A New Era Begins for Austin Next and the Future of Austin's Thriving Innovation Ecosystem

07/06/23 • 72 min

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In this culminating episode of Austin Next's first era, Jason engages with AndiBot, the AI-powered chatbot that amalgamates the insights of 19 innovation thinkers. Together, they explore AndiBot’s perspectives on how Austin can ascend to a superstar innovation hub. Later, Michael joins in for a reflective discussion on the AI's capabilities and the insights shared. Plus, don’t miss our special announcement that marks the beginning of a new chapter for Austin Next.

Episode Highlights

The Austin Next Dynamic Innovation ChatBot, or AndiBot, is an AI-powered chatbot anchored on ChatGPT, and is powered by a “hivemind” that brings together the intellectual prowess of innovation trailblazers such as Clayton Christensen, Everett Rogers, and Mariana Mazzucato.
Tasked with unraveling insights and forging new pathways, AndiBot endeavors to illuminate the steps necessary for Austin to transition from a thriving ecosystem to a superstar innovation hub.
Characterizing an innovation superstar hub, AndiBot outlines the quintessential traits: setting global trends, attracting a diverse talent pool, nurturing groundbreaking innovations, fostering a spirited entrepreneurial culture, establishing global collaborations, and achieving brand ubiquity in innovation.
AndiBot evaluates Austin’s innovation ecosystem at 7.5 with Silicon Valley as the pinnacle scoring a 10. She commends Austin's startup landscape, academic strength, and appeal to tech giants, but signals the imperatives of escalating startup density, talent diversity, capital influx, and global network expansion.
Jason and Michael reflect on the AndiBot interview and discuss the shift from coding to prompting in AI technology, signaling the emergence of more sophisticated and intuitive user interfaces.
Exploring Austin's startup landscape, they articulate the connection between productivity and external perception, proposing that a boost in perceived value could stimulate infrastructural improvements.
Jason spotlights Austin’s ability to “punch above its weight” noting the discrepancies between Austin's startup infrastructure rank (25th in the country) and its high ranking in exit values (6th in the nation, 9th globally) according to a recent Dealroom report.
This episode marks a transition as Michael is taking a step back from the podcast and will return as the occasional guest.
What’s next Austin? “I honestly believe only good things are going to happen next. I think we're going to have a recession nationwide within the next six months. But Austin, as we've discussed, is the last in and the first out. We need to keep Austin weird. It has worked so far for this town.”

Episode Links

The Next Generation of Tech Ecosystems Report by Dealroom

-------------------
Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
Ecosystem Metacognition Substack

Episode Highlights

The Austin Next Dynamic Innovation ChatBot, or AndiBot, is an AI-powered chatbot anchored on ChatGPT, and is powered by a “hivemind” that brings together the intellectual prowess of innovation trailblazers such as Clayton Christensen, Everett Rogers, and Mariana Mazzucato.
Tasked with unraveling insights and forging new pathways, AndiBot endeavors to illuminate the steps necessary for Austin to transition from a thriving ecosystem to a superstar innovation hub.
Characterizing an innovation superstar hub, AndiBot outlines the quintessential traits: setting global trends, attracting a diverse talent pool, nurturing groundbreaking innovations, fostering a spirited entrepreneurial culture, establishing global collaborations, and achieving brand ubiquity in innovation.
AndiBot evaluates Austin’s innovation ecosystem at 7.5 with Silicon Valley as the pinnacle scoring a 10. She commends Austin's startup landscape, academic strength, and appeal to tech giants, but signals the imperatives of escalating startup density, talent diversity, capital influx, and global network expansion.
Jason and Michael reflect on the AndiBot interview and discuss the shift from coding to prompting in AI technology, signaling the emergence of more sophisticated and intuitive user interfaces.
Exploring Austin's startup landscape, they articulate the connection between productivity and external perception, proposing that a boost in perceived value could stimulate infrastructural improvements.
Jason spotlights Austin’s ability to “punch above its weight” noting the discrepancies between Austin's startup infrastructure rank (25th in the country) and its high ranking in exit values (6th in the nation, 9th globally) according to a recent Dealroom report.
This episode marks a transition as Michael is taking a step back from the podcast and will return as the occasional guest.
What’s next Austin? “I honestly believe only good things are going to happen next. I think we're going to have a recession nationwide within the next six months. But Austin, as we've discussed, is the last in and the first out. We need to keep Austin weird. It has worked so far for this town.”

