Billy Joe "Red" McCombs was born in 1927 in the small West Texas town of Spur, about 75 miles east of Lubbock. McCombs' father was an auto mechanic, but the younger McCombs expressed little interest in automobiles, though that market would eventually become his entrance to the world of big business, fame and fortune.

The oldest of four children, his family moved in 1943 to Corpus Christi, Texas. He briefly attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas where he played football (lineman and receiver) before serving in the Army in 1946 and 1947. After completing his Army stint, McCombs enrolled at The University of Texas, attending the business school and law school.

While visiting a friend in Corpus Christi, he was convinced to try selling cars. He was immediately successful and had his first dealership at age 25. Four years later, McCombs became the youngest Edsel dealer in the United States and his franchise was one of the few nationally to show a profit from the ill-fated Ford product. At one time he owned the sixth-largest auto conglomerate in the U.S., comprising more than 50 dealerships.

In 1958, he and wife Charline moved to San Antonio where he partnered with Austin Hemphill in a Ford dealership from which McCombs would begin an automobile empire built on McCombs' strong business acumen as well as his honesty, integrity and charm as a salesman. A self-described "Bubba," McCombs took sole ownership of the dealership and went on to start more than 50 nationwide.

Red McCombs Automotive Group now consists of five dealerships in San Antonio. McCombs was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame with its Distinguished Service Citation, the most prestigious award given in the automobile industry.

McCombs and an associate, Lowry Mays, formed Clear Channel Communications in 1972. Clear Channel Communications, Inc., is a global leader in the out-of-home advertising industry with radio and television stations and outdoor displays in 65 countries around the world. The company began its operations in 1972, and became a publicly traded company in 1984. Including announced transactions, Clear Channel operates more than 1,200 radio and 41 television stations in the United States and has equity interests in more than 240 radio stations internationally. Clear Channel also operates more than 8 81,000 outdoor advertising displays in more than 60 countries across 6 continents.

Koontz McCombs is a San Antonio-based land and real estate development company. The company is a respected leader in commercial real estate and has developed a portfolio of top quality projects in selected markets through acquisitions and development. The company has been involved in the development and/or acquisition of more than 1,600,000 square feet of commercial property.

McCombs has been active in the exploration of oil and gas for more than 30 years. His current venture, McCombs Energy, presently pursues both onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration and production from New Mexico to Florida. The company actively reviews many exploration ideas and prospects generated by independent geologists and other companies, and also invests directly as a working interest owner with other companies that operate.

McCombs has also had a longtime interest in the sports industry. At age 25, he purchased his first professional sports team, the Corpus Christi Texas Clippers in the Big State Baseball League. McCombs then purchased two NBA teams, the San Antonio Spurs in 1972 and the Denver Nuggets in 1985. in 1998, McCombs purchased his first NFL team, the Minnesota Vikings. During the 1999 to 2000 season, the first year under Red's management, the Vikings went on to a 15-1 season, going to the NFC Championship for the first time in 11 years. McCombs received the Owner of the Year Award from FOX's Terry Bradshaw and the Executive of the Year Award from Pro Football Weekly. He sold the team in 2005.

In addition, McCombs has been involved in various insurance companies as well as ranching ventures. He even made a new breed of cattle, the Gelorn, a cross between Longhorns and German Gelbreith.

Admiral Bobby R. Inman, USN (Ret.), graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1950, and from the National War College in 1972. He became an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Austin in 1987. He was appointed as a tenured professor holding the Lyndon B. Johnson Centennial Chair in National Policy in August 2001. From January 1 through December 31, 2005, Admiral Inman served as Interim Dean of the LBJ School, following the resignation of former Dean Edwin Dorn. In January, 2009, he was again appointed Interim Dean succeeding James B. Steinberg, Dean of the LBJ School since 2006 who was named U.S. Deputy Secretary of State. On January 21, 2009, he was again appointed Interim Dean succeeding James B. Steinberg.

Admiral Inman served in the U.S. Navy from November 1951 to July 1982, when he retired with the permanent rank of Admiral. While on active duty he served as Director of the National Security Agency and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. After retirement from the Navy, he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) in Austin, Texas for four years and Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Westmark Systems, Inc., a privately owned electronics industry holding company for three years. Admiral Inman also served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from 1987 through 1990.

Admiral Inman's primary activity since 1990 has been investing in start-up technology companies, where he is Chairman and a Managing Partner of Gefinor Ventures. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Massey Energy Company and several privately held companies. He serves as a Trustee of the American Assembly and the California Institute of Technology. He is a Director of the Public Agenda Foundation and is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Jimmy joined NEA in August 2002 as a Venture Partner. Based in Austin, Texas, Jimmy works closely with NEA's information technology practice sourcing new deals and evaluating new investment opportunities. Current board memberships include HelioVolt, Illumitex, Luminary Micro, and Motion Computing. Jimmy was previously Chairman of the Board of ClearCommerce and Whole Security. Prior to joining NEA, Jimmy was President and Chief Executive Officer of Tandem Computers. He was Tandem's principal Founder and served as its CEO from 1974 until January 1996. Under his leadership, Tandem delivered its first product in 1976, first issued public stock in 1977, and in 1980 was ranked by Inc. magazine as the fastest growing public company is America. Jimmy was recognized by UPSIDE Magazine as one of the "100 People Who Changed Our World" and by Silicon Valley's Software Development Forum for its "2002 Visionaries – Silicon Valley Pioneers.” He was honored for his support of entrepreneurship as a 2008 Austin Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award recipient. Jimmy received the Entrepreneur of the Year awards from both Stanford Graduate School of Business and Harvard Graduate School of Business. He received his BA and BSEE from Rice University and MBA from Stanford University. Jimmy serves on the Board of Trustees of the Seton HealthCare Network in Austin, Texas.

