50 influential people in Austin tech you should follow on Twitter

by Colin Morris
May 19, 2016

Twitter can be a super useful tool, giving us access to news, global perspectives and thought leadership from the world’s most notable individuals.

But it’s also a great way to make friends and build community. You can meet like-minded people, learn about what companies are up to and even discover events, right from the comfort of your own screen.

Every year, we share a list of 50 people from Austin’s tech and startup community we think are worth following. This curated list is meant to give you a starting point for discovering great people to follow in our community — by no means is it exhaustive. (If we were to include everyone we love to follow… we’d be exhausted!)

So, without further ado, our 2016 list of 50 people in Austin tech to follow on Twitter:

Step One: Login to Twitter

Step Two: Start Clicking Follow

Christopher Calnan

Follow @abjcalnan //

Business reporter at Austin Business Journal

Tweets about: Local tech news, usually articles he’s researched and written himself.

Twitter bio: Boston-born Austin Biz Journal reporter covering tech, startups, VC & financing; Northeastern Univ.; truth, justice, Steinbeck & da Sox.

.@MIT professor @Nnegroponte tells #Austin audience internet access like highways and education: https://t.co/1HHU9t7QXJ @NXP

— Christopher Calnan (@abjcalnan) May 18, 2016

Andrew Busey

Follow @andrewbusey //

CEO and Co-Founder at Team Chaos, Legit.com

Tweets about: Investing, interactive tech, the local tech economy and its politics

Twitter bio: I turn ideas into reality. See also @legitapp, @teamchaos, @capitalfactory. Check out my new novel: Accidental Gods on Kindle.

First trip to airport since #prop1 - what a disaster. I guess our quant city council didn't consider impact on airport parking. @MayorAdler

— Andrew Busey (@andrewbusey) May 17, 2016

Arlo Gilbert

Follow @arlogilbert //

CEO at Televero

Tweets about: Investing, interactive tech, the local tech economy and its politics

Twitter bio: Voted most likely to find a loophole. Inventor, Investor, Operator. CEO @televero

Google announces voice activated home device. We can only hope they support this longer than Revolv. https://t.co/Hdnnu6RMS6

— Arlo Gilbert (@arlogilbert) May 18, 2016

Ashley Doyal

Follow @ashley_doyal //

Co-founder at recruitHER

Tweets about: Diversity and equality in tech

Twitter bio: Co-founder of @recruitHER I Diversity Recruiting & HR Leader I Recruited for: @pandora_music, @ea, @arkanestudios. Louisiana born + proud! #diversityintech

Part 2 of our series on salary negotiation is live! Never negotiated (or don't feel confident when you do)? Read on! https://t.co/30lPRa6Yvr

— Ashley Doyal (@ashley_doyal) May 11, 2016

Ashley Jennings

Follow @ashleyjjennings //

Co-Founder/Senior Producer at Capital Factory studios

Tweets about: Local tech and politics

TX, DC, NYC and now in #ATX makin’ media for startups & entrepreneurs at @CapitalFactory. Hustlin,’ espresso lovin,’ dream MAKER. Got a story? Let’s tell it.

"We're at that point where @netflix is close to distributing journalism... The landscape is changing." @tgraham33 @CrosswindPR #ATX #Media

— Ashley Jennings (@ashleyjjennings) May 13, 2016

Jason Cohen

Follow @asmartbear //

Founder at WP Engine

Tweets about: Web development, weird science

Twitter bio: Keyword, buzzword, half-truth, adjective, hey look at me!

First periscope should be fun! https://t.co/ppfVwGekWO

— Jason Cohen (@asmartbear) May 17, 2016

Bryan Menell

Follow @bmenell //

COO at AngelSpan

Tweets about: Tech industry labor issues and politics, investing and occasional comedy

Twitter bio: COO at AngelSpan. Nationally ranked trivia champion. Once won a dance contest.

Venture Beat says @AngelSpanInc is Step 8 (communicate) of 10 if you're doing #crowdfunding https://t.co/tUlAG2Cew0 (cc @jason)

— Bryan Menell (@bmenell) May 16, 2016

Brent Wistrom

Follow @BrentWistrom //

Staff writer at Austin Inno

Tweets about: Tech news and local news and politics — and especially the overlap of all three.

