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Welcome to this issue of The Austin Business Review.
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This isn’t the intro I had planned. I had another one written and scheduled. But yesterday was especially dark, both because of the tragedy in Utah, and closer to home, where one of our own APD officers was shot on duty, sparking fear, shelter in place alerts, and a sweeping manhunt.
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I thought all night about what to say. About the uncertainty, and fear, and even anger that I know people are feeling.
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And all I can say is that in times like this, I feel especially honored to be reporting on the kinds of people you find in this email. People who choose to build in the face of uncertainty; Who create, even when it’s hard, and doesn’t make sense.
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People like Brand Newland, who’s using innovation to help solve the opioid crisis (and succeeding). Like Laethitia Patadji, who gives her time away free to talk business owners through their finances. Like Julia Grant, and Pat Kiloren, and Shannon Sibold, and Brendan McCord, and many, many others you’ll see in today’s issue alone.
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People like you.
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Building is the ultimate act of generosity – the closest humans ever come to outright godliness – and the builders far outnumber those who would destroy. Always have.
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Yesterday morning, over coffee, I was reading the third piece in Brett A. Hurt’s recent series of short stories, God’s Infinite Game.
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If you don’t know him, Brett is a multi-time founder here in Austin with three different 9-figure companies under his belt. Lately, he’s been focused on ensuring that AI leads to human flourishing, and he’s been exploring themes of how love conquers fear through both fiction and non-fiction.
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This quote struck me when I first read it. And it came back to me in the evening as I grappled with the darkness of the day…
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Once again the serpent of fear slithered into paradise… “Do you not see? God’s final exam never ended. Each new choice is the test – whether to choose fear or trust love…”
Humanity once thought its greatest achievement would be technology: faster engines, sharper equations, stronger machines, the chase for sentience. Yet the real milestone was not invention but transformation – the moment love overcame fear.
That was the first final exam from God. And we passed.
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Hope you’re with your loved ones this weekend,
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-Ethan
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I’M DOING A THING…
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Over the last few months, I’ve been hosting more and more events. Copywriting events. Growth discussion groups. Dinner salons.
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One thing keeps coming up: Other business owners want to start newsletters.
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The goals vary, but most of the time, they see it as a way to build authority and stay top-of-mind with past/future clients (which, I agree, is a great use).
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This happens to be something I’ve spent a lot of time studying over the last few years, through my work here, in consulting, and time working in much bigger companies, like The Hustle. So this Saturday, I’m hosting an online event called Everything I Know About Newsletters, where I’ll share stuff like…
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The universal model newsletters use to make money
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The three growth levers, and how to think about them
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What makes a valuable audience and when to monetize
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The tech stack (just what you need to know)
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Things I wish I’d done sooner
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Open Q&A, etc.
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RSVP here if you’d like to join.
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I’m also starting an accountability group specifically for founders who want to either start, or recharge their newsletter output. It’s going to be very difficult, with very high standards. Not for the faint of heart. If you want to find out about that, RSVP for the event.
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Upcoming Events
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Events are back in full swing, and I’m contributing to the madness – tomorrow morning, I’m hosting this focused book discussion for anyone implementing Alex Hormozi’s $100M Offers in their company. After that, there’s an open coffee social for anyone who wants to hang out, meet local founders, and talk shop. Come on by!
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Elsewhere, we have…
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🗓️ Sept. 13: The Board Walks: Led by Julia Grant, this is one of my go-to recommendations for anyone new to the city
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🗓️ Sept 13-14: Profit & Purpose: Laethitia Patadji is the founder of ProfitNest, a fractional CFO service, and holds these free office hours for founders trying to wrangle their finances
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🗓️ Sept. 15: Women In Tech Impactors: Hear from local leaders like Nicole Pletka, president of Austin Women In Tech, and others
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🗓️ Sept. 16: All Star Pitch Battle: This local event, hosted by Mia Ong and Paris Bland, funnels winners to StartupGrind’s regional/national pitch battle championships
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🗓️ Sept. 16: Protecting Your IP: Part of Shannon Sibold’s ScaleUp series, focused on knowledge-sharing for founders growing from 7- to 8-figures
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🗓️ Sept. 17: AI Without The Hype: Frank Mendoza has advised companies like Nike, Kellog’s , and Dr. Pepper on things like forecasting and customer loyalty. In this roundtable, he’ll share what’s working in the real world for
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🗓️ Sept. 17: Austin CTO Club: Every month, William Baxter curates a discussion for senior tech execs. This month’s topic: Rethinking ROles on Your Tech/Product Teams
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🗓️ Sept. 18: AU40 Kickoff: The 2026 Season of Austin Under 40 kicks off the 18th. Go meet former winners (and readers of this newsletter) like Adam Flagg
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🗓️ Sept. 18: Women Who Breathe: Marina Kay leads breath-work clinics specifically for high-performing women in business. This one is focused on breath + facial massage to reduce stress and enhance expression
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🗓️ Sept. 18: Toast to PE/VC: The Association for Corporate Growth is hosting their annual awards ceremony for mid-market PE/VC and their contributions to the TX economy (open to both members and non-members)
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🗓️ Sept. 18: Living An Impactful Life: For those of you out west, tired of going downtown for events, Stephanie Rollins is speaking at this month’s business luncheon, hosted by the West Austin Chamber
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🗓️ Sept. 18: Acquire & Invest Happy Hour: Dan Jensen and Henry Carter’s monthly happy hour for people who buy businesses.
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🗓️ Sept. 19: $100M Leads Discussion Group: I’m hosting this one, for anyone working their way through Alex Hormozi’s $100M Leads.
