Leader of Entrepreneurs

Dallas Entrepreneur Center CEO sums up the city in 3 powerful words

Trey Bowles, co-founder and CEO of the Dallas Entrepreneur Center (DEC).

Photo courtesy of Trey Bowles

Editor’s note: In advance of our CultureMap Social: The Innovation Edition, we chatted with our event partners about the Dallas startup scene. First up: Trey Bowles of the Dallas Entrepreneur Center.

With seemingly inexhaustible energy, Trey Bowles, co-founder and CEO of the Dallas Entrepreneur Center (DEC), also serves as an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at SMU, chair of Startup America: Texas Region, and has been an essential leader behind tech initiatives across the country.

The DEC has just launched the Dallas Innovation Alliance, a public-private partnership dedicated to designing, developing, and implementing the White House’s Smart Cities initiative in the West End.

He took some time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions about the DEC’s impact and what makes Dallas a great place to do business.

CultureMap: What makes the startup community in Dallas special?

Trey Bowles: The Dallas entrepreneur community is special for two reasons. When someone in Dallas decides they’re going to start a new business and tells a friend, that friend’s response is, “You should do that!” The second thing that friend asks is, “How can I help?” This doesn’t happen in other cities.

CM: What is something that people don’t know about doing business here?

TB: We actually have a really strong and burgeoning fashion tech scene in Dallas. With companies like rewardStyle, Need, Foremost, Foot Cardigan, Mizzen + Main, Quixotic, and the great work of Abi Ferrin, fashion is alive and well in Dallas.

CM: Why do you think Dallas is as important an entrepreneurial hub as cities like San Francisco or Austin?

TB: Dallas has a history of entrepreneurship and innovation that has existed much longer than those other cities. The entrepreneurs and innovators that built Dallas were pioneers not just here in Dallas, but on a national scale.

With companies, like TI, which were started here, and with the leadership that Dallas has held in the launch and success of the telecom corridor, we are seeing a new breed of innovators in Dallas. They represent a rebirth of innovation that will put Dallas back on the map, highlighting the amazing entrepreneurial hub we are.

CM: Sum up Dallas in three words:

TB: Opportunity, entrepreneurship, legacy.

CM: How does your organization fit into what’s happening on the startup scene?

TB: The Dallas Entrepreneur Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that was created to help entrepreneurs start, build, and grow their businesses. We’re also working to create a brand for Dallas as a leading entrepreneurial and innovative city in the United States. We help entrepreneurs by offering education, training, mentorship, coworking space, access to capital, and promotion.

CM: What does innovation look like to you?

TB: Innovation is about vision, collaboration, and execution. You have to create a vision, bring together the right team or teams to be prepared to accomplish that vision, and finally, they have to go out and do it.

CM: What is the DEC doing that’s different than anyone else in Dallas?

TB: We are the only private 501(c)3 run by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs, that is supporting innovators from idea to profitability. We bring essential elements, mentorship, and community-driven elements to provide tools, resources, and accountability to help make entrepreneurs successful.

We also have a significant focus on making sure Dallas steps into its full potential by launching and supporting innovative initiatives for our citizens.

CM: How does the DEC help drive the Dallas economy?

TB: We help entrepreneurs with company creation, job creation, and projects that will provide an approach to innovation that is sure to enlarge and enhance the city’s perception as a leading hub for entrepreneurship.

CM: Why is collaboration essential to the startup community?

TB: In the last few years, we have seen a style and commitment to innovation that is second to none in the community. An entrepreneurial ecosystem will never reach its full potential unless different stakeholders in the community are willing to come together, give first, and find and fulfill their role in making the community as collaborative and successful as possible.

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Buy tickets to the CultureMap Social: The Innovation Edition, which takes place September 30, 6 pm, at 129 Leslie.

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THE FUTURE IS NOW

Self-driving Waymo robotaxis can now be hailed in Dallas

Waymo/ FacebookWa

Waymo is now offering driverless rides to San Antonians.

Waymo will begin dispatching its robotaxis in Dallas and four more cities in Texas and Florida, expanding the territory covered by its fleet of self-driving cars to 10 major U.S. metropolitan markets.

The move into Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando, Florida, announced Tuesday, February 24, widens Waymo's early lead in autonomous driving while rival services from Tesla and the Amazon-owned Zoox are still testing their vehicles in only a few U.S. cities.

In contrast, Waymo's robotaxis already provide more than 400,000 weekly trips in the six metropolitan areas where they have been transporting passengers: Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, and Austin.

Waymo operates its ride-hailing service through its own app in all the U.S. cities except Atlanta and Austin, where its robotaxis can only be summoned through Uber's ride-hailing service.

In Dallas, they'll partner with Avis, according to a release — offering their ride-hailing service through the Waymo app, with a fleet managed through a new multi-year partnership with Avis Budget Group, whose expertise will help Waymo scale the Waymo Driver even faster.

Avis will provide end-to-end fleet management services, including infrastructure, vehicle readiness, maintenance, and general depot operations.

Dallas' downtown metro area is considered well suited for Waymo's 24/7 autonomous ride-hailing service. They also aim to improve road safety and partner with the city of Dallas on its "Vision Zero" plan to eliminate all traffic-related deaths and reduce severe injury crashes by 50 percent by 2030.

The expansion into four more markets marks a significant step toward Waymo's goal to surpass 1 million weekly paid trips by the end of 2026. Without identifying where its robotaxis will be available next, Waymo is targeting a list of eight other cities that include Las Vegas, Washington, Detroit, and Boston while signaling its first overseas availability is likely to be London.

To help pay for more robotaxis, Waymo recently raised $16 billion as part of the financial infusion that puts the value of the company at $126 billion. The valuation fueled speculation that Waymo may eventually be spun off from its corporate parent Alphabet, where it began as a secret project within Google in 2009.

Although Waymo is opening up in four more cities, its robotaxis initially will only be made available to a limited number of people with its ride-hailing app in Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, and Orlando before the service will be available to all corners in those markets.

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Teresa Gubbins contributed to this story.

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