Bryan Davis didn’t just grow up in Greenville, he built his first business in a backyard here at age six. Today, he’s helped launch over 650 startups across the Southeast, and he’s still betting big on the place he calls home.

As Executive Director of The Hill Institute at Furman, Bryan is one of the Southeast’s leading champions for startup ecosystems – named to the Palmetto Power List, a Forbes contributor, and a trusted voice for innovation strategy. His message at TEDxUnityPark? The future of entrepreneurship isn’t coastal – it’s community-driven.

Bryan is making the case that billion dollar ideas can grow just as fast under a magnolia tree as they can in Menlo Park – and that the Southeast is no longer an underdog. It’s the future.