What This Unlikely Deal Shows About New Austin | Max Cunningham (Sesh) & Jake Medwell (8VC)

Sesh looks like a consumer brand. 8VC looks like the last fund that would back it. That mismatch is the fastest way to see what Austin is becoming.

Sesh founder Max Cunningham and 8VC's Jake Medwell start with the logic that makes the deal make sense. Sesh holds a legal moat most competitors can't cross for years, and it earns software-like margins on a physical product. From there the conversation opens into a bigger question about where ambitious companies belong, and why more of them are choosing a city that now draws the founders and families betting on that future.

Agenda

• 00:00 What Sesh is
• 06:05 Why 8VC backed a nicotine company
• 10:44 Regulatory timing and the six-year door
• 16:37 Software margins and owning the factory
• 22:01 Who buys this and why the market is growing
• 29:27 Why some companies need SF and others do not
• 34:32 What Austin talent looks like now
• 42:10 The Elon spillover and the coming IPO wave 
• 48:37 Raising kids in the AI age
• 55:07 Safety, schools, and what comes next

Guest Links
Sesh: Max Cunningham, Website, X, Instagram
8VC: Jake Medwell, Website, X

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Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
Ecosystem Metacognition Substack

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