From soul-soaked live music to founder-fueled panels, the inaugural Deltech Conference was a bold reminder of what innovation looks like when it’s rooted in culture, community, and the Delta’s distinct rhythm.
Held over three days of panels, tech talks, and networking moments that blended strategy with storytelling, Deltech offered a vision of entrepreneurship that feels uniquely Southern. It was collaborative, creative, and unapologetically local.
Here’s what stuck with us:
Keynote: Deuce McAllister on Turning Exposure into Opportunity
NFL legend and entrepreneur Deuce McAllister set the tone with a message that resonated far beyond football.
“You don’t fall into opportunities. They happen when you persevere through challenges with belief, discipline, and vision.”
McAllister reminded founders that exposure is a catalyst. When you show up in rooms, on stages, and in community, you create connections that can lead to open doors.
Founders’ Playbook: Building with Southern Strategy
In one of the most electric sessions, Stuart Lott, Leta Nutt, Gebre Waddell, and Erica Plybeah unpacked what it means to scale a startup from the South, not in spite of it.
Their playbook was practical and purpose-driven:
🌆 Leverage Memphis: Use the city’s cultural infrastructure. Recognize that in the South, relationships and introductions drive access.
🔍 Co-create with customers: Do tons of customer discovery. Even more important, partner with customers to design a better product.
🎯 Build with Southern Strategy: In the South, unconventional wins. Remix what works. Be embedded in the industry. Listen, engage, iterate.
🌍 Plan beyond the zip code: Build trust locally, but design for national scale.
📊 Show Traction, Know Your Metrics: Automate what matters. What gets measured, gets done. Also, Investors want momentum. Weekly cadence = accountability.
“Success isn’t one big move. It’s the small, consistent ones. Show up. Be transparent. Stay excited.”
Me, Myself, and AI: Audrey Willis on Building Bold
Tech strategist Audrey Willis brought clarity and fire to her session on how founders can use AI to multiply their capacity without losing their creative edge.
“You’re never too small to make an impact. Build bold. Build smart.”
Her takeaways hit the sweet spot between inspiration and application:
⚙️ Automate the grind: Offload decisions, streamline workflows, and reduce the brain drain.
💡 Let AI remix your ideas: Turn scattered thoughts into frameworks.
🧠 Teach AI your business: Use customer discovery, pitch decks, and competitor reviews to shape user personas and journey maps.
💼 Look investable: AI can help present traction and clarity with confidence.
It wasn’t just about using the newest tools. It was about thinking like a strategist even when you’re still a team of one.
An Aging Entrepreneur: Susan Stephenson on Reinvention
Veteran entrepreneur Susan Stephenson delivered an honest and grounded message that resonated across generations of founders.
🧱 Outwork your industry: Hustle with purpose. No one should outgrind you.
📊 Plan smart, stay real: Know your resources, measure progress, and ground your financial planning in reality.
🤝 Choose partners with care: Team, investors, collaborators. Alignment matters.
🔁 Reinvent, recharge, and celebrate: Stay connected to your purpose, your community, and the joy of the journey.
Her candor reminded the crowd that longevity in entrepreneurship isn’t about speed. It’s about staying connected to why you started. Knowing when to adapt and when to rest.
State of the Delta: Collaboration as Currency
Moderated by Joann Massey with panelists Rami Lotay, Allen Kurr, and Corey Wiggins, this discussion zoomed out asking what it looks like to grow together as a region.
🔑 Collaboration is currency: Partner with others in the region. Formalize it. Go after markets together.
💪 Grit becomes growth: Get past the excuses and flowery words. Do the work.
📊 Balance the data: Quantitative metrics matter, but qualitative insights drive real decisions.
Closing Conversation: Fictionless Innovation
The final conversation between Andre Fowlkes and Ben Mrva centered on “fictionless innovation”. It means grounding big ideas in data, discipline, and community understanding.
📊 Understand what drives behavior. Innovation starts with real data, not assumptions.
🧠 Respect the learning curve. Plan for the human side of change, not just the technical one.
It was a fitting close: pragmatic, purposeful, and deeply Memphis in its honesty.
🎶 Final Take: The South Is Building in Its Own Key
Deltech didn’t just showcase startups, it showcased identity.
From the live music to the candid conversations, it proved that innovation in the Delta isn’t a copy of Silicon Valley. It’s a remix built from culture, collaboration, and consistency.
If the energy at Deltech was any indication, the South isn’t waiting for permission to innovate. It’s already doing it.
📰 Editor’s Note
If you attended Deltech or have photos and reflections to share, hit reply. We’d love to feature your perspective in an upcoming Community Voices segment.