Most Recent Episodes
Recent
EP 177: What Building in Austin Actually Feels Like Right Now | Will Johnson & Alex Cohen
This was not the episode we planned. Will Johnson, founder and CEO of Gyde, and Alex Cohen, founder and CEO of Hello Patient, came on to talk about innovation in the business of health. Instead it became our off the record conversations, but behind the microphone.
An unfiltered field report on what it actually feels like to build a startup in Austin right now. The talent math, hunting for mid-size office space, the venture culture, Austin vs Miami, the press gap, and the political fr…
What Building in Austin Actually Feels Like Right Now | Will Johnson & Alex Cohen
This was not the episode we planned. Will Johnson, founder and CEO of Gyde, and Alex Cohen, founder and CEO of Hello Patient, came on to talk about innovation in the business of health. Instead it became our off the record co...
ICON Builds a Wall in 1 Week That Takes 59 Days Today
A clip from our episode "The First Thing Built on the Moon Will Come from Austin | Jason Ballard & Will Hurd, ICON"
Chinese Astrophysicists Posed as Janitors to Spy on SpaceX
A clip from our episode "The First Thing Built on the Moon Will Come from Austin | Jason Ballard & Will Hurd, ICON"
The Federal Government Spends $550,000 Per Bed
A clip from our episode "The First Thing Built on the Moon Will Come from Austin | Jason Ballard & Will Hurd, ICON"
EP 176: The First Thing Built on the Moon Will Come from Austin | Jason Ballard & Will Hurd, ICON
ICON has been telling the same story since 2018. Humanity has a construction problem that solving for regulations and supply-demand incentives alone won't fix. We need fundamentally new ways to build.
Jason Ballard, ICON's founder and CEO, and Will Hurd, the former CIA officer, congressman, and OpenAI board member who just joined as President of ICON Prime, came on to lay out what happens when a non-consensus thesis held for eight years starts to materialize in the real wor…
The First Thing Built on the Moon Will Come from Austin | Jason Ballard & Will Hurd, ICON
ICON has been telling the same story since 2018. Humanity has a construction problem that solving for regulations and supply-demand incentives alone won't fix. We need fundamentally new ways to build. Jason Ballard, ICON's fo...
Kids Should Love School More Than Vacation
A clip from our episode "Reinventing School Is Accelerating Austin's Talent Flywheel | Joe Liemandt, Alpha School"
If You Want Education Innovation, Austin Is It
A clip from our episode "Reinventing School Is Accelerating Austin's Talent Flywheel | Joe Liemandt, Alpha School"
If You Think the Old System is Ready for the Future, Alpha is Not Your School
A clip from our episode "Reinventing School Is Accelerating Austin's Talent Flywheel | Joe Liemandt, Alpha School"
EP 175: Reinventing School Is Accelerating Austin's Talent Flywheel | Joe Liemandt, Alpha School
Joe Liemandt built Trilogy, recruited 2,000 Ivy League graduates to Austin, and is now running what he considers the higher-leverage version of the same play, K-12 education. Our host, Jason Scharf, brings a perspective no other interviewer has. He is an Alpha School parent, and he uses that to ask the questions no one else has put to Liemandt. What happens when the app breaks mid-rollout, why diagnostic scores terrify new parents, and whether the motivation model survives past year one.
…Reinventing School Is Accelerating Austin's Talent Flywheel | Joe Liemandt, Alpha School
Joe Liemandt built Trilogy, recruited 2,000 Ivy League graduates to Austin, and is now running what he considers the higher-leverage version of the same play, K-12 education. Our host, Jason Scharf, brings a perspective no ot...
AI's Speed Changes Everything
A clip from our episode "Innovation Ecosystems Are Inherited | Nait Jones"
You Paid $80,000 for Something AI Now Does for Free
A clip from our episode "The Western Canon in the Age of Vibe Coding | Carlos Carvalho, President, University of Austin"
Every Sci-Fi Weapon Showed Up at Once
A clip from our episode "We're Living Through the Cyberpunk Era of War | Jim Rebesco, CEO, Striveworks"
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Recent Blog Posts
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…
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. …
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…
About the Host
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.