Houston Hugs Startups at Tejano Tech Summit

In this week’s Startup Advocate I mentioned that I participated in the fantastic inaugural Tejano Tech Summit in Houston located at the Ion organized by Jesse Martinez and presented by LSA Global & Latino Startup Alliance whose mission is to create the foundation to foster and support the Latinx tech ecosystem in the Houston area and the State of Texas with global reach. We were immersed in 2-days of education, inspiration and celebration of Latinx tech entrepreneurship, investing and careers in tech, led by over 100+ speakers. We celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month at the Ion which is a great spot for tech events under the stewardship of Jan Odegard who I was fortunate to meet.

At the event, I participated in a fireside chat with my friend and former Lyft exec turned social enterprise investor Veronica Juarez about my journey as a serial entrepreneur and startup operator as well as my experience as an angel investor and my role at AWS to help others who are embarking on their own entrepreneurial and tech career paths. I was thrilled to share that all startups can now transform new ideas into new prototypes within minutes when they join Activate and they can get ongoing support they need to incubate startups through AWS Startups Lofts. I was probably most excited to invite all the Latinx founders to apply for the AWS Impact Accelerator when we open applications next year!?

The startup community in Houston is en fuego. Did you know that Houston was recently ranked within the world’s top 5 emerging tech ecosystems?? Houston hugs go to the thought leaders and innovators, startups, and investors to reach this accolade. I know from my experience as an investor and entrepreneur in Detroit and LATAM how tough it can be to build and fundraise in ecosystems outside of Silicon Valley or other bigger urban centers in more advanced technology and venture markets. These are some of the thought leaders and innovators contributing to this growing tech stature:

• Staci Latoison who told me that I was the best speaker she's seen at the Ion and that includes the likes of superstar entrepreneurs like Gwyneth Paltrow. You've got to love the manners and generosity of a true Texan! I was inspired by Staci's story as a mom and innovator reminding me about how truly wonderful women are and the impact we make every day.
• Eric Rodriguez who I am eternally grateful to for texting Howard Wright to tell him I was killing it without being paid to do so.
• Along with Susan Davenport, Guillermo Diaz Jr, Salvador Chavez, Joey Sanchez, Magdalena Madrigal, and Will Salcido.

Here are some of the founders and startups that are proving what’s possible in Texas! And you know what they say? - everything is bigger in Texas, so we can expect some big things from these founders! They include: Pam Martinez, Sarah Smith, Rita Bautista, Michelle Avalos, Jose Bethancourt, Josh Sanchez, Tony Aguilar Jr, Mario Amaro, Erik Cardenas, Ivan Huerta, John Solis, Alexander Gras, Ody De La Paz, Gustavo Suarez, Jose Sae, Augustin Rios, Eduardo Galindez, Julio Resendez, David Lopez, Monica Talan, Carlos Resendez, and Erik Ibarra.

I returned to the Bay Area inspired by the local investors who invest in a wide array of sectors and passionate founders building ventures at every stage. Here are some of the investors from the event that you may want to connect with to improve and expand your deal flow if you’re an investor and for founders to identify if there might be a good fit for your startup: Adrian Mendoza, Kelly Avant, Sunny Shuoyang Zhang, Juliana Garaizar, Kennie Blanco, Jessica Salinas, Adrienne Mangual,?Juan Thurman, Jesus Salas, Heli Prilliman, Jazmin Medina, and Chris Howard. ?