SXSW Moments: Growing Unicorns
The Forrest Four-Cast: April 30, 2019
Did you miss something at SXSW 2019? Want to relive the magic? Look to this space over the coming weeks for links to video and audio replays of some of the most incredible experiences from this year’s event.
You could argue that so far, 2019 could be known as the Year of the Unicorn. Pagerduty, Lyft, Pinterest, and Zoom have all launched IPOs. Uber and Slack are up next. And AirBnB’s in the pipeline. But how do you actually grow a unicorn? How do you take an idea on the long, arduous journey from inspiration to monetization? This was a big question at SXSW 2019. Here are some highlights.
The Business of Creating
Money. Business. Finances. Management. AKA, a list of words that gives creators headaches, but really shouldn’t. That’s how Jack Conte, creator and musician, felt before starting a company. Fast forward through five years co-founding and running Patreon, and he has come to realize that everything he’s learned as a CEO has made him a better creator. Pursuing a creative career requires the same smarts, grit, organization, and management that it takes to scale a business. Hear his story — and what he wishes he’d known as a creator, including “Life is a never-ending trash fire and art makes it all worth it. Art is the best part of living — it gives life meaning.”
How to Make Your Startup Investor Ready
For many founders, fundraising is a necessity — whether you’re exploring the best way to scale your team, outpace the competition, make great technological strides, or launch a buzz worthy marketing campaign that generates qualified leads, access to a substantial amount of liquidity is often the most direct route to meet your objectives. Panthera Advisors’ Alejandro Cremades discusses when a startup is investor-ready and how far along you have to be before you can consider yourself attractive to the right investors.
How to Tell Your Startup Story
This session features leading journalists covering startups, venture capital and technology. Learn their tips for founders seeking to break their next big story, what makes an effective and compelling pitch, how to build relationships with reporters and how to make your company stand out.
The Art of Failure: Driving Creative Innovation
Failure is an inevitable part of innovation culture, valued for the lessons it brings rather than seen as effort wasted. But if investors decide to play it safe, how can creatives and the organizations they work with continue to take risks and work towards uncertain outcomes? This panel asks: how can we support cutting-edge innovation and overcome our fear of failure?
Raising from Angel Investors: Ask Me Anything
Three experienced angel investors with decades of industry and investing experience answer questions about how companies are evaluated, what angel networks are looking for, and how to get involved. Find out best practices and what makes a company stand out.
More Memories from SXSW 2019
Change is Coming
Urban Mobility
It’s Time for Sports!
Saving the Ocean
Military Matters
Women’s Health
Social Media Power
Telling New Media Stories
Motherhood
Marvel’s Magic
Future Health
May the Fourth
Women in Tech
Thriving at Work
Making a Difference
Fighting Fake News
Disaster Response
Hacking Democracy
Pete Buttigieg
Kara Swisher
Arlan Hamilton
Do these audio recordings inspire you to get involved in a SXSW session next year? Enter your forward-thinking speaking proposal for March 2020 via the SXSW PanelPicker. Speaking proposals for next year’s event are accepted via this interface from July 1 through July 19.
Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW, the world’s most unique gathering of creative professionals. He also tries to write at least four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts often cover tech-related trends; other times they focus on books, pop culture, sports and other current events.
