36|86 Entrepreneurship Festival in Nashville
Last year was my first year attending 36|86 and it quickly became my favorite startup event in the Southeast. Produced by our friends at Launch Tennessee, the conference is distributed across several historic venues in the heart of Nashville and makes for fun encounters with friends (new and old).
Reflecting on my experience in 2018, here are a few highlights from special moments I’ve carried with me throughout this past year:
- Kicking off with a VIP dinner on stage at the Ryman Auditorium: This was a complete dream. A beautiful dinner with an incredibly talented group of leaders from across the country, followed by a mini-concert with one of my favorite artists, Lilly Hiatt. (For those who don’t already know, the Ryman was the original home to the Grand Ole Opry.)
- Arlan Hamilton’s fireside chat in The JumpFund’s lounge: This was one of the most captivating interviews I’ve seen in a long time. Arlan delivered an important and much-needed message to the founders in the room from all across the Southeast. To top it off, Arlan’s mom was in the audience. I laughed, I cried, it was nothing short of special.
- SEC mainstage address: Chairman Jay Clayton gave a keynote address, followed by a closed-door Q&A with investors. We covered quite a few topics, including how the accredited investor parameters may have to evolve in the future to be more inclusive.
- Fireside Chat with Nissan North America’s CTO on intelligent mobility: Few people know that Nissan North America’s HQ is located right here in Nashville. Their CTO Maarten Sierhuis gave a keynote sharing their vision for the future of mobility and autonomous vehicles.
- Student pitch competition won by Prediction Health: The competition was fierce, though ultimately a team of PhD students from Vanderbilt took home 1st place with their startup Prediction Health (full disclosure: now a MuckerLab portfolio company).
- Our first annual Female Investor Dinner at Husk: Sponsored by Cooley LLP, ModernCapital (now Build In SE) and Launch Tennessee convened 24 female investors from across the country (representing 12 cities and 8 states) for a special dinner at Husk.
- Live on the Green: 36|86 is partnered with Live on the Green each year to provide an unparalleled live music experience to 36|86 attendees. It was the perfect way to end an already fantastic week.
- And so much more!
If you haven’t noticed by now, the full list of my favorite moments is actually quite long. By the end of the week, I was exhausted and my brain was clicking away with inspiration from the ideas shared and new people I could count as friends and collaborators. I’ve spent the past year telling everyone who would listen about 36|86, and now I get to enjoy all that the 2019 program will bring.
Are you joining us in Nashville this year? If so, come by and say hello at these panels:
Panel: Turn the table, see yourself here
Wednesday, August 28 | 1:00 pm
Venue: B.B. King’s
Moderated by: Yours truly!
Speakers: Amy Nelson (Venture for America), Denkenesh Dobbins (Anzu Partners), Elizabeth Duffield (Trilliant Health), Hadiyah Mujhid (HBCU.vc)
Panel: An investor’s perspective: Founding teams, achieving scale, and knowing when it’s time to wrap
Thursday, August 29 | 10:00 am
Venue: Ole Red
Speakers: Our co-founder and managing partner at Mucker, Erik Rannala, will be on stage with Allie Burns (Village Capital), Jai Sajnani (NEA), Kate Beardsley (Upslope Ventures), Tiffine Wang (Singtel Innov8 Ventures)
LaunchTN Pitch Competition
Thursday, August 29 | 1:00 pm — 2:15 pm
Venue: Ole Red
Erik Rannala will represent Mucker as one of the judges, accompanied by a great lineup! Join us and see who will take home the $50,000 prize
Panel: F3: Future + Female + Funding
Thursday, August 29 | | 3:00 pm
Venue: Ole Red
Moderated by: Maria Aspan (Inc. Magazine)
Speakers: Yours truly, again! + Allie Burns (Village Capital), Emily Sandberg Gold (Twice Social), Jessica Peltz-Zatulove (MDC Ventures)
You can find the full 36|86 schedule here. See you soon!
