Staying Busy During The Holiday

Welcome to this 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).

My name’s Ethan and I’m the one writing this (holler at me here!).

Events are slowing down for the year and I’m headed for winter break, so there’s no email next week. But I’m leaving you with plenty to keep you busy, including:

• 🗓️ 12+ Business Events Next Week

• 🔥 A Live Cookout with Franklin’s BBQ Founder (tonight!)

• 🎥 Tim Ferriss’ Go-To Documentaries

• 💪 Ryan Holiday’s New Year Challenge

• And more…

I’ll be back in your inbox Dec. 26th, and have a bunch of cool stuff planned here for 2025.

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

-Ethan

PS. It’s the holiday home stretch, so be sure to check out the ATX Gift Guide that we published this year. It’s got dozens of cool and quirky local brands in it, from TikTok-viral coloring books to THC-infused chocolates and cocktails, and lots of stuff in between.

It’s the most comprehensive local gift guide i’ve seen this year (and really really ridiculously good-looking, thanks to Emily Preble of Unpack’d, who designed the entire thing).

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.

🗓️ TONIGHT: Founder Institute Fall Demo Day: There’s a VIP investor hour before the event (approval required), and an after-party at Otis Hotel

🗓️ TONIGHT: Startup Holiday Party: Hosted by Michael Marra, founder of Entre, which is a social network for founders

🗓️ Dec. 13: ATX Youtubers - Q1 Content Planning: Sara Loretta’s new community for people upping their Youtube game – meeting to get a jump on 2025 content planning

🗓️ Dec. 13: Networking Hike: A new monthly series hosted by Javier Castaneda. The group’s meeting here tomorrow afternoon to walk the Barton Creek Greenbelt. Text or email to join! 👇

🗓️ Dec. 17: Women In Tech Happy Hour: Austin Women in Tech is co-hosting their holiday happy hour (plus drag performance) with Out In Tech over at Cheer Up Charlie’s

🗓️ Dec. 17: Facilitation Lab: Every month, Douglas Ferguson and Erin Warner host this hands-on meetup where leaders hone their group facilitation skills

🗓️ Dec. 18: CTO Meeting: William Baxter is gathering senior technical leaders to discuss this month’s theme – Measuring Productivity

🗓️ Dec. 18: Nonprofit Financial Management: If you’re thinking of starting a nonprofit in ‘25, Holly Raymond is giving a class on setting up the financial systems

🗓️ Dec. 18: Conscious Connection: Yash Singri is back with his non-traditional networking event – cohosted with the Red Fridge Society one of my all-time favorite founder communities in ATX. Wear your ugliest sweater

🗓️ Dec. 18: Keeping Up with Gen-AI (online): A cool new lunch & learn series from the Austin AI Alliance – meets weekly for a curated generative AI show & tell

🗓️ Dec. 19: Business + Birdies: My buddy Tomer Soran gets a group of people together every Thursday morning at Butler Pitch + Putt to chat business and play 9 holes.

NOTE: I confirmed with him, they’re on for the 19th. The webpage will update soon.

🗓️ Dec. 19: Book Discussion: What’s Next (Online): Jay Boisseau is leading a discussion of the new book, What’s Next Is Now: How to Live Future-Ready. Jay leads the Austin Forum on Tech & Society and his events are excellent. Definitely recommend

🗓️ Dec. 19: Nerd Night: Like a local version of TED, but “For Nerds, By Nerds.” This month’s theme is a mix of construction and (poetic) destruction

🗓️ Dec. 20: TWIB Holiday Luncheon: Texas Women in Business events typically fill up fast, so if you’ve got your eye on this one, be sure to RSVP soon

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

Fun Stuff Coming Up

TONIGHT: This looks very cool. St. John’s Studio is doing a live-fire dinner with Aaron Franklin of Franklin’s BBQ. There’ll be apple cider margaritas, coconut-smoked old fashions, fire-thrown hot toddies, live music, and more.

Tickets include food, drink, and a 2025 membership to St. John Social Club, a private bar and event series opening in the spring.

I’ve written about St. John’s before. It’s owned by photographer, Jody Horton, whose work has appeared everywhere from Bon Appetit to The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, and many, many more. He also produces these beautiful cookbooks with local Michelin-starred chef, Jesse Griffiths.

Other cool events include…

• Dec. 12-15: Watchmaker’s Song - Reimagining The Nutcracker

• Dec. 13: Violet Crown Sessions - Cool Backyard Concert Series

• Dec. 13: Austin’s Famous 37th St. Lights (OG Weird Austin)

• Dec. 13-15: Celtic Christmas at Mozart’s

• Dec. 14: Black for the Holidays Makers Market & Holiday Fest

• Dec. 14: 5K(ish) Holiday Beer Run at Southern Heights Brewing

• Dec. 14: Traveling Chess Club Holiday Party at Hold Out Brewing

• Dec. 14-23: 49th Annual Armadillo Christmas Art Bazaar (big!)