Twitter bio: Staff Writer @austininno. Adventurist. Guitarist.

Another Uber Competitor Sets Its Sights on Austin https://t.co/2qwwS1Ssqy via @AustinInno

— Brent Wistrom (@BrentWistrom) May 14, 2016

D. Keith Casey, Jr.

Follow @CaseySoftware //

Director of Product at @ClarifyIO

Tweets about: API design and broader issues in web development and the Austin tech scene

Twitter bio:Director of Product at @ClarifyIO; PHP and API guy, runs @AustinAPI; husband; co-author of http://TheAPIDesignBook.com; Former Twilio evangelist

Do you need to stay up to date on #API News & Trends? Check out our newsletter published every Thurs: https://t.co/agsCNeZwRE

— D Keith Casey Jr (@CaseySoftware) March 28, 2016

Claire England

Follow @ClaireEngland //

Executive Director at CTAN

Tweets about: Austin’s startup investment landscape

Twitter bio: Executive Director @CTANAngels. Startup Ecosystem Leader. Public Speaker. Community Volunteer. Love Travel, Triathlon, Cello, Reading, Dogs. Native Austinite.

Ugh. Let's get solutions, folks. @MayorAdler @Uber_ATX @lyft @GetMe_USA @AustinChamber @austintexasgov #atxcouncil https://t.co/BT3yWl7HHA

— Claire England (@ClaireEngland) May 13, 2016

Colin Anawaty

Follow @colin //

Co-founder, CPO at Patient IO

Tweets about: Tech, design and healthcare

Twitter bio: Co-founder, CPO of @PatientIO. #designer #technologist #adventurer

Local TNCs are for opportunists – not technologists. No scale, data, capital, talent. It’s only a matter of time. https://t.co/9w4s5RzRnt

— Colin Anawaty (@colin) May 17, 2016

Chris Aniszczyk

Follow @cra //

Executive Director at CNCF.io

Tweets about: Open source tech

Twitter bio: Interim Executive Director CNCF.io / Open Source Pragmatist / Avid Runner / Bourbon / Always Paying it Forward

"In Oracle v. Google, a Nerd Subculture Is on Trial" via @sarahjeong https://t.co/DA1b7G7Iit

— Chris Aniszczyk (@cra) May 12, 2016

David Altounian

Follow @daltounian //

Entrepreneur and professor

Tweets about: Tech entrepreneurship and digital media

Twitter bio: Tech entrepreneur. Assist Prof in the Digital Media Mgmt Pgm at St. Edwards Univ., Capital Factory Partner, Kellogg MBA, Ph.D. OKState

Excited to moderate the "Economic Small Business Trends panel" at Small Business Festival. https://t.co/Wbqv6XUyHr @SmallBizFest #SBF2016

— David Altounian (@daltounian) April 28, 2016

Dan Graham

Follow @maharg //

CEO, Owner at BuildASign.com

Tweets about: Local tech entrepreneurship and politics

Twitter bio: All progress depends on the unreasonable man. -George Bernard Shaw

Special thanks to @maharg for stopping by this afternoon's @SmallBizFest How to Meet Investors in #Austin #AMA. pic.twitter.com/vxcJWBMiex

— ATXStartupScene (@ATXStartupScene) May 3, 2016

Dej Mejia

Follow @dejmejia //

UI designer

Tweets about: UI design

Twitter bio: ui/ux designer, user advocate, @SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards judge, boxer, human to an australian shepherd, disappearer of sugar in Austin, TX

"...gesture controls feel so natural... because they resemble interacting with a real object." https://t.co/HpwOtLQLdq #UX #uxdesign

— Dej Mejia (@dejmejia) April 15, 2016


Tyler Durman

Follow @durmantyler //

Content Marketer at OneSpot

Tweets about: Content marketing

Twitter bio: Helping marketers personalize content marketing at @OneSpot | @UTAustin Alum | Guitar Player coming off hiatus | Practicing #Millennial | Native Austinite

.@OneSpot's gone cross-channel! Check out the story, early results in @adexchanger https://t.co/Q0CYp1KfSL #contentmarketing

