Bill Gurley & Matthew McConaughey: Thrive In a Career You Actually Love

The University of Texas at Austin invites you to an unforgettable evening with Texas Exes Bill Gurley and Matthew McConaughey for a candid, high-energy conversation celebrating Gurley’s new book, Runnin’ Down a Dream: How to Thrive in a Career You Actually Love.

What does it really take to build a career you don’t want to escape from? Drawing on decades at the forefront of venture capital, leadership, and innovation, Gurley shares hard-won lessons about risk, resilience, ambition, and staying true to your instincts. In conversation with Academy Award–winning actor and fellow Longhorn McConaughey, the two will explore pivotal mistakes, defining moments, and the mindset required to chase meaningful work — and catch it.

Join us on campus for an inspiring night of insight, storytelling, and discussion about running down your own dream.

This is a ticketed event.*

• Date: Monday, March 2, 2026
• Start time: 6:30 p.m. CT
• Run time: 1 hour
• Location: Hogg Memorial Auditorium, 2300 Whitis Avenue, Austin, Texas 78705
• Your ticket purchase includes a copy of Runnin' Down a Dream
• Bill will be available to sign books after the event
• Please note: Each ticket purchase includes entry for one attendee

FREE UT STUDENT RSVP TICKET: Current UT students are invited to RSVP for a Free Student RSVP Ticket and receive priority admission. UT Student ID is required for admission. Student tickets are available while supplies last and do not guarantee entry.

General Admission student queue (first come, first served) to begin at Hogg Memorial Auditorium at 5:30 p.m. No RSVP is required to join the General Admission student queue. Students will receive a copy of Runnin' Down a Dream while supplies last.

If you buy a ticket and are unable to attend:

• We will hold your book at BookPeople for 30 days after the event.
• We understand that things happen, but please only order a ticket if you currently plan to attend! Tickets are not to be used in place of pre-orders, etc.

Guidelines:

• TICKETS NOT FOR RESALE - only tickets purchased through Eventbrite will be honored.

• Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
• The University of Texas at Austin reserves the right to cancel or postpone this event if necessary.

About the book (as provided by Penguin Random House):

Life is a use-it-or-lose-it proposition. Shouldn’t you spend it doing something you love? This book will teach you how to find your dream job and avoid a career you’ll regret—from a leading venture capitalist, based on his viral college talk.

“Fantastic. A variety of useful insights and examples that converge into one story that underlies remarkable success in nearly any field: The relentless hunger to learn about the thing you love.”—James Clear, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Atomic Habits

For many young people, the path to success feels like a conveyor belt—onto the next test, the next application, the next college—without ever stopping to ask what do I actually want to do with my life? Parents know the pressure can be overwhelming, yet the system pushes everyone forward anyway.

After college Bill Gurley landed a job at a famous tech company. It should have been a dream come true—but he was surprisingly bored. So, Gurley leapt into the unknown, eventually finding his place in the world of venture capital, the beginning of a remarkable investing career.

It turns out, Gurley’s happy ending is rare. Nearly six in ten people would do things differently if they could start over. This is the trap of “career regret.” So how can we avoid it? What can we learn from people at the top of their fields who love what they do? The culmination of Gurley’s decade-long project to unpack the components of success, Runnin’ Down a Dream identifies six principles to flourish in your chosen career: the antidotes to career regret. From developing “obsessive” curiosity to the art of building strong peer groups, these timeless principles add up to a playbook not just for success, but a purpose-filled life.

Written in Gurley’s straight-talk voice and revealing the captivating stories of industry titans like talent agent Lorrie Bartlett, restaurateur Danny Meyer, and sports executive Sam Hinkie, Runnin’ Down a Dream will inspire a new generation to find their place in the world, while offering a much-needed rebuttal to the idea that hustle and happiness are incompatible.

About the author:

Bill Gurley is a general partner at Benchmark, a leading venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. Over his venture career, he has invested in and served on the board of such companies as Nextdoor, OpenTable, Stitch Fix, Uber, and Zillow. Born in 1966 in Dickinson, Texas, Gurley earned a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the University of Florida and later received an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. For more than two decades, Gurley has written about technology and other subjects on his popular blog, Above the Crowd, and on his social media accounts.

Purchasing a ticket to this event helps support both The University of Texas at Austin and BookPeople, the largest independent bookstore in Texas.

Thank you for your support!