PRESS: Austin, el Defín Tejano que Disputa el Trono de la Innovación a Silicon Valley

ATX Venture Partners cofounder and GP, and also Austin Venture Association cofounder and Executive Board Member, Chris Shonk, was mentioned in ABC, Spain’s #2 most popular publication. The entire interview is below, and Shonk’s feature in the article, in Spanish is here.

As you know, many of the big Silicon Valley tech companies are moving to Austin. How is this affecting the VC sector in Austin? What developments have there been in the last few years and what are your expectations for the short- to long-term?

SHONK: There is a significant increase and now critical mass of a full-stack ecosystem of experienced VC-backed founders, c-suite execs, mid-level execs and junior hires to go from 10 people to 1000 people. That is crucial for any ecosystem to create dozens of multi-billion dollar companies.

What role does Austin play in the U.S. VC market, and is it a large market?

SHONK: Austin has become that tech-hub with work/life balance where people working in tech want to live, grow and even raise families as time goes by. It is not just a labor and tax arbitrage market for California, although that is still very compelling.

Are many of the entrepreneurs from Texas or other parts of the U.S., or are you seeing a greater influx of entrepreneurs from all over the country coming to Austin? And with respect to VCs, do they tend to be local funds or is it a place where affiliates of larger funds are coming in?

SHONK: Now 80% are not texans (in Austin). I’d estimate the 50% of the serial founder/execs have lived here less than 5 years. For VC’s it’s both.

What advantages can a startup find in Texas compared to California? Does this attractive tax system also play a major role in attracting startups or is it only attractive to large corporations?

SHONK: There are lots of talent to be hired from the university and from other large tech companies (Google, Meta, Tesla, Oracle, Dropbox, Dell, the list goes on and on).