Monday Bites: May 26, 2025

Welcome to this bite-size issue of Austin Business Review, with a quick look at this week’s best upcoming business events (plus something fun for the weekend).

I hope you don’t see this until Tuesday. Hope you’re on a boat somewhere, or close to a grill with the people you love.

And to those who gave everything, to the people who loved them, and served alongside them, and the people who continue to love and serve this country that’s given us all so much: Thank you 🇺🇸

-Ethan

PS. On Thursday, I asked this question about humanoid robots. I’ve gotta say, I’ve been surprised by the data so far! (full write-up coming Thursday).

There’s still time to weigh in, but if this is your jam, you may dig the physical AI happy hour coming up on Wednesday.

Business Events This Week…

🗓️ May 27: Facilitation Lab: Every month, Douglas Ferguson and Erin Warner host this hands-on meetup where leaders hone their group facilitation skills

🗓️ May 27: Plug & Play Showcase: This accelerator in Cedar Park is showing off startups in their advanced manufacturing and semiconductor verticals

🗓️ May 27: Business After Dark: For those of you out west, tired of going downtown for events, Ray Freer and the West Austin Chamber are hosting a cookout/happy hour

🗓️ May 27: Impact Dinner: Julian Guderley is hosting a dinner discussion for founders and investors focused on impact and sustainability

🗓️ May 28: Austin Connections: If you’re newer in town, check out this weekly happy hour by Devon Ambron, Drew vonEhrenkrook, and Weston Woodward at Lazarus

🗓️ May 28: Schnitzel & Champagne: The latest installment of Ayal Levin’s Leave a Mark’s Storytelling Night, focused on the business impact of great storytelling

🗓️ May 28: Pat & Umar’s VC/PE Happy Hour: Pat Moody and Umar Brimah are back with their epic meetup for 150+ founders, VCs, and operators in ATX

🗓️ May 28: Austin AI Alliance: Monthly meeting of AAIA, which brings together founders, leaders, and students in the AI space

🗓️ May 28: Physical AI Happy Hour: Aravind Kandiah, co-founder and CTO of Bitfrost, is hosting a happy hour

🗓️ May 28: Brewer Series at Red Fridge: Mark Phillippe, founder of Hi Sign Brewing, is hosting a tasting and telling his story down at The Red Fridge Society

🗓️ May 29: Business & Birdies: My buddy Tomer Soran is back with his Thursday morning meetup Butler Pitch + Putt to chat business and play 9 holes

🗓️ May 29: Austin Hardware Meetup: Speaking of Hi Sign, Nick Frank is gathering founders, designers, and engineers there to talk deep tech

🗓️ May 29: Superagency (Online): Jay Boisseau of the Austin Forum on Technology & Society is hosting a digital discussion of Reid Hoffman’s latest book

🗓️ May 29: Speak Your Truth: Colleen Schell is the founder of FABx, which teaches storytelling to leaders. This event combines talks, training exercises, and open mic

🗓️ May 29: Nerd Nite Austin: Like a mini TED, for nerds, by nerds, this month’s topic is “Rebuilding after life knocks you down.”

🗓️ May 29: Full House: Rebecca McDowell and Andrew Lane just recently started this bi-weekly poker table for founders and funders

🗓️ May 30: Climate Tech Coworking: Join Sean Voigt and other founders/investors in the climate tech space, hosted over at Antler HQ

🗓️ May 30: TWIB Coffee Connect: Texas Women in Business is hosting a coffee hour at Sierra Bailey’s co-working space, Maeve House, down south.

🗓️ May 30: Pickup Basketball for Founders: Every month, Nick Schenck hosts a pickup game for founders at Ramsey Neighborhood Park starting at 5PM. Drop in, or email him here to get on the list for future dates

🗓️ May 30: Beyond Human: Meet Brian Sanders, founder of the Sapien Center, along with other biohackers for clean BBQ and specialty wine, cocktails, and mocktails

One for the Weekend…

This Saturday, the Wine and Food Foundation is hosting Wine & Food Fest out at the Hill Country Galleria.

The name says it all – there’ll be wine, food, and live music, with 20+ stops offering up bites from local chefs and wines from around the world.

The VIP ticket gets you in early for a special guided tasting with Steve Alley, registered sommelier and wine educator for The League group of restaurants here in Austin. And all proceeds go to support the WFF, whose events frequently find their way into this newsletter.

If you can’t make it Saturday, they’ve also got their Imbibe Italian wine tasting on Thursday (the 29th), and Toast of Texas on June 8th, a showcase of 20+ Texas wineries, plus BBQ, paella, and more.

That’s all for this issue! Keep an eye out Thursday for the full-length edition, including more upcoming events, insights, and opportunities to grow your business or personal sphere here in Austin.

Email me here if you want to share any feedback, or let me know about an event you’re hosting.

Until next week,

-Ethan