Austin Startup Welcomes Carla Thompson to the Team

5 comments / Posted on 06. Nov, 2009 by Carla Thompson in Announcements

One of our primary missions here at Austin Startup is to showcase the vibrant tech community and culture here in town, and in the process fulfill our motto of convincing tech entrepreneurs and influencers to “Ditch the Valley, Run for the Hills.” With that in mind, we are proud to welcome new Austinite Carla Thompson of the Guidewire Group to town, and to the Austin Startup team! In her inaugural post for the site, she sends an open letter to the tech community and local startups to reach out and help her get initiated to the city.

Way back in the mid-90s, I trekked to Austin in hopes of finding a job. Armed with a newly minted bachelor’s degree and a stunning amount of naiveté, I was sure I’d find paying work to fund a capitol-city lifestyle of music and barbecue. But as my father used to say, my BA in psych and a nickel would get me… I can’t ever remember how that ends. Point is, I never did find that psychology job and eventually found myself living in the Dallas suburbs.

Well, it only took 15 years but I’ve finally landed in Austin. The reasons for the move are many but a key goal was to surround myself with a more vibrant tech network. I’m one of those lucky bastards, you see, who works entirely from home. My company, Guidewire Group, is based in Silicon Valley and thanks to newfangled Internet gizmos, I don’t have to report to an office to do what I love. There is a downside though, in that you spend a lot of time talking to yourself. In order to stay plugged in to a rapidly changing market – not to mention sane – it’s vital to get out and network. Meet people for coffee, socialize at happy hours, co-work in lively spaces – really any activity that gets me away from the screen and talking face to face with innovators only adds to my insight and expertise. And as an analyst, insight and expertise are non-negotiable.

I didn’t, however, want to jump too deeply into the pool of tech by moving back to Silicon Valley. A key mantra of mine and Guidewire Group’s is to always keep the consumer foremost. It’s far too easy to get sucked into the morass of early-adopter groupthink that seems unique to emerging tech. So living in a city that has multiple focuses, not just tech, was important to me. And, you know, there’s the barbecue.

So here I am, Austin, ready to wade knee-deep into the tech scene. What does that mean exactly? It means I want to meet with startups, as many as you can throw at me. I want to educate myself on the local market, write about you on the Guidewire and Austin Startup blogs, share insights and advice with entrepreneurs, and keep an eye out for companies that would benefit from more focused Guidewire expertise.

I want to get involved with the myriad tech organizations that are popping up around town. Thanks to my friend and local badass Josh Dilworth, I’m already hooked into Austin Startup and am on the advisory board for SXSW’s 2010 Accelerator program. What else should I know about? TechRanch, Conjunctured, Door64 – let’s sync up.

I want to check out the local semantic community. As someone who’s followed the semantics sector closely for several years, I’m looking forward to plugging into what I hear is a thriving scene.

In short, I’ve been locked in a suburban Dallas home office for 8 years – get me out of the house, Austin! Tell me about your co-working spaces, your wine-soaked happy hours, and your up-and-coming startups. I’ll cry uncle when I’m overwhelmed – but that’s likely going to take a long time.

Find me on Twitter, the Guidewire Group blog, or email me at carla@guidewiregroup.com.

Posted by Carla Thompson http://www.guidewiregroup.com Carla Thompson is the foremost analyst focusing on semantic technologies today. In her role as senior analyst at Guidewire Group, Thompson provides advisory services and strategic counsel to startups in the areas of semantic Web, artificial intelligence, social media, and Internet technologies in general. Through Guidewire’s Innovate!Europe series, Thompson travels the world counseling global startups on succeeding in Silicon Valley and beyond. In addition to analyst services, Thompson also works with Executive Producer Chris Shipley to select participating companies for the prestigious DEMO conferences. To read more posts click here.

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