THE NEWLY CHRISTENED 2025 CONVOY CONFERENCE that convenes March 4-6 on the Vanderbilt University campus aims to be "a transformative event designed to accelerate the university's momentum in entrepreneurship and venture capital."

The event's marquis headliners have VU ties:

Mark Cuban

► Fabled Sports and startup entrepreneur Mark Cuban is a 'Dore parent who has invested in at least 85 companies, made regular appearances for years on ABC's Shark Tank, and retains a minority share of ownership of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, after selling controlling interest in 2023 for a reported $3.5BN.

► Palo Alto-based Jeff Rothschild, who is vice chairman of the university's board of trust, holds two VU degrees and was co-founder of Veritas Software and online-gaming entrant Mpath Interactive.

► Austin-based Douglas French, managing director, Santé Ventures, has held C-level roles within Ascension Health, St. Vincent Hospitals & Health Services, Seton's St. Mary Medical Center.

Dozens of currently confirmed Speakers are here and Convoy 2025 ticketing packet-options here.

Tickets sales for the event (portions of three consecutive days on campus) continue til 10 a.m. Central Time, February 20.

On-site check-in of confirmed attendees at VU's Langford Auditorium begins March 4 at 1:30 pm CT, with first session beginning 3:30 p.m. The three-day agenda is here.

Convoy panelists, keynote speakers and attendees in plenary and breakout sessions are expected to be drawn primarily from Vanderbilt alumni and from the ranks of VU's pro-entrepreneurial allies, partners and other friends.

The inaugural Convoy event seems consistent with the emphasis repeatedly and publicly placed on "radical collaboration" by Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier.

Convoy 2025 features dozens of successful VU alumni startup veterans and investors, many based in the Nashville region, which is a priority VU target for collaboration.

Baxter Webb

Creation and execution of the event have been led by Baxter Webb MBA (Owen 2013), director of the Owen Center for Entrepreneurship, a unit of Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management.

Webb was Founder and CEO of healthtech Medarchon, which was ranked Startup of the Year 2015 by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Webb said in a Jan. 14 post on the VU website, "This Conference builds on the foundation of previous gatherings like the Vanderbilt Entrepreneurship Conference, but significantly expands the purpose and scope to increase its impact."

Webb also noted VU had, in studying its options, "realized that we were not fully capitalizing on the power of our alumni network or enabling it to its full potential."

VU explained in the same post, "Research conducted by the Center revealed key improvement opportunities: most Vanderbilt alumni launch businesses seven to eight years post-graduation, and internal deal-making among Vanderbilt alumni lags behind peer institutions. For example, while schools like Stanford and Harvard see alumni network deal-making rates of 50%, Vanderbilt's is currently at just 17%."

Convoy organizers also signaled in VU's Jan. 14 post, "Convoy distinguishes itself from regional and peer institution events in several key ways. While conferences like Launch Tennessee's 3686 [Sept. 9-11, 2025] focus on statewide entrepreneurship, Convoy is Vanderbilt-specific and alumni-centric. Unlike most university entrepreneurship conferences, which often center on student education, Convoy emphasizes alumni connections and collaboration."

Perhaps indicative of the complementarity of Convoy and 3686, LaunchTN CEO Lindsey Cox is among Convoy speakers.

The university has said the emphasis on alumni connections is reflected in the event's name, explaining that "Convoy...symbolizes a fleet moving in unison, providing mutual support and protection -- a fitting metaphor for Vanderbilt's vision of a collaborative, entrepreneurial community."

We note that in one humorous message from the Convoy team, the forthcoming event was described as (slightly paraphrasing), 'SXSW® meets the World Economic Forum at Davos -- but with a healthy dose of Anchor Down!'.

Anchor Down! is, of course, meant to be VU fans' "war cry," and it has often been heard during the current era of Commodores Quarterback Diego Pavia.

P.S. - Our 2017 brief on Vanderbilt OGSM's previous Center for Entrepreneurship.

. last edited 1751 28 January 2025