Innovate Fort Worth

Who doesn’t know Mr. Mucus? The slimy green character representing a head cold is the face of Mucinex ads. But the man who brought the cold remedy medicine to market and created a $2.3 billion North Texas company is John Adams, who shares the inside story of how a former Kansas pharmaceutical salesman turned a cold remedy into a household name.

Meet Les Kreis, one of the few venture capitalists in Fort Worth. The managing partner and co-founder of Bios Partners hears hundreds of startup pitches from entrepreneurs every year. He spills the secrets on what makes a successful pitch – and the surefire way to leave empty handed.

Veena Somareddy was a PhD student when she met businessman Bruce Conti. A tragedy had left Conti’s son with a brain injury that required advanced treatment. Together, they turned an old Fort Worth furniture store into a state-of-the-art rehab center and founded Neuro Rehab VR, which uses virtual reality to transform the lives of people with brain and spinal injuries.

Cam Sadler was a teacher at Dunbar High School with big ideas. One summer break, he cashed in his retirement savings and started a company that helps job seekers get offers from tech businesses. Soon he was in Silicon Valley, the first Fort Worth entrepreneur accepted into Y Combinator, the startup funder of AirBnb and DropBox.

Fort Worth is the City of Cowboys and Culture. But for the country's 13th-largest city to compete in today's economy, it must also become a City of Innovation. Marco Johnson spent years sparking innovation in faraway places like East Africa. Now he's at UNT Health Science Center connecting Fort Worth entrepreneurs with the right resources for their startups.