Historic downtown Houston building plans to expand inclusive coworking for entrepreneurs

moving on up

Esperson Flex plans on expanding within the historic Niels Esperson Building in the next five years. Photo via espersonflex.com

A nearly 100-year-old building in downtown Houston is welcoming in entrepreneurs, small business owners, and enterprise firms with a new opportunity to innovate outside of traditional office spaces.

Esperson Flex — a coworking concept managed by Cameron Management in The Niels Esperson Building, which has stood out in Houston's skyline since its inception in 1927 — offers various membership tiers in its facility featuring private offices, desk space, conference room, and access to the overall area for freelancers. As an add-on option to the membership, members will have the opportunity to connect with other entrepreneurs through offering reciprocal daily use passes to Cannon members and allow them to book the conference rooms.

“Coworking allows small entrepreneurs to have a community and startup ecosystem that is very cheap and very flexible," Cameron Management CEO Dougal Cameron tells InnovationMap. “They can invest money in their enterprise instead of signing expensive long leases.”

Photo via espersonflex.com

Esperson coworkers have access to The Cannon's digital platform, Cannon Connect, which provides a digital platform for connections, resources, and services to investors, entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses.

Currently, the offering of the venue is 12,300 square feet and 62 percent of it is leased.The company hopes to expand the coworking facilities to 62,000 square feet in the next five years, according to Cameron.

There are seven groups who are growing their own coworking business under the Esperson and Cameron Management umbrella, and some include working with groups that are specifically targeting often overlooked demographics, including Hispanic, Black, and female entrepreneurs. The Us Space, for instance, is a women of color-focused collective providing support and coworking for its community.

“We believe that entrepreneurship is the answer to many important problems in our world,” Cameron Management CEO Dougal Cameron tells InnovationMap.

In addition, the facility works with the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, which is a comprehensive re-entry program to help empower those trying to change their lives.

Photo via espersonflex.com

Located downtown, Esperson Flex is the latest in flexible work spaces by Cannon, which also include locations in the Energy Corridor, Houston Galleria, Galveston, The Woodlands, and, as of this week, Memorial.

Spaces like Esperson Flex have become increasingly popular for remote workers, and in some cases, have shown increases in overall productivity. In a survey conducted by Airtasker, remote employees worked 1.4 more days every month, than office workers, which equals 16.8 more days every year. In a similar survey by the Gartner 2021 Digital Worker Experience Survey, 43 percent said that flexible working hours helped them achieve more productivity.

The Cannon, too, has seen coworking and community-building opportunities from all corners of Houston, as the company's CEO, Jon Lambert, shared on the Houston Innovators Podcast.

Golden Section Studios will support early-stage B2B software companies as they grow and scale. Photo via Getty Images

Exclusive: Houston software development co. and venture fund launches startup studio concept

startup support

The team behind Houston-based Golden Section Technology and Golden Section Ventures is introducing a new concept called Golden Section Studios to focus on advancing and supporting early-stage software companies.

"The Studios is a holistic ecosystem that aims to be a growth partner of early-stage companies in order to help them build their company strategically and efficiently, build out operational procedures, and help them find mentors and advisors," Studios Director Kristen Phillips tells InnovationMap.

The new concept, which launches officially today, June 8, will work off of the lessons learned by GST over the years to guide pre-seed and seed-stage B2B software companies as they scale. GSV, an early-stage fund launched in 2019 that now has over $20 million under management with eight current portfolio companies, will also contribute up to $500,000 in rounds less than $1 million.

"At Golden Section, we are good at learning from our mistakes and the list is 121 and counting," says Dougal Cameron, co-founder, Golden Section, in a press release. "These mistakes are core to our value add and enable us to transport founders through decades of experience. They come from our own experience as founders and of selling more than $350M in B2B software and partnering with more than 400 software founders at all stages. The result is less risk and less capital consumed, and a better outcome for founders, customers, employees, and investors."

Phillips explains the concept of GSS is something new and different from what accelerators and incubators do, but also goes beyond just an investment.

"We wanted to be different from what's out there in the Houston ecosystem. We wanted to be more value adding," says Phillips.

