By LAURA LOREK Reporter with Silicon Hills News As a serial entrepreneur, Brian Sharples, co-founder of HomeAway, has learned many lessons on his entrepreneurial journey. He recounted several of them with Bob Metcalfe, professor of innovation at the University of Texas last week. Metcalfe interviewed Sharples, CEO of HomeAway at the Longhorn Startup Demo Day. […]
20X2 During Austin Startup Week: What Were They Thinking?
October 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment
By SUSAN LAHEY Reporter with Silicon Hills News There were artists and musicians, comedians and luminaries of the Austin tech scene including Bob Metcalfe—representing gravitas in his suit and tie—Hugh Forrest, Bijoy Goswami, and entrepreneurs Eric Bandholz and Josh Kerr as well as Valerie Cason, ATC’s director of sales and marketing. They were charged with […]
Bob Metcalfe Tells Startups to Build Their Networks to Succeed
September 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Bob Metcalfe, professor of Innovation at the University of Texas, spent some time talking with Jason Seats, managing director of Techstars, during a virtual fireside chat at Foundercon in Austin recently. Metcalfe has held many careers including educator, publisher and columnist, venture capitalist, inventor of Ethernet and founder of 3Com. He has spent the past […]
Louise Epstein Named New Managing Director of the Innovation Center at UT
September 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering has named Louise Epstein as the managing director of its Innovation Center. In the newly created job, Epstein will focus on entrepreneurial endeavors including managing the Longhorn Startup Program, which helps student and faculty led startups. She will also work closely with Bob Metcalfe, faculty […]
The Largest FounderCon Ever is Being Held in Austin This Week
September 4, 2014 by 2 Comments
A sea of green shirts will be seen around Austin this week. First off, Techstars Austin held its Demo Day featuring 11 companies pitching their ventures at the Austin Music Hall on Wednesday. Now, Techstars FounderCon is underway, which is the annual gathering of Techstars alumni companies from around the world. This is the largest […]
Hatching Thunder Lizards from Radioactive Eggs in Austin
May 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment
By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News Can Austin produce a thunder lizard, a $100 billion tech startup? Mike Maples Jr., managing partner of Floodgate Ventures in Palo Alto, thinks so. He wants Austin to hatch what he calls a thunder lizard in the next 10 years. Bob Metcalfe, professor of innovation at the […]
Circuit of the Americas is One of Austin’s Biggest Startups
April 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment
BY LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News Don’t put too much pressure on picking a particular career in college, said Bobby Epstein, founder of the Circuit of the Americas. “You might pivot a couple of times,” he said. Epstein gave that advice at Longhorn Startup Lab’s Demo Day Thursday night to hundreds of people […]
Bubbles, Unicorns, Outliers and Innovation in Silicon Valley and Austin
February 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment
By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News When the Facebooks and Twitters of the world are soaring everyone thinks of Silicon Valley as a glorious place, said Bill Gurley, general partner of Benchmark Capital. “But when that changes people go away very, very fast,” Gurley said. “They scatter like the lights coming on in […]
Fourteen Startups Pitch at UT Longhorn Startup Demo Day
December 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment
By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News The fifth Longhorn Startup Demo Day at the University of Texas drew the largest crowd ever. Close to 1,000 people registered to attend the event and most of them showed up despite the cold front and blustery weather that blew into Austin on Thursday. The evening featured […]
Billionaire Mark Cuban likes to “Party Like a Rock Star” and Invest in Startups
December 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment
By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News Since selling Broadcast.com to Yahoo for $5.7 billion in 1999, Billionaire Mark Cuban has invested in 80 startups. But his entrepreneurial ventures began as a kid growing up in Pittsburgh. “As long as I can remember I was an entrepreneur,” Cuban said. At the age of nine […]
