Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

By Tom Ballard, Chief Alliance Officer, PYA

Fifty-six. That’s the number of speakers Launch Tennessee (LaunchTN) announced last week as the organization rolled out the agenda for next month’s “3686 Festival” in Nashville. The event is set for September 27-29 with most of the programming scheduled for the middle day.

Here’s a quick snapshot. More details can be found here as far as the agenda.

September 27:

• Badge pick-up starts at 12 noon.
• There’s a “Founder Happy Hour” from 5 to 8 p.m. CDT at Tennessee Brew Works that is sponsored by The Roster.
• Two “invitation only” events are also scheduled that evening.

September 28:

• Full programming kicks-off at 10 a.m. CDT with a fireside chat featuring Stuart McWhorter, Tennessee’s newly named Commissioner of Economic and Community Development and Chair of the LaunchTN Board of Directors, and Vanessa Presson, Lead Talent Strategist for Blue Oval City. They will discuss what’s next for Ford, Tennessee, and the workforce of tomorrow.

After the fireside chat, the balance of the day is devoted to 45-minute panel discussions other than at lunchtime. Topics include:

• 11 a.m. – “Welcome to the Metaverse: Investors, Founders & Creators” and “Good Problems to Have: The Challenges of Growth”;
• 1 p.m. – “Investing Outside of Tech: The Future of Consumer Brands and Products” and “The Value-add Investor: Becoming an Operator-Angel”;
• 2 p.m. – Another fireside chat titled “Further Together: Growth Through Strategic Acquisition and Collaboration”;
• 3 p.m. – “A #BuildInSE Homecoming Story: Entrepreneurs Turned VCs in the Southeast” and “When Viral Doesn’t Work: Leveraging Media to Grow Your Business”;
• 4 p.m. – “Fundraising Through the Storm: The VC Perspective” and “Care Comes Full Circle – The Future of Healthtech in a Post-COVID World.”

The day concludes with the “BuildTN Fund Launch Party” from 5 to 6:30 p.m. followed by the “Startup Showdown Pitch Competition,” a collaboration with Panoramic Ventures where the winner walks away with a $120,000 investment.

September 29:

Four morning sessions bring the curtain down on the first in-person “3686 Festival” since 2019:

• There’s a 90-minute angel investor training session;
• An invitation only two-hour session for general and limited partners of firms and funds that invest outside Silicon Valley;
• A two-hour session on intellectual property basics presented by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; and
• Another two-hour session hosted by the “TN Twende Program” that will be focused on how Black and Latinx entrepreneurs fund, grow and scale their businesses.

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