Last month, 200 executives in construction, design, engineering, and real estate descended on Atlanta for our second annual Shadow Summit. If you weren’t there, you definitely missed out, but this post will catch up on everything you need to know.
Never heard of Shadow Summit, you say? We’ll you missed out. Our annual conference connects innovative tech startups with industry experts and professionals. Over two days, attendees representing the biggest names in the built environment watched speakers ranging from the man who built an empire on cookies, coffee, and grit to the founder of a data privacy company valued at over $1.5 billion.Speaker connectIt’s rare to attend a large conference and actually get to connect with the speakers in person. That's why this year, as a special offer, we gave our attendees the ability to sign up to meet speakers during the conference. With a variety of speakers ranging from startup co-founders to fortune 500 companies, Speaker Connect will definitely be making a return in 2020.
With over 26 sessions spanning two days, of course, we can’t give you details on every single one, yet, but we can give you the highlights.Day 1 highlightsTime to Get Tough: How Cookies, Coffee, and a Crash Led to Success in Business and Life - Founder of The Great American Cookie Company, Michael J. Coles, kicked off Shadow Summit sharing how the simple idea of selling fresh baked cookies in the mall changed the retail landscape. He also clued the audience in on how a missing pair of oven mitts almost ruined their first day.The New Age of Tech-Enabled Real Estate - The rapid adoption of technology is changing how we find and use real estate. From coworking and co-living to managing and acquiring new properties, this panel, hosted by CREtech’s CIO Ash Zandieh, touched on the ways tech is reshaping commercial real estate.When Will Technology Replace People in Multifamily? - While we’re all anxiously awaiting the appearance of our robot overlords, this panel of multifamily insiders told us when, where, and if they’ll show up. According to the panelists, we still have a ways to go before that happens.The Future of AEC - Integration - Rob Otani, the Cheif Technology Officer at Thorton Tomasetti, broke down the lack of integrative tech innovation in the construction industry.The Future of CREtech - Our very own K.P. Reddy took the stage with Michael Beckerman, CREtec’s CEO, to discuss the real trends driving proptech forward.Day 2 highlightsThe Future of Healthcare - Shadow Venture Partner Sylvan Waller, led a panel about the struggles of tech adoption in an industry striving to protect privacy. While technology has come a long way for patient treatments, there’s still a lot of room for improvement in processes and experience. Learn more about the Shadow Healthcare Lab.Remarks from the Lt. Governor - Georgia’s Lt. Governor, Geoff Duncan, dropped by and spoke about his vision for making the state a hub for innovation in technology across all sectors.Inside the Mind of an Economic Developer - Brian McGowan, the CEO of Greater Seattle Partners had an open and frank conversation about the state of Georgia’s disparities as he reflected on his time as the CEO of the Atlanta Beltline.How I Built It: $1.5B Valuation in 3 Years. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - We wrapped up the conference with a TED-style talk with Kabir Barday, the CEO of OneTrust. It all started with a spark of entrepreneurship, or maybe it was more of an itch that eventually led to a $200M series A round at a $1.5B valuation. Catch the highlights in the video below.
From exclusive video from this year’s conference to ways you and your firm can get involved in Summit 2020, the only way to find out is to get on the waitlist.Can’t Wait? Email our founder K.P. Reddy at kpr@shadow.vc to sponsor next year’s event and learn more.
