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Austin Next

Most Recent Episodes

From Wristbands to AI: A New Cancer Playbook | Suzanne Stone, CEO, Livestrong
Sept. 9, 2025

From Wristbands to AI: A New Cancer Playbook | Suzanne Stone, CEO, Li…

How do you go from a cultural icon like the yellow wristbands to building AI products? Livestrong’s CEO Suzanne Stone argues that the through line is a focus on survivorship, the life you live from diagnosis onward. This is ...

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Did Austin Turn Soda Into Fashion? | Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder, Poppi
Sept. 3, 2025

Did Austin Turn Soda Into Fashion? | Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder, P…

Poppi is a fashion brand that happens to be soda. Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder of Poppi, joins us to walk through the operating choices behind turning a vinegar problem into a modern soda badge. It’s how you build, scale, an...

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Autonomy’s Moment Is Now. Austin Is the Autonomy Capital | Jeff Cavins, Outdoorsy Group
Aug. 27, 2025

Autonomy’s Moment Is Now. Austin Is the Autonomy Capital | Jeff Cavin…

Autonomy’s moment is now as the operating stack goes live across software, hardware, availability, and insurance. Outdoorsy Group CEO Jeff Cavins joins the show to unpack how RoboTaxis integrate with marketplaces, city system...

Listen to the Episode
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Recent

100M Wristbands and Now Trusted AI
Sept. 9, 2025

100M Wristbands and Now Trusted AI

A clip from our episode "From Wristbands to AI: A New Cancer Playbook | Suzanne Stone, CEO, Livestrong"

#livestrong #cancer #cancersurvivor #Austin

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Ep 164: From Wristbands to AI: A New Cancer Playbook | Suzanne Stone, CEO, Livestrong
Sept. 9, 2025

Ep 164: From Wristbands to AI: A New Cancer Playbook | Suzanne Stone, CEO, Livestrong

How do you go from a cultural icon like the yellow wristbands to building AI products? Livestrong’s CEO Suzanne Stone argues that the through line is a focus on survivorship, the life you live from diagnosis onward. This is the leap from story to community to software and back again.

Highlights
01:34 Mission: Survivorship Over Cures
06:18 The Wristband as Community Signal
12:39 Fertility Program and Real Cost of Cancer
14:34 Copycats and What Persists
25:20 From Gu…

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From Wristbands to AI: A New Cancer Playbook | Suzanne Stone, CEO, Livestrong
Sept. 9, 2025

From Wristbands to AI: A New Cancer Playbook | Suzanne Stone, CEO, Livestrong

How do you go from a cultural icon like the yellow wristbands to building AI products? Livestrong’s CEO Suzanne Stone argues that the through line is a focus on survivorship, the life you live from diagnosis onward. This is ...

Listen to the Episode →

Poppi’s first $750k from the Kitchen to Whole Foods
Sept. 6, 2025

Poppi’s first $750k from the Kitchen to Whole Foods

A clip from our episode "Did Austin Turn Soda Into Fashion? | Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder, Poppi"

#poppi #wholefoods #startup #cpg

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Mission Driven Founders Win in Austin
Sept. 5, 2025

Mission Driven Founders Win in Austin

A clip from our episode "Did Austin Turn Soda Into Fashion? | Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder, Poppi"

#austin #startups #founder #missiondriven #authenticity

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Poppi is Fashion because Health is the New Wealth
Sept. 4, 2025

Poppi is Fashion because Health is the New Wealth

A clip from our episode "Did Austin Turn Soda Into Fashion? | Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder, Poppi"

#Poppi #fashion #soda #health #healthyliving

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Poppi is a $2B Fashion Soda
Sept. 3, 2025

Poppi is a $2B Fashion Soda

A clip from our episode "Did Austin Turn Soda Into Fashion? | Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder, Poppi"

#Poppi #Soda #cpg #pepsi #fashion

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Ep 163: Did Austin Turn Soda Into Fashion? | Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder, Popp
Sept. 3, 2025

Ep 163: Did Austin Turn Soda Into Fashion? | Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder, Popp

Poppi is a fashion brand that happens to be soda. Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder of Poppi, joins us to walk through the operating choices behind turning a vinegar problem into a modern soda badge. It’s how you build, scale, and exit a consumer brand. It’s another signal that Austin’s flywheel is real and accelerating.

Highlights
01:48 Dark days, PMF before funding
08:05 Farmers market to Whole Foods
14:50 Rebrand beat Shark Tank awareness
24:58 Poppi as Fashion
33:46 Ma…

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Did Austin Turn Soda Into Fashion? | Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder, Poppi
Sept. 3, 2025

Did Austin Turn Soda Into Fashion? | Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder, Poppi

Poppi is a fashion brand that happens to be soda. Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder of Poppi, joins us to walk through the operating choices behind turning a vinegar problem into a modern soda badge. It’s how you build, scale, an...

