I love the language of enthusiasm. I live for it. For excitement. That’s really what attracts me to technology startups and the people involved in them.
Things of which I am a founder
- 88 Spaces – Coworking in Shanghai
- Startup District – Nonprofit supporting the tech community in Austin, partnership with http://austinstartup.com
- Conjunctured – Coworking space and part-time devhouse in Austin
- Texas Ventuers – Leading entrepreneurial society at The University of Texas at Austin
Things I’ve been a part of that I really like
- Classhive – Classhive lets college students interact, get answers, share info, and work together from anywhere.
- Radar.net – Group picture and video sharing from your phone. The best mobile browsing and commenting around.
50,000ft Mission
- Eliminate inequality with empathy and technology.
Quotes
“Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.”
- The Dali Lama
“All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level.”
- Bill Bernbach
Short timeline
“Put yourself in their shoes.” “Do you understand why you shouldn’t do that?” “Remember the Golden Rule?” These are phrases that punctuated my upbringing. An only child, I grew up in the hill country north of San Antonio, Texas. I was homeschooled until eighth grade, when I chose to enroll in public school.
My parents, moderate conservatives, both work primarily from home. Teaching me there was a natural fit. Their approach was similar to the Montessori Method. I’d focus on one subject as long as I wished, sometimes weeks, and when I became uninterested I’d move on to another. The computer, first a Tandy 1000, was incorporated into many of my lessons. I wasn’t allowed to play games much, so I’d recode them and then have to “test ‘em out.”
Running errands as a family, my father would often proclaim “let’s be Encouragers today.” Encouragers was a name conferred upon us by a neighbor years ago, it’s an exercise my parents have always taught: inspire others with confidence wherever you are. A practice I strive to carry on today.
In public school I learned how to navigate within my contemporaries. I learned about cliques for the first time and how I wasn’t wired for standardized testing. I began looking at school as a game, to thrive I had to understand the game better than the other players.
I bounced around a lot my first few years at The University of Texas, looking for a degree with the right curriculum and meta-framework. Starting in economics, then computer science, then business, I ended with a BS in advertising. Blending elements of creativity, synthetic thinking and sociology, this degree plan was an ideal fit for my thought process.
In 2003, after my sophomore year, I started a consulting company. Helping small businesses and nonprofits use technology to create an efficient work environment is what I do best. Economically and collaboratively, social and open source applications are transforming the workplace (especially back in 2004). I love to be the one to make it happen.
Today, along with wrapping up school and consulting part-time, I prefer to spend my days following the latest social entrepreneurs, internet trends, and Austin bike trails. I will continue to follow the example my parents have set for me and apply the concepts they have instilled in me to new facets of experience.
The Third-Person-Bio
John Erik Metcalf is a 24 year old entrepreneur and new venture enthusiast.
John is a Board Member and Co-Founder of Texas Ventures, a nonprofit focused on accelerating young businesses and entrepreneurs. Texas Ventures is under the guidance of Dr. John Sibley Butler, Director of The IC2 Institute and supported by the Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship.
John is a Co-Founder of Conjunctured, a coworking company, or “co-company” composed of independent technologists. Conjunctured creates and consults on web development and social media. At it’s core Conjunctured is changing the way people work by providing empowerment and economic vitality to it’s members.
He has served as a consultant to companies such as radar.net, qipit.com and Mr. Youth.
John holds an Advertising degree from The University of Texas at Austin, with a heavy concentration in Computer Science and a research emphasis in STS (Science, Technology and Society).
A maven/relater, John is most excited when connecting people and businesses to form mutually beneficial relationships. John practices and holds dearly the concepts of empathy, critical thinking and awareness.
Ever one for exploration and excitement, John is an avid mountain biker and a frequent skydiver. (and by frequent, I mean 3 times :))
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my grandpa is from Polizzi Generosa and very proud of it.
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“Leadership means influencing the community to face their problems, not to follow a leaders vision.” – gotta figure out where this came from, besides this post-it not in front of me
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Mission #1: Mercilessly beating and outsmarting life; forcing it to bend into the reality I choose.
How I’m doing this:
- I’m constantly on the hunt for people with gusto. When I find them, we stick together.
- I compete with these people each day to see who’s created the most value or done something ridiculous.
- Follow me on twitter or via my blog to keep up (http://twitter.com/johnerik)
Mission #2: Making damn sure Austin is technologically progressive and competitive.
How I’m doing this:
- Meeting with people in the city who share this desire/vision (read more - http://is.gd/phr).
- Opening a coworking space (it’s like a gym for entrepreneurs - http://is.gd/piT).
- Leading the creation of the Startup District (http://startupdistrict.com).
General Interests
architecture, biking, interface design, GTD, viral marketing
Authors
Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, Kahlil Gibran, William Glasser, James Patterson, Edward R. Tufte
