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).
Well… It was quiet for one week.
Hope you enjoyed your downtime, because events are back on, and this puppy’s packed with terrible news for your nap schedule. We’re talkin…
📚 Two Different Unicorn Founders Publishing Books
📈 Two Different Accelerators For Women In Tech
🥃 A Bourbon Tasting With The Founder Of Still Austin
🧠 A Bootcamp For Your Attention Span
💰 Hampton Is Looking For Moderators For Their Groups
And way (way) more…
Fully human-written as always.
Did someone forward this to you? You can sign up here if you like it!
-Ethan
First Up… Let’s Make You More Money
Jason Cohen, the 2x local unicorn founder of SmartBear and WP Engine, just published a book, and he’s coming in to talk about it!
Hidden Multipliers is all about how to drive growth and profitability by pulling a handful of levers that everyone has access to, but most people rarely know to look for.
He’s joining me and other members of The Review Crew, Sept. 3rd, for a live Q&A. So if you’d like to join, snag your copy, send me the receipt, and I’ll send you the invite. This is gonna be awesome
Upcoming Events
🗓️ Aug. 13: Campfire: Tech Ranch, which is focused on helping international founders enter US markets (particularly Texas), is bringing back their mixer series
🗓️ Aug. 14: The Great Bifurcation: I basically never include online events in here, but this new “AI-First Organization” webinar series from Gauntlet looks like a must-see
🗓️ Aug. 15: Cursor + Grok Hackathon: Hunter Carver and Jake O’Shea are hosting this for solo builders or teams of up to four. First place team takes home $1.5k/person
🗓️ Aug. 17: AI Show & Tell: Chris Taylor is lining up a mix of longer presentations and shorter open mic demo’s down at The Red Fridge
🗓️ Aug. 17: Attensity - Attention. Liberation Workshop: Have you heard of the Strother School of Radical Attention? Eve Mitchell is gonna tell you about it, and take you through hands-on exercises to recover and guard your attention these days
🗓️ Aug. 18: Code For Community: Inaugural meeting! Damon Bodine’s new meetup is designed to connect technologists with community orgs solving tough problems
🗓️ Aug. 18: Simplify SEO with AI: West Austin Chamber is hosting Roger Jorns for this workshop on how to use AI to get leverage in your SEO strategy
🗓️ Aug. 19: Starburst ICDA Demo Day: I’m shocked I hadn’t heard of this until now, but the first cohort through the Innovation Corridor Defense Accelerator is presenting their defense and aerospace startups live
🗓️ Aug. 19: Thought Experiments On Patios: Nicole Forrester’s new series absolutely blew up! Join interesting people for cold drinks and philosophical quandaries
🗓️ Aug. 19: Recruit. Retain. Reward: If you’re hiring, the BBB is b-b-bringing in reps from Fidelity, Voya, etc to share what’s realistic/competitive for benefits these days
🗓️ Aug. 19: Data Center Dialogue: Amy Polvado has a fascinating background in applied materials, and is leading a discussion on the risks, rewards, and realities of data centers in communities
🗓️ Aug. 19: ATX CTO: Every month, William Baxter curates a discussion for senior tech execs. This month’s topic: Running Startups at Speed & Scale
🗓️ Aug. 19: Night School: Another one from Gauntlet. This time, from their “Night School” series called, The Tools We’d Actually Use Right Now.
