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Welcome to this week’s issue of Austin Business Review, a weekly roundup of great local events and insights for Austin business owners (plus some other cool stuff for your life outside of work).
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My name’s Ethan and I’m the one writing this (holler at me here!).
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This week, we’ve got a few things on-deck:
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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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Mar. 6: Scaling Within: To scale successfully, you need the right mental toolbox to deal with rapid change. Join licensed therapist and founder of Scaling Within, Meredith Kathleen O'Shea, and learn this neurobiological framework to help you make clear decisions amidst chaos.
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Mar. 7: HeyATX Business Happy Hour: Since 2017, HeyATX has been hosting business happy hours around town. Join Jessica Campos and others at the 2014 kickoff gathering. Or check out her Facebook group, with 10k+ local business leaders.
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Mar. 7: DTC Executive Summit: Hosted by FounderMade, this is a curated networking and learning event for founders and leaders of DTC brands doing $5m+ in revenue.
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Mar. 8-11: Funded House: If you’re fundraising soon, be sure to check out Funded House during SXSW. They match investors with startups and are hosting a bunch of events over several days. Co-organizer Marc Nathan also has a great insider’s guide to SXSW.
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Mar. 10: South X Sunday: Drinks, music, cool people, and pickleball over at the Millbrook Estate. Organized by Devin Ambron who runs Austin Connections, a weekly happy hour meetup for investors, founders, and local connectors.
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Mar. 12: Internet Pipes: Steph Smith, host of the A16Z Podcast, is organizing a meetup here in Austin to celebrate the release of her most recent product, Internet Pipes – a masterclass on how she uncovers trends and surfaces new ideas across the web. Come on down to meet other cool, curious people in the startup space.
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If you’re hosting something you think is a fit, let me know here!
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Other 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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Mar. 1: The Art of Japanese Flower Arrangements at Zilker Botanical
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Mar. 1: Concerts in the Dark
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Mar. 2: The Art of Dr. Seuss – VIP Reception
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Mar. 3: Kitten Yoga benefitting Austin Pets Alive
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Mar. 3: Greyhound Adoption League
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Mar. 4: Free Monday Tango ‘Till Ten at Esquina
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Mar. 4: Charity dinner with NYC chef Osei “Checf Picky” Blackett
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Mar. 7: Cheese & Charcuterie Class with Smoking Goose
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Mar. 7: The Office Trivia at Vacancy Brewing
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Mar. 8: Wing & Wine Flight Friday at Playground ATX Food Incubator
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Mar. 10: Whiskeys of the World – The Roosevelt Room
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Mar. 12: Five-star French Cuisine – Cooking Class
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Mar. 22-24: Poe – A Tale of Madness
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Three Ways To Screen Sh*tty Hires
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Every week, I read dozens of newsletters and articles published by founders here in Austin. Sometimes themes bubble up.
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This week, the theme that seemed to be on people’s minds was culture, and specifically, how to screen for people who will help you build a world-class company.
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A few great tactical tips stood out…
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In a no-bullshit piece about the importance of culture, Codie Sanchez broke down the “it’s-worse-than-you-think” approach her team uses to pre-vet employees and partners at Contrarian Thinking.
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“We describe all the misery, hardline values, and high standards up front, and often surprise new partners or employees when it’s all more fun than it sounds,” she said – a great inversion approach to getting the right talent over the finish line.
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Coincidentally, Noah Kagan also wrote about the culture playbook they use at AppSumo to keep ~100 employees moving in the same direction.
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Rule No. 1 is that when hiring they lean heavily toward people who present as mature, self-directed, and willing to take ownership.
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That expectation then extends into the person’s work at the company, with ownership underpinning the whole culture.
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That concept of true ownership dovetails nicely into the last piece that crossed my radar this week. Samantha Shankman does a lot of interesting work in the agricultural tourism space, and recently shared this article on the secret sauce behind luxury hotels.
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A key theme from the piece: “True luxury doesn't come from glitz. It is generated by the 10% extra effort a team delivers beyond already high standards.”
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That ability to find people who are willing to put in the extra 10% is what ties all of this together. It’s the people who take ownership. The people who aren’t scared away when you tell them just how bad things can get.