GSS's first startup in residence is Austin-based Swoovy, a volunteer matching platform that connects nonprofits, companies, and volunteers. Swoovy is launching in the Studios on June 14 and will be focused on the buildout of their enterprise level software.

Kristen Phillips leads Golden Section Studios. Photo courtesy of GSS

In the golden age of software companies, here's what SaaS entrepreneurs need to focus on to thrive. Getty Images

Local investor shares how Houston SaaS companies can stay afloat amid the pandemic

guest column

The COVID pandemic has created a macro environment that is similar to that of the 1918 Spanish Flu and the 2008 downturn and B2B software-as-a-service companies, like Salesforce, found the 2008 downturn an advantageous environment for cheap revenue growth — I've discussed this in a previous column. Now, I'd like to explore how B2B SaaS founders can position their businesses to capture this opportunity and better prepare themselves for the $400 billion of private equity looking for IT investments.

A prolonged recession due to the global response to COVID-19 provides opportunities for smart founders. Talent and partnerships from non-tech industries are likely to be much easier to access in a recessionary environment. Widespread adoption of technology is likely to result in a much more open and fruitful sales environment. And robust exit opportunities mean that this over performance will be rewarded.

So, how should smart founders operate given this opportunity? Here are a few implications that are congruent with our research.

Know your sales performance data

Many companies forsook effective KPI management while growing. Now is the time to home in on metrics so that you can discern the payoff of different tactics. Knowing sales performance metrics will help founders deploy capital wisely. Good quality and frequent data will also help you assess whether this thesis is working out for your firm.

Get whatever funding you can — and fast

In 2008, funding dropped by 20 percent, valuations by 20 to 25 percent and check sizes by 35 percent, and the current environment could be more drastic. This is paradoxical given the incredible opportunity for B2B SaaS right now, but it is in line with the human urge to run from risk. Despite claiming to be risk-seeking and long-term focused, most venture firms will pull back in this environment. Get what you can and be flexible on valuation. A smart founder who sees the opportunity can overcome additional dilution now.

Hire expert sales talent

The urge to cut back on salaries and freeze pay is high right now. Don't make that mistake, especially not in sales. There will be many firms that make this mistake, giving you the opportunity to hire expert sales talent. Pay them at the top of market, give them uncapped commission plans, and capture the growth opportunity.

Create a survival plan and set limits

This growth opportunity might not materialize. Fortunately for most B2B SaaS, there is operational flexibility built into the cost model. You can cut back on aggressive sales growth and pull expenses within your recurring revenue. Once you have a cash floor in mind and a downside plan of what you will do if either 1) you get to your cash floor or 2) the sales metrics are not proving attractive, you are safe to charge ahead. Armed with compelling acquisition data and a stable customer base, it would be easy to find additional capital.

Prepare for inflation in you customer contracts

While most B2B SaaS investors love long term contracts, the unprecedented level of fiscal and monetary support in the wake of a global shutdown will likely lead to above average levels of inflation. Current inflation expectations are muted (measured by the spread on the 10 year TIPS and the 10 year treasury). Inflation may not take off, but it is wise to prepare for it and include annual increases on multiyear contracts or a CPI price adjustment each year.

Be nice

Most companies are beating up on their vendors right now, if for no reason other than this is 'what you do during a downturn.' It is worth exploring what your vendors can do for you, but this should be a partnership driven discussion. Invite your vendor in and explore how to reach a win-win during this time. Communicate often and clearly and try to their point of view. Larger companies have programs in place to help where smaller ones might not have as much flexibility. This downturn will pass, but how you treat people will have consequences.

Build flexibility into your growth plan

This environment is a great opportunity to add flexibility and optionality into your cost profile. Leveraging flexible development resources from a firm like Golden Section Technology can get you expert talent and execution with month-to-month flexibility. This will help you scale down if your survival plan kicks in, but it will also help you ensure the product keeps up with a successful sales push.

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Dougal Cameron is director of Houston-based Golden Section Venture Capital.

