Chances are, if you ran into Joshua Baer in Austin, you stopped and looked. He was almost certainly wearing a T-shirt that read, “I help people quit jobs.” He was probably wearing a broad smile framed with two great dimples and a shiny, bald pate and talking at light speed about the power of entrepreneurship and his deep faith in Texas. Oh, and he was definitely carrying a fuzzy little dog, a Maltipoo named Stormey.
Baer, the irrepressible and monumentally influential cofounder and CEO of Austin-based start-up incubator/venture capital firm/coworking office Capital Factory, died Tuesday night when a small Austin-bound plane owned by the company NetJets crashed on a highway in Laredo. He was fifty.
Like so many people who helped build the Austin tech-start-up ecosystem over the past couple of decades, Baer got his start with the software company Trilogy in the late nineties. At the time, the once-dominant company was recruiting bright young talent to the city from some of the country’s best universities—in Baer’s case, from Carnegie Mellon, where he earned a degree in computer science.
After starting a couple of tech companies in the early aughts—URaPI and Netmonitor—Baer founded Capital Factory in 2009, and from that moment on, he found his purpose. He built not just a company but a movement, an urban transformation, and a portfolio of hundreds of companies that rose under his watch and with his guidance and encouragement—and often investment.
Bryan Chambers, president and cofounder of Capital Factory, called Baer a “fearless leader, a brilliant partner, and a dear friend to so many of us.” That sentiment was shared by many who knew Baer.
“The vibrant entrepreneurial community Austin is known for didn’t just happen,” explains J. B. Sauceda, who benefited from Baer’s mentorship when he launched Sauceda Industries, a logistics company, before he became the host of Texas Country Reporter. “It was the direct result of Josh’s willingness to make time and space for people to connect and build. He put his money where his mouth is, and you can see it all throughout our city. He made introductions, he threw parties, he mentored countless [University of Texas] students, and he wanted more people to be able to quit their jobs to build their dreams.”
Among the companies that emerged or grew with Baer’s support are some of the most ambitious ventures in the country. There’s Saronic, which made the drone boat that earlier this month carried out what’s believed to be the first combat rescue of U.S. personnel by an unmanned vessel, off the coast of Oman. There’s Icon, the 3D-printing construction company whose creations have included whole suburban neighborhoods, tiny homes for the unhoused, barracks for the U.S. military, and structures designed for living on the Moon. There’s Apptronik, the humanoid-robotics company; Firefly Aerospace, a rocket maker that went public on the Nasdaq and landed a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon; and Colossal Biosciences, the de-extinction outfit aiming to resurrect the woolly mammoth, the dire wolf, and the dodo. Earlier, there was WP Engine, the kind of unflashy software staple that built Capital Factory’s reputation before Baer ever turned it toward rockets and robots.
“His legacy will be one of generosity of spirit, righteous ambition, and the joyful wrestling with difficult and important problems,” said Icon cofounder and CEO Jason Ballard. “My own career and work would be far diminished were it not for his friendship and tireless, enthusiastic support. The last message I received from him was, ‘How can I help?’ ”
Baer also served on the boards of countless companies and other organizations, including The Texas Tribune, which pioneered a new business model for news. That ambition was never really about Austin. Long before Capital Factory created outposts in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Baer was already describing his project in statewide—at times, almost continental—terms. “It’s about Texas more than Austin,” he told me in 2018. “It started as Austin, but it is regionally focused.” Others, he was convinced, simply hadn’t seen what he’d seen. “This is where all the growth is,” he said. “Texas is the future, and California is the past—I mean, quite frankly.”
Baer is survived by his wife, Amy, and their three children.
As news of his death spread Wednesday, tributes poured in from across the worlds of business and politics that Baer had spent two decades bringing together. They included Jason Calacanis, the Silicon Valley investor and podcaster who has himself become a prominent Austin transplant; Senator Ted Cruz; Congressman Lloyd Doggett; and Bill Gurley, the native Texan venture capitalist whose early bet on Uber made him a legend of the trade.
Beyond those public statements, a number of business leaders who knew Baer—as a backer, a mentor, a friend, or all three—shared their reflections with Texas Monthly.
Jason Ballard, founder and CEO of Icon
“Josh believed in the idea of the future. He saw, perhaps before anyone else, that Austin had the ingredients to play a major role in shaping an exciting and inspiring future in a special way—not a new Silicon Valley, but a place just as innovative, yet with a distinctive Texas flair. He used every gift and talent he had to support the dreamers, the makers, the builders, and the creators of Austin, and this city would not be what it is today without him.
