Building ‘South Texas Triangle’? Geekdom looks south to recruit startups
https://www.expressnews.com/business...p-16981355.php
So Geekdom is trying something new to attract tech talent and startups: It’s looking south.
CEO Charles Woodin said Geekdom’s game plan is to search for startups in South Texas and Mexico and develop partnerships with them.
He’s looking to appeal to the culture of what he calls “the South Texas Triangle” — which encompasses the cities of Laredo, Corpus Christi and Guadalajara, Mexico. He’s banking on San Antonio’s standing as the largest Hispanic-majority city in the United States.
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At an open house Feb. 23, Woodin told a crowd of tenants, staffers and supporters that Geekdom’s goal was to launch 500 startups over the next decade, with at least 75 percent of them headquartered in San Antonio.
Lorenzo Gomez III, a former Geekdom CEO and its current board chairman, said the outsize number of startups made sense because most fail, even when funded. “We need volume,” he added.
Referring to Geekdom’s South Texas-Mexico strategy, Gomez said: “We want to be the people that dominate this market.”
Standing close by, Weston said he supported Geekdom’s plans because the city hasn’t birthed enough startups to develop a vibrant tech scene. His main interest was whether the coworking space could identify businesses willing to put down local roots.
“Having a headquarters in San Antonio is what we should be aiming for,” he said. “To set up a headquarters means a company builds the brain power of the city. The best way for that to happen is for us to chart our own course.”