— Tyler Durman (@durmantyler) October 28, 2015

Eric Simone

Follow @esimone928 //

CEO at ClearBlade

Tweets about: IoT, Austin tech issues, Chicago sports

Twitter bio: CEO @ClearBlade #IoT #ATX #cubs #blackhawks #PurdueAlumn http://www.clearblade.com/

IoT has to move to the cloud's edge https://t.co/VMnSY96fZS @ClearBlade #Novi

— Eric Simone (@esimone928) May 17, 2016

Sean Nathaniel

Follow @fbcio //

CTO at Upland Software

Tweets about: Entrepreneurship, automation and B2B tech

Twitter bio: CTO @UplandSoftware and GM @FileBound

Exciting news for @UplandSoftware and @FileBound! https://t.co/IojJIGbWZJ

— Sean Nathaniel (@fbcio) April 28, 2016

Rob Taylor

Follow @GoRobTaylor //

CEO and President at Convey and BlackLocus

Tweets about: Entrepreneurship, e-commerce and Austin’s tech investment landscape

Twitter bio: @Get_Convey CEO, @BlackLocus Pres, @TrueCar GM, @CapitalFactory Partner, @Techstars Mentor

Tomorrow! Intro to Mentoring & Angel Investing in #Austin with @JoshuaBaer & @GoRobTaylor at 10:30am. Join us! https://t.co/7TFfWXCBiB

— ATXStartupScene (@ATXStartupScene) May 9, 2016

Doug Bain

Follow @Growtheorem //

CRO at eyeQ, Inc.

Tweets about: Entrepreneurship

Twitter bio: Chief Revenue Officer at eyeQ, Inc. - accelerating revenue growth for the best brands in the world through revolutionary in-store personalization technology

I published “A Few Things Less Said About Austin's Prop 1” https://t.co/bAvRucaiZz

— Doug Bain (@Growtheorem) May 7, 2016

Heather Brunner

Follow @heatherjbrunner //

CEO at WP Engine

Tweets about: Leadership, productivity and diversity in tech

Twitter bio: CEO @wpengine BOD @uwatx @AmplifyAustin @BazaarvoiceFdn @localeur Passionate about working towards equality and opportunity for all people

Relationships take time & they evolve. Advocacy is achieved only after earning credibility, respect & trust. pic.twitter.com/f70y7HSds6

— Heather J. Brunner (@heatherjbrunner) May 16, 2016

Karthik Gaekwad

Follow @iteration1 //

Senior Software Engineer at Oracle

Tweets about: Software development

Twitter bio: I live in Austin, write @golang, and know stuff about burgers, containers and @docker. Organize @devopsdays, @container_days and @cloud_austin

We really need to be a more tolerant, inviting tech community. Let's keep our egos at the door and focus on problems that really matter.

— Karthik Gaekwad (@iteration1) May 5, 2016

Jacqueline Hughes

Follow @JacquelinesLife //

Events producer at Techstars

Tweets about: Austin’s tech community and the events that keep it connected

Twitter bio: Events at @Techstars, Producer of @AtxStartupWeek, Trustee at @AtxAwesome. Hip hip hooray! Runs on coffee, tacos, cupcakes.

Had a chance to check out @UrbanCoLabATX today and wow -- amazing coworking space in east Austin. Congrats and great meeting you @ncofield!

— Jacqueline Hughes (@JacquelinesLife) May 14, 2016

Jan Ryan

Follow @janryan //

President and Co-Founder at Social Dynamx (acquired by Lithium in 2012)

Tweets about: Entrepreneurship, sales and women in tech

Twitter bio: President, Co-Founder of Social Dynamx. Passionate about redefining customer support in the age of social media. Acquired by Lithium Technologies, Fall of ’12

A lot of fun being on the Panel, and such a great group! https://t.co/OhP6vVa8gR

— janryan (@janryan) May 17, 2016

Jennifer Dennis

Follow @JenniferDennis //

Director at Oracle Marketing Cloud Events

Tweets about: Networking and leadership in tech

Twitter bio: Director of @OracleMktgCloud Events. Also: hiking kayaks running music food wine art

Come see @awatpa lead @OracleMktgCloud panel feat. Calloway + eharmony #mktgmoment071 #GartnerDMC 3:15 today!

