The Difference Each Conversation Makes

It was in 2007 when I reconnected with a friend of mine from undergrad at UT. At the time, we were both entrepreneurial and connected because of the similarities in our ethnic cultures. This young man told me he was enrolling in a graduate program at UT that was focused on entrepreneurship and startups. This program was the MSTC Program (Master in Science and Technology Commercialization). He encouraged me to apply, and surprisingly, because of my background and some great professors who still loved me at the time and wrote me recommendation letters, I was accepted into the program.

I think about how 15 years ago, this conversation shifted my trajectory. Up to the point, I was set on going to LA, making films, and being in the entertainment industry. This is still something I am passionate about however, my journey into entrepreneurship captivated me because making art costs money, and I needed to figure out how not to be that starving artist. I learned skills about what it takes to make a solid business model and how to sell an idea from scratch.

When I was finally in the program, I recognized that I was the only Mexican-American in the class, and came to find out there were not that many other Mexican-Americans who had done this program before me. I was one of the handfuls before this. This shifted my perspective. Here I was looking at creating wealth, but realizing that the skills I was learning were not as easily accessible to my community.

It didn’t get any better after I left and finished the program. In the Austin startup scene, I was one of the few brown faces in the crowd. Not wanting to draw attention to that and choosing to be seen more for my value and talent, I tried to ignore it for a long time. However, the feeling persisted of knowing that I was moving up in my career and others only could dream of this opportunity.

Fast forward to 2015, when my former business partner and a best friend introduced me to a phenomenal young man, a speaker who was passionate about inspiring leadership in others. His name was Koy McDermott, and while we had trouble finding a time to meet because of my schedule initially when we finally met, sparks ignited. We found that we had much more in common than we believed. This then became the pilot program of what we have built here at UT. It was called the LevelUp Institute, a 12-week program that taught young, first-generation, low-income students entrepreneurship who were in college. Partnered with Breakthrough of Central Texas, we sourced six students, and these students ended up becoming successful, and some even going to work for top Fortune 500 companies. We are very proud of their work.

Moving to 2018, I was brought here to the University of Texas at Austin to do the very same thing. In 2019 we launched the Product Prodigy Institute, based on what we had built but enhanced with more product management training. A phenomenal program that had students transition into top-paying tech companies and change their lives forever.

I share these three stories with you because it reminds me that each person with each conversation impacts the direction of the world. My life shifted from one conversation, and then each conversation after that led me to discover how I can be even more impactful and beneficial to my community and world. Similarly, this blog and your reading it can have the same impact. Who will you share this with, and what will they do with this knowledge, knowing there is an amazing program delivering this kind of transformation and results?

I hope they tell even more people; that is what I look forward to each day.

Therefore, I invite you to our upcoming Demo Day on 12/1/22 at UT Austin. Hosted at Robert B. Rowling Hall at 6 pm, you will see our two Product Prodigy cohorts pitch and our WIELD Texas cohort pitch. You will see what they have developed since the start of the program. Two of the cohorts are now having their third pitch event, and you will get to see their growth and you will witness the first incoming semester of the new Product Prodigy Cohort.

What conversations can you have with our students? What insights can you bring to them? Who can you be for them in their lives and guides and mentors that can make a difference in their life? We often forget how much showing up and being present for the things we stand for and the world we want to create do to make a difference.

I am inviting you to join me, join the students and help us transform the landscape of our city and our country where more diverse students have the opportunity to participate in the startup community, and their families and communities are also impacted because of who you chose to be for them this day.

We are looking forward to seeing them blossom. One of the things we have undertaken is taking our students abroad. Our senior class is raising funds to go to Israel to learn more about how their startup ecosystem works and what it takes to create a thriving and rich community. They will meet with startups, scene leaders, and academic institutions that are training up their next generation of entrepreneurs and founders. We are looking for your support and monetary contributions. It will help cover flights, lodging, food, and cultural excursions. You can contribute by going to this link.

We will be resuming our community office hours next semester to give more opportunities for members in our community outside of the University to get access to their resources here, and we look forward to your feedback on how we can meet you more directly. You can email us at inclusiveinnovation[a]utexas.edu

Rubén Cantú

Executive Director

Office of Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Division of Diversity and Community Engagement

Assistant Professor

College of Education

The University of Texas at Austin

(512) 232–2777 office

Pronouns he/his/him