SKU's Spring '25 Track Opens Up

Welcome to this issue of The Austin Business Review, a roundup of great local events and insights for Austin business owners (plus some other cool stuff for your life outside of work).

Big News: This email just turned seven months old! Thank you for making that happen.

I’ve got a bunch of cool ideas for the next seven months, and to help fund them, I’m testing partnerships with some friends around town.

Long-time readers will recognize the names (down in the “Partners” section). I’ve been raving about them long before there was any potential collab.

On deck this week, we’ve got:

• 📅 Upcoming Events

• 📣 Opportunities for funding

• 🎨 He branded Austin by hand

• And more…

Did someone forward this to you? If you like it, you can sign up here!

-Ethan

PS. Since we’re celebrating seven months, I want to shout out one of ABR’s very first readers (and the first local shop I ever profiled). Toni Yancer, owner of Toni’s Toffee.

I’ve been interviewing founders here in town about how they take vacations, and Toni’s got this cool thing she does where she visits far away chocolate shops. Her and her team just got back from a multi-stop road trip through Maine!

I love this idea of doing ambassador trips to hang out with other people in your industry, and see how they do things. More from those interviews to come soon!

Upcoming Events

Running a business is tough. Here are a few great places to meet cool people going through the same sh*t you are.

Next week’s the last week of the month, which means a bunch of the AI meetups are getting together. AITX, The Austin AI Alliance, AI Camp, and the AI Product Collective all meet up.

As for non-AI stuff…

🗓️ Aug. 23: Pitch & Run: Chat business with Zeke Torres and a bunch of other founders, funders, and startup folks on a 4.2 mile run around the lake

🗓️ Aug. 23: All-In Sunset Social: Join Joseph McConnell and other fans of the All-In pod to discuss the show, business, and all things tech

🗓️ Aug. 23: Founder Happy Hour: Every other Friday, Chad Sakonchick hosts an informal happy hour for experienced founders. Open to newcomers - ping him on Twitter to connect!

🗓️ Aug. 24: The Board Walks: Not strictly business-related, but Elle Beecher’s group is my top rec for anyone new to the city, and lots of founders/investors are regulars

🗓️ Aug. 24: Founder Runners Club: Every Saturday, Anette Armenta and Tim Tkachenko host a 5K run around the lake for founders

🗓️ Aug. 25: Sprint Club: Every Sunday, Ankith Harathi hosts a sprint workout group – open to all, but most of the attendees are seasoned founders in ATX

🗓️ Aug. 25: Friendworking Happy Hour: Erin Laverone is a founder here in town, and she hosts these highly curated happy hours that people love

🗓️ Aug. 26: Pitch Workshop: Fundraising soon? Capital Factory mentor Wen Zhang leads a $320m+ product portfolio, and has helped 300+ founders with their pitches at events like this

🗓️ Aug. 27: Personal Brand Advantage: Catherine Meyer’s female founder collective is hosting Steve Nisenson to discuss the power of personal brand

🗓️ Aug. 27: What She Said - IRL Group Chat: Emily Salberg and Sarah Catherine Baker are building a referral network for women in business. Join ‘em for this monthly get-together

🗓️ Aug. 27: Cybersecurity Essentials: Texas Capital’s Head of Information Risk, Steve French, is giving a two-hour crash course on how to protect your biz

🗓️ Aug. 27: Business After Hours: For those of you out west, tired of going downtown for events, the West Austin Chamber is hosting a happy hour

🗓️ Aug. 27: Zero to Growth to Exit: Killer panel, including Remington Tonar, who co-founded unicorn Cart.com, Maryam Taheri, who’s led 3 different companies to exit, and Greg Allen, CEO of Datasent with two previous exits

🗓️ Aug. 28: LinkedIn Demand Generation: Another from Wen Zhang, this time, online!

🗓️ Aug. 28: CTO Club: Every month, William Baxter brings together a highly curated group of experienced tech executives to trade insights. This month’s theme is "Multi-Team Coordination"

🗓️ Aug. 28: Leaders Unplugged: Yashas Singri is gathering a small group of leaders to connect and discuss challenges in their work and personal life

🗓️ Aug. 29: Circular Austin Showcase: Five local businesses (including one of my favorites, Wanderlust Wine Co.) will be pitching a panel of judges for $10k

🗓️ Aug. 29: Election Climate & Economic Analysis: Matthew Watkins, politics editor at Texas Tribune, is giving a non-partisan perspective on how the upcoming election may impact the business ecosystem this year

🗓️ Aug. 29: Young Chamber Mixer: Did you know we have a “Young Chamber” focused on millennials, and organizations that employ a lot of young people?

