THE CENTER OF GRAVITY FOR ENTREPRENEURS IN TEXAS
An event every week that begins at 12:00pm on Thursday, repeating until December 31, 2020
RSVP FOR THIS EVENT | Free
In changing times, we’re used to pivoting. Based out of the Capital Factory in downtown Austin, TX, technology and innovation are in our blood. We’ve learned that sound leadership skills are reliable in person and online.
Our club creates a fun, relaxed, professional environment to work on skills that will change your life.
Come check us out, we can’t wait to e-meet you!
What YOU get when you join us
-Safe space to practice your public speaking skills (digital or in-person!)
-Constructive feedback from membership with your best interests at heart, who want to see you succeed
-A guided process to professional development and networking that makes taking the next step clear and easy
-A global network of outgoing leaders you can plug into whenever, wherever you are
-The freedom to work at your own pace
The Center of Gravity Toastmasters normally meet on the 16th floor of the Capital Factory in downtown Austin (outside of quarantine, that is).
Capital Factory is the “Center of Gravity” of innovation in Austin. As such, the Center of Gravity Toastmasters pride themselves on their entrepreneurial, outside-the-box approach to leadership and public speaking. Our club gets traction from some of the most innovative companies Austin has to offer. We offer a supportive, energetic environment that’s easy to plug in to. Join us!
This first-of-its-kind interactive experience will draw national attention and connect leading entrepreneurs, investors, thought leaders, corporations, and decision makers from around the world.
Fed Supernova is the synergy of combining Capital Factory’s Texas Startup Manifesto with the massive defense industry momentum in Texas from Army Futures Command, AFWERX, Defense Innovation Unit, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Texas Military Department, and many others.
The event will culminate in the $100,000 Human Performance Investment Challenge focused on startups whose technologies leverage hardware and/or software solutions to enhance physical or cognitive capabilities. The challenge will include five technology startup finalists that will be judged by a panel of successful entrepreneurs, defense industry leaders and venture capitalists. One will walk away with a $100,000 investment! Startups, submit your application today!
Control The Room is a monthly meetup focused on helping facilitators hone their craft to help improve the quality of meetings. Originally named Austin Design Sprint, based on our Design Sprint method which exposed us to new ways of meeting. In addition to supporting GV Design Sprint enthusiasts, we present and share many different methodologies, including Liberating Structures, Game Storming, Thinking Wrong, MG Taylor, Improv, and much more.
Each month we rotate between highlighting practitioners sharing case studies with tips and tricks, facilitation practice where you can get hands-on with tools for better meetings, and a deep dive skill-building workshops.
We’re honored to be part of the Google Global Sprint Chapter program that aims to build and foster a Design Sprint community by providing awareness, resources, and connecting people.
This first-of-its-kind interactive experience will draw national attention and connect leading entrepreneurs, investors, thought leaders, corporations, and decision makers from around the world.
Fed Supernova is the synergy of combining Capital Factory’s Texas Startup Manifesto with the massive defense industry momentum in Texas from Army Futures Command, AFWERX, Defense Innovation Unit, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Texas Military Department, and many others.
The event will culminate in the $100,000 Human Performance Investment Challenge focused on startups whose technologies leverage hardware and/or software solutions to enhance physical or cognitive capabilities. The challenge will include five technology startup finalists that will be judged by a panel of successful entrepreneurs, defense industry leaders and venture capitalists. One will walk away with a $100,000 investment! Startups, submit your application today!
In changing times, we’re used to pivoting. Based out of the Capital Factory in downtown Austin, TX, technology and innovation are in our blood. We’ve learned that sound leadership skills are reliable in person and online.
Our club creates a fun, relaxed, professional environment to work on skills that will change your life.
Come check us out, we can’t wait to e-meet you!
What YOU get when you join us
-Safe space to practice your public speaking skills (digital or in-person!)
-Constructive feedback from membership with your best interests at heart, who want to see you succeed
-A guided process to professional development and networking that makes taking the next step clear and easy
-A global network of outgoing leaders you can plug into whenever, wherever you are
-The freedom to work at your own pace
The Center of Gravity Toastmasters normally meet on the 16th floor of the Capital Factory in downtown Austin (outside of quarantine, that is).
Capital Factory is the “Center of Gravity” of innovation in Austin. As such, the Center of Gravity Toastmasters pride themselves on their entrepreneurial, outside-the-box approach to leadership and public speaking. Our club gets traction from some of the most innovative companies Austin has to offer. We offer a supportive, energetic environment that’s easy to plug in to. Join us!
