Dallas Startup Week 2018: Day 2 Roundup

Dallas Startup Week is in full swing!

Last night, the startup community gathered at the historic Longhorn Ballroom for drinks, dancing, and live music by Raised Right Men during the official launch party.

Raised Right Men performs at the official Dallas Startup Week launch party Monday night at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas. [Photo: Heather Noel]

Before we dive into today’s events, let’s take a look back at some of Monday’s discussions in case you missed them:

The ongoing conflict between privacy, security, and convenience took center stage during the Monday afternoon fireside chat session.

Debi Stack, the chief evangelist at Anticipatory AI, said the world is in an AI arms race right now where the countries with the most data will come out on top.

And China’s totalitarian government has no qualms about using facial recognition and other artificial intelligence to gather data on its billions of citizens.

“China has an advantage over the U.S. because they don’t have any privacy laws at all,” Stack said. “They have more data than the U.S.”

But concerns about privacy and how to ethically use personal information were also a hot topic. Stack explained that many in the millennial generation understand that they’re trading their information for access.

Nathan Huey of StackPath (right) talks about emerging trends in cybersecurity Monday during Dallas Startup Week. [Photo: Nicholas Sakelaris]

Brandon Ward, director of user experience at Precocity LLC, said few people ever fully read the privacy policies on new apps. Even the companies that research your DNA to get your family’s origin own that information and can sell it, he said.

He cited one case where a woman was denied employment because her DNA identified a rare genetic condition.

“They sold that data to somebody else,” Ward said. “She can’t do anything about it because she clicked a checkbox.”

And, over at Fair Park, leaders across various sectors of society gathered to talk about equity, poverty, and how to build a more inclusive economy.

“The conversation always starts with health.”

Vidya Ayyr

“The conversation always starts with health,” said Vidya Ayyr, director of social impact for the Parkland Health System. “If you’re not healthy you can’t go to your office, you can’t go to school, and really if you think about not being healthy you’re not feeding right into the economy. The forefront of those sustainable development conversations is ensuring healthy and productive lives.”

Doric Earle, managing partner of Forward Planning and Dallas Unity Fund, explained that those preoccupied with their daily financial struggles are often unable to receive the help or information they need.

“A lot of the community gets isolated … Information and knowledge is power, we’ve go to make sure that information is getting to the community in a way that they can consume it,” Earle said.

The social sector was in focus again Tuesday morning as Dallas-based leaders gathered to talk about the role of social entrepreneurship in nonprofit organizations.

“The difference between charity and social entrepreneurship is realizing that you have to consistently push your impact.”

Suzanne Smith

“The difference between charity and social entrepreneurship is realizing that you have to consistently push your impact,” said Suzanne Smith founder of Social Impact Architects. “Even though you’re an established charity, you have to think about how you can continue to serve your constituents better.”

Katie Kelton has more from the session.

Other conversations Tuesday have focused on inclusive leadership, esports, smart cities tech, and business growth paths.

Incubator and accelerator leaders such as Hubert Zajicek of Health Wildcatters and David Matthews, managing director of RevTech, gathered for a panel examining the question: Can an Accelerator or Incubator Jumpstart your Startup?

The answer likely depends on what your goals are as a startup. Nicholas Sakelaris has their insight here.

There are still a wealth of events to attend this afternoon. Take your pick from an indie game discussion at NoD Coworking, a panel featuring craft brewers and distillers, or another social talk focusing on getting youth involved.

Tonight, there will be a special Dallas Startup Week edition of Dallas New Tech. Darren Woodson, former Dallas Cowboys player and founder of CounterFind will be the featured speaker.

In January, his startup, which helps businesses defend against counterfeit versions of their products being sold on the internet, received $1 million in venture capital investments.

ICYMI: #DSW18 on Twitter

#BigDOCC

Hanging Out and sipping coffee with an awesome group of entrepreneurs #BigDOCC #DSW18 pic.twitter.com/puUYixLBLB

— Union Worx Coworking (@Union_Worx) April 3, 2018

So You Want to Do Some Good

https://twitter.com/DFWStartupWeek/status/981172087342747648

https://twitter.com/GoldieChan/status/981186348399890432

LOVE Suzanne Smith’s point about integrating social impact/ social food into all of the other tracks. It should totally be embedded in every business whether socially driven or for-profit that creates a greater good.#DSW18 #DallasStartupWeek

— CJ ✨ Media Barbie (@CCrossJohnson) April 3, 2018

https://twitter.com/JustKimOnline/status/981237054389604353

You Are Only as Good as Your Data

https://twitter.com/SiriusXMAndrew/status/981192300771659776

Inclusive Leadership: Building Diverse Teams for Competitive Advantage

John Redmond, @Dell: Programmatic approaches and partnerships between corporations and nonprofits are really whats going to move the needle (in inclusion) for us. #DSW18

— Danielle Abril (@DanielleDigest) April 3, 2018

https://twitter.com/TheTalentBroker/status/981191869978824704

Cristina Lopez, @jcpenney: JCP created a program to talk to first-generation graduates for recruitment. Will bring a bus load of students to corporate headquarters to walk them through innovation. In the war for talent … we have to get creative. #DSW18

— Danielle Abril (@DanielleDigest) April 3, 2018

https://twitter.com/TheTalentBroker/status/981183309618335745

Smart Cities: Public-Private Partnerships and Driving IoT Adoption

@theDECtx hearing about the smart cities initiative. #dsw18 #dsw18iot @DFWStartupWeek pic.twitter.com/8ZD8pYCNYD

— WBC – Southwest (@WBCSouthwest) April 3, 2018

Innovation by Design: Designing Your Own Future

“Don’t be a year ahead of your market but be a year ahead of your competition.” – @equalman #DSW18 pic.twitter.com/iul6XiYVSf

— Dallas Startup Week powered by Capital One (@DalStartupWeek) April 3, 2018

https://twitter.com/JVTWILLIE/status/981212914995679232

Women Who Lead: Nina Vaca

https://twitter.com/lorenasreyna/status/981244649951125509

@ninavaca’s work-life balance advice for women: “Do not beat yourself up; somebody else will do that for you.” Nina founded and built a billion $$ company with 4 kids. #hero #DSW18 #WomenInBusiness #entrepreneurs

— Leanna LaskeyMcGrath (@LeannaLaskey) April 3, 2018

“People accuse me of being positive. GUILTY.” –@ninavaca

So much wisdom being shared at the #WomenWhoLead session at #DSW18

@DFWStartupWeek pic.twitter.com/iHniQpHU7p

— Rachel Chang (@raedchang) April 3, 2018

A Happy Marriage: Traditional Sports & Esports

A good look at today’s panelists – each giving their own perspective on #ESPORTS and why it’s here to stay. @DFWStartupWeek #DSW18 #DSW18Gaming #DallasStartupWeek pic.twitter.com/CJvVYNvRIR

— LaunchPadCity (@launchpadcity) April 3, 2018

https://twitter.com/chrisyates11/status/981235860388622336

Social Good, the New Consumerism

Touching the heart of the consumer is the good in #socialentrepreneurship #dsw18 #DSW18SocialGood #dsw18fashion pic.twitter.com/fFbvJ8fd0U

— Isabel Prosper (@IsabelProsper) April 3, 2018