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Rock Yard Ventures founder Daniel Dart and Washington University in St. Louis Chief Investment Officer Scott Wilson engage in a fireside chat at the Rock Yard Roundup gathering in Forth Worth.<\/p>\n
Annie Kim\/Rock Yard Ventures<\/p>\n
An Austin-based venture capitalist<\/a> put a cowboy-themed twist on his third annual gathering of investors and CEOs he said represented close to $1 trillion in assets under management.<\/p>\n Rock Yard Roundup usually takes place in Austin. For its third event, Rock Yard Ventures founder Daniel Dart chose Fort Worth<\/a>.<\/p>\n About 100 institutional investors, public and private company CEOs, sports executives, academics and other influential people from all over the country convened at the Stockyards<\/a> last week for a series of discussions on the nation\u2019s financial and technology sectors.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Related: Inside the world of family offices: How ultrarich dealmakers invest billions<\/a><\/p>\n They also networked while watching bull rides and getting fitted for custom-made cowboy hats.\u00a0<\/p>\n This years\u2019 event was co-hosted by Greg Lippmann, the founder and CIO of New York-based hedge fund LibreMax Capital; Oleg Nodelman, San Francisco-based founder of biotech-focused investment firm EcoR1 Capital; and Robert Forsythe, co-founder and CEO of Tampa-based family office investment firm Third Lake Capital.<\/p>\n Although attendees got into the weeds on topics from biotechnology regulation to co-investing, Dart\u2019s goal for the conference has always been to build camaraderie that pierces through the buttoned-up facades of Wall Street, Silicon Valley and even Dallas\u2019 Y\u2019all Street.<\/p>\n Rock Yard Roundup attendees pose for a photo at the Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n Ray Jacobson\/Rock Yard Ventures<\/p>\n Many attendees hadn\u2019t seen Fort Worth before. The choice was intentional on Dart\u2019s part \u2014 he wanted Rock Yard Roundup to be somewhere \u201cunpretentious.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s something about Fort Worth that has a timeless spirit,\u201d Dart, who is originally from Los Angeles, said. \u201cIt\u2019s the original Cow Town.\u201d<\/p>\n Investing beyond the coasts<\/p>\n John Moncrief, partner at Moncrief Properties, the commercial real estate company tied to his prominent Fort Worth oil family, said the unstructured elements of the conference left him with new relationships and impactful conversations to reflect on.<\/p>\n \u201cThe speakers and attendees weren\u2019t cookie-cutter tech founders or finance professionals,\u201d Moncrief said in an email. \u201cThey were independent thinkers willing to challenge conventional wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n It was also meaningful to share Fort Worth\u2019s Western culture, Moncrief said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The San Francisco Bay Area may still be the preeminent place to fund companies, said Chad\u00a0Rigetti, CEO and co-founder of Sygaldry Technologies, but Rock Yard Roundup showed that promising companies can attract venture funding from places outside the Northern California hub.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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