Austin Next

A common plank in ecosystem development is having a strong research-focused university churning out discoveries and intellectual property that can then be spinout our licensed into the private sector. In Austin, we have one such university with UT, but that movement of technology from academia to industry is not magic. Tech transfer organizations sit at the crux of this bridge trying to balance the needs of the university with the needs of their startup and corporate partners. Today we have Les Nichols, Director of the Office of Technology Commercialization or OTC at UT Austin to talk about how this is done, the challenges they face, and the role this function plays in our innovation ecosystem . Innovations from academia help drive…What’s next Austin?

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Ecosystem Metacognition Substack

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.