In his recent book Shut Up and Listen!, Tilman Fertitta lays out hard-hitting business advice like only the Billion Dollar Buyer could. In addition to starring in his own CNBC reality show, Tilman is a Houston native, “the richest restaurateur in the world” according to Forbes, and sole owner of Fertitta Entertainment, which owns Landry’s, […]Read More
If you ask Randy Cohen, founder of the Austin-based ticket broker and online marketplace TicketCity, the letters “CEO” mean something different. For decades, Cohen has referred to himself as TicketCity’s Chief Energizing Officer. Within seconds of meeting him, you see that the moniker fits. In our fast-talking chat, he explains what it means to be […]Read More
A Conversation with Jerry Jones Jr. The Dallas Cowboys have the most loyal fans in the NFL. We didn’t just make that up—an Emory University poll from last July proved it. In the 30-plus years since Jerry Jones bought the legendary franchise, he and his family have grown it into the most valuable sports property in the world. Recently, we had the […]Read More
We don’t need to introduce Mark Cuban, do we? Entrepreneur, investor, author, Texan, Dallas Mavericks owner, Shark Tank star—you know the drill. We threw seven quick questions to Cuban. Let’s see what he had to say. 1. You have the resources to locate anywhere in the world. What keeps you in Texas?The people. The energy. […]Read More
How Much Should We Raise? For most startups, the decision to raise money is made out of necessity. The entrepreneur needs more funding to continue pursuing their dream, whether the money will be used just to survive a while longer or truly shift a gear and move into the next stage of evolution. Other startups […]Read More
THE STORY OF HOW IT ALL STARTED 40 YEARS AGO By Ray Niekamp How does a city transform itself from an economic backwater to a high-tech powerhouse? In the case of Austin, it started with a short conversation. Austin Mayor Lee Cooke was on his way to give a speech when the mobile phone in […]Read More
A 12 QUESTION LITMUS TEST TO LAUNCH By Bob Fabbio According to Bloomberg, 8 out of 10 businesses fail within the first 18 months. That’s a whopping 80 percent that crash and burn. So in this Golden Age of entrepreneurship, how does an innovator improve the odds of transforming a germ of an idea into a […]Read More
GETTING BIOTECH VENTURE CAPITAL INTO HOUSTON By Graham Randall, PhD When it comes to transforming Houston’s promising biotechnology into marketable products, the number and size of venture capital deals has been the hardest metric to improve. The typical VC investor looks for companies with strategic business plans driven by strong management teams. And there’s the […]Read More
PREDICTING PROBABLE OUTCOMES OR CONSTRUCTING A NEW FUTURE? By Don Springer When CEOs launch an innovation or start a new business, the largest obstacle they face is uncertainty. Uncertainty stands in the foreground of today’s economy, geopolitical tensions and a digitally disrupted marketplace. Navigating this turbulent environment requires CEOs to use the appropriate decision-making tools […]Read More
GROW A BUSINESS THAT REFLECTS ITS ENVIRONMENT By Andrew Philipp Earlier this year, the Kauffman Foundation Index on Startup Activity, the largest index tracking entrepreneurship across the United States, reported an unexpected change. Not only did the 2015 Index reveal the reversal of a five-year downward trend in entrepreneurship activity, but this reversal came as […]Read More