— Jennifer Dennis (@JenniferDennis) May 18, 2016

John Eitel

Follow @Johneitel //

Head of IT Sales at Spiceworks

Tweets about: Marketing and selling enterprise IT

Twitter bio: Father. Tech Guy. Entrepreneur. Investor. Mentor…Head of IT Sales at Spiceworks.

Great article on the challenges of "chasing consumers" or going after the all mighty enterprise....love that it is t…https://t.co/Z8A28S1Fxh

— John Eitel (@Johneitel) May 6, 2016

Joshua Baer

Follow @JoshuaBaer //

Founder at Capital Factory

Tweets about: Entrepreneurship, funding tech and related politics

Twitter bio: I help people quit their jobs and become entrepreneurs @CapitalFactory @UTAustin @WPEngine @PostUpDigital @Pingboard @TexasTribune @EF_Fellows @AspenInstitute

Just got a fresh reality check from @fcc_cio - all the things are hacked! Fun talking about @AugmentedMemory too. pic.twitter.com/IQoo0OxyKu

— Joshua Baer (@JoshuaBaer) May 18, 2016

Kip McClanahan

Follow @kipmcc //

Investor at Silverton Partners

Tweets about: Entrepreneurship and investing

Twitter bio: Early-stage investor @SilvertonVC: @Sparefoot @WPengine former exec & board member for public & private companies. 34-year Austinite #atx owner of #Pershing

Startups: Return to the ‘Old Normal’ https://t.co/wihccSxO8q

— Kip McClanahan (@kipmcc) March 7, 2016

Manoj Saxena

Follow @manojsaxena //

Investor

Tweets about: Entrepreneurship and Austin tech’s venture capital landscape

Twitter bio: Venture Capitalist. Serial Entrepreneur. Investor in all things Cognitive. Former General Manager IBM Watson. Auto racing enthusiast.

Good article from MIT Review on why the future is more likely to be "Man+Machine" and not "Man vs Machine" https://t.co/afE6gIpB6H

— Manoj Saxena (@manojsaxena) April 22, 2016

Mark Phillip

Follow @markphillip //

Founder and CEO of Are You Watching This?!

Tweets about: Sports tech, entrepreneurship and Austin meetups.

Twitter bio: Brooklyn-born, Austin-based, MIT dropout.

Sports Tech Meetup returns Thursday with Patrick Christmas, owner of the @atxsol, the newest members of @theAUDL! https://t.co/b7rQPTsMVE

— Mark Phillip (@markphillip) March 21, 2016

Steve Adler

Follow @MayorAdler //

Mayor of Austin

Tweets about: Local politics, especially hot button issues related to transportation networks and short-term rentals.

Twitter bio: Mayor of Austin, Texas. Involved in using tech to solve the city’s issues.

The defeat of Prop 1 will not hurt Austin in its quest for a $50 million smart city federal grant. #DOTSmartCity https://t.co/ZGgDUJlETH

— Mayor Steve Adler (@MayorAdler) May 18, 2016

Mellie Price

Follow @mellieprice //

Co-founder at Capital Factory, SoftMatch

Tweets about: Wide range of issues related to entrepreneurship, leadership, investing, healthcare and social impact in tech

Twitter bio: Price is Executive Director of Technology Innovation at the Dell Medical School, as well as a founding mentor at Capital Factory and co-founder of SoftMatch, which connects enterprises interested in innovation to the highly fragmented global startup ecosystem.

Amazing day touring Houston's heath innovation ecosystem.Thx for hosting & and the great work @MDAndersonNews @TMCxAccelerator @RICE_OEDK

— Mellie Price (@mellieprice) May 5, 2016

Michael Dell

Follow @MichaelDell //

Founder and CEO at Dell

Tweets about: Tech leadership, philanthropy, conferences, Austin’s enterprise tech industry

Twitter bio: Self employed http://Dell.com http://msdf.org http://msdcapital.com http://facebook.com/MichaelSDell Public ’88, Private ’13

Looking forward to biggest ever EPIC @VMworld w/@PGelsinger @spoonen @raghuraghuram ++ https://t.co/BymL5LqDe8? pic.twitter.com/ozzMlqP9Fy