Episode Links

The Next Generation of Tech Ecosystems Report by Dealroom

-------------------
Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
Ecosystem Metacognition Substack

Previous Episode

Patient Capital, Potent Change: Ecliptic Capital’s Quest for Climate Tech Breakthroughs with David J. Neff, Operating Partner

In this episode, we dive into the world of patient capital and its potential to bring about transformative changes in climate technology. Joining us is David J. Neff, Operating Partner at Ecliptic Capital, who sheds light on Ecliptic's forward-thinking climatetech investment strategy, how they find innovations, and Austin's future as a hub for the sector.

Episode Highlights

Ecliptic Capital champions climatetech by prioritizing investments in adaptation, building and electrification, and then climate-friendly materials, aiming for long-term impact on climate issues and sustainable innovation.
David outlines a triad for university tech transfer success: forging ties with venture capital, aligning mutual goals, and employing discerning professionals to sift groundbreaking technology from incremental improvements.
The episode tackles the intricate regulatory landscape in climatetech, spotlighting the prolonged time to market and evolving environmental regulations as challenges.
David emphasizes Austin's potential to transcend its software and SaaS prowess and emerge as a stronghold for climate technology and material science innovation.
What’s next for Ecliptic Capital? “I think what's next for Ecliptic Capital is continuing a laser focus on really working with our founders, the people we've deployed capital to you. So I think we're continuing to do that. I think in fall of this year, we'll start talking about fund two and raising for fund two with very similar thesis.”
What’s next Austin? “I hope people are thinking about climate. And the climate crisis is one of the fundamental biggest problems of this generation and the next generation. They quit that big tech job to go work on climate and I hope I see a lot more of that in Austin. It would make me very, very happy and our kids and our grandkids very happy that that's the problem you chose to work on.”

Episode links

David J. Neff: LinkedIn, Twitter

Ecliptic Capital: Website, LinkedIn, Twitter

Embracing Systemic Complexity: The Ecliptic Capital Climate Thesis

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Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
Ecosystem Metacognition Substack

Next Episode

Embracing The Pathless Path with Paul Millerd

How do defined tracks and cultural status symbols passed on from previous generations affect a person’s life choices? When we break with those paths is that being self-employed, an entrepreneur, a creative, or something else? In this episode, we challenge the traditional notions of career paths and entrepreneurial journeys, with thought leader and author of "The Pathless Path" Paul Millerd. The conversation delves into his unconventional road to professional and creative fulfillment, how technology is creating more opportunity for people to follow the Pathless Path, and the role of storytellers & creatives in innovation ecosystems like Austin.

Episode Highlights

Paul highlights the concepts from his book "The Pathless Path" that challenge traditional career paths and encourage unique, individual journeys in our evolving economy.
Paul emphasizes the significant shift in work and career trajectories due to changing economic trends and advancements in technology, heralding new opportunities for autonomy and creativity.
Alternative funding methods like the Thiel Fellowship and Emergent Ventures provide support for unconventional ideas and experiments, reshaping solopreneurship and entrepreneurship beyond just traditional VC-backed startups.
The conversation underscores the role creatives historically have played in innovation ecosystems and how today that role is also being filled by digital storytellers, comedians, podcasters, creators, YouTubers, and Instagrammers.
As Austin continues its rapid growth, rising costs pose a challenge to its creative scene, but acknowledging these obstacles allows for the formulation of strategies to maintain an inclusive and accessible hub for creativity and innovation.
What’s next, Austin? “I actually do think storytellers, creators, YouTubers, Instagrammers, they're sort of underrated. They're storytellers that can link those different worlds. I think creative people are very natural at shifting between ideas and crowds and groups. Austin has been able to cultivate a scene around that, and I think it will continue to emerge and grow. What will it look like in ten years? The history of Austin is that scenes have always emerged and sort of faded away. So, what is the next scene? How do you keep cultivating that environment? Is it going to become too expensive to nurture and cultivate those scenes? I don't know. But yeah, it's going to be interesting to watch.”

Paul Millerd: Website, Podcast, YouTube, X/Twitter

The Pathless Path

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Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
Ecosystem Metacognition Substack