Sarah Maria Austin[1] (b. January 1986) is an American author and tech entrepreneur. She is the CMO and co-founder of
metaverse funding platform, QGlobe, and former CEO at Broad Listening, an artificial
emotional intelligence agent.[2] She is the chairperson of the board of directors at Coding FTW, a nonprofit organization that promotes diversity and
equal rights in the technology sector.[3][4]
Austin is the founder of Coding FTW, a non-profit organization that provides scholarships for women in computer programming and technology.[11] Austin was the first marketing hire at Kava, a
decentralized finance platform, serving as its CMO.[12] She held roles in content marketing at
SAP, Oracle, and
Ford Motor including its campaigns around the
Consumer Electronics Show and the US launch of the
Ford Fiesta.[13]
Media
Austin began her career as a tech-news producer and DJ for three years at
UC Berkeley’s radio station,
KALX.[14][15] She moved into video with news segments for D7TV's Story Today and created her own D7TV series, Party Crashers, in which she filmed
Silicon Valley parties.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22]
After extensive tests through the winter of 2007-08 under the name PopSnap,[17] Austin launched a
web series and
blog called Pop17 in March 2008.[20]Pop17 features interviews with tech-oriented business owners and
Internet personalities at tech-related events and parties.[24] It also includes commentary and news on technology and business topics;
Rocketboom and
Mekanism contributed to the production of the show in 2008 and 2010.[20][25][26] Contributors to Pop17 include
Jesse Draper and
Caitlin Hill.[27][28]
In late 2011, Austin became a correspondent for TV networks such as
Fox and
Logo. She worked as an online personality for The X Factor and The X Factor Pepsi Live Preshow, as well as casting their unscripted home-viewing parties via
Skype.[33] She hosted and co-produced the San Francisco edition of VidBlogger Nation; a
Comcast OnDemand TV network with each host sharing stories of people, places and events in their city.[34] She also produces tech reports for Logo's NewNowNext.[35] Austin has been a
correspondent for
Better,[3][36] where she explained topics and trends regarding
social media. Since late 2010, Austin contributes articles and Pop17 episodes to Forbes magazine.[37]
Recognition
At age 25, Austin was named to Forbes 30 under 30 in media.[38] Ignite Social Media included her in their ranking of five women covering
New Media on the Internet.[39] In 2008, she was named one of the 50 most influential female bloggers by North X East.[40][41] Also in 2008, she appeared on
Donny Deutsch'sThe Big Idea.[42]
In the first edition of Dan Schawbel's' book Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success, Austin and Pop17 were profiled in a chapter of "success stories".[39] She was featured on the front cover of the May 2009 issue of Personal Branding magazine.[43] In 2010, she was selected as one of Vanity Fair's "America's Tweethearts".[44]