🗓️ Aug. 19: Spot The Slop: As long as we’re going off the rails and allowing webinars this week, Cat Valverde is the local writer or one of my favorite AI newsletters, and is co-hosting this interactive call for execs/founders who want to build a personal brand without looking lame
🗓️ Aug. 20: Nuclear Innovation Showcase: Jacob Borgeson is bringing together a killer panel of innovators on the leading edge of nuclear
🗓️ Aug. 20: State of Tech: Another unbelievable lineup, including Heather Brunner, CEO of WP Engine, AI legend Will “Whurley” Hurley, unicorn founder Amir Husain, and James Carwell of CesiumAstro
🗓️ Aug. 20: Generosity Builds Better Business: Bobby Jenkins, long-time owner of ABC Home & Commercial Services (~$200m/yr), is giving a talk on philanthropy
🗓️ Aug. 21: TWIB Luncheon: Natalie Lynch is joining Texas Women in Business for a talk on hiring (and how to avoid the biggest mistakes)
🗓️ Aug. 20-24: Market Masters: For serious DTC brands, this one’s three days of ultra-deep-dive hot-seat style panels, dissecting 7- to 9-figure brands
🗓️ Aug. 27: Frontier Build ATX: David Boskovic is hosting this 10 hour hackathon with John Davison and Jake O’Shea, designed to teach you how to build an autonomous software factory
The Distiller Series
This was good enough I had to break it out on its own – On August 20th, Chris Seals, the founder of Still Austin, is doing a live Q&A + tasting down at The Red Fridge Society, and I highly, highly recommend you check it out.
He and I first met when he was a guest speaker at Boost ATX, a group here in town that helps tech founders navigate from 7- to 8-figures. I was a board member there, not a participant (ABR ain’t there yet), and I remember wondering, “can this group really learn anything from the bourbon business?”
Answer: Oh, hell yeah
Chris is an electrifying storyteller, and an incredible operator, and he’s used both of those talents to grow Still Austin into one of the fastest-growing bourbon brands in the entire country. Truly, one of the most impressive success stories in a town full of success stories.
For The Creatives
Most of the time, I curate events that are designed for more traditional SMBs and startups. But I know a lot of you also have a very creative side. If that’s you, there are a handful of art-business events coming up you may dig…
Aug. 16: In The Studio: Join bespoke hat maker Alexis Clukey, founder of Wander Wild, in her studio, to see how the process works, meet other creatives, and talk about the unique patron vs customer mindset she brings to her work
Aug. 18: Creative Founder Hot Seat: Kristen Pavle and Dave Gorum are hosting these workshops 2x monthly, to help you get unstuck on your creative projects
Aug. 20: Build Your Rollout: For independent musicians, Vu Ho and Chaka Mahone are hosting a hands-on session with three other artists, to help you build a release plan and direct-to-fan funnel for sales.
Speaking of Creativity…
Our second local unicorn founder who’s launching a book. Brett Hurt, serial founder of Bazaarvoice, Coremetrics, and data.world, is sitting down at Book People on August 23rd to talk about his latest release, Love Conquers Fear.
For the last year or so, Brett’s been thinking, podcasting, and writing a lot about the coming age of AI Abundance, and what it’ll actually take to get there. This book dives into the realms of both science and spirituality to try and answer the question:
What does it actually look like to move beyond scarcity mindset at a global level?
RECOMMENDED PARTNERS
I don’t sell one-off ads the way many newsletters too. ABR is powered by long-term partnerships with a handful of incredible founders who get the vision, see the value, and want to help make this newsletter possible. So if you’re in the market for one of the following, check out…
AMP Leadership Collective: Ambitious goals often require going beyond your team's current ability. Angela Parker's Custom Team Retreats build the alignment and clarity to close that gap.
GSD Camp: There’s a huge gap between vibe coding and building software that survives the real world. GSD Camp closes it for you in 6 weeks. Designed for busy founders, PMs, and ops leads – get the 5% of know-how you need to let AI handle the other 95%
Other Fun Stuff Coming Up
TODAY: Mid-Summer Bard & Brew
Aug. 14: Float Films: The Talented Mr. Ripley
Aug. 14: Ferriss Bueller’s Day Off 40th Anniversary Screening
Aug. 14: Eat The Film: Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
Aug. 14: The Art Of French Pastry
Aug. 15: Harvest Together At Diamond Vineyards
Aug. 18: Dive-In Movies - Pirates Of The Caribbean
Aug. 18-19: Come From Away (A Play)
Aug. 20: Movies On The Lake - Mean Girls
Aug. 20: Alpine Wine: Lunch & Learn
Aug. 20: Purple Perfection - Learn To Make Ube Tres Leches Cake
Aug. 21-23: PBR Gambler Days Rodeo
Aug. 22: Hands On Honey Extraction
Aug. 22-23: ZZ Top Live at the Moody Theatre
Aug. 23: Barrel-Aged Brunch & Bottle Share
Aug. 23: French Macaroon Class
Philosophy + Blindfolds…
This one’s a little further out (Aug. 26th), but space is limited and it’s gonna be super popular, so I wanted to put it on your radar now.