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The author ends by talking about how special forces teams screen recruits…
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“There are many factors,” he writes, “but it comes down to finding people who will do the right thing when no one else is looking. A self-directed person with moral integrity.”
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And so I guess it all comes down to this: Have high standards for your culture, then look for people who are not just willing to uphold them, but who go beyond even when they’re not being watched.
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Word On The Street
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Five thought-provoking ideas and stories shared by business leaders in ATX this week…
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How To Beat Large Incumbents: Two-time unicorn founder, Jason Cohen, published this monster piece on nine tactics startups use to outfox bigger opponents, complete with real examples from his time building WP Engine. Big takeaway: “The way a startup wins, is to do things that incumbents cannot or will not do.” Great read.
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Feminine Leadership and Hard Conversations: Elle Beecher, founder of The Board Walks, has been writing excellent posts about her journey learning to lead and manage conflict while embracing her instincts and unique strengths as a woman. One thing I enjoy about these is the clear lesson that there are different kinds of leadership – among them, styles that are very masculine and feminine – which can benefit from and strengthen one another.
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YETI’s Community Marketing Playbook: Bill Neff is the VP of Brand at YETI, and spent years helping grow them from a niche hunt & fish brand to a widely recognized lifestyle icon. In this podcast, he broke down their playbook, including early lessons from his time at Under Armour, how he thinks about driving word-of-mouth, what he looks for in hires & brand partners, and why it’s crucial to pursue relevance over awareness. Excellent listen, highly recommend.
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The Antidote To Boring Writing: In this video, local author, David Perrell, breaks down a fantastic three-part framework for what makes great writing POP. If you’re trying to grow your thought-leadership this year, check this out. Understanding these pieces and how they work together will help you write better, hook people faster, connect with them, teach them, and entertain them.
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Hampton’s State of Ecomm Report: Sam Parr and the team over at Hampton surveyed dozens of ecomm founders across different industries, with average revenues ranging from ~$3m-$65m+. They share all kinds of insights, including best and worst marketing platforms, ad spend, profit margins, how much founders pay themselves, and more.
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Local Artist of the Week
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A buddy of mine, Alex Garcia, runs a company called Marketing Examined here in town. He recently had this sick mural done in their office, and the artist, Rachel Smith has done other work all over the city.
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Whether you’re a fan of Foxy’s Proper Pub, Progress Coffee, or The Fairmont, her brushes have been all over ‘em. She also does custom pieces for apartment buildings and Airbnbs.
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Those gradients are hand-done, and she stylized the athletes in the black and white portrait herself! Wild
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If you’re looking for something to make your space stand out, check her out on Instagram, or visit her website for more.
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Shout out to Scott Garcia for putting Rachel on my radar
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Local (wood)Shop of the Week
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Austin School of Furniture | 1600 W Stassney Ln #B
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Okay, this isn’t the type of shop I typically put in this section. But it’s definitely a place in town you should check out.
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Austin School of Furniture teaches classes on all aspects of woodworking, from basic joinery, to full-on furniture building, finishing, hand-tools, power-tools, and more. And here’s why that matters if you’re a tech entrepreneur: Because you’re a sissy.
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At least, I am. Years of tapping away on a keyboard left my hands soft, and my eyes blurry. But a week-long woodcarving class at ASoF has fixed all that for me.
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Elk bugle to me in the forest now. My beard grows thicker. I have a Carhartt vest in every color.
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Actually… I just had to Google how to spell Carhartt, so I guess there’s still work to be done. But the class was fantastic, and below is a photo of something I made with my hands after just a few days’ learning.
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My dad even flew into town for it, and it was a great way to bond with him over a new experience.
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The founder, Austin Waldo, is a member of the ATX tech scene. He spent years as senior brand manager at Capital Factory before launching the school, and is also the creator of the Texas Woodworking Festival.
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So if there’s some part of you that thinks you may be itching to get away from your desk and build something tangible (and Austin assures me this is a common thing for people like you and me) check out some of their upcoming classes. Seriously, you won’t regret it.
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That’s all for this week,
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If someone sent this to you and you enjoyed it, you can subscribe here.
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Until next time,
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-Ethan
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