— Michael Dell (@MichaelDell) May 12, 2016

Monica Landers

Follow @mlanders //

Founder at Authors.me

Tweets about: Entrepreneurship and emerging tech in the publishing industry

Twitter bio:

7 Lessons from Founders & Investors of Snapchat, LinkedIn, & more #business #leadership @Medium https://t.co/d5FtERHrng

— Monica Landers (@mlanders) May 16, 2016

Justin Siegel

Follow @moconinja //

Co-owner at NRG

Tweets about: Entrepreneurship, emerging tech and its politics

Twitter bio: Co-owner @NRGgg Founder @mocospace Investor @bostonseed @capitalfactory Mentor @techstars

2045 - The complete timeline to self-driving cars https://t.co/IMerxjD5CV via @Recode

— Justin Siegel (@moconinja) May 17, 2016

Robert Banh

Follow @robertbanh //

Web developer and founder at Refresh Austin

Tweets about: Web development and Austin tech networking

Twitter bio: Full stack web developer. @RefreshAustin organizer. Woodworker. Husband. Cat lover.

That moment when you see multiple shopify staff members install your app... a takeover is imminent.

— robert banh (@robertbanh) May 17, 2016

Ryan Mathews

Follow @ryanmathews //

Co-founder at Bullsonwallstreet.com, Pick24

Tweets about: Tech investing, design and productivity

Twitter bio: Equities trader, entrepreneur (co-founder http://Bullsonwallstreet.com , Pick24, etc.), graphic designer, traveler, techie, Online Project Manager, CSM®, IoT junkie.

nice to see @amazonecho get some competition from @google 's new product, Google Home. This should only accelerate development #SmartHome

— Ryan (@ryanmathews) May 18, 2016

Shay Sabhikhi

Follow @sabhikhi //

CEO at CognitiveScale

Tweets about: Tech leadership, cognitive computing and AI

Twitter bio: Austin tech CEO and Chamber of Commerce advocate for innovation

Great collaboration between IBM & @CognitiveScale today at #SAPPHIRENOW #ibmlss2016 @NancyThomas2016 @IBMSAPAlliance pic.twitter.com/8snJeQ6NUf

— Gagan Reen (@gaganreen) May 17, 2016

Sam Decker

Follow @samdecker //

Chairman, CEO and CMO at Clearhead.me, Mass Relevance and Bazaarvoice

Tweets about: Trends in tech leadership, marketing, data science and politics

Twitter bio: Chairman/cofounder @clearheadme, CEO/founder Mass Relevance, Bazaarvoice founding CMO, Dell exec & bay area startup exec. author, speaker. Based in Austin, TX.

Data Storytelling: The Essential Data Science Skill Everyone Needs https://t.co/TaEZJVzew8

— Sam Decker (@samdecker) April 30, 2016

Jason Seats

Follow @seats //

Partner at Techstars

Tweets about: Tech entrepreneurship in Austin

 

Techstars 2015 impact report. We did a lot in a year! https://t.co/WS99T9eRyT

— Jason Seats (@seats) April 15, 2016

Steve Semelsberger

Follow @semels //

Founder at Alder Partners

Tweets about: Entrepreneurship and startup growth

Twitter bio: Founder, @AlderPartners. President, Products @SYPartners. Partner, @CapitalFactory. Mentor, @Techstars. Helping people and companies grow.

The importance of resiliency for leaders https://t.co/XUCc0clZfW

— Steve Semelsberger (@semels) May 17, 2016

Seth Snyder

Follow @SethalaSnyder //

Marketing at LiveOak Venture Partners

Tweets about: Austin tech’s VC landscape

Twitter bio: What’s the good word? @liveoakvp @TejasClub @Texas4000 @TexasExes

#ICYMI or want a breath of fresh air from Uber & Lyft. Here's what it took to raise a fund https://t.co/4Gyo8rvEnk pic.twitter.com/SJhuHKxKOD

— LiveOak Ventures (@liveoakvp) May 17, 2016

Rachel Mirenda

Follow @SpiceRachel //

Account Executive at Spiceworks

Tweets about: Enterprise IT

Twitter bio: Connecting tech vendors to an audience of millions of IT buyers Thoughts are my own

