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How owning AI deployment expands your career

Across product, ops, and CX teams, a new kind of role is taking shape: the person responsible for making AI actually work, day to day. In this roundtable, three people living this shift share what it's really like: Simone Santiago Broad (Yoco), Yelva Espinoza (Zumba Fitness), and Fin's Dave Lynch. You'll hear how they carved out these roles, what the job looks like across industries, the skills they'd hire for, and the challenges they're tackling right now.

Watch the full conversation on demand.

Watch now

Hola Rocket Networkers,

Before we get into it: what's your BBQ spot?

Serious question. Pick one from the poll below, or reply with your own answer if your spot didn't make the list.

Mine is Pinkerton's. I have thought about it more than I've thought about some of my business decisions, and I stand by it.

Also, Terry Black's is finally landing in Houston. Big build on N. Shepherd in the Heights, and it's been "coming soon" long enough that I stopped holding my breath. I like Terry Black's when I'm in Austin. But let's be honest: Austin doesn't get to walk into this city and act like we don't have our own thing going. We've got plenty of great spots.

So convince me...Reply with your pick and why. Best answer might just get a free lunch out of it.

⭐ FEATURED EVENT: Building the Moon Base

Rockets are our whole thing around here, and the Ion is a pretty great launchpad for yours.

They're hosting Shatel Bhakta, the principal systems engineer for NASA's Moon Base. Not a panel. Not a fireside chat about "innovation." An actual guy whose actual job is figuring out how humans live at the lunar South Pole.

He'll walk through what NASA has to solve to make that stick, how he got there, and what the next generation of aerospace engineers needs to bring. He did his grad work in space architecture right here at U of H, which is a degree I didn't know existed.

If your startup problems feel heavy this week, go listen to someone who has to worry about permanent shadow and lunar dust. Perspective is free.

RSVP here →

💸 MONEY ON THE TABLE: $2,500 for one early-stage founder

Startup Grind and HubSpot for Startups are funding founders who are already moving. Not the ones polishing a deck. The ones talking to customers and running experiments with whatever they've got.

Winner gets: $2,500 and the spotlight to go with it.

What they want:

• One sentence on who you help, what you solve, how you make money

• Real traction: paying customers, active tests, lessons you actually learned

• Founder-market fit, the reason it's you

• A specific plan for the cash. Vague loses.

To qualify: under $2M raised, venture-backable, HQ'd in the US or Canada. You'll need a free HubSpot for Startups membership, no card required.

Apply by August 7th. Winner announced August 14th.

Apply now →

What else?

See more opportunities BELOW in the 💰 MONEY ON THE TABLE section!

One Tuesday, I will be torn between AITX Houston, Claude Workshop, and Latino Founders Forum… Don’t miss Founder's Couch on Friday! I will be there; come say hello.

cheers,
- oleg 👊

P.S. Know a Texas company doing something insane? hit reply.
Got a founder friend who needs to hear this? forward them this email. let's raise Houston's tech game together.

At Rocket Network, we do the dirty work for you, curating Houston's tech scene so you spend less time scrolling and more time building. Want to be featured or sponsor? Hit reply.

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HERE ARE OUR PICKS FOR HTX THIS WEEK

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⚠️Hosting a tech meetup or startup event? Submit it via the RocketNetwork Event Submission Form to boost your visibility!

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_{Disclaimer: The content in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by any sponsors. All opinions and information are those of the author and not of the sponsors or affiliated organizations}.