11:10AM

Panel 01

Web3 and Decentralization: The Next Horizon

Web3 and cryptocurrency form the backbone of one of the hottest recent trends in the venture building. From creating decentralized revenue streams to building community with corporates, explore this topic with crypto-focused startup founders disrupting the traditional startup model.

Drew Beechler

co-founder & CEO, Holder

Tara Fung

Cofounder & CEO, Co:Create

Katrina Smith

Chief of Staff, Vayner3

Panel 02

Ideation and Licensing in Corporations and Universities

Commercializing innovation is hard work, on university campuses or otherwise. How can universities best commercialize their existing IP? What are the best IP licensing structures to enable university research, especially on software, to get "out into the wild?" Are Simple Software Licenses structures creating incrementality? How should universities think about monetizing open source software? Hear from licensing experts as they discuss bringing great ideas to life.

Amish Parashar

ceo, explorer's lab

Drew Bennett

Director, Software & Content Licensing, University of Michigan

Taylor Bench

Managing Director, Summit Venture Studio

3:30PM

Panel 01

Whitespace 101: Defining Opportunities in Current and Future State

How do you identify whitespace for new products and ventures today and tomorrow?  How do you develop foresight to understand the future? In this session, you'll hear from experienced builders who specialize in whitespace.

Adam Wood

Founder + CEO, Future State

Oji Udezue

Head of Product for Creation & Conversation, Twitter

Charlotte Creech

Executive Director, Innovation — USAA

Taylor McLemore

Managing Director, Workforce Development — Techstars

Panel 02

Making the Pivot: Changing the Focus of a Startup

What do you do when you know your product is not working or will not achieve PMF?  What are the signs to look for and how do you take action on migrating your team to a new direction? Hear from founders who have successfully made a material pivot to get their companies on a new track.

Amos Schwartzfarb

Managing Director, techstars Austin

Monica Landers

CEO, StoryFit

Char Hu

CEO, The Helper bees

9:50AM

Panel 01

Fireside Chat: Disruption Theory in Venture Building

Gautam Mukunda

VP of Research, Rose Park Advisors

Elliott Parker

CEO, High ALpha Innovation

Panel 02

Building a Venture Ecosystem in your Backyard

This session focuses on ecosystem building and community engagement. How can innovators and entrepreneurs work together to build a culture of innovation in their city and beyond? How do corporates get involved and stay connected?

Mike Langellier

Tech Executive and Ecosystem Builder

Gordon Daugherty

Co-Founder & Chairman, Capital Factory

Bob Dieterle

Managing Director - First In Venture Studio, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Shelton Mercer III

Founder & CEO, Virtuous Innovation

11:00AM

Panel 01

Innovation Success Metrics: Proving the Value of Innovation Programs

Innovation initiatives only survive over the long haul if they eventually begin delivering on the impact metrics that truly matter to the C-Suite and key business unit leaders. What are these KPIs and pieces of data that innovators should measure against?

Alasdair Trotter

Partner & Managing Director, Innosight

Zack Gipson

Managing Director, Head of Digital Investor solutions, charles schwab

Jessie Young

New Verticals lead, uber

Panel 02

Novel Approaches for Collaborating with Startups

Corporate / startup collaboration is broken - at least from the startup’s perspective. This panel dives deep into the goals and challenges of corporate collaboration for startups, how investors and universities are advising and supporting entrepreneurs in regards to working with - or avoiding - large corporations, and innovative approaches for improving the odds of success on both sides of the table.

Stu Willson

Co-Founder & CEO, Radicle

Sarah Liu

Partner, Fifth Wall

Mitch Jacobson

Executive Director, Blackstone LaunchPad, UT Austin