Joshua Baer, founder and CEO of Austin-based startup accelerator Capital Factory, died in a plane crash on a highway in Laredo, Texas, on Tuesday night. He was 50. He is survived by his wife, Amy, and three children.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Baer was traveling in a business jet with five other people. Around 10 pm, the aircraft crashed onto Loop 20, a major highway in Laredo, when it caught fire.
"For more than two decades, Baer was a "visionary force, mentor, and champion for the Texas technology and startup ecosystem," the company said, as quoted by KVUE abc. "Josh was a fearless leader, a brilliant partner, and a dear friend to so many of us," Capital Factory president Bryan Chambers said in a statement.
Who was Joshua Baer?
He was an American entrepreneur, investor, and startup mentor best known for founding Capital Factory. He was born in 1976 and studied Computer Science and Information Decision Systems at Carnegie Mellon University from 1994 to 1999. While still living in a college dormitory, he launched his first startup, SKYLIST, in 1996.
Before founding Capital Factory in Austin in 2009, he founded and led several technology companies, including UnsubCentral, OtherInbox, and Netmonitor. His companies worked with major brands such as Microsoft, Disney, NASCAR, and The Boston Globe.
In 2009, Baer founded Capital Factory in Austin, Texas. The organization helps entrepreneurs turn their ideas into businesses by connecting them with investors, mentors, customers, and employees. Baer also helped create and support several successful technology companies, including WP Engine, Bazaarvoice, Rackspace Cloud, and PostUp. He has also worked with other entrepreneurs to launch and grow new businesses.
Since 2011, he has served as Entrepreneur in Residence at The University of Texas at Austin, where he taught classes on startups and entrepreneurship. Baer was also the founder and organizer of Austin Startup Week, an annual event launched in 2011. He was selected as a Henry Crown Fellow at The Aspen Institute in 2013 and became an Eisenhower Fellow with Eisenhower Fellowships in 2014.
Baer was a member of the Young Leaders Forum of the National Committee on US-China Relations and has also received the Torch of Liberty Award from the Anti-Defamation League. Baer also served on the boards of numerous companies and nonprofit organizations, including the Texas Tribune, Startup Games, Pingboard, and the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.
On his LinkedIn profile, Baer described his life strategy as "Plant lots of seeds. Water everyone's. Repeat."
