The Next Stop: METRO's Podcast
Episode 44: Tech and Innovation - A Different Kind of Rodeo is Coming to METRO's Red Line


Noah Fons: We focused it along the red line. We've got a bunch of different startup innovation communities. That way people can quickly efficiently travel from event to event.

Doug Delony: I'm Doug Delony on this edition of next stop. It's almost time for the annual rodeo, but we're not talking about the one with cowboys and livestock - we're talking innovation, technology, and of course public transit.

[Introduction music plays]

Doug Delony: I'm happy to welcome Bryant Chan and Noah Fons from Houston Exponential to The Next Stop. Welcome to METRO's podcast, friends.

Bryant Chan: Thanks, Doug.

Noah Fons: Yeah, really glad to be joining you.

Doug Delony: Okay, Bryant - we'll start off with you. You have an annual event coming up very soon. This is concentrated along METRO's Red Line, but before we get into that, let's talk about Houston Exponential. Your website says you make entrepreneurship more accessible and easier to navigate?

Bryant Chan: Absolutely. So, first and foremost, Houston Exponential. We are a nonprofit organization, so we were started by the mayor's task force, Mayor Turner, and we really act as an ecosystem advocate for the startup and innovation community here in Houston. There you are looking at the city as a whole and trying to bring in the resources that we need for entrepreneurs and founders to be successful.

Doug Delony: And Noah, in short, is it fair to say that you help link up founders who have good ideas, here in Houston, to potential investors. And in return, this helps Houston as a whole?

Noah Fons: Yeah, I think it's fair to say that we link up the founders and investors, but I also think there's a little bit more to it than that. Entrepreneurship is not just about getting enough money. It's also about getting the mentorship, the talent to help grow your company. All of those other resources and Houston Exponential, while we do help out with that, that founder to investor connection, we also focus on some of those other resources that a founder might need and helping make those connections as well.

Doug Delony: And of course, you can't have an innovative, world-class city with bright innovators without public transit, like Houston METRO. And you have this Tech Rodeo coming up. This is a series of events along METRO's Red Line. That's one of our busiest routes that runs from the Med Center, NRG area all the way through the Museum District, Midtown and Downtown and north of Downtown to the Northline Transit Center. I know your event doesn't stretch the entire amount of Red Line, but I was looking at your website, and a lot of your stops for this Tech Rodeo are along the Red Line - or all of them are. What can you tell someone who doesn't know what this is? What can you tell them about it?

Bryant Chan: Definitely so you know. As Noah was mentioning, one of our goals is also helping just to connect the ecosystem. I think a lot of people, you know, unfortunately don't think of Houston as a startup town yet, but we're hoping to change that, and so a big part of this is really bringing together people and showing people the innovation that's going on. So, it's really a festival that is taking place in nine different venues, or what we call saloons. And as you mentioned, each one of these saloons is a 10-minute walk maximum from a Red Line stop, and they're all showcasing different aspects or different industries of innovation going on in Houston, ranging from clean energy tech, aerospace, health tech, esports, manufacturing robotics. So, it's really a broad spectrum of a series of events going on across the city, showcasing startups, tech and innovation.

Doug Delony: And you have a variety of organizations involved. We don't have to go through all of them. Someone can go to your website, but who is featured this year?
Noah Fons: Yeah, so the nine saloons that we've got are really all interesting organizations. They're all worth checking out, but for the sake of time. I think some of the most interesting ones, really tying in with the startup ecosystem, we've got The Ion, which is the brand-new innovation hub that's popping up in Midtown, and they're hosting a session on Monday, Feb. 28th in the afternoon, and they're going to be focused on advanced manufacturing, robotics, outer space and technologies there. And I think that's going to be a really interesting one and a really good way to see this brand new fixture in the startup community, and then I think some of the other really interesting ones include University of Houston-Downtown on Friday of the Houston Tech Rodeo - they're having a career fair, so if you're looking for a job in a Houston startup, that might be the best place to hit up. And then obviously the rest of them are all worth checking out, but I think those two are the big highlights, in my opinion.

Doug Delony: Houston METRO is happy to serve that entire area, especially that new Ion area. That's really impressive what they've done with that facility. And this is an annual event? Do you have other events that you do with Houston Exponential or as Houston Exponential?

