2014 Schedule
Interactive: March 7–11  •  Film: March 7–15  •  Music: March 11–16

Win $200,000+ to Move Your Startup to Austin!

#sxsw #move2ATX

We don’t need to convince entrepreneurs to move to Austin - almost every day we receive emails from people deciding to do that on their own!

Maybe it’s because Austin is the most cost-effective place to launch a startup or the pipeline of talent coming out of the University of Texas. Maybe it’s because of the 300+ days of sunshine each year or the vibrant live music scene. It’s no surprise that Austin is one of the fastest growing cities in the US and everyone wants to live somewhere that is growing and booming versus the alternative.

So why should we put together a $50,000 cash investment prize, more than $150,000 in other prizes, and roll out the red carpet to bring one more startup here? Come find out...

5 startups will compete for a cash investment, office space, housing, moving expenses, free groceries and more in an epic pitch competition.

FINALISTS:

Briqs - www.briqs.co
LynxFit - www.lynxfit.com
TrendPo - www.trendpo.com
Feathr - www.feathr.co
Kwiksher - www.kwiksher.com

Presenters

Andrew Busey

Dir

Capital Factory

Andrew Busey is currently a Partner at Chaotic Moon, the leading mobile strategy and development partner for consumer brands. He focuses on corporate development and strategy. He is also CEO and co-founder of Team Chaos, the creators of Dragon Academy. Most recently he was a Venture Partner at Austin Ventures focused on early stage web, mobile, and SaaS, opportunities. Prior to that Andrew was the founder and CEO of Challenge Games which was acquired by Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA), where he was VP and GM of the Austin office managing a large team developing social games. Over the past 15 years, Andrew has pioneered some of the industry’s most important web technologies – including work on Mosaic, the first web browser (now part of Microsoft Internet Explorer); creating iChat, the first web based chat system and one of the first instant messaging applications; and building WebCenter, the first major web-based customer service technology (now part of Avaya). Previously, Andrew co-founded Pluck (acquired by DemandMedia NYSE:DMD ), which enables social media on major sites such as TheStreet.com, USA Today, and Reuters. In the past, Andrew led, developed, and contributed to numerous “Multi-User Dungeon” or “Multi-User Domain” (MUDs) games, which were the early predecessors to Massively Multi-player Online Games ( MMOs) like World of Warcraft and Everquest. In 1994, he wrote Secrets of the MUD Wizards, the first major published book on the topic. Andrew is an inventor on seventeen technology patentsand has several others pending. He is a graduate in computer science from Duke University and holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Gordon Daugherty

Dir

Capital Factory

After spending the first ten years of his career at brand name companies like IBM and Compaq, Gordon progressively gravitated towards early stage and high growth companies. He spent eight years in the videoconferencing industry, including four years as President of an Israeli-based company that grew from $5M to $36M in a short few years and went public on the Euronext stock market. Gordon has served in an executive capacity over most company functions, but with emphasis on sales, marketing, business development and M&A. He ran corporate development and strategy for Austin-based NetQoS, who grew rapidly to more than $50M before being acquired by CA Technologies for $200M. Through his advisory practice, Shockwave Innovations, and as Director of Capital Factory’s accelerator, Gordon is an active angel investor and startup advisor. He was a founding advisor for digital advertising pioneer MediaMind, who reached a NASDAQ IPO exit in 2010 at a $192M valuation, and sits on the board of Austin startup SwimTopia. Gordon received his Computer Science degree from Baylor University and now having raised three daughters he enjoys competitive swimming and spending time with his wife at their Galveston Island beach house.

Kip Mcclanahan

Partner

Silverton Partners

Kip McClanahan’s career spans nearly twenty years across the security, networking, communications, software and media industries. Kip has served as both CEO and board member to public and private companies leading all functional areas including strategy, operations, product, sales and marketing, as well as M&A deal structuring. He has demonstrated a consistent pattern of creating shareholder value with his companies returning nearly $800 million in gains to shareholders. Kip also represents Austin’s Silverton Partners (an early-stage investment firm).

Mike Maples Jr

Managing Partner

Floodgate

Mike Maples, Jr. is the managing partner of FLOODGATE, and was recently named as one of "8 Rising VC Stars" by Fortune Magazine for his investments in business and consumer technology companies. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was an entrepreneur and operating executive who worked in a variety of senior management roles in high-growth companies. His background spans a variety of markets including consumer technology, small business, and the enterprise, and he has led various functions in product development, marketing, business development, and corporate strategy. Mike began his technology career in high school, when he started a software company that developed games and educational products for the original IBM PC. He has been passionate about the technology industry ever since. Mike co-founded Motive, Inc., the world's leading broadband software company in 1997, and played key roles in its growth from raw start-up through sales of more than $75 million. Motive was one of the only successful technology IPOs in 2004, and the most successful infrastructure software IPO for the prior three years. At Motive, Mike was General Manager of Motive's Corporate Business Unit, as well as Chief Marketing and Strategy officer. Prior to Motive, Mike was responsible for worldwide product marketing at Tivoli Systems, where he managed the company's product portfolio from its early-stage development through its 1995 IPO and growth to a $750M line of business within the IBM Software Group. Mike began his professional career at Silicon Graphics, where he served in business development and product marketing roles. In his spare time Mike is an amateur artist, movie-maker, and calligrapher. He holds an Engineering degree from Stanford University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and a guest-lecturer on entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School, Stanford University, Princeton University, and the University of Texas.

Thanks to our sponsors

Miller Lite Monster Energy Esurance Chevrolet AT&T IFC Subway Austin Chronicle

Music sponsor

Sonic Bids

Interactive sponsors

Deloitte American Express Pennzoil