With over 30 years of experience in technology management, Jamie Rhodes founded Perceptive Sciences in 1999. Over the past 7 years, Perceptive Sciences has grown to be recognized as one of the nation’s top market research companies built on the use of cognitive psychology.

After many years of working with IBM, Jamie entered the entrepreneurial arena as a founder of Traq-Wireless, a Sevin Rosen-funded start-up, focused on the telecom industry. While there, Jamie developed the insight into market forces that would become the basis of the business vision for Perceptive Sciences. Recognizing a need for improvement in the area of human-computer interaction, Jamie originally recruited a group of top psychologists from UT and brought these ground-breaking market research techniques to the business arena. Now, the use of cognitive psychology, and the infinitely more advanced and reliable results it provides, is the preferred approach to market research and product development. Cognitive psychology not only provides corporations with quantifiable results that are applicable in real world situations but it also gives them an indelible advantage in a marketplace where everyone is vying for the consumer’s attention.

In addition to actively managing the day-to-day business of Perceptive Sciences, Jamie has lent his expertise to other entrepreneurs. With the support of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Jamie founded the Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN). For his efforts he was awarded the Technology Volunteer of 2006 Award by the Chamber. Jamie is an active angel – currently serving as an investor and board member of Skyonic, a firm dedicated to removing CO2 and other air pollutants from power plant emissions, and on numerous start-up advisory boards.

Jamie also serves the State of Texas as a member of the Central Texas Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization (CT-RCIC), as both an advisory board member and a business plan reviewer. Each quarter this committee reviews business proposals and makes recommendations to the Governor’s Emerging Technology Fund for investment distribution – creating a self-perpetuating fund to spur economic growth in the state. As an expert, Jamie has been featured in many national publications including BusinessWeek, BtoB Magazine, Marketing News, PROMO Magazine and 1-to-1 Magazine. He is also a member of the advisory board of the St. Edward’s University School of Behavioral and Social Sciences. Currently, he serves as a board member of EO (Entrepreneur’s Organization), and a member of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas, the National Association of Corporate Directors, the Marketing Research Association and the Austin Music Foundation. Jamie has a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Computer Science and a Master’s degree in Business from the of Texas.

Nikki currently heads Titan Music Group, an artist management and music business consulting company. She is a native Austinite and one of two co-founders of Austin Music Foundation. She also served as its Executive Director from October 2003 until November 2006, during which time she was responsible for strategic planning and development, community relations, program development, board management and fundraising. Nikki has also served as an Austin City Council appointee to the Austin Music Commission, and currently serves as an Advisory Board member to Groundwork Music and as Vice President of the Austin Music Foundation Board of Directors.

Chris Shonk started his first business at fourteen and has been financially self-sufficient from that day on. Chris served in the US Special Forces to provide money for college and develop leadership and strategic execution skills from the world’s most elite operators. Chris won the highly prestigious Special Warfare Soldier of the Year award while on active duty. He specialized in unconventional warfare, medical and communication training.

After the military, he worked as an analyst at Merrill Lynch before attending the nation’s most competitive MBA, Austin’s own Acton MBA in Entrepreneurship. Upon graduation Chris cofounded Austin’s first local investment bank, Virtus Financial Group, and ran its largest and most profitable business unit. Chris sold his interests in 2006 and focused on personal investments.

Chris is committed to excellence and the betterment of local businesses as an active angel investor and brings experience, counsel and capital to many companies looking to grow.  As the founder of Liahona Ventures, Chris is an active investor and producer in the entertainment industry. Known as a numbers-based operator Chris is a sought after director and advisor.  He currently sits on the Board of Greenling, Display Points and Minggl.

Chris also owns and operates several Massage Envy clinics in Austin, bringing the vast health benefits and enjoyment to many Austinites previously unfamiliar or unavailable to this wellness lifestyle.  He helps provide local jobs for over 100 people in Austin.

Pete Winstead is a founding shareholder of Winstead PC. His early professional career was in the field of federal taxation and related matters, and as a former chair of the Section of Taxation, State Bar of Texas, he remains active in advising clients on many corporate and business transactional matters, but primarily in a planning strategies role.

In 1997, Pete was appointed by Governor Bush to be the first chair of the Texas Turnpike Authority (TTA). During his tenure at TTA, he led efforts in getting Records of Decision on the four element toll road (SH 130, SH 45, Loop 1 and US 183A) project known as the Central Texas Turnpike Project. Pete also led efforts on a $800 million TIFIA loan, as well as negotiated over $600 million in local contributions for the right-of-way and utility relocations. He was one of the founders and first Chair of the Capital Area Transportation Commission (CATC) to involve the private sector in effective advocacy for toll roads and other highway infrastructure. Additionally, Pete chaired the Citizens for Mobility effort to secure approval of the Phase 2 toll road plan at CAMPO, as proposed by the CTRMA and TxDOT.

As a founder of the firm's Austin office, he has become active in working with early stage and "start up" companies that need appropriate mentoring on financial backing, management procurement and legal matters. Many of these companies have become important mainstream clients for Winstead. The firm guided Dell Computer Corporation through its initial public offering and its dealing with municipalities on the concessions related to the company's relocation to Round Rock, Texas. Pete remains active in personal legal matters for the founders of that company, many of whom have become venture capital players. His major involvement in civic, political and philanthropic matters in the Austin area has made him a "go to" person to secure the award of various projects from political entities in the region or just to position a client to understand and succeed in the Central Texas area. He has been part of building winning teams to secure and build public facilities and infrastructure and has become active in the public private partnership arena.