The only constant in Austin seems to be change. Whether that be the people moving here, the buildings defining our skyline, or the startups being founded and funded. Today, my guest is Krishna Srinivasan, founding Partner of LiveOak Ventures. We will explore what it means to invest in Texas startups yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Episode Highlights
- The need for early-stage venture capital in Texas led to the founding of LiveOak Ventures, which has a multi-segment approach focused on Texas-based entrepreneurs.
- Krishna identifies three types of founders now in Austin: experienced local entrepreneurs, successful founders from other markets relocating to Austin, and new residents inspired by the city's quality of life to start businesses here.
- Despite significant progress in startup formation and mid-level scaling, Austin faces gaps in experienced talent for managing large-scale, nine-figure+ companies and in securing substantial late stage venture capital.
- What's Next Austin?
- "Tremendous areas of promise and excitement where Austin takes all these newfound riches, when I say riches, newfound talent and with its traditional strengths and vertical markets to go to the next wave of and continuing this amazing wave of new company formation, growth, and scaling."
What is Austin Next?
Austin is building the new tech, cultural, and intellectual stack. The region is a living laboratory to answer a single question: How do you build a global innovation superpower?
Host Jason Scharf dissects innovation from the individual to the ecosystem. From the soundstage to the data center to the fab, we decode the mechanics of Austin's innovation ecosystem.
As Atoms, Bits, and Intelligence converge, we explore how Hard Tech scale, digital velocity, and creative density collide. This is an audit of the future. We map the physics of the flywheel so builders and investors can navigate the chaos.