frances Jordan (pictured above) was onsite to explain our local presence and ways that the business community can become more involved on an individual or company level. According to Hsu, “We have such a fresh mindset in this [Austin] community and that gives a huge opportunity for designers to come up with new and changing ideas.” Hsu Office of Architecture practices contemporary or modern architecture and believes in modernism that is really accessible, designing inviting and warm spaces with an interesting experience that is fresh and warm. “We love to incorporate natural, raw materials in all of our designs because we feel that’s authentic. We pay attention to trends and we try to do them as well if not better than they are being done. If we can’t, then we stay away all together.” Hsu can be accredited with much of […]
Read MoreFebruary’s Face 2 Face Recap
The Austin Business Journal’s Face 2 Face speaker series creates a space for the exchange of ideas among Austin’s business community in a setting echoing TED Talks. It kicks off with a half-hour of breakfast and networking at 8:30 a.m., followed by a one-hour Q&A session with a featured guest and ABJ editor, Colin Pope. We are honored and delighted to be the 2015 Community Partner of the monthly series, which gives us the opportunity to share our work among the community’s business elite by highlighting various programs and partners each month. February’s speaker was Co-CEO of Whole Foods, Walter Robb, who emphasized culture, quality and marketing as strategic points in the development of the Whole Foods brand. He also discussed the delicate balance of driving rapid growth while still maintaining ties to the community at local and global levels. “Culture belongs on the balance sheet of the company.” – Walter Robb, Co-CEO of Whole Foods Robb shared his insights about building culture among employees and customers in order to ground the work and growth of Whole Foods in shared values that are broadly inclusive and clearly communicated. “Culture belongs on the balance sheet of the company,” Robb said. We agree–recent statistics show that more than half of millennials (the fastest growing group of employees) said a company’s involvement in philanthropic causes influenced whether or not they accepted a job in the past. We have seen firsthand the positive impact a philanthropic component can have on a company; just ask any of our generous business partners! The idea of […]
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