Man who died in Texas plane crash was a key figure in seeding Austin's technology boom

Joshua Baer, who died when a small jet crashed in Texas, described himself as an “Austinpreneur,” a reference to the state capital and his specialty of helping people get into business.

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.

Baer, 50, was the founder of Capital Factory, which has grown into an important Austin-based venture capital firm supporting a wide range of technology startup companies, from robots to autonomous ships.

He listed his life strategy as, “Plant lots of seeds. Water everyone's. Repeat.” Austin's business leaders said it was the truth. The mayor in 2023 gave Baer a key to the city, a symbol of civic honor.

“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.

Bryan Chambers, co-founder and president of Capital Factory, said his business partner was a “true super connector.”

Baer was aboard a business jet that crashed Tuesday on a highway in Laredo, Texas, after the pilots reported mechanical problems and requested to make an emergency landing at an airport.

After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he created an email marketing business, Baer moved to Austin in 1996 to work as a software developer at Trilogy Inc. He started Capital Factory in 2009 and regularly held business chats with people at a coffee shop.

“My hobby is startups,” Baer told the Austin American-Statesman in 2012. “I don’t watch sports or anything like that. So this is what I do. ... I want to be an investor in every great tech company that comes out of Austin. That’s probably unrealistic, but I’m going to try anyway.”

Baer often spoke to high school students and had the title of “entrepreneur in residence” at the University of Texas.

“He was passionate that technology could change the world and make people's lives efficient and better,” Singer said. “And if entrepreneurs did it right, they could make money and help their communities. He believed in those two things.”

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he was deeply saddened by Baer’s death.

“Josh has been one of the most significant figures driving innovation and entrepreneurship across America. In Texas, he made our state a global leader," Cruz said.