This year, WisePies Pizza topped the list of the Texas Exes’ 100 fastest-growing Longhorn businesses, known as the Longhorn 100. A total of 20 of the 100 businesses were started by Moody College grads in industries spanning media, technology, food and beverage, and more.

Chavez, whose degree was in communication studies, credits her success to the skills she learned at what was then UT’s College of Communication.

“The better your communication is, the more successful you are going to be,” she said. “Being able to tell what you’re doing and why you’re doing it and developing relationships is the number one key to having a successful business.”

The Longhorn 100 was started in 2023 by the Texas Exes alumni network to identify, recognize and celebrate the success of businesses owned or led by Longhorns across the world. Businesses applied to the competition, and an independent accounting firm calculated each company’s compounded annual growth rate in sales or revenue to rank the top 100.

Coming in at No. 8 on this year’s list was TicketCity, an online ticket reseller founded and run by UT grads, including Moody College advertising alumnus Zach Anderson, who now serves as the company’s president and head of operations.

TicketCity, founded in 1990, sells tickets to about 100,000 events a year — from local concerts to stadium shows to major sporting events such as the French Open and the Olympics. Many of these tickets are not readily available for the average consumer, and TicketCity aims to make them accessible and reasonably priced.

“We are very focused on service and our customers,” Anderson said. “We believe in really providing a way where people can go to the events they want to see and have a safe, exciting experience.”

Anderson said he is grateful to be recognized by the Texas Exes.

“It’s always special to be recognized next to a lot of the great companies UT alumni have put together,” he said. “We are proud, honored, appreciative. We look at it as a testament to the hard work we have put in over the past three decades.”

Anderson said his UT degree was essential as he entered the business world.

“One of the things the communication school really taught me was the value of relationships and your network,” Anderson said. “You have just come out of one of the top academic institutions in the world, going to school with the brightest minds. Take advantage of that. That network you get at UT is really invaluable.”

This year’s Longhorn 100 included 11 returning Moody College winners, including Forcura, a health technology company that ranked No. 78.

Craig Mandeville, who graduated with a degree in communication studies in 1997, said he founded the business after his wife, who worked for a home health company, told him that nurses treating patients after they were discharged from the hospital didn’t have access to any important discharge paperwork. When patients go from hospitals to post-acute care, their records often don’t travel with them, and providers are forced to once again interview and screen patients and find out what coding to use to get the best reimbursement from insurance companies. 

In 2012, Mandeville founded Forcura to help solve this problem. Its software takes all patient discharge information from the acute care facility and routes it to the next provider in milliseconds.

Mandeville said it’s an honor to be recognized by the Texas Exes for the second year in a row.

“I’m proud to be an alumni of The University of Texas,” he said. “I’ve started a few companies, and this is the one that’s really done well. Watching team members who have grown in the company and continue to advance and become leaders in their own right has been the most rewarding thing.”

Mandeville credits his Moody College education with much of his success.

“There was a lot of focus in the end of my degree on debate and public speaking, and I’ve used those tools. They were so foundational to me when I was at UT,” he said. “The have enabled me to better listen and present and ultimately sell the product, which is invaluable.”

This year’s full list of Moody College winners:

• WisePies Pizza – WiseChoice Foods LLC
• TicketCity
• BeatBox Beverages *
• Galaxy Technology Hires LLC
• Nitehawk Cinema
• Caden Lane
• Texas Standard *
• Stems Floral Design *
• Skelly Build
• Third Rail Creative *
• Day 1 Bags *
• D3Clarity Inc.
• Jimmy Cakes LLC *
• Reveal Suits *
• Giant Noise Partners *
• Ignite Brands LLC
• College Inroads *
• Forcura *
• Austin Deck Company *
• Dentistry of the Oaks
  
  * indicate returning winners