36|86 conference evolving into regional innovator

When Launch Tennessee began the 36|86 conference, our goal was to create a space for synergy between Tennessee entrepreneurs, capital providers and the IT marketplace. We’ve done that, and a great deal more.

Thanks to strong interest from the outset, the conference became a draw for innovators and investors from around the country. Then we began our Southern Series, a multi-city tour to build interest in 36|86 while also tapping into best start-ups in those markets for our Village 36, a group of three dozen companies that competed for a $36,000 prize from the Blackstone Charitable Foundation (which is coming back for a second year as our sponsor, and is upping the prize to $50,000). This year we’re headed to Birmingham, Atlanta and Raleigh/Durham in April; click here for more info.

The innovators who compete, and attend, have elevated 36|86’s profile from the outset. (Last year, there were more than 900 of them at the conference.) So, too, have the amazing speakers and presenters who’ve brought their insights to our panels and forums. Just like everything else, 2016 features an even more impressive array of talent. So far, we have:

• Jim McKelvey, cofounder and director of mobile payments company Square. He also serves as a general partner at Cultivation Capital, and co-founder of LaunchCode, a nonprofit that helps talented coders get their first jobs at top companies.
• Scott Kupor, managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where he is responsible for running all aspects of the $4+ billion venture capital firm.
• Joanne Wilson, an active angel investor in New York City with a portfolio of over 85 companies as well as the creator of the popular blog, Gotham Gal.
• Tyson Clark, a partner at Google Ventures, focusing on companies in the enterprise technology, SaaS application and data center infrastructure spaces.
• Pelli Wang, venture director at SeedInvest, a leading equity crowdfunding platform and early-stage venture capital fund.
• Paul Santinelli, partner at North Bridge since 2005, focusing on investments in open source, software, security, Internet applications and infrastructure and communications.

The Southeast is a dynamite place to start, grow and keep a company. While many of us “locals” have known that, thanks to the growing visibility of 36|86, people from around the country now know it as well. Tennessee and the Southeast also are increasingly popular with venture capital firms and other capital providers. Last year, there were more than 120 investors representing 86 venture firms on hand. This year? We’re well on our way to meeting our goal of having 100 firms in attendance.

By highlighting what we have in one powerful event, we set the stage for conversations that then spin out over the following weeks and months, leading to additional investment growth and economic activity.

Our intention with hosting a regional conference was to build a collaboration between start-ups and investors all across the Southeast. We believe that’s pivotal going forward, because as solid as the Tennessee entrepreneurial community is, we can’t do it alone. Ditto our counterparts in other cities and states throughout the region. Now our job is to keep those collaborations going, so that any entrepreneur, anywhere in the Southeast, has a network of support for everything from business-operations insights to ready capital.

If you go

What: 36|86, a conference on Southern culture and entrepreneurship.

When: June 6-7

Where: Schermerhorn Symphony Center, One Symphony Place, Nashville

Admission: A limited number of early bird tickets are available for $199 via www.3686South.com.

Charlie Brock is CEO of Launch Tennessee (www.launchtn.org), a public-private partnership focused on supporting the development of high-growth companies in Tennessee with the ultimate goal of making Tennessee the No. 1 state in the Southeast for entrepreneurs to start and grow a company.