Welcome to this issue of The 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).
Last week in a Q&A, Austin’s own Tim Ferriss was asked what human abilities and habits are becoming more valuable in a world of AI.
“For instance,” he said. “The fact that I have people I can text for very narrow types of expertise, even though they have the access of a generalist, allows me to have an informational advantage because none of that is online.”
“Conversely, if you’re using ChatGPT or Claude to try to assess a given public company as a good or a bad investment or somewhere in between, rest assured that many, many people - perhaps even millions of people - have already done this, and therefore, you’re gonna be reading more or less the same thing as many others.”
In short – real connections with other real people.
That’s what this newsletter, and the ABR Insights Network, are all about. And this week, I’ve got some great stuff for you…
🗓️ IRL Events (a ton)
🤖 How To Build A Software Factory with AI
🔥 TONIGHT: Saunas and Cold Plunge with Founders (end of email)
and more…
Did someone forward this to you? If you like it, you can sign up here!
-Ethan
PS. Speaking of connections… Interesting investment opportunity here from a local hardware company (not financial advice, do your own research, etc. etc.)
Cold Cycle Coffee makes a machine and consumables to improve café margins by 10-20% with a 48x brew-time improvement. Their beta program is oversubscribed and they’re raising $1.5m for product launch at the end of the year.
Upcoming Events
🗓️ Apr. 2: USICOC REI Seminar: The US India Chamber of Commerce is hosting this get-together for local real estate investors over at the Vesper Residences
🗓️ Apr. 2: Fridge Fire: Chris Taylor’s firing up the brand new sauna over at The Red Fridge Society for a founder social with Jessica Tranchina of Generator Athlete Lab
🗓️ Apr. 2: Out The Gates: Jason Reese’s team at Atico is hosting dinner and drinks
🗓️ Apr. 2: Building with Purpose: Alexander McCobin and Daniela Plattner will discuss capitalism through the lens of conscious leadership and long-term impact
🗓️ Apr. 3: Muther Rucker Walk & Talk: Every month, Tiffany Fernandez gathers a group of women to make connections and chat while walking (or rucking)
🗓️ Apr. 3: Coffee & Connections: For those of you out west, tired of going downtown for events, the West Austin Chamber is hosting their monthly coffee get-together
🗓️ Apr. 3: Cocktails & Conversations: There is no link for Nathan Ryan’s event But it happens at 5PM on the first Friday of every month over at Remedy, on Nueces
🗓️ Apr. 4: Austin OpenClaw Hackathon: James Leach and Alec Stulov are pulling people into a room for five hours of productive building (no panels or pitches)
🗓️ Apr. 7: Vibe Coding for Entrepreneurs: A new series from John Davison, designed to help indie founders learn to design, prototype, and ship MVPs with AI
🗓️ Apr. 7: The Great AI Debate: Leaders from Austin’s AI scene, like Numa Dhamani (author of Manning’s Intro to GenerativeAI), Bryon Jacob (co-founder at data.world), and others, will go head to head, debating some of the biggest questions in AI
🗓️ Apr. 7: Health Hustlers: An exclusive group for health and wellness founders, hosted by Corey Hiben and Scott Mitchell
🗓️ Apr. 8: Raid The Fridge: If you haven’t been down to The Red Fridge Society yet, here’s a good chance - Chris Taylor’s seasonal happy hour is open to all
🗓️ Apr. 8: Thought Experiments On Patios: Join me, Nicole Forrester, Paymahn Moghadasian, and others for thought-provoking patio debates at Cosmic Pickle
🗓️ Apr. 8: Spring Into Connections: Once a quarter, Alec Rios’ Young Professionals Network hosts a big get-together. Tickets and sponsorships available
🗓️ Apr. 9: TWIB Connect & Grow: A new morning event series by Texas Women in Business, including two guest speakers and intentional networking
🗓️ Apr. 9: Women In Tech Impactors Meeting: Thom Singer, CEO of the Austin Tech Council, is joining to discuss trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the Austin tech scene
🗓️ Apr. 9: Women’s Financial Education Workshop: Hosted by the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce, and open to the public
🗓️ Apr. 10: Founder Lunch Discussion: Thomas Lentine, is the founder of UpAhead, a deadline management tool used by 30k+ students at 500+ colleges
Other Fun Stuff Coming Up
Apr. 2: Back Country Film Fest
Apr. 3: International Ballet Stars Presents: Sleeping Beauty
Apr. 3-4: Blue Man Group - Live at the Long Center
Apr. 4: Make & Take Baking Class - Decorated Focaccia
Apr. 4: An Evening with Lang Lang - World Renowned Pianist
Apr. 6: Scotch Tasting River Cruise
Apr. 7: UMLAUF After Dark
Apr. 7: Tuesday Twilights - Music at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Apr. 8-19: Moon Tower Comedy Festival
Apr. 9: Sip & Sculpt at Old Gregg
Apr. 9: Jazz Tribute to Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderly at Monks
Apr. 9 & 11: George Straight Live at the Moody Center
Apr. 11: Off The Clock - Morning Wellness at Gevity
Apr. 11: Tribeza Luxury Home Tour
Apr. 11: Blanton All Day
Apr. 11-12: Staple - Independent Comics, Magazines, and Media Expo
Apr. 12: The Screwtape Letters - Live at Bass Concert Hall
The Game’s Afoot
I just came across this murder mystery show that’s running every Thurs-Sun now through Apr. 12th and had to share it because it’s about William Gillette, the New England actor who played Sherlock Holmes, and I have a unique connection to him 👇
Fun Fact: The summer after high school, a friend and I kayaked 400 miles from the border of Canada to the Long Island Sound. On our last night, we camped on the beach beneath the cliffs of Gillette’s famous castle, and in the middle of the night, I woke to the sound of my pal deep in conversation with three strangers out for a lantern-lit stroll along the water (yes, they had an actual lantern).