🗓️ Aug. 31: ATX Writing Club: Not strictly business-related, but Zac Solomon’s writing group is a great way to meet interesting people here in town and get some focused work done

Hosting something cool? Email me the details below and I’ll try to share it in the newsletter or on LinkedIn.

Fun Stuff Coming Up

…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.

• TONIGHT: Poolside Movies - Spirited Away

• TONIGHT: Hats & Bowties Whiskey Tasting

• Aug. 23: Body Art Run Club - 5K & Cold Plunge

• Aug. 24: Girls That Golf - 9 Holes at 9AM

• Aug. 24: Secret Disco - Triple Venue Takeover

• Aug. 24: Blast from the Past - 80s Cover Bands at Coral Snake

• Aug. 25: Paddle for Pups - Benefitting Austin Pets Alive

• Aug. 25: Austin Pickle Play Day

• Aug. 25: Pizza & Jazz at Love Supreme

• Aug. 26: Meet Your Neighbor Party (for people living in 78702)

• Aug. 27: Odd World - Retro Games & Movie Night

• Aug. 28: Guided Japanese Whiskey Tasting at The Grackle

• Aug. 28: Swift’s Attic & Elijah Craig Dinner

• Aug. 29: Movies on the Lake - Footloose

• Aug. 29: Wine of Western Australia - 5 Course Dinner & Tasting

• Aug. 31: WILLSPIKE - Volleyball Tournament

One Last Thing… If you enjoy some of the weirder events I mention in here, you gotta check out Michelle Rueda’s new email, What’s Weird ATX.

Michelle’s a founder and AI developer here in Austin, and the creator of WhatsGoodATX, a platform you can use to search events based on your mood. I’ve used it for a while and always find cool stuff there I don’t see anywhere else.

Word On The Street

A roundup of cool local opportunities to grow your business

• Last Call for Pitch Decks: Get in front of a panel of VCs at Morrison Foerster’s Fall Pitch Day. Finalists get coaching from the MoFo team (which has advised startups and investors on $110B in financing over the last 5 years)

• Applications are open for SKU’s spring 2025 CPG accelerator cohort (ignore the typo that says “Fall ‘24”… It’s definitely Spring ‘25)

• Reminder: If your company is located in ATX (or relocating here), the City of Austin offers thousands back on wages, hiring, and property taxes.

Local Shop of the Week

Not an ad – just a cool spot you should know

Community Garden | 1401 Cedar Ave

I mentioned Zac Solomon’s writing group (above). Well, this is where they meet. It’s a cool spot over on the east side, and I think the description from their website says it all…

“Acai cafe by day. Beer and wine by night. Accompanied by a retail section, carrying records, tapes, soft goods & zines from all Texas artists.”

I’m gonna be honest – the fact that they sell cassettes is what won me over. But the coffee’s great, and the atmosphere reminds me of the Friends set. They also host DJs, and pop-ups, and art nights, and happy hours throughout the week.

Definitely worth a look.

Local Artist of the Week

Last week, I told you about Greg Jones, one of the few hand-painted sign artists that gave Austin its unique look and feel.

Well, there’s another name you should know too…

Gary Martin is behind some of the most famous brands you see every day. Magnolia Cafe? P. Terry’s? Torchy’s Tacos? Esther’s Follies?

He did ‘em all (by hand, no less).

And not just the sign on the street, but in many cases the logos, menus, and interior touches that give them all their unique look and feel.

He also did a bunch of the signs for local tattoo and barber shops. Seriously, his IG page goes on and on!

He got his start in San Francisco, where one of his first solo projects was a barter deal with a woman named Patricia Zeigler for the sign on her and her husband’s brand new clothing shop, Banana Republic.

In the early 80s, vinyl lettering machines were putting hand-painted sign makers out of business.

“We’re fucked,” a fellow artist told him. But Gary didn’t buy the hype.

He set up shop in Austin a few years later, and spent almost forty years transforming the look and feel of the city by hand. A great reminder that even if your industry’s changing, sometimes your entire legacy is still ahead of you.

"Everything in society is plastic and hurried," he once told The Statesman. “I don't do what others do.”

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