Innovation is Key to the Future of Austin’s Healthcare Industry

By LAURA LOREK Reporter with Silicon Hills News Austin’s healthcare landscape is poised to change dramatically with the new Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas, said Josh Jones-Dilworth. Dilworth is a member of The Fifty, a group of Austin residents who have committed to raise $50 million to help finance the new […]

Peter Thiel Says Technology and Science Are Under Attack in the U.S.

By LAURA LOREK Reporter with Silicon Hills News Society right now has an intense dislike or hatred of all things scientific or technological, said Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal. To illustrate this, just look at all the movies produced by Hollywood that show technology that doesn’t work, that kills people, that destroys things and that […]

Michael Dell on the Past, Present and Future of Technology

By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News In 1984, Michael Dell dropped out of the University of Texas to found Dell Computers. “At the time, it didn’t seem like that big of a risk,” Dell said. “I didn’t have anything to lose.” He saw a really compelling opportunity to launch a company focused on […]

Rod Canion Recounts How Compaq Fought IBM and Won

By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News A true life David vs. Goliath story played out in the early days of the PC industry-pitting upstart Compaq Computer against industry behemoth IBM Corp. Rod Canion, co-founder of Compaq, recounted the tale during a conversation Wednesday night with Brett Hurt, Entrepreneur in Residence at the University […]

Bubbles, Unicorns, Outliers and Innovation in Silicon Valley and Austin

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 […]

UT Researchers Make Biofuel from Yeast and Sugar

Biofuel researchers have figured out how to make fuel from switchgrass, algae, corn, soy, canola oil, plants and paper. All of those biofuels are tough to scale to meet the demands of filling up millions of gas tanks on a daily basis. But now the innovative researchers at the University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell […]

Blackboard Acquires Austin-based MyEdu

Blackboard announced Wednesday that is has acquired MyEdu, an Austin-based educational site tailored to college students. The Washington, D.C.-based Blackboard did not disclose the terms of the acquisition. MyEdu, founded in 2008, focuses on helping students create a study plan geared to the career they wish to pursue. It’s like LinkedIn for college students. The […]

Tips on Pitching Billionaire Mark Cuban

By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News At Longhorn Startup Demo Day last week, Bob Metcalfe, inventor of Ethernet, co-founder of 3Com and professor of innovation at UT, interviewed Billionaire Mark Cuban, co-founder of Broadcast.com and owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Cuban also stars on the popular TV show Shark Tank on ABC. This […]

Entrepreneurial Insights from Dr. T of National Instruments

James Truchard couldn’t find a job that he liked so he created one. That’s what the co-founder, known as Dr. T, president and CEO of National Instruments, said last week during an interview with Bob Metcalfe, University of Texas professor of innovation and coinventor of Ethernet and cofounder of 3Com. Unlike some of today’s technology […]

At Longhorn Startup Camp, UT Students found Clay.io, a platform for games

Austin Hallock and Joe Vennix, both juniors at the University of Texas majoring in computer science, have founded Clay.io, a platform for HTML5 games. Their startup is based at the Longhorn Startup Camp, a 30,000 square foot building at 1616 Guadalupe St., which has housed 27 student run companies during the Spring Semester. Bob Metcalfe, […]