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Welcome to this week’s issue of Austin Business Review, a weekly roundup of events and insights just for business owners in Austin (plus some fun stuff for your life outside work).
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My name’s Ethan and I’m the one writing this (holler at me here!).
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We’ve got so much to get into this week:
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Did someone forward this to you? If you like it, you can sign up here!
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-Ethan
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Upcoming Events
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Running a business is tough. Here are a few great places to meet cool people going through the same sh*t you are.
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TODAY @ 11:30: Your Deck Sucks (online): Fundraising soon? Jacqueline Samira, local founder and CEO of Howdy, is sharing how she raised $21 million from investors like Y-Combinator and Greycroft without ever sending a pitch deck
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Feb 7: Chew on This, Founders Dinner: Organized by Ron Shah and Ash Melwani, co-founders of $40m Obvi, and hosts of the Chew On This DTC podcast
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Feb 8: Accelerated Intro to AI: Bring your laptop to get the most from this. Hosted by Jay Boisseau, CEO of Vizios and founder of The Austin Forum on Technology & Society
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Feb 16: Female Founders Friends & Coffee: Hosted by the Artemis Fund, the first female-focused VC fund in Houston
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Feb 17: Austin SMB Social: Hosted by Shawn Allard. If you don’t know him from Twitter yet, Shawn owns Novel Ice Cream in Arizona. He’s been building an incredible M&A community there, and is now organizing similar events in Denver, ATX, and more
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Feb 20: FIESTA: It stands for “Founders, Investors, Entrepreneurs, Startups, Techies, Austin-Newcomers” and it’s hosted by Cherie Werner, a legend in the ATX events world. Here’s a photo from the last one
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If you’re hosting something you think is a fit, let me know here!
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Fun Stuff Coming Up
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…because if you’re anything like me, you work too much already. So here’s some fun stuff to do around town that’s not necessarily related to business.
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Feb 1-4: FOOD – A dinner performance about the food we eat
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Feb 2: Writing Club: Co-hosted by Zac Solomon, the founder of Startup Social, and Madi Taskett, a local author and growth marketer
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Feb 5: Charity dinner with Dai Due chef Jesse Griffiths to support GWA
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Feb 9-11: PrintExpo – Shop original print artwork from 100+ artists
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Feb 10: Dragon’s Table – 15-course dinner celebrating lunar new year
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Feb 10: The Lights Fest – Sky lantern festival
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Feb 11: The Floating World – Never before displayed historic block art of Edo Japan
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Feb 17: Galaxy Whiskey Gala
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Feb 28: Pour the Record Club – A four course dinner with wine and vinyl pairing
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What’s It Really Like To Sell Your First Business For Millions?
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Recently, I caught this interview with Jason Cohen, local founder of two different unicorns – WP Engine (which he’s still involved with), and Smart Bear, which he sold in 2007.
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The interviewer, Paige Harriman (host and executive producer of the show), asked what that first exit felt like, and his answer, “incredible sadness,” is something I think more business owners should hear.
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Okay, it wasn’t all bad.
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The sale was enough to get him across the freedom line, and if you ever get the opportunity to cross the freedom line, you take it. So from that perspective, it was a good move. He sounds happy with how it turned out.
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But he does a great job explaining two things most people wouldn’t expect about the reality of life post-exit:
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He didn’t really know what to do with the money. The actual daily expenses of living don’t change much, and even the things he splurged on (some stuff from Amazon) he could have had pre-exit.
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He lost his identity.
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It turns out, this is incredibly common. In fact, Credit Suisse published a specialized white paper on exactly this phenomenon, and other founders – like Ankur Nagpal and Patrick Campbell, who both had ~$200m+ exits – are starting to talk about their experience.
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I love seeing founders talk about this because it helps me think a little more critically about how I spend my time day-to-day.
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“[Exiting is] .0001% of the journey,” Cohen said. “It’s the whole rest of the time that has to be the thing that is worth it; that’s worth your time, and worthwhile, and where you find some sort of fulfillment…
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“Having that along the way must be the goal because the end isn’t actually the goal, and the end isn’t necessarily good, even in the good outcome.”
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Word On The Street
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Other cool ideas and stories published by founders in ATX
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Companies That Lasted 1,000+ Years: Local founder, Seyi Fabode, has been studying a handful of Japanese companies that survived more than 1,300 years, and shared a few commonalities he found between them.
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A Montana-Sized Tax Loophole: If you’re buying an expensive car, you may want to do it in Montana. Adam Lawrence shared a quick breakdown on why. If you dig this, and want a closer look at all sorts of tax loopholes, check out Brandon Hall on Twitter.
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Real Talk On Turnarounds: Jaqueline Samira built Howdy to 200+ employees. In this piece, she reflects on the worst quarter in her company’s history, and the lessons she learned righting the ship. Favorite line 👇
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Local Artist of the Week
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Erin Newman-Mitchell does this stunning photography of local landscapes and landmarks. Her prints are all made locally and to-order, so if you’re looking for something cool to add to your home or office, check out her work.
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Local Shop of the Week
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Toni’s Toffee
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Alright, listen up… Valentine’s Day right is around the corner.
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Rather than running out last-minute to buy some heart-shaped box of mass-produced goo, take a look at Toni’s Toffee, which is woman-owned, made with real Kerrygold butter, and produced locally in small batches right here in Austin.
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This is not an ad. In fact, I paid them for a bag of their Spicy Almond Cayenne at Le Garage Sale this weekend, then proceeded to eat the entire thing before making it back to my car.
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It’s just a cool local brand you should know, and Toni seems rad.
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I could tell you about the flavors; I could tell you about how it’s super thin, and snaps, then melts in your mouth, or how it won awards for best artisanal toffee three years in a row from the International Chocolate Salon.
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But really… I think nothing says it better than this Google review by someone named Bryan:
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“Far and away my favorite guilty indulgence… the dark chocolate/sea salt combo is amazing – “Oxy-Toffee” would be a more appropriate name.”
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| -Bryan |
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There is a small chance that Toni’s Oxy-Toffee ruined Bryan’s life, and that he’s living under a bridge now, or running from the law. If so, I can assure you… it was worth it.
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You can find it at about a half-dozen local Austin shops, or order online for delivery or front porch pickup.
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Oh, and they do corporate gifts too 👊
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That’s all for this week. If you liked this, do me a favor and forward it to another business owner here in town you think might get some value from it!
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You can also email me here if you’re hosting something for local founders that might be a fit for the newsletter.
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Until next week,
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-Ethan
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