Austin SXSW 2022
Another Week in the Innovation Age #3
Hi Growers 🌱,
We live in the innovation age. A period where groundbreaking events happen all the time.
These round-ups are my way of distilling what I’ve gathered.
My last post was on 3/10. Don’t miss my weekly updates and join 113 ambitious and self-motivated champions by subscribing here:
Austin SXSW
This weeks newsletter is a day late because I am in Austin, Texas for the SXSW conference.
I have never been to SXSW before.
The amount of interesting people, fun events, and culture — all in one small place, is incredible
I didn’t even get a ticket to the conference. I don’t think most people do.
There are so many events going on around the conference you simply don’t need to do.
It’s all about connecting with like minded people.
People I Met at SXSW
I didn’t really have a plan for the conference.
My girlfriend Elana was going for work and asked if I wanted to tag along.
So I bought a flight and sent it! :)
There were a handful events I found that could be worth attending.
At each event, I introduced myself to random people and made some awesome connections.
I met entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, creators, tech workers, family office investors, syndicate leads, and more.
Here is a list of some of the people I met:
And many more.
In addition to new people, I also got to catch up with old friends including Fletcher Richman and Micah Mador from the Boulder startup community and Brett Kleinberg, a former colleague when we both worked at a health care consulting firm.
High Profile Attendees
SXSW attracts some famous people to say the least…
I was grateful to run into John Henry, someone I’ve followed on the internet for his content about entrepreneurship.
I also saw Mark Cuban. He was extremely kind and down to earth.
Events Attended
Over the past few days, I have attended a wide variety of events.
On Friday night right after I got in, we went to the Doodles event, whic is an NFT project that some of my close friends own.
It was wild to see an NFT project build such an artsy space in the physical world. Also tons of free food! :)
The next day, I went to a VC brunch at Capital Factory.
Right after that, Elana was speaking on woman’s panel for Woman in Web3 so had to go and support. :)
I went to several other VC events including a Greycroft brunch. Later that day, I went to a Banksy exhibit (which is where I saw Mark Cuban).
Sunday morning I went to a Space panel about when we will go to the Moon and Mars.
Someone from Space Force spoke. :)
Later in the day on Sunday, I went to an event put on by Republic, Brex, and Workweek.
At one point, I saw some live music from my friend who was performing.
And on Sunday night, I went to a 12am-4am after party sponsored by Red Beard Ventures (my girlfriends VC firm) and Alpaca Ventures. It was at this awesome house with candles, crystals, and all around chill vibe.
These were just a few of the many events I went to at SXSW!
Brunch at SoHo House
Beyond my activities in Austin, I caught up with my friend Griffin for Brunch at SoHo house in West Hollywood before leaving to Austin.
It was such a beautiful venue.
2 Fun Calls
I saw someone named Tarek Waked post about a Space Event he held in LA and that he started a VC fund called Type One VC.
Type One refers to a type of civilization on the Kardashev Scale. I instantly loved this name and concept, and reached out.
Tarek and I spoke and hit it off.
I also spoke to Jordan Fabrikant, a HyperGuap member and friend. We chatted startups and life. We catch up every few months.
If you’re a HyperGuap LP, I am always happy to connect!
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Thank you for reading! 🌱
Aidan