Every Last Word

Dallas Innovates’ signature series capturing what leaders across North Texas are saying — in their own words — about innovation, impact, and what’s next.

The Last Word: Jared Drinkwater’s Easy Sell for Low and Slow Snacks

by | Sep 29, 2023
Drinkwater, who previously worked at Frito-Lay and as VP of national marketing at Pizza Hut, co-founded Low and Slow Snacks in 2019. The barbecue junkie told the Dallas Business Journal the idea struck when he doused a bag of corn chips in BBQ rub and smoked them in his backyard smoker—and his family gobbled them down in 30 seconds. 
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The Last Word: DRC’s Kelly Cloud on the Kickoff of the BioNTX iC3 Summit
by | Sep 28, 2023
With a theme of “Innovation, Capital, Collaboration, Commercialization”—or iC³—the summit unites researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, and support organizations to forge the relationships that drive progress.
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The Last Word: Republic Title’s Scott Rooker on Property ‘Seller’ Scams and AI
by | Sep 27, 2023
Rooker's firm has seen so many fraudulent property sale attempts lately—via Docusign and text messages from "fake sellers"—that it has created a fact sheet to warn clients, Rooker told April Towery of Candy's Dirt.
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The Last Word: Artist Natalie Neale on Her 70-Foot TCU Mural
by | Sep 26, 2023
Fort Worth’s newest public art installation greets residents and visitors with a bold message—to dream big, be bold, and lead on. The 70-foot mural is Texas Christian University’s capstone on its artful coast-to-coast tour celebrating TCU’s 150th anniversary.
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The Last Word: Nirav Tolia on Going from Yahoo! Employee No. 84 to Founding His Own Game-Changing Companies

by | Sep 22, 2023
The tech entrepreneur and investor, who moved from the West Coast to the Dallas region in 2021, went on to found Epinions and Nextdoor after leaving Yahoo! during its meteoric rise in the late '90s. Seeing the success of the Web juggernaut firsthand—despite a blunt warning from its co-founder—gave Tolia the courage to branch out on his own.
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The Last Word: Celebrating North Texas Giving Day and Inviting You to Give to Nonprofits Across the Region
by | Sep 21, 2023
Posting on LInkedIn, the Communities Foundation of Texas shared the above photo of Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and the Dallas City Council after the official proclamation declaring today North Texas Giving Day across the city of Dallas.
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The Last Word: Spacee’s Skip Howard on His HoverTouch Tech in Action at Sam’s Club
by | Sep 20, 2023
The company's original groundbreaking HoverTouch technology has found a new use case at Sam's Club. The giant touchscreen is replacing theft-prone iPads with HoverTouch tech that turns any surface into an interactive experience — walls, glass, tables, and more become engaging consumer touchpoints with no power to the surface.
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The Last Word: Toyota Research Institute’s Gill Pratt on Using Generative AI to Teach Robots ‘New, Dexterous Skills’
by | Sep 19, 2023
The advancement, leveraging what the institute calls "Diffusion Policy," is said to improve robot utility and be a step toward building "Large Behavior Models" for robots, similar to Large Language Models like ChatGPT which have revolutionized conversational AI.
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The Last Word: Steve Case On a “Once in a Lifetime” Kind of Opportunity

by | Sep 15, 2023
Investor and tech pioneer Steve Case, best known as the co-founder and former CEO of AOL, made this call to action yesterday while visiting North Texas at Dallas Startup Week in Frisco. The pandemic "created an opening that's a unique, maybe even once-in-a-lifetime, kind of opportunity," he added.
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The Last Word: John Quinn of EXOS Aerospace on Competing with SpaceX and Blue Origin
by | Sep 14, 2023
Quinn's Greenville-based company, EXOS Aerospace, is one of three that are currently licensed by the FAA to fly resusable rockets, the CEO told KXAS. The other two? They're just a little bigger: Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. 
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The Last Word: Kamal Sagar on Building $1M Frisco Homes with Grass Roofs and Courtyards
by | Sep 13, 2023
Sagar's company is building a Tapestry community of 121 homes in east Frisco with eco-friendly grass rooftops and lawned terraces and courtyards built into each new abode, according to the Dallas Morning News.
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The Last Word: AT&T’s David Williams on the Rapid Rise of AI
by | Sep 12, 2023
Williams was just one of the experts on hand at the Dallas Regional Chamber's late August Q3 Executive Circle event. Presented by McKesson at AT&T’s Dallas headquarters, the panel focused on the impact of AI on how companies do business and shared practical insights into how companies can navigate and utilize AI.
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The Last Word: McKesson CIO/CTO Nancy Avila’s Surprise Announcement at the Future of AI Summit

by | Sep 6, 2023
In a closing announcement at the "Future of AI" summit Tuesday, Nancy Avila, EVP, CIO,  and CTO at Irving-based McKesson, announced that her company and Accenture will be presenting Convergence AI Dallas, a sales conference slated for spring 2024. 
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The Last Word: Alkami CEO Has a Song Line for ‘Trapped Home Equity’
by | Aug 29, 2023
Writing on LinkedIn, Shootman tapped the Humperdinck song "Please Release Me, Let Me Go" to describe the situation faced by many homeowners, who aren't eager to give up their low mortgages in exchange for a much higher one at another address.
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The Last Word: SMU’s Elizabeth Loboa on the Impact of a $30M Gift from The O’Donnell Foundation
by | Aug 28, 2023
Loboa was explaining a critical need that SMU and other universities are addressing—one that was got a boost last week when The O’Donnell Foundation announced its donation of $30 million to SMU to create 10 endowed academic positions in engineering and data science, as well as to support research in those fields. 
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The Last Word: Designer Joel Baldazo on Dwell with Dignity’s Thrift Studio Popup
by | Aug 25, 2023
Today marks the opening day of Dwell With Dignity's annual fall Thrift Studio popup, where luxury home furnishings and art are sold at "steeply discounted prices" to benefit Drell With Dignity's nonprofit mission: furnishing living spaces for families in need.
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