Almost a month to the day … from Ballarat to Sydney to San Francisco and LA for their Tech Week(s), one of the highlights for us at QuantPS was thanks to Mark "Z” Zmarzly; an invite to the sold out AWS LA Tech Week Fireside Chat featuring NBA Legend Baron Davis and hosted by Nikao Yang. 

For those who love ‘the game’, Baron led the Golden State Warriors in their legendary 2007 playoff upset, is a two-time NBA All-Star and one of the most electrifying point guards to ever play.

From growing up in South Central Los Angeles in the 80s and 90s, to a full scholarship at UCLA, to the NBA and now into the startup world, building on a legacy of innovation, hustle and hard work.

I got a lot out of Baron’s story. Nikao asked all the right questions and really got to the core of the tech and non-tech businesses he's involved in, including Vitaminwater, the WNBA, a college savings app called UNest, Kitu Super Coffee, Hims, Triller, Sleeper, Thrive, H1, Cann Drinks, Tracklib, Quip (Blue Scorpion), Complex, Task Human, Toucan, and Vidy.

The fireside showed us that success is about vision and heart as much as skill—whether you’re an NBA All-Star or an Australian Fintech startup/scaleup. It was inspiring to see how he’s taken his drive and experience from sports to shape a meaningful impact in tech and culture. My biggest take aways, his journey is a reminder to stay true to first principles and never underestimate the power of humble beginnings.