Meet Our Director
Say hello to Mellie Price, MSTC alumna and director of the program.
I believe the M.S. in Technology Commercialization is truly one of the most distinctive entrepreneurship graduate degree programs in the nation. The curriculum combines important academic business fundamentals with practicum experiences that result in graduates who are capable of launching or applying their skills to innovate within an organization.
MELLIE'S BIO
Mellie Price is a highly experienced innovation and operations executive, venture fund manager, angel investor, philanthropist, data geek, and technologist who has worked in organizations ranging from non-profits to startups to publicly traded companies to state government. As an MSTC alumna, Mellie is passionate about the Austin startup and technology ecosystem and a proud ambassador for Texas McCombs.
As an eight-time entrepreneur, Mellie is also well known as a co-founder of the nationally recognized startup accelerator program and entrepreneurial hub, Capital Factory. In 2015, Mellie launched SoftMatch, a tech-enabled corporative innovation consulting firm, to help Fortune 1000 companies connect with the emerging technologies, startups, and talent that can help navigate this era of digital disruption. Formerly, Price was the Founder & CEO of Front Gate Solutions/Front Gate Tickets, one of the largest privately held primary market ticketing software platforms in the US/Canada from 2002 to 2015 when it was sold to Live Nation/Ticketmaster. Mellie is currently a Partner at Notley Ventures and Senior Advisor to Ecliptic Capital.
In her cross-disciplinary roles supporting entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at Austin, Mellie is also currently the executive director of the Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs at the McCombs School of Business, which supports emerging entrepreneurs across all industries and an adjunct assistant professor of the Longhorn Startup entrepreneurship course which has course numbers in most Colleges across the campus.
Mellie Price is a widely respected thought leader on disruptive innovation and a frequent presenter and keynote speaker. She serves on the Technology Advisory Committee for Austin Mayor Steve Adler and has been honored with the prestigious Profiles in Power (2015) and Tech Titan (2014) awards. Price is also a current member of the Board of Directors for PBS Austin (KLRU-TV), Leadership Austin, SAFE Alliance, Medical Informatics Corporation, and the National LGBTQ Victory Fund.
Mellie holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from The University of Texas College of Natural Sciences and a Master of Science in Technology Commercialization from the McCombs School of Business.