Mark Cuban
“I didn’t know Josh well, but he was an Austin legend in entrepreneurial circles. He was always looking to help entrepreneurs reach their goals.”
Hugh Forrest, cofounder of Gather & Grow Experiences
“What Josh built at Capital Factory was truly amazing. The CF ecosystem played a huge role in Austin’s development as an epicenter of the tech world. But even more than what he did for the local start-up community, I’ll remember how loyal he was to his friends. I’m pretty sure he was the first person to call me last year when the news broke that I got fired by SXSW. His support to me, both personally and professionally over the last twenty-plus years, was an incredible gift.”
Michael Gorton, seventeen-time serial founder and CEO whose companies have included Recuro Health and Teladoc
“Josh was a personal friend, and we shared a love of the space program, science fiction, and helping people accelerate their ideas. Texas has become the epicenter for entrepreneurism in the world because of Josh’s genius in creating the Capital Factory. I am certain his dream will continue to grow and improve the opportunities for entrepreneurs who join the process.”
Daniel Lubetzky, founder of Kind Snacks and the Builders Movement
“Josh defined all the best qualities about Austin—warm, down to earth, fun, supremely entrepreneurial, creative, a make-the-pie-bigger-for-all mentality, and quirky authenticity. He was a friend to all and a stranger to none. He loved his family so deeply. His loss leaves a huge hole in our community that we need to fill with love and commitment to our families, to our friends, and to one another.”
Jan Ryan, founder and CEO of 3Hills Group, Capital Factory partner, and University of Texas atAustin entrepreneurship instructor
“It is bizarre for me to think he is really gone. Josh was one of a kind—a gifted builder of businesses, a devoted father and husband, and a friend whose faith in people matched his ambition. He genuinely believed entrepreneurship could change lives, and he saw Austin’s potential before it became the start-up destination it is today. Josh was a giant in this city, and his legacy will be felt for generations.”
Jacqueline Samira, founder of Howdy
“Joshua Baer was the first person to believe in me, the first investor to say yes, and the loudest champion for Howdy.com I ever had. He invested in every round. But the money was never the point with Josh. The point was that he saw diamonds where other people saw dirt, and he made you believe what he saw in you and opportunities. He radiated optimism and positivity. And above all, he was the kindest man. He was a visionary—insanely smart—and he knew everyone. When you talked to Josh, you felt like you were his only priority, even though half of Austin could have said the same thing on the same day. That was his gift. He connected people, made introductions, and gave so much so freely and without pause. He gave far more than he ever took.”
J. B. Sauceda, former founder and CEO of Sauceda Industries, current host and executive producer of Texas Country Reporter
“People know Josh for the business building and investing, but I know him because of the selfless support he always offered. He took a special interest in my wife and I as we built our bootstrapped business and always offered support and mentorship. He had nothing to gain aside from seeing my success as a fellow entrepreneur. He ultimately made the introduction that led to us selling our business.”
Evan Smith, former founder and CEO of The Texas Tribune, managing director of events for The Atlantic
“There was no better-connected person in Austin, which is saying a lot in a city full of legit and cosplay connectors. He was over-the-top charismatic, bordering on pixieish—an irresistible person to be around, and as a result, he could get you to go anywhere and do anything. Every South by Southwest, I found myself doing things I never wanted to do because he asked and because I couldn’t bear his disappointment. That was his gravitational pull at work. He cut a figure. He padded around events with his bald head and his tiny dog in his arms like a tech-bro version of Dr. Evil, only there wasn’t an evil bone in his body. He was a scenester in the best sense. He had an aura and an orbit, and we were all lucky to be pulled into it. He was unfailingly generous and kind at a time when the cruelty is the point; that was something I appreciated especially. It’s a monumental loss for Austin and for its sense of what it is and where it’s going. Josh always knew.”
Meredith Walker, executive director of the Texas Business Hall of Fame
“Even Josh’s emails were bold, often over the top, and quintessentially Texan. He forever changed how countless Texans see their own entrepreneurial merits and how non-Texans see the entrepreneurial potential of our state.”
Graham Weston, former CEO and cofounder of Rackspace
“Josh was one of the most important builders of the Texas start-up ecosystem, and his impact can be felt deeply in Austin and across the broader Texas entrepreneurial community. He was relentless, generous with his time, gave countless founders their start, and was deeply committed to entrepreneurship. The start-up ecosystem in Texas would not be what it is today without him.”
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