JJ Castillo had been a filmmaker for most of his life. And he planned to continue doing it for the rest of his life. But that was before the DK2 (Developer Kit #2).

Interested in VR, JJ had been playing around with 360 photos and videos. But he’d only been watching these videos on his computer. Then one day a friend let him watch the videos on his headset. That’s when everything changed. JJ realized that VR was all he wanted to do. Forever. 

Today, JJ is Founder and CEO of Viewer Ready, an Austin based company that creates content using VR and AR technology. Their clients have included Anheuser-Busch, The NBA, Dell, and Tiff's Treats. He came on the show to talk about his story, his plans for the future, and what he learned from filmmaking about incorporating storytelling into VR experiences

She has a PhD in physics. She’s also worked for McKinsey.
He was a US Diplomat and an entrepreneur.
Today they’re running one of the newest accelerators in Texas.
I’m talking about Oksana Malysheva and Joe Merrill, Co-Founders and Partners at SputnikATX. They came on this episode of the Austinpreneur podcast to share a bit of their expertise.
These are some of the topics we talked through:

What SputnikATX is all about

What makes them different from other accelerators

How they’re focusing on diversity, equality, and inclusion

There's a big gap in funding for early stage CPG firms, here in Austin and across the nation.
But that’s where Springdale Ventures comes in. They’re a VC fund dedicated to bridging that gap for CPG companies.
On this episode of the Austinpreneur podcast, Genevieve Gilbreath, Co-Founder and General Partner at Springdale, came on the show to discuss issues why she was drawn to the CPG space, how Springdale is filling the funding gap, how they’re raising capital, and why companies should consider Springdale.

Traditionally, if you were a gamer, you needed a console.
But that probably won’t be the case for much longer. Why?
Gaming expert Estevan Aviles weighed in on the latest episode of the Austinpreneur podcast. He came on the show to talk about a variety of gaming topics, including what trends — like this move to streaming — we can expect to see over the next few years. He also recapped his experience at the E3 gaming convention and give us the lowdown on Austin’s gaming ecosystem.

We’re always trying to wrap our minds around something: What makes Austin so special? While we have great weather mixed with southern hospitality and a Texas can-do attitude, there’s one thing that really makes our city shine: An incredible network of entrepreneurs, investors, mentors and startup resources.

On this episode of the Austinpreneur podcast, Ross Buhrdorf, CEO of ZenBusiness, is here to talk about “the network effect” and the role it’s played in his success as an entrepreneur, and as an investor and mentor.

Everyone loves Monopoly. Right? You get to make investments, charge rents, and earn an income. What’s not to love? It's a great game.
But Hrish Lotlikar and his team have taken monopoly to a whole new level. They've built a platform called SuperWorld, which is basically Foursquare meets Pokemon Go meets Monopoly. Oh, and one more thing — all of this is powered by blockchain.
We were really interested in what Hrish and his team are doing with SuperWorld and we wanted to invite him to talk with us a little more about blockchain and AR. So, on this episode of the Austinpreneur podcast, Hrish came on the show to tell us more about SuperWorld, why they decided to build on blockchain, and what we can expect when it comes to the future of AR.

Austin Startup Week, established in 2011, is five days full of inspiring events that celebrate Austin startups— including the organizations that support them and the spectacular people who make it all happen. From September 22-26, tech companies throughout Austin will welcome local and visiting entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts who are interested in learning more about the startup scene in Austin. Throughout the week you’ll find panels, keynotes, specialized meetups, happy hours, workshops and our famous Austin Startup Crawl.

On this episode of the podcast's Austin Startup Week edition, you’ll hear from Sustainable Communities & Planet Track Lead, Bart Bohn about what you can expect from the track and why you should attend. Visit austinstartupweek.com/schedule to learn more

Austin Startup Week, established in 2011, is five days full of inspiring events that celebrate Austin startups— including the organizations that support them and the spectacular people who make it all happen. From September 22-26, tech companies throughout Austin will welcome local and visiting entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts who are interested in learning more about the startup scene in Austin. Throughout the week you’ll find panels, keynotes, specialized meetups, happy hours, workshops and our famous Austin Startup Crawl.

On this episode of the podcast's Austin Startup Week edition, you’ll hear from AI & Data Science Track Leads, Liz Coufal and Navira Abbasi about what you can expect from the track and why you should attend. Visit austinstartupweek.com/schedule to learn more!

Health insurance incumbents have simply not innovated in 40 years. The industry is ripe for disruption.
Well, Will Young, Co-Founder and CEO of Sana Benefits, is certainly disrupting the industry for the better. He came on this episode of the Austinpreneur podcast to talk about the industry, his business, and other topics including how his team thinks about UX and UI and why they’re focused on a holistic design approach.

Anna Robinson was a partner at McKinsey. Then she had a health scare. Spoiler alert: She’s doing well now!
But that experience was an “aha!” moment for Anna and it gave her real clarity. She realized that it’s so important to figure out what you care about the most. For her, that was mentoring and empowering women in the workplace.
So, she founded a company dedicated to making a difference in these areas. On the latest episode of the Austinpreneur podcast, Anna talked about her organization, CERESA. We covered topics like Anna’s journey to entrepreneurship, what makes CERESA different from other mentorship models, and they’re unique approach to matching mentors with mentees.