Gary Hoover

Gary Hoover is a serial entrepreneur and innovator. His latest project is The Spark, Austin's Innovation Experience, a physical bricks and mortar tourist attraction and local innovation center we hope to open in 2017. Prior to this venture, Gary and friends founded the first chain of book superstores, BOOKSTOP, purchased by Barnes & Noble, and the business information service now found at Hoovers.com, purchased by Dun & Bradstreet. Gary served as the first entrepreneur-in-residence at the McCombs Business School at the University of Texas, and plays the same role at the University's School of Information today. He writes regularly on hooversworld.com, speaks globally, and lives in a library with 56,000 books.