Listen to the Episode →

Teen Drivers vs Self Driving Cars: Which is Safer?
Aug. 30, 2025

Teen Drivers vs Self Driving Cars: Which is Safer?

From the episode "Autonomy’s Moment Is Now. Austin Is the Autonomy Capital | Jeff Cavins, Outdoorsy Group"

#AutonomousVehicles #RoboTaxi #Austin #innovation

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Austin is Now the Autonomy Capital
Aug. 29, 2025

Austin is Now the Autonomy Capital

From the episode "Autonomy’s Moment Is Now. Austin Is the Autonomy Capital | Jeff Cavins, Outdoorsy Group"

#AutonomousVehicles #RoboTaxi #Austin #innovation

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Weekly AI progress equals the 20th century
Aug. 28, 2025

Weekly AI progress equals the 20th century

From the episode "Autonomy’s Moment Is Now. Austin Is the Autonomy Capital | Jeff Cavins, Outdoorsy Group"

#AI #innovation #autonomousvehicles

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Austin is the Autonomy Capital
Aug. 27, 2025

Austin is the Autonomy Capital

From the episode "Autonomy’s Moment Is Now. Austin Is the Autonomy Capital | Jeff Cavins, Outdoorsy"

#AutonomousVehicles #RoboTaxi #Austin #innovation

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Ep 162: Autonomy’s Moment Is Now. Austin Is the Autonomy Capital | Jeff Cavins, Outdoorsy Group
Aug. 27, 2025

Ep 162: Autonomy’s Moment Is Now. Austin Is the Autonomy Capital | Jeff Cavins, Outdoorsy Group

Autonomy’s moment is now as the operating stack goes live across software, hardware, availability, and insurance. Outdoorsy Group CEO Jeff Cavins joins the show to unpack how RoboTaxis integrate with marketplaces, city systems, and the consumer experience. Austin’s talent, technology, and risk appetite are making it the Autonomy Capital.

Highlights
01:31 Why Outdoorsy Group is betting on RoboTaxis
05:44 Software must command the car
10:40 RoboTaxi as the default transpira…

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Autonomy’s Moment Is Now. Austin Is the Autonomy Capital | Jeff Cavins, Outdoorsy Group
Aug. 27, 2025

Autonomy’s Moment Is Now. Austin Is the Autonomy Capital | Jeff Cavins, Outdoorsy Group

Autonomy’s moment is now as the operating stack goes live across software, hardware, availability, and insurance. Outdoorsy Group CEO Jeff Cavins joins the show to unpack how RoboTaxis integrate with marketplaces, city system...

Listen to the Episode →

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Recent Blog Posts

New Report says Austin is turning into life sciences "superstar" hub
Aug. 12, 2023

New Report says Austin is turning into life sciences "superstar" hub

Thrilled to have been featured on 'Tech this Out' with Walt Maciborski, discussing the booming Austin Life Sciences Sector!Our report, 'Austin Life Sciences Sector: A Powerhouse Emerging at a Pivotal Crossroads,' was born from a desire to catalyze a…

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Austin's Venture Funding Challenges the Global Stagnation
July 20, 2023

Austin's Venture Funding Challenges the Global Stagnation

The global venture funding landscape narrative for the first half of 2023 has been portrayed as one of stagnation. Headlines from notable publications, such as Crunchbase's "AI Was Q2’s Big Hope To Reverse The Global Venture Funding Slowdown. …

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Austin Life Sciences Sector: A Powerhouse Emerging at a Pivotal Crossroads
July 12, 2023

Austin Life Sciences Sector: A Powerhouse Emerging at a Pivotal Cross…

Welcome to Austin Next, where we explore Austin's ascension into a global innovation powerhouse. We delve into the region's evolution, examine the building of robust ecosystems, and consider the impact of emerging trends and technologies. With Austi…

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About the Host

Jason Scharf Profile Photo

Jason Scharf

Founder & Host

Jason Scharf has spent nearly two decades pursuing his life’s mission of catalyzing innovation. As an early stage investor, he targets the bio innovation tech stack and the business of health. He has held key leadership roles in strategy and market intelligence at industry pillars such as Illumina, BD, and Amgen. Through the Austin Next podcast and Substack Ecosystem Metacognition, he explores innovation, Bio & Health, tech, ecosystems, Austin, and their convergence.

Austin Next

Austin's evolution into a global innovation superstar is at the heart of Austin Next. We uncover insights into the region's transformation and what it means for ecosystem building.

Our exploration extends to emerging trends, technologies, and their convergence. Using Austin as our real-world case study and experts from around the world, we aim to understand the true nature and mechanics of innovation.

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