venture dallas

Decoding the Attraction: Why These Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs Make Dallas-Fort Worth Home

Nextdoor.com co-founder and recent Dallas-Fort Worth transplant Nirav Tolia puts it simply: “It’s a great place to live.” Here's why Tolia and other dynamic newcomers believe the fast-growing region is a land of opportunity and community for 21st-century pioneers.
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The Last Word: Hill Perot Rallies North Texas Leaders to Accelerate Innovation
by | Nov 16, 2023
NYSE President Lynn Martin was in Dallas last week meeting with business leaders of some of the 50-plus DFW companies listed on the NYSE, as well as others that may be looking to go public. She was definitely on business-friendly ground in both the city and the Lone Star State, since more than 200 of the nearly 2,400 companies listed on the NYSE are based in Texas.
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Venture Titans Gather at Circle T Ranch to Power North Texas’ ‘Next-Level’ Growth
by | Nov 9, 2023
The exclusive Circle T Ranch reception—an annual highlight of the Venture Dallas franchise—drew founders and funders for pivotal connections and conversations. But the headliner unfolded on stage as Anurag Jain, Hill Perot, and Brendan Gaffey strategized the future of the startup and venture ecosystem in North Texas.
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Defense Tech Experts: The ‘Military-Industrial Complex’ is Ripe for Disruption
by | Nov 7, 2023
At Venture Dallas 2023, venture capitalists and defense department minds said evolving technologies are creating new opportunities in the defense tech sector for well-financed startups.
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Dirk Nowitzki Reflects On His Drive for Greatness, Post‑Mavericks Future, and Enduring Bond With Dallas

by | Oct 31, 2023
To cap off the recent Venture Dallas summit—just like he closed out so many Dallas Mavericks games with a buzzer-beating one-legged fadeaway—Dirk Nowitzki shared stories of his journey from Germany to the NBA, his 21 seasons with the Mavericks, his post-Mavs moves as a business investor, and his enduring bond with the Dallas community.
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Anurag Jain and Clark Hunt on stage at Venture Dallas in October 2023. [Image: Grant Miller Photograph/Venture Dallas]
Billionaire Blueprint: Chiefs and FC Dallas Owner Clark Hunt on Winning, Leadership, and Taylor Swift
by | Oct 27, 2023
NFL and MLS titan Clark Hunt shares the playbook for transforming the KC Chiefs into reigning champions. In a wide-ranging conversation, the lifelong Dallasite talks with Anurag Jain about attracting young female "Swifties" to the NFL, his family's 90-year sports and business roots — and how his dad named the Super Bowl and the Lombardi trophy.

Hunt kicked off the first installment of the Venture Dallas "Conversations with Champions" series.
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The Last Word: Clark Hunt On DFW’s Chances To Land a Big, Maybe THE Big, World Cup Match
by | Oct 26, 2023
Dallas billionaire Clark Hunt, owner of the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, sat down with Anurag Jain at the Venture Dallas Summit on Wednesday. Hunt—the chairman and CEO of both the Chiefs and FC Dallas—was the headliner for the first event at the annual summit for innovators and investors at the Bush Center.
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‘Conversations With Champions’: Sports Titans Hunt, Nowitzki to Headline Venture Dallas Summit
by | Oct 16, 2023
The NFL and NBA icons—Clark Hunt and Dirk Nowitzki—will kick off and wrap up discussions on innovation and investment. They add to an "impressive speaker lineup" including Nextdoor Co-Founder Nirav Tolia and other trailblazing speakers. Here's the full roster.
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The Last Word: LCM Group’s David Luttrell on Why Family Offices Should Look at Startups

