Weekly Roundup: June 5, 2025

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!).

This week, you’ll find:

• 📅 Upcoming Events (a bunch)

• 🤖 Google’s AI Agent World Tour

• 💰 A $550k Grant for Nonprofits Aiding Women

• 📈 Your New Guide to Vibe Marketing

• and more…

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

-Ethan

Upcoming Events

🗓️ TONIGHT: Hardware Happy Hour: Their description is better than mine – "ragtag group of entrepreneurs [meeting] for beers, nerdy conversations & other shenanigans”

🗓️ TONIGHT: AI Tinkerers Dinner: Co-organized by Achyut Boggaram, computer vision scientist and Sr. ML Engineer developing autonomous semi’s at Torc

🗓️ June 6: Recess: For ambitious women, tired of the routine – network, dance, and get re-energized with Angie Lee and Melody Afkami

🗓️ June 6: Founder Fridays: Hosted every month by founder Georges Colbert in partnership with LAUNCH, the VC firm founded by Jason Calacanis

🗓️ June 6-8: Live AI Lonestar Hackathon: Shout out to Allie Mullen for the heads up on this one, hosted over at Antler HQ in partnership with Google.

🗓️ June 9-11: Tech Connect Innovation Conf: With eight different program tracks, including advanced materials, manufacturing, energy, biotech, and AI

🗓️ June 10: Creative Minds & Good Vibes: Grab drinks and talk shop with Arwen Tag, Anthony Deptula and other creatives around town

🗓️ June 10: Leading Ladies of West Austin: Lindsey Werner will be talking about neuroscience-backed ways to cultivate joy, even in high-pressure work settings

🗓️ June 11: Beyond AI - Human-Centric Leadership: Matt Bennett is leading this panel with Kat Rector, who has her finger on the pulse of all things tech in Austin

🗓️ June 11: Preventing Outbreaks of Anthrax, Ebola… and Zombies: Lieutenant Commander Adam Samuels spent years fighting international bio- and defense-threats

🗓️ June 11: AI Agent World Tour: A developer-centric event, co-hosted by Google and the ML Ops Community, reservations close tomorrow

🗓️ June 11: Watch Out for Imposters: Marcy Willingham from Frontier Bank is hosting this Lunch & Learn about AI scams targeting small businesses

🗓️ June 11: Boat Burning for Beginners: Join Sulit Press founder, Michelle Savage, to celebrate the release of their latest book, highlighting stories of women who traded safety for self-employment

🗓️ June 12: Health Supernova: If you’re in biotech, this one looks good. A multi-day series, covering everything from AI-Augmented Hospitals to brain-computer interfaces

🗓️ June 12: AI Real World Use Cases: Austin Women in Tech is hosting this panel discussion with AI founders & CTOs like Vanessa Gutierrez, Emily Gupton, and more

🗓️ June 13: Startup Walk: Co-hosted by Sam Huntington of the Hill Climbers podcast (for founders who love endurance sports) and Pat Killoren, host of Lonestartup (How I Built This for ATX founders)

🗓️ June 13: Limited Supply: Join Shin Takeda, Deb Mukherjee and other DTC founders for a drink and conversation down at Cosmic Pickle

One Last Thing… The next installment of the We Should Get Coffee, Coffee is coming up June 20 at St. Elmo Springdale.

If you’re new here, the idea’s simple – this is a fun way to catch up on those coffee meetings you’ve been meaning to schedule while also meeting other cool founders who read this email. Simply…

• Go to your inbox

• Ctrl + F “grab coffee”

• Send those people this link, and come hang

See friends. Make new ones. Drink coffee. Win, win, win. Here’s an AI-Generated image of what people look like when they socialize (in case you’ve forgotten). Come!

Other Fun Stuff Coming Up…

• TONIGHT: Pickleball Fight Club

• June 6: Back to the 80’s Epic Bar Crawl

• June 6: Music Under the Star at Bullock History Museum

• June 7: Movies on the Beach – JAWS

• June 8: Toast of Texas – Featuring 20+ Texas Wineries

• June 8: Whiskey & Fire – Chefs, Distillers, and Pitmasters of Texas

• June 11: Katherine Center Hosts Rom-Com Night at the Paramount

• June 12: Intro to Laser Engraving

• June 13: Tattoo Workshop at Dark Horse

• June 14: Wine & Play

• June 15: Freez’n Cold Plunge Party

One last thing… Every summer, renouned director Robert Rodriguez hosts film nights over at The Paramount, and next week, he’s doing an epic double-feature: Highlander + The Untouchables.