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🗓️ Sept. 19: Founder Coffee Tasting: Mark Helwig, founder of Ratio coffee, was recently featured on Peter Attia’s podcast, and will be at this cozy event showcasing the product and telling his founder story
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🗓️ Sept. 20: From Prompt to Prototype with Gen AI: A hands-on 4-hour workshop teaching prompts for different parts of product development, led by UT lecturer David Hendrawirawan
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🗓️ Sept. 20: Doing Business with Japan: The Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce is hosting this international market brief, all about Japan’s investment dynamic in the US
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🗓️ Sept. 20: The Evolution of Impact Money: Top Tier Impact is hosting this panel and networking mixer for those interested in impact investing
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LAST CALL FOR TICKETS
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We need to get a headcount to our caterer, so we’re closing ticket sales for the sporting clays experience this Sunday at midnight.
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So far, we’ve got a great mix of about twenty founders and investors coming out to enjoy a day in nature together. Everything is included in the ticket price, and the event is very beginner-friendly, so if you’ve never shot before (or if it’s been a while) come on out and join us.
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BRAND TO CHECK OUT
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Speaking of the shooting event, we’ve got some fun local brands that are sponsoring the snack table, including this one, from long-time ABR reader Renato Raposo.
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Oca is a high-protein, low-sugar peanut bite, inspired by a snack called Paçoca from Raposo’s native Brazil. He started it in 2022 to commemorate his father, and the wild part – they’ve gone from farmer’s markets to now being selected as one of only two brands from Austin in H-E-B’s Quest for Texas Best.
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If you wanna try it out, local readers of this email get free shipping with code ABR. Or you can find them on the shelf at some of my favorite spots around town, like Parker & Scott, or Radius Butcher. Congrats, Renato!
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If you want to see your brand at an ABR event, shoot me an email
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Other Fun Stuff Coming Up
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TODAY: Grand Opening of Tiger Woods-Backed PopStroke
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TODAY: Eat Your Flowers – Cookbook Talk with Loria Stern
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TODAY: Spirit Society – Whiskey Tasting with Lot 40 Ambassador Dave Mitton
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Sept. 13: Pilates & Picnics at Skyline Park
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Sept. 13: Austin Under The Stars – Film Festival
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Sept. 16: Soil to Soul – Sustainability Dinner
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Sept. 18: Last Sip of Summer with Wildsam Travel Guides (ATX Founder)
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Sept. 19: Patton Oswalt Live at The Paramount
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Sept. 20: Oita Japan Summer Festival
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Sept. 20: Flaming Tides – DJ and Fire Spinners on the Lake
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Sept. 21: John Cleese Live Q&A at The Long Center
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Sept. 21: Matthew McConaghey Live at Bass Concert Hall
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ONE MORE THING…
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If you’re into the future of health, beauty, or longevity, you may dig this event, hosted by long-time ABR reader, Jessica Yang, founder of Wax/d on Wheels, a venture-backed luxury mobile waxing service that’s officially rolling out here in Austin.
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The launch event this Saturday is gonna have all kinds of cool stuff, like…
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1-hour mat pilates with Hot Girl Pilates
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Mobile sauna, cold plunge, and red light therapy
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Mocktails, free B12 injections, and a bunch more…
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She basically got a bunch of interesting health and fitness brands from around town to come out for the day, so if that’s your jam, check this out!
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Insights
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Thought-provoking ideas and stories published by founders in ATX
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1. Fighting “Auto-Complete For Life”: Last week, I shared a paper about how AI must be designed to maximize human agency and autonomy. This week, multi-time AI founder Brendan McCord sat down for an excellent conversation with Johnathan Bi on exactly that
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2. The Return of LoneStartup: Pat Kiloren is back with Season 3 of his podcast, LoneStartup. One of the best-produced local pods I’ve found, you can think of this like How I Built This, for ATX Businesses. Episode 1 dropped today, with an interview with Tiffany and Leon Chen, co-founders of Tiff’s Treats. If ever there was a day for warm cookies…
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3. State of Ecom: Sam Hill, founder of Ecom CFO, just released his Q2 Benchmark Report, analyzing all kinds of data from 7- to 9-figure DTC brands.
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4. Newsletters I Love: I wanted to take a second to call out a few newsletters from local builders that I’ve been enjoying a lot lately…
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🗓️ Local Events: Two of my all-time favorites are Leila Sales’ Lite + Brite and Michelle Rueda’s What’s Weird ATX
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🤖 AI News: A few weeks ago, I discovered Cat Valverde’s Canary in the Cubicle, and it’s become my daily go-to for updates on the industry
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💭 Philosophy: There are two writers in town whose writing routinely grabs me by the shirt and won’t let go for days – Mitchel Cohen’s Making Connections, and Katy Ward’s Vivid Candor
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And if you’re thinking about building your own newsletter, be sure to RSVP to the event I’m doing Saturday 👇
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Founder You Should Know: Erasing One Billion Unnecessary Opioid Pills
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Brand Newland is the founder of Goldfinch Health, a company that uses Enhanced Recovery to help surgical patients recover faster, return to work safely, and depend far less on opioids for pain management.
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We met at a founder dinner, where he blew my mind with some of the stats on opioid mis-prescription.
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Not just in terms of the patients who end up hooked, but also other consequences I hadn’t thought of – like how over-prescribing drugs increases the cost of healthcare, and leads to billions of unused pills (which themselves are the leading cause of poisoning-related death among kids 5 and under).
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Recent third-party verification showed his team is able to reduce time-back-to-work by 35 days, saving costs for employers, and delivering >9x ROI for companies that work with them.
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To me, it’s a fascinating example of how business and innovation can solve some of society’s most intractable issues.
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That’s all for this week!
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Email me here if you want to share any feedback, or let me know about an event you’re hosting.
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Until next week,
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-Ethan
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