In 2012, our possibilities as creators are more limitless than they've ever been. With the rise of networks like Facebook and Twitter, we're more connected than ever. This hyper-connectedness has enabled us to build our own audiences, to collaborate on impossible tasks, and to amplify our awareness of what is happening around the world. At the same time, our tools have become more...
[read more] In 2012, our possibilities as creators are more limitless than they've ever been. With the rise of networks like Facebook and Twitter, we're more connected than ever. This hyper-connectedness has enabled us to build our own audiences, to collaborate on impossible tasks, and to amplify our awareness of what is happening around the world. At the same time, our tools have become more sophisticated, allowing us to do significantly more with less. Through advances in technology, an individual can design, build, deploy, and scale a web service used by millions. They can also create professional-level content and upload it to millions of people via YouTube. These dynamics have allowed for new models of both sustainability and profitability, that would have previously been unfeasible. Yet amidst these new possibilities, we are still paralyzed by the question: "What should I make?" How are startup and social entrepreneurs answering this question? What are the models, processes, and structures that have helped them figure this out? Join our guests, Jon Kolko (Austin Center for Design), Christina Cacioppo (Union Square Ventures), and Gary Chou (Union Square Ventures) for a discussion on this topic, followed by a Q&A, and drinks. About the Speakers Jon Kolko is the Founder and Director of Austin Center for Design, a progressive educational institution teaching interaction design and social entrepreneurship. His work focuses on bringing the power of design to social enterprises, with an emphasis on entrepreneurship and large-scale industry disruption. He has worked extensively with both startups and Fortune 500 clients, and he has a breadth of experience in consumer electronics, mobility, web services, supply chain management, demand planning, and customer-relationship management. He has worked with big-brand clients such as AT&T, HP, Nielsen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ford, IBM, Palm and other leaders of the Global 2000, as well as with startups like Socialware, Spredfast, Vast, Attivio, and more. Christina Cacioppo has been a member of the investment team at Union Square Ventures since June 2010. Prior to Union Square Ventures, Christina was a design researcher at Deutsche Telekom/T-Mobile in Berlin, Germany. She has also worked at Google in Mountain View and a newspaper in Kampala, Uganda. Christina graduated from Stanford in 2008 with a BA in Economics and in 2009 with an MS in Management Science and Engineering, a combination of industrial engineering, human-computer interaction, and product design. As an investor, Christina has been thinking about what comes next. Moderator Gary Chou is the General Manager of the Union Square Ventures Network. Previously he has held product development and design positions at Trilogy, Tribe.net, and Cisco, building web applications for both consumers and enterprise customers. He is also Executive Producer of SURROGATE VALENTINE and DAYLIGHT SAVINGS, two films by Dave Boyle featuring Goh Nakamura that premiered at SXSW in 2011 and 2012. He and Christina Cacioppo, co-teach the Entrepreneurial Design class at the School of Visual Arts MFA in Interaction Design Program.
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