Most Recent Episodes
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EP 172: The Western Canon in the Age of Vibe Coding | Carlos Carvalho, University of Austin
American universities stopped optimizing for students a long time ago. The University of Austin was built as a direct counter to that failure. Carlos Carvalho, its president, brings a statistician's precision to the diagnosis, tracing the causal chain from dropped standards to credential collapse while building an institution with no tuition and no government money, staking its survival entirely on student outcomes 20 years out. The conversation moves from the financial architecture of …
The Western Canon in the Age of Vibe Coding | Carlos Carvalho, President, University of Austin
American universities stopped optimizing for students a long time ago. The University of Austin was built as a direct counter to that failure. Carlos Carvalho, its president, brings a statistician's precision to the diagnosis...
You can just raise less
From our episode "Bootstrap vs. VC: Speed Costs Control | Rob Taylor, Silverton Partners"
Where Does Control Lie in a VC Backed Company?
From our episode "Bootstrap vs. VC: Speed Costs Control | Rob Taylor, Silverton Partners"
Why choose the VC path vs Bootstrapping
From our episode "Bootstrap vs. VC: Speed Costs Control | Rob Taylor, Silverton Partners"
EP 171: Bootstrap vs. VC: Speed Costs Control | Rob Taylor, Silverton Partners
The decision to bootstrap a business or raise venture capital is not just financial. It is physics. You are choosing which system to operate within, which rules will govern your company, and whose incentives will shape your options at every inflection point.
Rob Taylor has lived both realities. He spent years building venture-backed companies, raising millions in institutional capital. His brother Chris bootstrapped a company for 20 years and owned nearly 100% at exit. They sold thei…
Bootstrap vs. VC: Speed Costs Control | Rob Taylor, Silverton Partners
The decision to bootstrap a business or raise venture capital is not just financial. It is physics. You are choosing which system to operate within, which rules will govern your company, and whose incentives will shape your o...
EP 170: Patient Capital in the Age of the $10B Seed | Brian Smith, S3 Ventures
The current venture market is defined by a dangerous decoupling of capital from reality. While the industry chases $10B seed valuations and trillion-dollar infrastructure bets, Brian Smith and S3 Ventures are executing a "Discipline Arbitrage." They argue that the real returns in AI will not come from the massive CapEx spenders, but from the application layer that solves boring, regulated, enterprise problems.
This episode audits the structural risks of the current AI wave …
Patient Capital in the Age of the $10B Seed | Brian Smith, S3 Ventures
The current venture market is defined by a dangerous decoupling of capital from reality. While the industry chases $10B seed valuations and trillion-dollar infrastructure bets, Brian Smith and S3 Ventures are executing a "Dis...
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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.