This Houston-based midstream operator moves natural gas and NGLs across the U.S. and needs low-latency connectivity between trading desks and pipeline operations
What is Targa Resources?
Flexential was formed through the merger of two regional providers — ViaWest and Peak 10 — giving it a strong footprint in this part of the country
What is the Western and Southeast U.S.?
This landlocked Mid-South state is the nation's largest producer of helium and has a major aerospace and defense manufacturing base — yet its largest city has no Equinix IBX, forcing enterprises to route through Dallas or Kansas City
What is Oklahoma?
This Finnish company invented the text message in 1992 — yet never monetized it directly, watching carriers pocket billions in SMS revenue while the inventor received nothing but credit
Who is Nokia?
I have been coordinating bike giveaways and home refurbishments for children in foster care for over twenty years — longer than most people on this team have worked in tech sales
Who is Melanie?
This refining and lubricants company — headquartered in Dallas — requires multi-site colocation to support refinery operations, ERP systems, and supply chain logistics
What is HF Sinclair?
Iron Mountain Data Centers has a unique competitive angle rooted in its legacy business — positioning data center colocation alongside this service that enterprises need for regulatory compliance
What is physical records and document storage (information management)?
This Chanhassen, Minnesota compound — located 20 miles southwest of Minneapolis — served as recording studio, concert venue, film production facility, and private residence for one artist for nearly four decades before becoming a museum after his death
What is Paisley Park?
This Israeli company invented the firewall in 1993 — a product so fundamental to modern cybersecurity that its founders had to explain to investors what a network security device was before anyone would fund them
Who is Check Point Software Technologies?
I spent nearly four years at a San Antonio-based managed hosting company that bet big on the cloud before AWS made that bet irrelevant — then used that experience to sell the infrastructure that sits underneath every cloud
Who is Damon?
This healthcare staffing company — with $31.2K MRC across Dallas and DC — has expansion targets in Houston, San Diego, Silicon Valley, and New York
What is AMN Healthcare?
QTS's primary customer segment — large cloud providers and government agencies requiring massive, customized builds — puts it squarely in this market rather than retail colo
What is hyperscale / wholesale colocation?
Before becoming one of the heaviest bands in metal history this Arlington, Texas group spent nearly a decade playing glam metal in the Dallas club circuit — releasing four independent albums the band later tried to erase from their official discography. Their original bass player is best friends with the man running this competition today — and also happens to be an Equinix customer
What is Pantera (Tommy Bradford)?
This product — invented by a Minnesotan engineer in 1956 as a way to repair cracked windowpanes in Minnesota winters — was acquired by a conglomerate, rebranded seventeen times, and eventually became the best-selling consumer adhesive in U.S. history under a name that references neither its inventor nor its original purpose
What is Super Glue (Eastman Kodak / Loctite)?
My career began in eCommerce in 1997, ran through blade servers, SAP HANA, IoT analytics, and multi-cloud architecture — yet every job I have ever held has been based in the same Texas city
Who is Bob?
This diversified manufacturer with $756K annual spend across 13 IBXs is undergoing a GNT SDWAN transformation and is a strong fit for Equinix Managed Services
What is Leggett & Platt?
Digital Realty acquired this Amsterdam-based colocation and interconnection provider in 2020, dramatically expanding its EMEA footprint and making it a direct threat to Equinix in Frankfurt, Paris, and London
What is Interxion?
This character actor from Malvern — who wrote, directed, and starred in a 1996 film about a man with intellectual disabilities released from a psychiatric hospital in rural America — is the most acclaimed filmmaker born in this Mid-South state
What is Arkansas (Billy Bob Thornton — Sling Blade)?
This California-based athletic apparel brand was founded in 1998 by a former fashion buyer who noticed that yoga pants didn't exist in mainstream retail — she self-funded the first collection, sold it out of her car, and eventually built a company worth over $1 billion before selling it
Who is Lululemon
Before selling anything I wrote C++ code for handheld devices running a Microsoft operating system that no longer exists — deployed across retail stores and distribution centers for one of America's largest retailers
Who is? Krish
Baker Hughes's AI platform for oil and gas operations — a key digital transformation anchor across the energy vertical — goes by this name
What is Leucipa?
DataBank is a credible competitive threat in the Mid-South territory specifically because its Dallas headquarters and regional footprint give it local relationships with the same energy, manufacturing, and financial services customers Equinix targets — the Equinix counter in these deals must lead with this
What is interconnection ecosystem and global platform reach (Platform Equinix)?
This Mid-South state generates more electricity from nuclear power as a percentage of its grid than any other state in the territory — a fact relevant to data center site selection because nuclear baseload power offers the price stability and carbon-free attributes hyperscalers now require under clean energy commitments
What is Missouri?
I launched my jewelry company in 2002 with $500, sold door-to-door to Austin boutiques, and was rejected by every major retailer for three years — while raising a newborn alone. I later married a man who is close personal friends with the individual hosting this event tonight, systematically drained his bank account, and rode off into the sunset with the tennis instructor. Today I am worth $1 billion. He is not.
Who is Kendra Scott?
This individual was once asked to leave a customer briefing center because the facilities team mistook him for a model hired for the "Real Texas Men" marketing shoot happening down the hall.
Who is? Brock