Bryant Chan: Yes, so we have two major marquee events related to Tech Rodeo. One, which is coming Feb. 27th to March 5th, called the Roadshow, and this is really taking advantage of METRO and the Red Line. This is festival style. It's a bunch of venues all across the city. Later this fall, in October, we're doing the Tech Rodeo Summit. This is kind of more of a recognized, speaker tech conference, if you will. So, the idea there is to bring in these huge headline speakers to talk about some of these tracks on aerospace and clean tech, that that I mentioned, and that's a two-day summit at the new Post building downtown.

Doug Delony: And as far as the Tech Rodeo is concerned, that's an annual event. I know you said, before we started recording, you said last year's was mostly virtual, but this year is different because of the Red Line. In previous years, I know this is a fairly fresh event, but you didn't have it along the Red Line. What can you say about METRO and how public transit helps out - you know innovators?

Noah Fons: Yeah, so this is the third year of the Houston Tech Rodeo. Year one was really thrown together in about 45 days, which is insane for a week-long conference. But that led to it being spread out across the whole city. People were having to drive 45 minutes to an hour between different events, and it just didn't work out well. Obviously, last year with the global pandemic, things moved virtual. But this year, we're coming back in person - knock on wood - moving out of the pandemic a bit. Uh, one of the feedbacks that we've gotten from the last few years is people want density. They want to be able to quickly travel between events. They don't want to have to miss out on something because they're traveling so far across Houston, which is a pretty sprawling city, so we focused it along the Red Line. We've got a bunch of different startup, innovation communities that are focused along this Red Line that are built right up next to it, and we said, “hey, during this week we want to center along that, that way people can quickly, efficiently travel from event to event. They can go from WeWork Downtown to The Ion in Midtown. They can go from the Med Center at the end of the Red Line up to University of Houston-Downtown, really quickly and efficiently.” And that's something we are doing differently this year and we are really excited about - how METRO is playing a huge role in the Tech Rodeo.

Doug Delony: We're happy to do it. And for people who want to go to these events, I guess they go to your website. What's that website?

Bryant Chan: Yes, the easiest thing is go to techrodeo.com. Within there, you'll see both The Roadshow and Submit information, and this one that's happening Feb. 27th to March 5th is The Roadshow. So go in there, and it's actually free to register and attend, but you will need a ticket or a QR code to get.

Doug Delony: Okay, so you don't have to be some wealthy person who has an idea or some kind of - the next billion-dollar invention in their back pocket - right now? You can consider yourself an innovator. Everybody is welcome? Is that what you are saying?

Bryant Chan: Absolutely. And that's, that's really the kind of mantra behind the Roadshow. It's community-driven. It's for Houston. It's sort of a startup week, and the idea is we want we want to share these ideas. We want people who are currently working, maybe in big corporations, who just have an idea and want to start something on the side. So, you definitely don't have to be somebody with a well-established startup. You might just have an interesting idea you're thinking of pursuing. This is definitely the event for you. Come out and you know, rub shoulders with a bunch of like-minded people who are also interested in, maybe, you know starting something big and possibly changing the world.

Doug Delony: That's awesome. And of course, METRO is happy to contribute and happy to help out.

Bryant Chan: I'd say one thing that you know. One interesting thing, to kind of kick off the road show on Feb. 27th - we will be doing a swag pickup. It's at Mcintyre's Downtown. METRO will be there. They'll have a booth, will have tons of information that you need as far from - around the new app, how you can get METRO passes for the whole week so you can easily take the train - and actually the first kickoff day at WeWork will have Randy Frazier, the CTO of METRO, talking about some of the innovation that is going on in METRO, within the app, tracking trains - all sorts of things. There's a lot of innovation happening there tied in with METRO specifically, and then of course with METRO just as a logistics partner.

Doug Delony: That's awesome. I just learned something as well then.

[Laughter]

Doug Delony: Thank you to you. Both, Bryant and Noah from Houston Exponential, thank you so much for joining us on The Next Stop. Looking forward to this year's Tech Rodeo.

Bryant Chan: Thank you, Doug.

Noah Fons: Thank you.

[Music plays]

Doug Delony: And of course, thanks to you, the listener, and all of our METRO riders out there. I'm Doug Delony. If you'd like to check out more episodes and subscribe to our podcast, you can find all the links you need on ridemetro.org. And if you could leave us a review while you're there, it would really help us out. That would really help us out. As always, drive less and do more with Houston METRO.