While everyone always looks to Silicon Valley as the model of the ideal startup ecosystem, Houston is forging its own path. Getty Images

Houston isn't Silicon Valley — and that's a good thing, according to these experts

Houston Voices

As WeWork's fall from grace continues to dominate the headlines and we monitor the slew of layoffs and dipping share prices afflicting this year's Silicon Valley darlings, we reflect on Houston's own startup ecosystem. How are Houston startups and investors similar to and different from Silicon Valley early-stage deals? What are the drivers and factors that may be unique to Houston and how do they influence outcomes?

Jamie Jones, executive director of Lilie, sat down with early stage investor and Rice Business alum, Dougal Cameron of Golden Section Technology Venture Capital (GSTVC), to discuss the Houston startup and funding ecosystem. From that discussion, a number of key features emerged:

From Cameron's experience, Houston investors have historically focused on unit economics and profitability, in addition to top line growth, as their key performance measures. As an enterprise software investor, he notes that an indicator of a healthy venture that warrants early stage investment is one where profitability can be achieved as the venture reaches the $1 million revenue mark. Cameron, like other early stage investors in Houston, are interested in ventures that produce sustainable growth not only growth for growth's sake.

While early stage investment capital in Houston does flow, it does not do so at the same check sizes and the same velocity that you may see in Silicon Valley. Analysis of Pitchbook data indicates that Houston firms raised $28.1M in seed and early-stage funding in Q3 2019 versus $2.86B for Silicon Valley based ventures. The belief is that the density of the capital network in Silicon Valley means that if you get one $500,000 check then you will very likely to get others. Cameron noted that he believes the effects of loss aversion are on full display — no firm wants to be the one that passes on the next Google.

However, in Houston, entrepreneurs must be scrappy to pull together funding and ensuring they hit milestones along the way in order to drive scarcer investment into their ventures. From Cameron's perspective, Houston entrepreneurs own their cash balance and strive to keep their overhead low by working out of cheaper spaces, leveraging friends and family to contribute to the venture in its early days, etc.

With fewer investment dollars flowing in Houston, the use of Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFEs), which are common in Silicon Valley, are rarely used in Houston. Why? Cameron believes that using unpriced and loosely binding agreements may work in an ecosystem where startups are pushed for rapid top-line growth and may be burning through tens-of-thousands of dollars per month and will need to raise capital quickly, which will drive a pricing event. However, in Houston, investors may prefer arrangements that provide some downside risk.

Examples include convertible notes that include a lien on assets, which would be virtually unheard of in Silicon Valley, or through priced fundraising rounds. Without broad and deep capital networks and the pressure of rapid top-line growth, near term pricing events are not guaranteed, pushing Houston investors to prefer other deal structures.

While everyone agrees that Houston and the robust startup ecosystem that is growing across the city needs more cash to catalyze growth, Cameron firmly believes that new capital coming into the city must be the right type of capital. Capital that will not negatively distort the ecosystem by driving early-stage entrepreneurs to strive for top-line growth that is not sustainable through a profitable business model. This type of capital will not offer exorbitantly-sized seed rounds removing the entrepreneur's need to be scrappy and cost conscious.

We must understand that many Houston entrepreneurs seek to build businesses that have lasting impact and are not only "growing to close," the model Silicon Valley seems to have embraced over the past 7 to 10 years. Cameron is nervous that first big checks that come from outside Houston will push unprofitable businesses forward and will sour the market for local investors that are starting to engage in startup-investing.

While everyone always looks to Silicon Valley as the model of the ideal startup ecosystem, Houston may offer a look into the model of the future — one that is focused on building durable, profitable businesses by right-sizing growth over the venture's life-cycle. For Houston-based entrepreneurs, this means the opportunity to access capital that emphasizes sustainable, smart growth.

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Jamie Jones, executive director of the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Rice University, and Dougal Cameron, managing director of Gold Section Technology Ventures and 2013 Rice Business alum, wrote this article for LILIE.

This article originally appeared on Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship's blog.

The new, Houston-based GSTVC fund will dole out $20 million to scalable SaaS companies. Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

Houston startup consulting firm launches $20 million venture capital fund for early stage software companies

Follow the money

A new venture capital fund has launched in Houston to serve seed-stage, software-as-a-service companies. The $20 million fund plans to make its first investment by the end of the third quarter of this year.