by | Mar 16, 2023
In our recent 2023 issue of Dallas Innovates magazine, we reported on a panel discussion about family investment offices that was held late last year at the annual Venture Dallas conference. During the panel session, Luttrell spoke about the single-family-office LCM Group, and how it views startups as driving innovation.
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Troy Aikman on Launching EIGHT Beer, How Meditation Changed Him, and Why the Right People Matter More Than a Great Idea
by | Nov 17, 2022
Troy Aikman spoke in a fireside chat at the Venture Dallas conference last week with Ameeth Sankaran, CEO of Religion of Sports. Here's what he shared on his businesses past and present; how Roger Staubach inspired his post-NFL life; his advice on choosing your team; and the importance of wellness for both life and work. "If you don't feel good, it's hard to do good," Aikman said. "I feel the best I've ever felt, and I'm probably doing the best good that I've ever done."
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‘It’s a Different World Out There’: Investors Share Their Insights on the Changing Funding Landscape
by | Nov 14, 2022
At the recent Venture Dallas conference, a panel of leading investors talked market trends and shared insights to help those on both sides of the cap table. Here are key takeaways—from tips for fundraising founders to what startups need to offer to what makes Dallas an exciting place to invest. “As an entrepreneur, just hustle. Don't take ‘No’ for an answer. You're going to get a lot of ‘No’s,’ so just keep at it," said Pialy Aditya, chief strategy officer at Republic.
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Arlan Hamilton talks with Mark Cuban at the 2022 Venture Dallas conference.
Mark Cuban Talks About Pickleball, Pharmaceuticals, and His ‘Addiction to Helping Entrepreneurs’
by | Nov 10, 2022
Whether he's buying a pro pickleball team or disrupting big pharma with his cost-plus drug company, Mark Cuban says he's a "ready, fire, aim" businessman. So he surrounds himself with "ready, aim, fire" perfectionists to keep him from "screwing everything up." That's just one insight the billionaire shared in a fireside chat with Backstage Capital founder Arlan Hamilton at the Venture Dallas conference last week. “There's always going to be somebody smarter, there's always going to be somebody faster, better," Cuban added. "I just try to work a little harder.”
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Anurag Jain Shares the Seven Trends Shaping Innovation and His Investment Strategy

by | Nov 8, 2022
Anurag Jain and longtime business partner Ross Perot Jr. talked about the region's high growth with a roundup of innovators and investors at Circle T Ranch in Fort Worth's AllianceTexas development. The VIP reception was the prelude to the 2022 Venture Dallas conference—and one of the most coveted invitations in town.
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Tech Talk and ‘Meaningful Connections’: 10 Takeaways From Venture Dallas 2022
by | Nov 7, 2022
At last week's Venture Dallas conference, more than 400 VCs, angel investors, startups, and business leaders gathered for a showcase of North Texas' entrepreneurial and venture ecosystem. Here's a look at the highlights—from Troy Aikman saying "There are no shortcuts" to Alto Founder Will Coleman on the power of doing "the opposite" to Mark Cuban's "ready, fire, aim" approach. “Regions like Texas and Dallas-Fort Worth, we’re the model for the rest of the nation on how to get things done," Ross Perot Jr. said at the conference kickoff.
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‘I’ve Never Been More Bullish on Our Region’: Longtime Dallas Investor Aaron Pierce Joins Perot Jain as Partner
by | Oct 12, 2022
Aaron Pierce, the co-founder and board chair of Venture Dallas, has a deep investment background and a history of supporting the local entrepreneurial community. As partner at Perot Jain, his role is "all encompassing." One item on his agenda is overseeing the firm's investments in Major League Cricket—along with managing the firm's investment portfolio of more than 60 companies.

“We have the ingredients required to be a major player in the national investment landscape," Pierce says, "especially as the family office and private investment focus grows from funds to direct investments in venture-backed companies.”
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Venture Dallas Brings ‘the Premier Venture Capital Conference in North Texas’ to George W. Bush Presidential Center this November
by | Oct 4, 2022
Venture Dallas 2022—a full-day conference to be held Nov. 3 at the George W. Bush Presidential Center—will connect investors from all over the U.S with the “best founders in our region” with the goal of sparking “collisions” and “meaningful connections," co-founder Aaron Pierce says. He adds that those could potentially lead to fundings—and successful exits. Here's a look at why the North Texas startup and VC scene is hopping, and what Venture Dallas 2022 could mean for you.
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