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Aggie Entrepreneurship Saturday

Stephanie Cannon '06 February 8, 2016 10:24 AM updated: February 8, 2016 5:04 PM

(From left) Clint Bybee ’85, Bobby Morgan ’05 and Richard Gianni, at the Houston event, discuss the intricacies of financing new ventures. Photo by Catherine Barnwell ’16
(From left) Clint Bybee ’85, Bobby Morgan ’05 and Richard Gianni, at the Houston event, discuss the intricacies of financing new ventures. Photo by Catherine Barnwell ’16

Aggies Meet In Dallas, Houston 

For Education And Networking

By Loyd Brumfield '88

Business-minded Aggies converged on Dallas and Houston on Saturday, Feb. 6, to share knowledge, collaborate, build connections and create mentorship opportunities at the third annual Aggie Entrepreneurship Saturday,

The event was held simultaneously at the Texas A&M Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas and at the Texas A&M Health Science Center’s Institute for Biociences and Technology in Houston.

John White ’70, COO of Southern Funds Group, was the keynote speaker in Houston. White is also a former regent of The Texas A&M University System. Photo by Catherine Barnwell ’16 

The event, sponsored by The Association of Former Students, Mays Business School's Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship, and Startup Aggieland, drew more than 85 Aggies and their family members to Dallas to listen panel speakers, innovators and business owners with one goal in mind: how to make the most of business opportunities.

Social media posts about the event, collected on Storify by the Young Alumni Advisory Council.

Flickr album of photos from both Dallas and Houston. 

“The amazing thing with former students is just how passionate they are,” said Josh Reinbolt ’99, director of former student programs for The Association and one of the event’s organizers. “Here they are, willing to give up their Saturdays to provide knowledge and support for their fellow Aggies. I don’t know if you’d call it ‘Selfless Service,’ but we Aggies are a different breed.”

About 100 Aggies, representing classes from the 1960s to 2019, showed up for the Houston event. “I was encouraged to see a wide age range of attendees—young Aggies were able to benefit from more seasoned Aggies but also vice versa,” said Rebekah Josefy ’13, coordinator of former student programs at The Association and an Entrepreneurship Saturday organizer. “This event has proven that it has the unique ability to provide learning experiences that are mutually relevant and help connect multiple generations of the Aggie family.”

Harold Strong ’82, partner with Inovatx Consulting Group, delivers the keynote address at Aggie Entrepreneurship Saturday in Dallas. Photo by Loyd Brumfield ’88 

Participants agreed.

“The diversity you find here is fascinating: the people who have owned their company for a number of years, and the young people who wonder, ‘How do I get this going?’” said Pat Evers ’87, who attended the Dallas session. “I've learned a lot from all of them."

The Dallas and Houston events marked the third go-round for Aggie Entrepreneurship Saturday, which previously visited Houston and Fort Worth in 2014 and then College Station in 2015.

“It was just a fantastic event," said Richard Lester ’03, executive director of the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship at Mays Business School. “It was well-attended with a high level of enthusiasm and was a significant networking event.”



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