With the growth of the sales profession in Austin, there is a great opportunity to harness this growth and come together as a profession to help each other network, grow as sales professionals, share best practices and overcome challenges together. We will provide an environment to grow as an individual and also provide an opportunity to take our teams and organizations to the next level. We will strive to raise the bar on professionalism and performance.
Starting a startup is easy. Building a great company is not.
Amongst all the excitement of running a startup is a lot of hard work and stressful decisions. Founders Academy Essentials is a 4-day lunch-n-learn curriculum designed specifically for driven entrepreneurs that are passionate about their business potential!
Whether you’re working on your MVP and preparing for launch or already generating revenue, you will be exposed to fundamental insights and tools to help dramatically increase your odds of success.
What To Expect
Program Dates – July 20-23
11:15AM (prepare to begin, and have your lunch ready); 11:30AM – 1:30PM (lectures).
*This event is completely virtual and live-streamed for attendees.
Day 1:
Developing Your Idea
Elevator Pitch Secrets
Sizing your Market
Customer Acquisition Strategies
Day 2:
Marketing & Pricing Basics
Optimizing CAC, Churn & LTV
Demystifying Cap Tables
Controlling Legal Costs
Day 3:
Business Development Secrets & Strategic Partnerships
Setting the Stage for a Future Acquisition Exit
Running a Clean Business
Day 4:
How Much Should You Raise & When?
Seed Funding Vehicles and Terms
Finding & Pitching Investors
Negotiating Valuation
Fundraising Issues, Hints & Tips
Please plan to attend at least 3 sessions when registering.
Special Thanks to…
Gordon Daugherty is a best-selling author, seasoned business executive, entrepreneur, startup advisor and investor. A proud native Texan, Gordon grew up in a small town and graduated from Baylor University with a computer science degree. He spent the first ten years of his career in brand-name companies such as IBM and Compaq and then progressively gravitated towards early-stage and high-growth companies. Gordon spent eight years in the videoconferencing industry, including four years as president of an Israeli-based company that grew from $5 million to $36 million in a short few years and went public on the Euronext Stock Market.
Gordon oversaw most company functions while serving in executive capacities, but his primary focus was on strategy, marketing, sales, business development, and M&A. He was a senior executive for Austin-based NetQoS, which grew rapidly to more than $55 million in revenue before being acquired by CA Technologies for $200 million, and he was a founding advisor for digital advertising pioneer MediaMind, which reached $65 million in revenue and a NASDAQ IPO in 2010.
Gordon has vast experience with early-stage fundraising from both sides of the table. As a venture fund manager and angel investor, he has made more than 200 investments. He has also helped raise more than $80 million in growth and venture capital as a company executive, fund manager, board director, and active advisor. Fundraising is the focus of the first book he authored, titled “Startup Success: Funding the Early Stages of Your Venture”.
Through his content creation practice, Shockwave Innovations, and as co-founder and president of Austin’s Capital Factory, Gordon now spends 100 percent of his time educating, advising, and investing in tech startups. He serves on the board of directors for several Austin-based technology companies and is a managing director at SoftMatch, a corporate innovation advisory firm.
Over the years, Gordon has given personal advice to several hundred entrepreneurs, and more than 1,000 startup founders have completed his Founders Academy boot camp. He has published more than 150 startup advice articles and is the producer of a video library with 50 streaming titles of educational content for startup founders.
What are Startup Founder’s saying about Founders Academy?
“Founders Academy is a must! Gordon unlocked new value in concepts I thought I was already familiar with.”
“I’d recommend Founders Academy to other startup founders because of critical early alarms about easy to overlook things.”
“I wish we had done this a year ago.”
“I could not have been more pleased with how clearly Gordon explained things.”
“The way you convey the material is great and the examples you give makes things clear.”
“Fantastic. The camp really provides a complete view of the components necessary to build your business. The additional personal stories you interjected really validate your message.”
“I didn’t know anything about starting a company before joining Capitol Factory, and this workshop has probably taught me the most.”
“If you are thinking about becoming a founder this is an up-close and personal intro from the trenches. If you’ve been around the block a few times, you’ll still learn something. A founder can’t hear this stuff enough.”
“I wish I could have done this years ago because my first venture with VC’s did not go well. You don’t know what you don’t know and the startup landscape is hard to navigate.”
Starting a startup is easy. Building a great company is not.
Amongst all the excitement of running a startup is a lot of hard work and stressful decisions. Founders Academy Essentials is a 4-day lunch-n-learn curriculum designed specifically for driven entrepreneurs that are passionate about their business potential!
Whether you’re working on your MVP and preparing for launch or already generating revenue, you will be exposed to fundamental insights and tools to help dramatically increase your odds of success.
