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February 03, 2025 | Tom Ballard

Convoy will feature more than 50 speakers with ties to Vanderbilt

The event on March 4-6 is designed to foster the growth of the Vanderbilt Innovation Ecosystem.

It is billed as an event where “SXSW meets Davos but with a healthy dose of Anchor Down!” Confused? If so, we’ll try to address the confusion.

About a month from now – March 4 to 6 to be exact, Vanderbilt University is hosting the inaugural “Convoy” event, bringing together the most notable Commodores in Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Leading-Edge Business to foster the growth of the Vanderbilt Innovation Ecosystem.

The event over parts of three days features more than 50 alumni of the university or those who have ties, with a keynote presentation on the afternoon of March 4 by Mark Cuban, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of companies that bear his name. Probably best known for his long tenure on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” he is a parent of a Vanderbilt student and will participate in a fireside chat where Cuban will talk about the skillsets important to founders among other topics.

Other notable Vanderbilt related speakers or alumni include:

  • Jeff Rothchild, Vice Chair of Vanderbilt’s Board of Trust. He has co-founded several technology and software companies, including Veritas Software, and was the founding engineer at Facebook where he worked from 2005 to 2015.
  • Dora Hughes, Chief Medical Officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
  • Julia Cheek, Founder and CEO of Everly Health.
  • Blake Hall, Co-Founder and CEO of me, a digital wallet used by more than 135 million Americans to keep themselves safe and make their lives easier while they transact online.
  • Jeremy Padawer, Co-Founder and CEO of Wicked Cool Toys.
  • Scott Sohr, Co-Founder of Built and President of Canary Ventures.

The full lineup of speakers can be found here.

It is not an inexpensive event. Registration for the main conference that begins on the afternoon of March 4 and end mid-morning March 6 is $650. The healthcare track begins and ends on March 6 and runs $350. A combo registration is $800 for both tracks.



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