Okay now, as a teaser, here is last year’s recap:
Austin has had the good fortune to host a thriving high-tech scene for five decades now. ATC was founded in 1992, when Austin’s technology scene was on the rise- but success was not yet assured. What was assured: the tech leaders of the 90’s were determined to achieve success.
Austin has grown so much since then, that many people haven’t had a connection to Austin’s tech history — to the foundation of Austin tech. The Austin Tech Hall of Fame aims to help draw attention to that rich history, and to help connect the past to the present — and to the future — of Austin Tech.
What good is a story if there’s no one to tell it?
It was a packed house, with a view of the hill country behind us. I was so grateful for the turnout for this event, and the respect with which this group of Austin-ites paid to those who have laid the foundation for what we’ve built in Austin.
The Austin American-Statesman covered the occasion in an article this week:
The Austin Technology Council honored 10 people to celebrate the past, present and future of the Austin technology community. Eight were inducted into the Tech Hall of Fame as the 2023 legacy class, a ninth was announced as a 2024 inductee and another honored with the First Time Founder Award.
And Thom Singer’s blog post on the ATC website summarized our event as a call out to the value of the people — more so than the tech:
The secret to Austin’s success over the past five decades is not found in job titles, funds raised, or any other superficial metrics. Instead, it lies in the people — those who have come together, connected, and collaborated to build a thriving tech community. It’s the power of connected souls that truly makes the difference.
And on that note, let me turn to Lori Hawkins, who we are still mourning the loss of: as a long-time writer on the tech beat in Austin, Lori was posthumously inducted into the Austin Tech Hall of Fame — with kind words from the Austin American-Statesman and her husband, Paul:
Hawkins’ husband, Paul Sunby, accepted the award on her behalf. He said when he got the call that she was being honored, he was absolutely stunned that his wife was important enough in the tech community that the council felt she belonged in the legacy class.
Looking at the crowd of 200, Sunby said seeing his wife immortalized in the Hall of Fame beside their two children was particularly special.
Paul, your wife Lori is incredibly important to Austin, and to Austin tech. What good is a story if no one is there to tell it? Who would know the lore of Austin tech if Lori hadn’t captured it in black-and-white? This is something really special about the character of Austin. Our hall of fame isn’t just technologists, or the leaders of technology companies. The Chief Story Teller of Austin Tech belongs in this august group of Hall-of-Famers. She told our story, and she helped us to aspire to be something more than just more technology. She catalyzed our understanding of our ecosystem and our impact on Austin.
As chair of the Austin Technology Council, I couldn’t have been prouder of this moment.
We recognized the following Legacy honorees:
- Lori Hawkins, author and journalist with the Austin American-Statesman
- Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies
- Admiral Bobby Inman, formerly U.S. deputy director of the CIA — he showed up and paid homage to Kozmetzky and many others, including to a promising Electrical Engineering professor who stole the show when they were visiting Austin to select a site for MCC (and he tells us, it was that 6 minutes that really decided them on Austin)
- Laura Kilcrease, one of the founders of Austin’s Technology Council, now playing similarly impactful roles in Alberta.
- George Kozmetzky, co-founder of Teledyne, and really the mover and shaker behind so many of Austin’s moves in technology. It is amazing how much he was able to set in motion.
- John Sibley Butler, professor emeritus in the McCombs School of Business — who also gave a great speech and called out his mentors and supporters.
- Jimmy Treybig, founder of Tandem Computers — he joined us in person, and his son gave his acceptance speech which had everyone a little emotional.
- James Truchard, CEO of National Instruments
*Everyone* in attendance had stories about how one or more of these hall-of-famers had helped them on their entrepreneurial journey. These are the people that set the standard for Austin’s community and ethos of helping each other.
I had the honor, on behalf of BP3, of introducing our 2024 Hall of Fame inductee: Joyce Durst, CEO of Growth Acceleration Partners, who in her speech exemplified her brand of leadership — illustrating both how many people in the room she had connected with, and also calling her leadership team to the front to recognize them. She is a truly a class act.
In my introductory remarks I recalled once at SXSW, on a panel of Austin legends that included Pike Powers, someone asked Pike was he worried about the future of Austin and Austin tech because we don’t have leaders like those guys anymore. And Pike looked out the window at all the cranes in the sky, and he gestured to the room and vaguely to SXSW beyond and he said (paraphrasing): “I don’t worry about the future of Austin at all. Look at all the leadership in this room and in this event. Austin is in great hands with young leaders, the next generation is where it’s at.” I wanted this room to be in that spirit as we celebrated Joyce Durst and her achievements in tech.
And finally, we recognized First Time Founder, Ashley Rose, CEO of Living Security, and exciting human-centric take on better security. This is ATC looking to the future of tech in Austin — and if Ashley is the basis for judgment, we are in good hands, Austin.
Many LinkedIn posts have followed from prominent Austinites to share their experiences at the Austin Tech Hall of Fame: Aruni Gunasegaram, Joyce Durst, Joseph Kopser, and Thom Singer just to name a few. It was great for us all to have a chance to reconnect with our pride in what we’ve built, while looking to the future of what’s possible.
I even ran into Corey Blahuta, our CFO for 5 years and a true partner in our business at BP3 during that time. Reconnecting with your favorite people is a wonderful reason to be at Austin Technology Council events!
One more thing… if you want to learn more about Austin’s history with Tech, here’s a great article from Austin Monthly on the subject. It’s largely an interview with ATC’s Thom Singer — who has a certain perspective having been here since 1991. Great read.