What To Expect
Program Dates – July 20-23
11:15AM (prepare to begin, and have your lunch ready); 11:30AM – 1:30PM (lectures).
*This event is completely virtual and live-streamed for attendees.
Day 1:
Developing Your Idea
Elevator Pitch Secrets
Sizing your Market
Customer Acquisition Strategies
Day 2:
Marketing & Pricing Basics
Optimizing CAC, Churn & LTV
Demystifying Cap Tables
Controlling Legal Costs
Day 3:
Business Development Secrets & Strategic Partnerships
Setting the Stage for a Future Acquisition Exit
Running a Clean Business
Day 4:
How Much Should You Raise & When?
Seed Funding Vehicles and Terms
Finding & Pitching Investors
Negotiating Valuation
Fundraising Issues, Hints & Tips
Please plan to attend at least 3 sessions when registering.
Special Thanks to…
Gordon Daugherty is a best-selling author, seasoned business executive, entrepreneur, startup advisor and investor. A proud native Texan, Gordon grew up in a small town and graduated from Baylor University with a computer science degree. He spent the first ten years of his career in brand-name companies such as IBM and Compaq and then progressively gravitated towards early-stage and high-growth companies. Gordon spent eight years in the videoconferencing industry, including four years as president of an Israeli-based company that grew from $5 million to $36 million in a short few years and went public on the Euronext Stock Market.
Gordon oversaw most company functions while serving in executive capacities, but his primary focus was on strategy, marketing, sales, business development, and M&A. He was a senior executive for Austin-based NetQoS, which grew rapidly to more than $55 million in revenue before being acquired by CA Technologies for $200 million, and he was a founding advisor for digital advertising pioneer MediaMind, which reached $65 million in revenue and a NASDAQ IPO in 2010.
Gordon has vast experience with early-stage fundraising from both sides of the table. As a venture fund manager and angel investor, he has made more than 200 investments. He has also helped raise more than $80 million in growth and venture capital as a company executive, fund manager, board director, and active advisor. Fundraising is the focus of the first book he authored, titled “Startup Success: Funding the Early Stages of Your Venture”.
Through his content creation practice, Shockwave Innovations, and as co-founder and president of Austin’s Capital Factory, Gordon now spends 100 percent of his time educating, advising, and investing in tech startups. He serves on the board of directors for several Austin-based technology companies and is a managing director at SoftMatch, a corporate innovation advisory firm.
Over the years, Gordon has given personal advice to several hundred entrepreneurs, and more than 1,000 startup founders have completed his Founders Academy boot camp. He has published more than 150 startup advice articles and is the producer of a video library with 50 streaming titles of educational content for startup founders.
What are Startup Founder’s saying about Founders Academy?
“Founders Academy is a must! Gordon unlocked new value in concepts I thought I was already familiar with.”
“I’d recommend Founders Academy to other startup founders because of critical early alarms about easy to overlook things.”
“I wish we had done this a year ago.”
“I could not have been more pleased with how clearly Gordon explained things.”
“The way you convey the material is great and the examples you give makes things clear.”
“Fantastic. The camp really provides a complete view of the components necessary to build your business. The additional personal stories you interjected really validate your message.”
“I didn’t know anything about starting a company before joining Capitol Factory, and this workshop has probably taught me the most.”
“If you are thinking about becoming a founder this is an up-close and personal intro from the trenches. If you’ve been around the block a few times, you’ll still learn something. A founder can’t hear this stuff enough.”
“I wish I could have done this years ago because my first venture with VC’s did not go well. You don’t know what you don’t know and the startup landscape is hard to navigate.”
We have one goal here: to foster an ecosystem that helps people progress in their career and get people hired!
This is a networking and educational group that is actively focused on improving the strategy of job seekers (active or passive) to help them step up their game! We also partner with recruiters to help facilitate a better hiring system.
Join us for a night of networking and pitches. You’ll hear 5 Austin based start-ups pitch their product for 99 seconds!
Founders Live is an unforgettable happy hour competition sweeping the country where up to five handpicked companies take the hot seat, with only 99 seconds to pitch their company and describe their value proposition in front of an eager audience. After the pitches and audience Q&A, the crowd will vote on a winner who will not only receive an award, but recognition from the crowd and also the opportunity to talk more about their product or service. So bring your friends and coworkers, grab some food and drink, get to know your local entrepreneurs and vote for what you think will be the next big thing… built in Austin
Sponsors:
AWS (presenters receive 5,000AWS credits)
Google Cloud (presenters receive 3,000 Google Cloud credits)
By Appointment Only
Our doors are open! Reach out to Members@CapitalFactory.com to book your private, in-person membership tour.
