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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You're Grounded

American and Southwest airlines ban humanoid robots as passengers

Photo courtesy of Elite Event Robotics/Instagram

Bebop the robot, owned by Dallas-based Elite Event Robotics, flew in May on a Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland, California, to San Diego.

Dallas-Fort Worth's two major hometown airlines are drawing a hard line between human and humanoid: American Airlines and Southwest Airlines won’t permit human-like or animal-like robots to board flights as passengers.

Fort Worth-based American and Dallas-based Southwest recently adopted bans on robotic passengers after two incidents in which human-like robots joined flesh-and-blood passengers on Southwest flights.

In May, Aaron Mehdizadeh, owner of The Robot Studio rental company in Dallas, was heading from Las Vegas to Dallas Love Field with 3.5-foot-tall Stewie, according to CBS News Texas. Rather than shipping Stewie as cargo, Mehdizadeh bought the robot its own seat using a type of ticket often purchased for fragile items such as wedding dresses and equipment.

But because Stewie was technically a carry-on item, the robot wasn’t supposed to occupy a seat, according to eWeek. Crew members wound up disconnecting Stewie’s battery and relocating the robot to a window seat before takeoff.

Mehdizadeh pushed back on Southwest’s stance regarding the battery, telling CBS News Texas that Stewie’s power supply is a standard battery that’s similar to one for a laptop.

Stewie isn’t the only robot making mischief in the skies. In May, a 70-pound, human-like robot named Bebop caused a stir on a Southwest flight from Oakland, California, to San Diego.

The robot prompted a nearly one-hour flight delay after crew members realized it violated restrictions on large carry-ons and raised concerns about the battery, San Francisco TV station KGO reported. Dallas-based Elite Event Robotics owns Bebop.

Southwest seized Bebop’s lithium-ion battery, but the airline did let Bebop take the San Diego-bound flight.

Southwest’s new robot policy prohibits human-like or animal-like robots from riding in an airplane cabin or as checked baggage, no matter their size or purpose. All other robots, including toys, must fit in a carry-on size bag and comply with battery restrictions, the airline says.

In a statement sent to CultureMap, a Southwest spokeswoman says the airline “has taken a strong stance on this issue and has led the U.S. airline industry with our battery policy.”

“The robot policy is a further evolution of a [safety] journey we have been on for several months. This move was not in response to any single incident,” the spokeswoman adds. “To eliminate confusion, the policy applies to all similar devices, regardless of size.”

Lithium-ion batteries can overheat, catch on fire, or explode on airplanes.

American’s new robot policy, which took effect Monday, August 17, is similar to Southwest’s. The policy prohibits human-like and animal-like robots from sitting in a purchased seat, being stored in an overhead bin or traveling as checked baggage. The ban applies to U.S., international, and regional flights.

“While there have been no known events involving this type of robot on any American flight, this policy was developed following a comprehensive review of safety risks associated with these devices, including the large lithium-ion batteries that power them,” the airline said in an internal memo obtained by the View From the Wing travel blog.

American gate agents have been told not to allow a passenger accompanied by a robot to board a plane or to let a robot travel as a checked item, the memo says.

If a robot is discovered after check-in, American employees are supposed to follow the Federal Aviation Administration’s “undeclared dangerous goods” procedures. These procedures cover hazardous shipments like lithium-ion batteries, explosives, flammable liquids, and compressed gases that lack required warning labels or shipping documents.

southwest airlines american airlines robots technology airlines

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You're Grounded

American and Southwest airlines ban humanoid robots as passengers