The fund is launching under Golden Section Technology, a Houston-based software consulting firm focused on demystifying technology and providing training and counseling for entrepreneurs. Managing director, Dougal Cameron, says he and a small group of investors made investments in some of the companies that GST has worked with over the years.

"Along the way, we've had the opportunity to invest in some businesses that were our clients," Cameron tells InnovationMap. "A couple years later, we realized that we've invested $8 million — the majority being in Houston-based startups."

Most of these investments saw successful exits, Cameron says, and now, with interest from other investors, Cameron wants to expand the company's reach and contribution with the GSTVC fund.

The GSTVC fund will invest in $500,000 to $750,000 increments and will have a strong presence in each of the portfolio companies.

"Where most capital wants to be hands off, we are going to be incredibly hands on and view that as an augmentation to the management team," Cameron says.

The hands-on approach isn't surprising, considering GST's specialty since its founding in 2011 has been helping scale its client companies. During the early stages of company growth, GST helps its clients make the right growth-centered decisions, and as the company scales up, the firm continues to provide C-level support and trained development teams.

Combining the $20 million of capital with GST's years of entrepreneurial and upscale expertise makes for a fund unlike anything else available in Houston.

"We have done things a bit differently than the traditional investment fund as we supply far more than just working capital," says Isaac Shi, managing partner at GSTVC, in a release. "We have the full strength of our software development company, Golden Section Technology, as well as deep experience in early stage B2B Sales and Marketing. The combination of our experience, capital and hands on approach has the potential to substantially decrease the risk for our investment companies and increase the return for our investors."

One of the GST clients that has already received an investment is QMSC LLC, a Houston-based, B2B SaaS company that enables cloud technology and analytics to help businesses lower operating costs. QMSC has already seen the benefit of GST's funding and consulting working together.

"The world doesn't need one more B2B investment fund like all the others, but there is surely room for one which reduces the risk of execution and accelerates product development in the manner that GSTVC can," says Marshall Williams, founder of QMSC, LLC, in a news release. "They are doing something very different."

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UH lands $4M NIH grant to study early signs of autoimmune disease

NIH funding

The University of Houston recently received a $4 million National Institutes of Health grant to support a 10-year longitudinal study to identify the earliest biological markers of autoimmune disease.

Led by Chandra Mohan, the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Endowed Professor of Biomedical Engineering, the study aims to examine what causes Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases (SARDs) and to identify targets for future treatments. The study will be carried out in collaboration with Dr. Karen Costenbader at Harvard Medical School, Boston.

SARDs include conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren’s syndrome and systemic sclerosis—all are considered chronic diseases currently without a cure. Autoimmune diseases affect over 30 million people globally, according to UH.

SARDs occur when the body’s immune system attacks healthy, non-threatening tissues and organs. According to UH, in these diseases, the body often attacks nuclear antigens, creating anti-nuclear autoantibodies, which can be early detection signs for SARDs in more than 50 percent of patients, Mohan says.

Researchers will study blood samples and environmental exposure over the 10 years to better understand anti-nuclear autoantibodies.

“Collectively, these studies will help identify the genetic, environmental and cellular factors that are operative at the two steps of SARD development, namely the emergence of anti-nuclear autoantibodies and disease onset,” Mohan said in a news release. “ More importantly, these studies will highlight functional molecular pathways and mechanisms that may be operative at each step."

Mohan predicts that looking at SARDs’ shared characteristics, rather than each disease individually, could help identify more treatment methods.

“Individual SARDs have been examined in silos without an attempt to discern shared underlying features at the molecular level,” he added in the release. “Current understanding of the initial (and likely shared) origins of SARDs is only rudimentary but urgently needed to develop means for prevention and treatment.”

Earlier this year, UH also received an $11 million NIH grant to conduct a first-of-its-kind study of early language development in children ages 18 to 24 months. Read more here.

New Texas Stock Exchange officially begins trading in Dallas

Welcome to Y'all Street

Two-step aside, New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. The Dallas-based Texas Stock Exchange, nicknamed Y’all Street, just kicked off live trading with five stocks — and lots of Lone Star ambition.

