Photo via salt.org
Tickets to TomorrowX, a new tech-investing event at the University of Texas basketball arena, run from $500 to $10,000, Ron Biscardi, Co-Founder and CEO of iConnections, told Katie Perry on Marketopolis.
Bank conferences have long given institutional investors small rooms and direct questions with chief executives. Ron's plan is to sell that same access to retail investors, in an arena.
"It's in essence a Goldman Sachs or a Morgan Stanley caliber banking event... and we're making it accessible to retail investors."
Ron runs what he describes as the biggest capital-introduction platform in alternative investing, the business of matching fund managers with the institutions that back them. TomorrowX is a joint venture with two of the investors iConnections had asked for advice.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it. 39 minutes of audio, 9 minutes of reading.
Here are the 11 insights that matter.
Marketopolis · Oct 28, 2026 · 39m · 30m saved
With Ron Biscardi, Co-Founder and CEO of iConnections
Key Takeaways
Rules dating to the 1929 crash bar private funds from advertising, which keeps alternative investing face to face
TomorrowX started as advice that tech CEOs would skip Miami and come to Austin instead
Tickets run from $500 to $10,000 for an event built like a bank's institutional conference
At least 30 CEOs on the main stage and about 300 more invited
CEOs now show more interest in X and Substack analysts than in mainstream Wall Street analysts
Ron says a CEO who can't present on stage limits how far the company can go
He hired a speech coach for six months to get over his own fear
Competence and professionalism rank above charisma in what makes people trust an executive with their money
The event's theme is AI as a source of opportunity, set against what Ron calls mostly negative news coverage
1. Alts Stay Face to Face
Funds raised under Regulation D, the private-offering exemption, can reach investors only through introductions. Ron traces those marketing limits back to the 1929 crash.
Private funds are legally barred from advertising, which made alternative investing a business of introductions
"It's actually illegal for these guys to advertise in any way... this goes all the way back to the crash of 29... the industry as a result has always been face to face." — Ron Biscardi
The second reason is the money itself. Investors in alternative funds commit capital that is locked up for a year and often for up to a decade.
Ron said no investor locks up money for years without meeting the manager first
"You're not going to make decisions like that without meeting the person who's going to be managing that money for you." — Ron Biscardi
Together, the legal limits and the lockups have kept the industry face to face for roughly 80 years, in Ron's account.
