James Underwood is the Co-Founder and COO of TexasLand USA. With a background spanning entertainment, strategy, biz ops, and consulting, James brings a passion for creating joy-filled physical spaces that bring families and friends together in celebration.

 

Born and raised in Arkansas, James studied Management Science and Engineering at Stanford, graduating at the top of his major in 2018 with Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi honors. James continued his education with an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Class of 2024, where he served in student government, received a Botha Chan Innovation Fellowship (with which he focused on TexasLand), and wrote for and performed in the GSB Show. James continues to give back to his alma mater through conducting application interviews and volunteering on the board of the Houston Alumni Chapter.

 

James began his career at Boston Consulting Group in Los Angeles, where he served clients across a plethora of industries with a primary focus on consumer and finance. His work included financial modeling and market research for multiple private equity diligences across consumer and technology industries, long-term strategy and supply chain planning for a global consumer company, and operational and organizational redesign for multiple corporate functions across industries, balancing growth, company culture, and efficiency. He also implemented a zero-based-budgeting turnaround for a consumer company, redesigned portfolio strategy for a major tech company, and defined a nutritional impact strategy for a multi-billion-dollar private foundation.

 

After nearly three years at BCG, James determined to narrow his focus to the entertainment space and joined YouTube's Strategy team, where he continued to drive high-impact financial and operational work across C-suite priorities. He led a cross-functional ad inventory diagnostic that surfaced $1 billion+ in growth opportunities and defined the ensuing implementation priority framework, designed Creator and Viewer incentives to increase adoption of a nascent Channel Memberships product, supported executives in annual planning, and built new partnership models for Creators. Even amid YouTube's global reach, James's passion ultimately called him away from screens and to the world of in-person fun. He tested that instinct firsthand during a Stanford GSB summer at Cinepolis, developing a strategic plan to modernize the movie theater chain's tech-integrated food and beverage experience. With further conviction in the power of live entertainment, he teamed up with Lizzy at Stanford GSB to launch TexasLand.

 

Since 2023, James has led TexasLand’s financial modeling, project management, permitting, vendor RFPs, site pre-development, and day-to-day overhead functions, partnering with Lizzy, investors, designers, architects, operators, and engineers to bring TexasLand to life.

 

James proudly calls Houston home and is an Eagle Scout and outdoor enthusiast, classical pianist, aspiring runner, trivia nerd, and dog dad.