I was tired from a long day of paddling, so I rolled over and kept sleeping, but asked him about the guys the next morning.
“What guys?” he said.
“The ones you were talking to last night,” I said. “With the lantern, and the dog.”
He stared at me like I was crazy.
Pointing to the water, I showed him the footprints still clear in the sand. Three men and a dog had come through after the last tide, stopping right in front of our bed rolls before continuing upstream. But he had no recollection of them, and thought I was messing with him. We followed the tracks for a bit, until they came to a sheer rock face, with no way up and no way around. There, they vanished. Mysteriously. Impossibly. Beneath the dark gaze of Gillette’s Castle.
I still have no answer for what happened that night or who visited us. But if you check out The Game’s Afoot over at The Stage Austin, perhaps you may.
Insights
Thought-provoking ideas and stories published by founders in ATX
1. Art As Sybil Resistance: Fascinating take from Gary Sheng, founder of the Applied AI Society here in town. He argues that human’s love for underground art may be one of the last ways we tell who’s actually real. The spark of recognition between two people who share fondness for a relatively unknown artist proves something about both that can’t be faked. Very interesting concept to ponder
2. How To Build a Software Factory: Gauntlet’s head of curriculum design, Ash Tilawat, started a night school series, teaching some of their core AI development concepts online for free. Session 2 (on code quality and QA) happened last night so keep an eye on their X feed for the recording soon
3. Reality Check – AI in DTC: Sam Hill runs a fractional CFO firm for 7- to 9-figure DTC companies, and recently published an excellent breakdown on where he’s actually seeing clients get leverage with AI
Love Sauna & Cold Plunge? Learn The Benefits of Contrast Therapy Live With Dr. Jessica Tranchina
Jessica Tranchina is a long-time physical therapist, founder of Experts in Wellness, and co-founder of Generator Athlete Lab, this cool athletic recovery center she and her husband, Delfin Ward, built in the old historic Seaholm Power Plant downtown.
They offer a lot (personal training, massage, red light therapy, and more) but one of their big claims to fame is that they were one of the first businesses to bring true contrast therapy to Austin, rather than just sauna or cold plunge alone.
“At the time, most people weren’t thinking about recovery this way,” she said. “But from a clinical perspective, we knew that water is one of the most effective conductors of heat and cold, so you get a much more powerful and efficient nervous system response.”
She’s doing a live event TONIGHT at The Red Fridge Society about the benefits of contrast therapy. There’ll be sauna, cold plunge, cold drinks, and more, so if that’s your thing, be sure to check it out!
I got a chance to ask her a few founder questions ahead of the event…
What’s the backstory on the business, and how’d you land the first customers?
“The backstory really started through my work as a physical therapist. I kept seeing the same pattern, people were either pushing hard or trying to recover, but there wasn’t a system that integrated both in a sustainable way. That gap is what led me to build both Experts in Wellness and Generator.
My first clients came from relationships. I had already been working with people one-on-one, and when I introduced this more integrated approach, especially the manual therapy and neuro-reset work, they trusted it, experienced the results, and it grew organically through referrals.
So from the beginning, it’s really been built on results, relationships, and community.”
What’s one book most people have never even heard of that you think is worth reading.
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
“It’s not a typical business book,” she said. “but I think it’s incredibly valuable, especially for leaders, because when you understand how the body and nervous system work, you can show up differently in every area of your life.”
What’s one purchase of less than $1,000 that’s made the biggest impact on your happiness, health, or wealth?
Blackout curtains and a cooling mattress topper (no particular brand)
“As a founder, I’ve realized that sleep is one of the most underrated performance tools, and when you get that right, everything else like your focus, decision-making, and resilience improves.”
How’d you meet your spouse, and what role have they played in your entrepreneurial journey?
“We actually met back in 2005 here in Austin while working together in a nursing home.
From early on, we both knew we wanted to help more people and do something meaningful together, even though we were working with very different populations at the time. I was treating athletes, injured individuals, and people dealing with high stress and anxiety, while he was focused on patients with lymphatic conditions.
What we started to realize was that many of the same tools were beneficial across all of these populations whether it was recovery, circulation, or nervous system regulation.
That realization is really what led us to create Generator Athlete Lab together. We became very focused on finding the most efficient, science-backed way to bring these tools to a broader audience.
He’s been an incredibly important part of the journey not just as a partner in life, but as someone who shares the same vision for helping people improve their health and performance in a meaningful way.”
Meet Jessica live at her event tonight! 👇👇👇
That’s all for this week!
Email me here if you want to share any feedback, or let me know about an event you’re hosting.
Until next week,
-Ethan