Here's 5 Things IT Pros HATE about your tech marketing https://t.co/1T9xyojdRV #techmarketing #ITBuyers @Spiceworks pic.twitter.com/Lu5MJvdNmL

— Rachel Mirenda (@SpiceRachel) April 25, 2016

Sterling Smith

Follow @SterlingSSmith //

Founder & CEO at SandBox Apps, Inc

Tweets about: Mobile commerce, investing, entrepreneurship and tech trends

Twitter bio: Founder & CEO helping retailers ‘get’ mobile using @SandBoxCommerce & @Keystoke. 2015 Austinpreneur of the Yr Awardee. @BoozAllen @Walmart @LockheedMartin alum

Mobile commerce driving revenue growth in the hotel industry-Study https://t.co/eSGyteQAwS pic.twitter.com/EWOAB90CFS

— Sterling ⚡ (@SterlingSSmith) May 16, 2016

Joel Trammell

Follow @TheAmericanCEO //

CEO at Khorus

Tweets about: Tech leadership and investment

Twitter bio: By CEO & Navy vet Joel Trammell. Author, The CEO Tightrope: http://t.co/j3JRsWZj. @TheKhorus CEO. @ATCouncil Chair Emeritus. @Forbes & @Entrepreneur Contributor

How to Be President of the United States: Act like a CEO https://t.co/dQUNx04an8 #POTUS2016 @realDonaldTrump @HillaryClinton

— The American CEO (@TheAmericanCEO) May 18, 2016

Tony Aguilar

Follow @TonyAguilar //

Co-founder and CEO, Student Loan Genius

Tweets about: Education and social impact

Twitter bio: familia first • co-founder/ceo @MySLGenius • ex-poker pro • runner • sports nut • #hustle #dreambig

“Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.” – Howard… https://t.co/P3waSEun9v

— Tony Aguilar (@TonyAguilar) May 18, 2016

Karen Bantuveris

Follow @VSpotMom //

Founder & CEO at VolunteerSpot

Tweets about: Entrepreneurship, volunteerism and networking

Twitter bio: Mom of an awesome tween and founder of VolunteerSpot.com - we save busy moms time and help get more people volunteering @ schools, Scouts, leagues & nonprofits.

Gr8 article, @tytusm! Fakers, Takers & Makers. If your #startup is interested in #Asia partnerships - read it! https://t.co/rybwV5kkPx #ent

— Karen Bantuveris (@VSpotMom) May 13, 2016

Will Hurley

Follow @whurley //

Founder at Honest Dollar and Chaotic Moon. Frequent keynote speaker.

Tweets about: Fintech, Austin tech’s funding landscape and related politics

Twitter bio: Love to @pamelamalunat Father to Brooks + Julian CEO @honestdollar Founder @chaoticmoon IBM Master Inventor 2012 International Genius Grant Recipient

Create opportunities for people to innovate ~@whurley on supporting ICT entrepreneurship for #SocialImpact #WTISD pic.twitter.com/lBnqXCuDrc

— ITU (@ITU) May 17, 2016

Matt Cohen

Follow @zencohen //

Founder & President at OneSpot

Tweets about: Trends in tech recruiting, content marketing and Austin’s local scene

Twitter bio: Austin, http://OneSpot.com , http://G51.com , online media, fresh food, @8^1

Journalism Meets Brand Storytelling: Insightful Q&A with @GE_Reports @tomkellner https://t.co/1FW8HarwTe #contentmarketing

— Matt Cohen (@zencohen) May 12, 2016

Zoe Schlag

Follow @zoeschlag //

Founder of UnLtd USA

Tweets about: Social impact

Twitter bio: Mountains, breakfast tacos, #socent | Founder @UnLtdUSA | Passionate about #refugees #impinv | Want to learn about #basicincome #AI & forced #migration next

Fun: @openinvestco builds a customized #impinv index fund aligned to issues you care about most cc @markchand @seats https://t.co/8B6IrCdOGB

— Zoe Schlag (@zoeschlag) April 25, 2016

 

Note that this is a list, not a ranking, arranged alphabetically by username. We excluded organizations, many of which are great to follow on Twitter too. Of course, there are many more techies out there worth following, and we welcome your suggestions here or via Twitter @BuiltInAustin.

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