(Just when you thought there can be only one!)

Prepare by tuning into his latest conversation with Tim Ferriss (he was also one of the first-ever guests on the show). And while we’re on the subject of Tim-Tim Talk-Talk deep cuts, Dan Carlin, host of Hardcore History, is coming to The Paramount in August. You heard it here first, nerds!

Word On The Street

A roundup of community news, cool local offers, and opportunities to grow your business, or give back. Got something to share? Email me

• More than $2T of Farmland will change hands in the next 20 years. Jessi Roesch’s company, Downland, matches landowners to future farmers, and HudsonAlpha is officially leading their raise (congrats!). There’s still room for follow-on.

• For My Local Foodies: Dai Due, one of my absolute favorite farm-to-table restaurants, does this Good Things from Around Here subscription. Summer is a wild game grilling theme, and if you order by June 7, you’ll lock in nilgai antelope hot dogs, wild boar smoked sausage, achiote-marinated quail, and a bunch more.

• Love This: Austin Pets Alive created a wonderful new way to commemorate your loved ones, while doing good (sound OFF unless you want to burst into tears) More info here.

• There’s $1.1M in Grants: For local non-profits aiding either Hispanics or women ($550k each). If your org touches anything from health, to education, entrepreneurship, or leadership development in those groups, you may qualify

• I Found Your Next Pop-Up: This antique airstream, retrofitted with a glass enclosure, AC, and tons of shelving, available for a cool $28k (is my Facebook Marketplace addiction useful now?)

Insights

1. A Market for Cures: One of the best talks I heard all week, biotech investor, Jason Scharf, spoke at TEDx S. Congress about how current business models de-incentivize true innovation in healthcare, and two great models to change that.

2. Picking Intentional Weaknesses: I’ve been enjoying watching as 2x unicorn founder, Jason Cohen, starts building this brand new Youtube channel. His latest breakdown – a deep dive into Craigslist, Southwest Airlines, and how strategic weakness can make you un-copyable

3. Your Guide to Vibe Marketing: I’m breaking my rule. This one isn’t from Austin, but Ryan Carr and I worked together at The Hustle, and he’s one of the most dialed growth operators I know. His new newsletter, Moodboard, breaks down exactly how his team is using AI in the trenches. This one is a must-follow.

Local Shop of the Week

Noble Joe | 511 Industrial Blvd

Huge shout-out to ABR readers Bryce Oldham and Dane Kenney, co-owners of Noble Joe Coffee Co., celebrating the grand opening of their second location Saturday.

Some quick background: Dane and Bryce met here in ATX, and opened Noble Joe as a true community project. We’re talkin’…

• Dog portraits at the holidays

• Ingredients from local founders (some of whom I’ve profiled)

• Every month, a portion of sales goes to support a different non-profit (in June, it’s Rescue ATX Dogs)

Plus… just look at the clientele.

For years, their team was slingin’ coffee, granola bowls, and pup-cups from a 1930’s milk truck down at South Shore Eatery. Recently, they replaced the truck with this dope tiny house (built out by Jeremy Bustillos and his local team), and the milk truck headed for it’s new home at Padel Club Austin.

So if you’re lookin for something to do this Saturday, drop in for live music, local vendors, open play at the padel club, and a cuppa joe. Your dog will thank you.

Local Artist of the Week

Karina Ordell is a first generation American artist. For years, photography has been her main professional pursuit, and she’s been successful there, touring with musicians, working with brands like Gucci, and even shooting the cover for Mr. Porter.

But it’s her paintings that really caught my eye.

This is newer for her – according to her Instagram account, she sold the first just a few months ago. But they’re hauntingly beautiful, almost ghostly. In some ways, they remind me of the landscapes of Aileen Fitzgerald, one of the first artists I ever wrote about here.

If you like her work and want to see more, Karina is one of four local artists who will be featured at this event co-hosted by Tribeza next week.

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