“The Texas Stock Exchange aims to revitalize competition for [stock] issuers, establish the premier venue for listings, and create a world-class trading platform for all market participants,” the exchange says in a fact sheet.

The exchange — whose Texas-influenced nickname is a nod to New York City’s Wall Street — has collected at least $275 million in investments. The roughly 90 financial backers of TXSE include Bank of America, BlackRock, Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, Dell Family Office, Fortress, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase.

Representatives of TXSE couldn’t be reached for comment. On its website, the exchange calls itself “the most well-capitalized equities exchange to ever be approved” by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Not to be outdone, NYSE has launched Dallas-based NYSE Texas and Nasdaq has expanded its presence in Dallas.

Y’all Street adds to Dallas-Fort Worth’s rising status as a major hub for financial services, with The Wall Street Journal naming North Texas the country’s second biggest financial hub after New York City.

“A homegrown national exchange means more jobs, more investment, and more growth opportunities for businesses and communities across the Lone Star State,” Gabriela von zur Muehlen, senior vice president and chief policy officer at the Texas Association of Business, told The Texas Tribune.

Bulent Temel, an associate professor of practice in economics at the University of Texas at San Antonio, told Texas Standard that TXSE “is going to boost the credibility of the Texas economy.”

Texas’ estimated gross domestic product (GDP), a yardstick for the size of an economy, climbed to a record-setting $2.9 trillion in 2025, making it the state with the second highest GDP after California. DFW’s estimated GDP in 2023 stood at $744.6 billion, eclipsing the GDP of many countries.

“The center of gravity for American capitalism is now headquartered in the Boom Belt,” Abbott proclaimed in April, referring to an 11-state region (including Texas) in the South and Southeast that’s seeing tremendous economic and population growth. “The Texas Stock Exchange is the natural extension of that capitalism. It ensures that capital markets will reflect the quadrant that is driving American growth.”

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Orion vehicle manager reflects on Artemis II, looks to 2028 moon mission

Q&A

Humanity is finally headed back to the moon after more than half a century. This year's launch of the Artemis II mission in the Orion spacecraft put four crew members in lunar orbit and tested the new ship developed by Lockheed Martin.

Everything went smoothly, safely returning astronauts home, but there is always room to improve. InnovationMap chatted via email with Orion vehicle manager Branelle Rodriguez, shortly after a talk at The Ion, for insight on how Orion might perform in the future as the next lunar landing approaches in early 2028.

InnovationMap: How satisfied are you with the way Orion operated on this past mission?

Branelle Rodriguez: Orion performed exceptionally well during Artemis II, successfully demonstrating critical spacecraft capabilities, including life support systems, displays and controls, and executing manual piloting operations. Artemis II brought humans back to the moon, achieving key exploration and scientific imagery, while validating systems essential for future Artemis missions.

IM: What is the most important thing you learned about improving Orion for the next mission?

BR: The Artemis II mission provided invaluable insights into crew operations and spacecraft performance in a deep-space environment. With every mission, NASA applies lessons learned to continuously improve Orion’s operations, validate design and ensure mission readiness. Artemis II offered our first opportunity to evaluate several new systems and gain a deeper understanding of what it is like for astronauts to live and work inside the spacecraft. The operational, technical and human factors data collected are being integrated across the program to refine future missions, reduce risk and enhance overall mission success.

IM: How has Orion helped the mission to explore space?

BR: Orion is one of NASA’s foundational elements for human deep space exploration—not only supporting the mission but serving as a core component of it. It is currently the only spacecraft capable of carrying crew on deep space missions and returning them safely to Earth from the high speeds required from the vicinity of the moon. No other spacecraft has the technology to endure the extremes that come with human deep-space travel, such as advanced environmental and life support, navigation, communications, radiation shielding, and the world’s largest ablative heat shield to protect the astronauts during reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Orion has already taken astronauts to explore space farther than ever before—252,756 miles from Earth— and will carry crews to the moon on future missions to explore the lunar South Pole region. The astronauts’ observations, samples, and data collected on these future missions will expand our understanding of our solar system and home planet.

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This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

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