Nicole Forrester, who runs the (wildly popular) Thought Experiments On Patios group I mentioned above, is going live with a brand new format: Thought Experiments Blindfolded
If you’ve ever seen those blindfolded dinners, it’s sort of like that…
Twelve anonymous strangers blindfolded around small tables
Two 25-minute discussions of philosophical mind-benders
Light bites (plus wine, to free up any thoughts the blindfolds don’t)
Nicole is superb at curating these experiences, so if you’re looking for a fun night out, put your name in for this (ignore the Aug. 11th deadline, you’re still good today)
Word On The Street
A roundup of jobs, product launches, fundraising opportunities, and more worth checking out…
Divinc Women In Tech Incubator: A 10-week program, including coaching, mentorship, and a demo day (if you’re reading this outside ATX, they cover flights here + hotels + meals too).
AWT Mentorship Cohort: A six-month program from Austin Women In Tech, that includes monthly group meetings, and multiple in-person events.
SBA Prizes: This one is a deeper read, but the SBA recently announced up to $20m in prizes for companies working on critical supply chain choke points. If you or a founder you know are in energy, or advanced metals/materials manufacturing, this one’s worth a look.
Hampton Moderators: A lot of you know that before ABR, I was one of the first employees over at Hampton, and have a lot of love for that team. They’re growing in Austin, putting together more core groups here, and are looking for experienced founders and facilitators who want to work as part-time moderators.
Brands: You Should Meet Elle
If you’ve been in the ATX business scene for a while, you know Elle Beecher, founder of The Board Walks (and if you’re new here, it’s the ONE event I recommend to everyone new in town).
More than 20k people have visited her events over the last ~2 years, and she’s now pushing to new cities, and crafting partnerships with a handful of brands who are aligned with the mission and want to reach a crazy-dedicated fan base.
If you…
Are a potential sponsor, or…
Have contacts at a brand that would be perfect
Take a look at the link below and get in touch. This isn’t a paid ad or anything. Elle’s just the top 0.01% of community builders I’ve met in my career, and this is a good opportunity for brands trying to deploy sponsor dollars.
Insights
Thought-provoking ideas and stories published by founders in ATX
1. Make Your AI Diagrams Suck Less: Local founder, Cathryn Lavery, has been building a ton of cool AI utilities to help run her DTC brand. Recently, she open-sourced this library of diagrams (to use in her newsletter, pitch decks, etc). It hit No. 1 on GitHub and now has 9,000+ stars. Swipe it
2. One Of My Favorite New Newsletters: Local real estate investor, Sasha Tetera, recently joined the newsletter course I’m running, and launched Rooms To Breathe, highlighting women building wealth via real estate. The stories are badass (like this one of her mentor, who started after 50 and still flipped $50m in property so far). She’s got a bunch of cool stuff cookin’ so be sure to check this one out.
3. How To Pay Yourself As A Founder: Ryan Deiss belongs to that small group of people who talk about the REAL problems founders face, even when they run companies doing $5m, $10m and beyond. I wanted to share this one specifically because I’ve seen SO many people struggle with this. Not just the mindset, but also the mechanics/logistics of how much to take, when 👇
Whew, okay we made it. That’s all for this week!
See you out there,
-Ethan
