The 10 Pillars That Made Austin a Global Tech Hub

Austin Tech Connect

In this episode, host Thom Singer talks about the ten pillars that helped make Austin become a global technology hub. While there were civic minded community leaders who had ideas and plans to set our region up to grow, the ten pillars that supported the success of Austin are not something that can be dupblicated by other cities. This is a retrospective, not a recipe book.

Austin's success was not luck, it was the product of several things that come together at the right time. And it was about the people. Leaders who would show up regularly to support the community who had visions that more home grown tech companies, and being a destination for established companies could become key.

The Chamber of Commerce, Opportunity Austin, The Capital Factory and other organizations had big impact on the growth of the tech scene. But it was no one organization or individual that did it all. Yes, you can trace back much of the credit to Dr.George Kozmetsky, who was the dean of the UT Business School in the 1960s and 1970s (and then a major civic leader until the 1990s).... but much of the credit is split between about 50 men and women who openly cared and worked to help set the stage for the community we have today.

The ten pillars that Thom talks about all came togther in a time when technology was exploding across the world. Austin became the cool alternative to the big cities, alhtough we are now a big city ourselves.

These pillars are not the whole story, and Singer welcomes input from people on other ideas. Not all of the pillars are as strong or important today, as times change and new pillars are being formed. Also, in a short version of this talk he cannot cover all the details that he can when he does the hour long keynote about "The History of Austin Tech".

The Ten Pillars of Austin Tech

1. The Univseristy of Texas and the hiring of Dr. George Kozmetsky
2. Central location in the US and warm weather all year.
3. Affordability
4. Connected community with a strong focus on networking and relationships
5. Robust business ecomonty that worked for startups, midsized companies, and large tech.
6. Arts, music, and the Keep Austin Weird vibe.
7. Young educated workforce
8. Angel investors, VCs, service providers, incubators, etc...
9. Pro-business state poliicies
10. SXSW

Check out this episode.