SMU Cox School of Business

Among the leaders of the 2025 Venture Dallas Startup of the Year winners are BILT Inc. President and COO Ahmed Qureshi and Chairman and CEO Nate Henderson; Worlds CEO Dave Copps; and StableCore CEO Alex Treece and COO Nick Elledge. [Composite image: DI Studio]

Three North Texas Companies Top the 2025 Venture Dallas Startup Awards

by | Nov 20, 2025
Breakout winners—and a $2B VC year—show how far the region’s ecosystem has come. Here are the 2025 winners and honorees, plus takeaways from a private dinner with Susser Bank and Nasdaq executives at the Petroleum Club.
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Who Made This Year’s AI 75 List? Meet the North Texans Leading the Pack in Artificial Intelligence
by | Apr 30, 2025
Dallas Innovates, in partnership with the Dallas Regional Chamber, once again is recognizing the most innovative leaders in AI in Dallas-Fort Worth. From visionaries and mavericks to transformers and academics, AI 75's class of 2025 are the AI pacesetters you need to know now.
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The Last Word: James Loomstein on ‘Why Digital Marketing Tactics Won’t Save Your Startup’
by | Jan 14, 2025
Digital marketing veteran James Loomstein shares why startups need to focus on core business problems, not quick-fix marketing tactics. Here are key insights from 10 years teaching at SMU Cox.
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Veteran Leader Named Managing Director of SMU’s Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership
by | Mar 13, 2024
Joshua Taylor will be responsible for leading the institute’s goals, programs, and operations, in alignment with the overall mission and vision of SMU Cox, co-founding directors Megha Tolia and Nirav Tolia, and benefactor Dr. William S. Spears.
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Bush Center President and CEO Named SMU Cox School’s Inaugural Distinguished Executive In Residence

by | Aug 25, 2023
SMU's Cox School of Business named financier and Bush Center leader Ken Hersh as its first Distinguished Executive-in-Residence. Students will have an invaluable opportunity to get first-hand career advice from someone with decades of experience at the highest levels of business.
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The Dallas 100: SMU Cox Unveils Its Ranking of the Fastest-Growing Private Companies in DFW
by | Nov 3, 2022
Collectively, the 100 privately held companies contributed $9 billion to the Dallas-Fort Worth economy from 2019 to 2021—creating over 12,000 jobs with average sales growth of 141%. Irving-based ShiftKey, which connects healthcare professionals with healthcare facilities that have immediate shift vacancies, took the top spot in the annual rankings. Here's the complete list.
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Coffee With Impact: La La Land Kind Cafe Opens Its First Drive-Thru in Richardson
by | Sep 15, 2022
La La Land Kind Cafe—the coffee shop chain that's been "normalizing kindness" since it opened its first cafe in 2017 on Lower Greenville in Dallas—will debut its first drive-thru location in Richardson Saturday. Offering internship programs for youths who've aged out of foster care, the brand has a goal of spreading both opportunity and joy. That's won nice rewards for its founder, former SMU Cox School of Business student François Reihani, who made the cover of Entrepreneur's "Young Millionaires" issue and landed on Forbes' 30 Under 30 Social Impact list.
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