Austin's F*cking Field of Dreams

PLUS: Fine-Tuning AI To Write Like You... The Longevity Trend from a VCs Perspective... Buying A House At 3%... And more...

Author

Ethan Brooks
May 09, 2024

Welcome to this issue of Austin Business Review, a weekly roundup of 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!).

This week, we’re looking at:

  • 📅 Upcoming Events

  • 📣 Word On The Street

  • 🤠 Local Artist of the Week

  • 📍 “The field of f*cking dreams”

Did someone forward this to you? If you like it, you can sign up here, and connect with everyone at the bottom.

-Ethan

PS. Happy Mother’s Day to all the incredible moms out there building businesses. Austin’s very own Kendra Scott is a cool example of a badass founder who built a billion-dollar company while also prioritizing family. Check out my case study on her here.

Upcoming Events

If you’re into AI, there’s three great events going on today…

Other great business events coming up…

Fun (Non-Work) Stuff Coming Up…

Obviously Mother’s Day is the big thing this week. Tribeza’s done a good job curating all the brunch options, but if you want to be your mom’s favorite, book a spot at Tillie’s and thank me later.

Here’s some other cool stuff too…

  • TONIGHT: Movies on the Lake - Mama Mia

  • May 10: Eco Luxe Pop-Up Dinner at Barr Mansion

  • May 11: Screen on the Green - The Goonies

  • May 11: Microgreens Workshop at Zilker Gardens

  • May 11: Wine Drinkability Class at Hill Country Wine Academy

  • May 11: Beginner Bread Making at Gathered Grains

  • May 11: Kinda Tropical Vintage Market

  • May 11: Native Plant Container Gardening Workshop

  • May 12: Herbal Scrubs and Oils with Native Texas Plants

  • May 14: Bottom of the Barrel at Comedy Mothership

  • May 14: APL Cooking Club - Cooking & Eating in Media and Literature

  • May 15: Live Screening of Join or Die - A documentary about the importance of in-person community

  • May 15: Mixology Class with Aloha Cocktail Co.

  • May 16: Meatless Meals - Mastering Mushrooms Cooking Class

  • May 16: Heaven’s Door Bourbon Dinner

  • May 17: Yoga for Dismantling People Pleasing

  • May 9-19: Touch The Art, Interactive Art Show

  • May 16-19: Affordable Art Fair - 60 galleries, and art ranging $100-$10k

Lastly… Next week is basically made for millennials when it comes to bar trivia, with dedicated events for Star Wars, Harry Potter, Taylor Swift, Schitt’s Creek, Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Shrek, and more…

Word On The Street

Thought-provoking ideas and stories published by founders and VCs in ATX

1. Are You Hunting Antelope or Field Mice? I needed this reminder from Tim Ferriss this week. Favorite line (excerpted from this book)👇

A lion is fully capable of capturing, killing, and eating a field mouse. But it turns out that the energy required to do so exceeds the caloric content of the mouse itself. So a lion that spent its day hunting and eating field mice would slowly starve to death.

2. Balancing the Boardroom: If you’re passionate about supporting women in entrepreneurship, check out this (un-gated) report from Molly George’s company, Kickstand. There’s a lot to be optimistic about (e.g., Gen Z is 14% more likely than older peers to be aiming for C-suite roles) and plenty of work left to do too.

3. Buying A Home At 3%: I’ve said it before, but Kirtana Reddy’s Selling Austin real estate newsletter is one of my absolute favorites. This issue breaks down fascinating data, including info on assumable VA loans which can save you hundreds of thousands over the course of your loan.

4. The Longevity Trend - A VCs Perspective: Loved this piece from Amanda Eakin, Principal over at Sputnik VC. If you’re a Huberman fan, this is a fun roundup of data and startups in the longevity space.

5. Fine Tuning AI to Write Like You: I’ll admit it - I’m still a snob when it comes to AI-created content. But if you’re not, this tutorial is excellent. Michael Daigler breaks down exactly how to fine-tune Llama 3 to write newsletters in your voice.

Local Artist of the Week

You may not know Matt Walton’s name (yet), but if you were born in the 80s or 90s, he made your childhood magical.

At 22, he was hired as a feature animator at Disney, and worked on movies like Rescuers Down Under, Prince and the Pauper, and Beauty and the freakin’ Beast.

Then, he became a toy designer, making things for FAO Schwartz, Matel, and even companies like McDonalds/Subway.

He sold a game (Titanic) to Sony that was strikingly similar to the DiCaprio movie that came out a few years later. And his subsequent agency, M5, worked with everyone from Paramount, to MGM, Hasbro and more.

He designed the board game Taboo, if you remember that one. Outburst and Scategories too. Then his company was acquired, and he stayed on to advise future clients like Microsoft, and Hallmark.

We’re gonna have to skip ahead a bit because we’re still only in 1998, but suffice it to say, he’s had a fascinating journey, founding multiple companies, and leading product design teams everywhere from Oracle to Dell, to DARPA and more.

Today, he’s on a painting sabbatical. At least, that’s what his LinkedIn says.

It looks like he’s got another company, and also still consults… But the painting is what we’re here for.

He specializes in custom portraits of your dog (perfect for Austin). Check these things out, then hit him up on Instagram to say hey 👇😂

Cool Spot to Check Out

If you like the movie The Sandlot, you’re going to love The Long Time.

It’s a ballpark. It’s a community. Or as local artist Evan Voyles put it, “It’s the f*cking field of dreams...”

Local teams, playing for a hometown crowd, it was started by architect Jack Sanders as a way of keeping small-town spirit alive and it looks like such a blast.

Chickens in the dugout. Dogs on the field. Live music, wooden bats, and cold beer on ice, just east of the airport.

Season tickets for two are just $100/yr. or if you’ve got a team, their Clubhouse membership gets you discounted access to the field, and an invite to the Sandlot World Series.

They’ve got a double-header this weekend: Dollys vs Playboys (Jack’s team), and Honey Busters vs Jardineros, with live music from Charles Thibodeaux and the Austin Cajun Aces

Check out YETI’s mini-documentary for more on the fascinating history behind this place.

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

Thank you to all the incredible local founders and leaders who share great insights and events. You can follow and connect with them here…