• Dec. 15: The Giving Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas

• Dec. 15: Camp Lenoir Champagne Tasting Class & NYE Pre-Sale

• Dec. 17: Learn To Make a Succulent Terrarium Ornament

• Dec. 17: Winter Sip Series - Scotch Tasting Class

• Dec. 17: Austin Symphony - Nightmare Before Christmas

• Dec. 19: Paramount Theatre Presents: It’s a Wonderful Life

• Dec. 19: The Nutcracker Reimagined In 1920’s Harlem

• Dec. 20: The Nightmare Before Christmas Ball at Riches Art

• Dec. 21: Princess Bride - An Evening with Cary Elwes (Inconceivable!)

One Last Thing… Local super-connector, Alice Huang, is hosting two singles’ events specifically for people looking for deep, lasting romantic connections.

I’ve never been to her dating events, but Alice organizes a ton of other things here in town, and I’ve been to those (if you recall the recent meetup with Jason Calacanis, that was her doing).

She always puts a lot of effort into curating thoughtful experiences.

The workshops are taking place at Casa de Luz’ Kava Bar on the mornings of Dec 21st (ages 35+) and Dec 28 (ages 28-40). Be sure to read the full event descriptions too because there are 25% early-bird coupon codes for each.

Word On The Street

A roundup of cool local opportunities to grow your business, wealth, or personal brand

• Trying to Connect With Investors? Recent Austin transplant, Jason Calacanis, posted an open call for startups and investors over on X. Tell him about your biz, and prowl the replies for cool new contacts

• Pitch Your Startup at Startup Grind’s global pitch battle on January 15. You’ll be competing against other ATX founders for a shot at the North America semi-final

• Nick Gray is Giving Away $43k to celebrate his 43rd birthday. Recommend your favorite non-profit and they may get a $1k check. Looks like about half the money has yet to be allocated, so you can drop ideas here

• Here’s your regular reminder that if your business is based in ATX (or relocating here), the city offers thousands back in job-based awards and tax refunds

Insights

Thought-provoking ideas and stories published by founders in ATX

Since we’re headed into a break for the holidays, I’m leaving you with a bit more to chew on in this section than normal.

1. Tim Ferriss’ Go-To Documentaries: If you’re looking for something to watch over the holiday, consider these recommendations, which Tim says have shaped his thinking, and that he revisits often (there are some very cool recs in the comments too):

• Roadrunner: About Anthony Bourdaine

• Searching for Sugar Man: He says it’s “SPECTACULAR” (all caps)

• Bird by Bird with Anne: About author Anne Lamott & the writing life

• Sour Grapes: A con man floods the US with millions in fake wine

• The Work: Intense, and not for everyone, but full of hope

• Dealt: Says he immediately wanted to watch it again

• RBG: The personal journey and rise of Ruth Bater Ginsberg

2. “Ambition Was Not My Thing” Long-time Austin founder, Matt Shook, joined the LoneStartup podcast to share his journey from local slacker working at a juice bar eight hours a week, to acquiring it out of eviction, and building it into the $20m+ Juiceland empire over the last 20 years.

3. Huge Shout-Out to Codie Sanchez whose new book, Main Street Millionaire, just cracked the Top-10 on USA Today’s Bestseller List. It’s also topped Amazon and Forbes lists, and made Next Big Idea’s reading club.

Codie was a crucial member of our community at The Hustle, and it’s wild to see everything she’s built in the last few years. Here’s a throw-back to her Reddit post about how she grew her email list to 10k subs in its first 30 days.

She’s hosting a live event tonight (the 12th) for the book. You can still snag tickets to join online here.

4. What To Do After Black Friday: Local founder Jimmy Kim sat down for another episode of the Send It email marketing podcast (one of my new favorites) to talk about how to capitalize on all the new first-time customers you got recently.

Jimmy also co-hosts Commerce Roundtable, a super tactical conference for DTC/Ecomm founders. They’re releasing all the content from this year’s event on Youtube for free. Taylor Holiday’s talk just dropped the other day.

5. Who’s Making Money In AI? Neville Medhora sat down with Bilawal Sidhu, host of the TED AI show, for a wide-ranging conversation on everything from VC to building an audience, monetizing content, and more.

6. Fixing Your Brittle Points Unicorn founder Jason Cohen, of WP Engine, released this new piece on how to avoid the kinds of “brittle” vulnerabilities that can kill an otherwise successful company.

Unrelated: I also enjoyed this recent mental framework of his 👇

Local Shop of the Week

The Painted Porch | 912 Main St, Bastrop

If you haven’t been out to Ryan Holiday’s bookstore in Bastrop yet, it’s worth the trip (another great spot to shop for the holidays).

It always reminds me of a 3D-printed version of a podcast – filled with titles from all the major names you’ve heard on the circuit, plus a bunch of classic books on philosophy, stoicism, a life well-lived, and more.

They’ve also got an interestingly-curated kids section, so if you’re trying to find something new for your kids that won’t melt their brains into goo, check it out.

Speaking of… Ryan kicks off every year hosting a three-week online challenge, designed to help you put stoic ideas into practice for the year. Includes 3 live Q&A sessions with Ryan, so if stoicism is your jam, check it out (can also be gifted).

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