The man who died when a small jet crashed on a Texas highway was an entrepreneur well-known in the state for being at the center of Austin's turbocharged evolution as a technology hub.
Joshua Baer, 50, described himself as an "Austinpreneur," a reference to the state capital and his enthusiasm for getting people into business. He founded Capital Factory, which has grown into an important Austin-based venture capital firm supporting a range of technology startup companies, from robots to autonomous ships.
Baer's LinkedIn page shows him wearing a black T-shirt and pointing at the message: "I help people quit jobs." His email had a similar handle. Capital Factory's downtown headquarters is among the offices of tech giants like Google.
"Whether you're in technology or not, there's a hole in the heart of Austin today," Thom Singer, CEO of the Austin Technology Council, which promotes the local tech industry, said of Baer's death.
Baer listed his life strategy as, "Plant lots of seeds. Water everyone's. Repeat." And people noticed: The Austin mayor in 2023 gave him a key to the city, a symbol of civic honor.