Jahpoo Outdoors LTD

Carson Tharp was standing in front of a booth promoting an AI travel startup called BabelOn when I walked up. “Go ahead and pitch me,” I said. I’d just arrived in Austin for the tech portion of the South By Southwest festival and was at a carnival set up by Bulletpitch and Antler. Carson delivered a smooth outline of how I could type in any destination and the AI would map out an ideal itinerary. “How long have you been CEO?” I asked. “I'm not. I just happen to be standing here.” He saw my confusion. “I went to college with the founder. He needed a table, so I brought one.” Not missing an opportunity, he said: “If you're interested, I have my own startup making electronic ducks. Are you a hunter?” ALWAYS BE PITCHING should be the motto at the conference everyone calls “South by.” It’s both exhilarating and exhausting. It was my first time and I regret not going earlier. Others seem to agree. The attendance skyrocketed to 340,000 last year, up from 278,000 in 2022. The city of Austin is a big part of the charm and the warm weather doesn't hurt. A better explanation for its popularity is the mix of music, film and tech which drives so much of the modern economy. It draws entertainment people from LA, finance guys from New York and tech engineers from San Francisco. There really isn’t anything like it. South by is also part of the emerging annual circuit of party goers, VCs and hangers on who coordinate business around cultural events. It starts with Sundance and then moves to Davos, the Oscars, Fashion Week, the Tribeca Film festival and Miami Art Basel. The majority of the people at SXSW won't attend official programs. I flew down for parties thrown by two New Yorkers, Andrew Yeung and Brett Perlmutter. I ran into friends including Jess Larsen from Park City, Laura Walker Lee from LA and even a local, Zeke Torres. It's a movable feast with taco trucks on 6th Street that stay open until 3 a.m. I didn’t attend many conferences in my previous corporate job. I’m not sure if it’s a good investment for companies. But it’s great for individuals. Networking outside your firm and in person can make all the difference. In a couple hours I met: Dan Garfinkel, COO at jellyjelly.com Asia Stewart, a performance artist at PerformVu Matei Psatta, CMO of digital ad agency Blindspot Diana Muturia, founder at Clyn, a cleaning firm Suzanne Charlotte Vos, founder of an anti-spam startup Jonathan 'Yoni' Frenkel, a Linkedin ghostwriter like me! Cary Grossart, biz dev manager for the NFL players union Allesha Coleman, founder of sports betting app Playcer Damian Slattery, CMO at Fast Company Weston W., a self-proclaimed connector I'm a big believer in the serendipity of relationships you make showing up. Had I not gone to SXSW, I would not know about Jahpoo Outdoors LTD, the “Waterfowl Motion Duck Decoy” company Carson started. It’s not clear when a New Yorker will need an electronic duck. But it’s good to be prepared!