Showcasing up-to-the-minute technology means bringing some of the leading names and leaders in innovation and investment to make presentations, and some real heavyweights will be at Myriad this year. “For the Future of Cities, I was looking for something exciting and unique,” said Martin. “Last year, I joined the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia, where SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave a ‘major’ update on his plans to not only colonise Mars, but also revolutionise city-to-city travel by rockets, right here on Earth. I thought it would be interesting to have Steve Jurvetson, who was an early investor in, and sits on the boards of, SpaceX and Tesla join us to speak about this exciting vision and other trends in technology. He has invested in just about every awesome company in Silicon Valley.”
THE BACKGROUND
For Martin, the path to Myriad started in an unusual way. “I began my career as a structural engineer and got my degree in Civil Engineering, specialising in the mathematics of structures,” he said. “I got
connected to the start-up world because I programmed a game and needed investors. I joined a ton of meet-ups and started networking and meeting people in the community. The next thing I knew, I was part of organising Slush. “It took me about four years of putting on events in 38 countries around the world - and traveling to 82 - to realise what I was doing could actually be a real, sustainable thing. One of those countries I visited was Australia and I knew straight away I want to build something special here. “Now, I see myself as this business-focused guy with an engineering background who relates to super-techy folks and can get ‘in the weeds’ about new innovations while also being able to connect at a high level with sponsors or venture capitalists looking for the next big thing. I have learned how to highlight the start-up and tech scenes in traditionally underserved geographies and really get to the heart of what makes those places and people tick.” Martin and Murray met at a Slush gathering in Melbourne - an event that Martin organised – and following Murray’s involvement with the Pause Fest tech event in Melbourne, they saw that a Slush-like
Myriad offers an environment where start-ups, innovators, academics, government and investors can meet and network 20 | Motor Trader May 2018