Here's What I'm Thankful For

Welcome to this issue of The 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).

I’m technically on vacation right now – finishing this over coffee from a hotel on my way to the Smokies, then on to New England for some time with family.

I’m not sure if it’s the mountains or the upcoming holiday, but I’m feeling reflective, and I’ll tell ya what I’m grateful for right now…

Two years ago – almost to the day – I left my job with the idea of starting a local business newsletter. I had no connections here in town, couldn’t get around without a GPS, and had no idea if anyone would ever read.

Last week, I snapped this photo at a happy hour full of readers and friends 👇👇👇

Local newsletters have become somewhat in vogue recently. Partly because they can be good businesses. And partly because people think they can be huge businesses.

I think that second one is typically a mistake. Even if they can be huge (which, I’m not sure they can be), I think by making them huge, you give up one of the most important benefits – namely, some sense of community.

I wrote this piece back when I first started, musing on what was, at that point, a totally unproven business idea, and just found this line while re-reading the other day…

I stand by it. Grateful for all of you.

-Ethan

Upcoming Events

No newsletter next week with the holiday, so here’s your event lineup through Dec. 7th

🗓️ TONIGHT: Nerd Nite Austin: Like a local version of TED - This month’s theme is space talk, with three different talks on everything from cosmic history to black holes

🗓️ TONIGHT: TEDNext: A special event with TEDxSouthCongress, where you’ll meet other TED enthusiasts, and get to see early-release talks from TEDNext 2025

🗓️ TONIGHT: Your Startup Sucks: A comedy show, co-hosted by Saleem Ahmad over at Anti-VC, where founders pitch to a panel of seasoned VCs and former founders

🗓️ Nov. 21: Coffee & Coworking: Another one from Saleem, combining open networking, mentor hours, and focused deep work alongside other local founders

🗓️ Nov. 23: Wellness Sunday: ANOTHER ONE from Saleem (the DJ Khaled of Austin tech events). In true Austin fashion, this one’s got cold plunges, sauna, and AI talks.

🗓️ Dec. 2: AI Marketing Innovators: Taylor Jones is hosting this happy hour to discuss workflow acceleration, and AI-powered marketing operations.

🗓️ Dec. 2: Supercomputing & AI Factories: I don’t see a name on this, but I believe the panel’s being led by Jay Boisseau whose lectures on Quantum Computing have been recommended to me by multiple major founders in town

🗓️ Dec. 2: Jingle & Mingle Cruise: Hosted by the West Austin Chamber of Commerce, but looks like it’s open to non-members too

🗓️ Dec. 2: RFS Brewer Series: Chris Taylor of The Red Fridge Society is bringing Grady Wright to lead a tasting, and share his experience building Holdout Brewing and a slew of other iconic ATX hospitality brands

🗓️ Dec. 3: Origin Ventures Happy Hour: Brent Hill and the full team over at Origin are hosting over at Subterra

🗓️ Dec. 4: Wolf Connect: A very interresting-looking mashup of business and social connection, curated by Eva Wolf, who works with a lot of CPG founders & startups

🗓️ Dec. 4: Founder Coffee Tasting: Another one from Chris Taylor (perhaps the true contender for the “DJ Khaled of Austin” title)

🗓️ Dec. 5: Holiday Mixer at Q Branch: Co-hosted with the US India Chamber of Commerce

🗓️ Dec. 7: Austin AI Mixer: Cynthia Colas from DELL is hosting this group down at Remedy (the bar co-owned by Jay Boisseau, founder of both the Austin Forum on Tech & Society, and the Austin AI Alliance)

That’s all for this week! No email next week. But enjoy the holiday, and I’ll see you back here in December.

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

Until next week,

-Ethan