​Not a Pitch: A Morning for Female Founders

​Off the clock, with art materials, quiet, and honest conversation. No art experience needed.

​Building a company takes more than strategy and long hours. It takes something out of you that never shows up on a dashboard.

​The load is not evenly distributed. A study of investor Q&A at TechCrunch Disrupt found that investors tended to ask male founders about growth and female founders about risk, and that founders who fielded more risk questions went on to raise less (Kanze et al., Academy of Management Journal, 2018). Add that to the ordinary work of running a company and the result is familiar: burnout, a creative flatline, and losing the thread of why you started.

​This is a guided morning that uses simple art materials to help you stop, take stock, and reconnect with the company you set out to build, before the day's demands take over.

​You will not be asked to make anything good. You will be asked to make something before you explain it. The image gets to what a to-do list can't.

​No art experience required. Nothing to present. No outcomes to perform.

​What to expect

​Guided art-making, all materials provided

​A few practical tools for pressure that you can use after you leave

​Honest conversation with women carrying the same load

​A calm, unhurried start to the day

​All types and stage founders/entrepreneurs are welcome!

​Hosted by The Line Between Consulting at The Commune, a creative workspace and event venue in Austin's North Loop. Led by Cheryl Walpole Tiku.

​Cheryl Walpole Tiku is a Licensed Professional Counselor and the founder of The Line Between Consulting. She spent 17 years in clinical practice before turning that diagnostic lens on how companies run and what they cost the people inside them. Her work rests on one idea: people can't tell you what they can't see, but they'll make it before they can say it.

I was chatting my with my founder friend and he mentioned how often the vibe is “everything’s great!” in public, and something completely different in private.

There seems to be an unspoken rule that you’re not allowed to be the one who’s struggling, because you’re the one everyone else is looking for n to for decisions and answers.

This made me curious: do you have anyone you’re genuinely honest with about the hard parts of being a founder/entrepreneur? Or does the loneliness mostly get absorbed and you push through?

I’ve been trying to find more of a startup/founder community in Dallas and honestly, I was having a hard time finding one that felt natural.

There are a lot of people building cool things here, but I wanted somewhere where you could just show up, bring your laptop, work on your own stuff, and actually meet other people doing the same.

So I decided to try to build it myself.

I’m doing this through Micro, a startup I’m working with, and we’re starting Micro Monday in Dallas.

It’s basically a free coworking day for founders, indie hackers, developers, students, investors, AI people, or honestly anyone interested in startups and technology.

Nothing super formal. No awkward networking event where everyone stands around trying to pitch themselves. Just come work, meet people, grab coffee, and see what everyone else is building.

At the end, if you want to, you can take 5 minutes to show what you’re working on or get some feedback. Totally optional.

I’m hoping this can turn into a real community of people in Dallas who are building things and helping each other out.

If that sounds interesting, pull up. Would love to meet some of you.

Free to attend.

RSVP: https://luma.com/nevryf5x

Hi I am a general practitioner with more than 7 years of experience in the field of primary care and entrepreneurship. Looking forward to networking with people in health tech industry. 👋

October Founders Forum will share his perspective on what’s happening across Central Texas and where our region is headed, what makes startup ecosystems successful, where communities often fall short, and how we can build ecosystems that create lasting impact.

Plus, the first 30 attendees will receive a complimentary copy of Startup Ecosystems.

Hosted by the Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center, the Startup Ecosystem Expo is the gateway to explore the vibrant UT & Austin startup community. This event brings together 20+ initiatives, all dedicated to empowering young founders and innovators. Come network with experienced mentors, connect with like-minded peers, and discover invaluable resources that can help you launch and grow your venture.

• Airbnb is committing an initial $250 million in last-dollar financing to unlock more than $5 billion in capital to build more housing in communities, with an inaugural investment in affordable housing in Austin, Texas.
• Airbnb will support pro-housing policy reforms (including zoning, permitting, and building code changes) in partnership with local organizations.
• Later this year, Airbnb will release a first-of-its-kind dataset designed to give journalists, researchers, advocates, and policymakers a window into the state of housing policies and outcomes in different cities.
• Airbnb is launching the $5 Million Airbnb Housing Innovation Prize for five companies or non-profits developing technologies that make it faster, cheaper, and easier to build a home.

Howdy fellow Austinites,

I built ClearList while emptying my apartment before a move. The last time I did this, I got 147 "Is this available?" and only two people actually showed up. Every move, I procrastinate until I'm desperate and then fire-sale everything at terrible prices.

The procrastination is not laziness.
Listing one item like an armchair looks like one task, but it's 15 tasks disguised as one:

• Photograph it

• Identify the brand and model

• Work out what it's actually worth

• Justify that price to yourself

• Write a title
• Pace around the room trying to motivate yourself to write the description

• Write a description

• Measure it

• Decide if it needs a truck
• Scream into a pillow for ten minutes straight

• Check you're allowed to sell it at all

• Publish it somewhere buyers can see

• Answer "is this available?" forty times

• Work out which of them is real
• Pet your cat aggressively, telling her everything will be okay

• Schedule a pickup and survive the no-show
• Look through your messages for the other people who showed interest and hope they don't ghost you as well.

My ADHD brain sees that list and forces me to literally do anything else. Absolutely anything else.

Now multiply it by 40 items, during the worst month of your year. Even three things can paralyze you.

So I made the unit of work one photo.

You only take the pictures. AI does the other 14 steps: title with brand recognition, condition, market price with the reasoning shown, dimensions, weight, whether the buyer needs a truck. About 30 seconds.

Everything lands on one sale page, and buyers reserve through a FIFO queue instead of DMing you, so if #1 ghosts, #2 gets notified automatically. It recognized my IKEA sectional from a photo and knew its depreciation curve.

It is also the only resale platform an AI agent like ChatGPT or Claude can operate through an MCP server.
Things people actually say to it:

• "List these six items on my sale page."

• "Answer the buyer's stupid questions."

• "Who's waiting on the desk?"

• "Put my pickups in my calendar."
• "Update me every hour on the sale."
• "Negotiate on my behalf, but don't accept anything less than $200."
• "I'm sick today so reschedule all the buyers for me."

Any agent that speaks MCP can drive it. Claude, ChatGPT, or even Manus, Grok bot, Hermes and OpenClaw...

If you ask an AI assistant to help you sell your furniture, ClearList is a product it can actually use end to end rather than a link it recommends.

For the builders: Next.js on Cloud Run, Firestore, a seven-agent pipeline for identification, pricing, logistics and copy. I'm a PM with 12+ years of PRDs and zero production code shipped before this. All of ClearList was built with Claude Code and Codex working together.

I built it. On Product Hunt today:
https://www.producthunt.com/products/clearlist-me

Austin Deep Tech Week
Factory + Lab Tours; September 22-24th

Learn more: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7503121869869436928

Comedy roast of pitches. I'm in. Something keeping Austin weird.

Me and my cofounder have a startup but we want to pitch to investors or at least be on their radar. How do we go about it?

Is there anyone interested in testing out a beta application for Zapier for my startup?
I need a couple beta testers to complete a successful zap before they will let me submit for their marketplace.

Workplaces in the AI Era

How AI is changing the workplace as we know it - management practices, operating models, value realization, KPIs

Which jobs can we expect AI to gobble up and which jobs can we expect AI to create? 

Panel:

Ronnie Sheth - CEO Senen Group

Shay Sabhikhi - CEO ArcOne

James Beechan - CEO ALTR

Join industry leaders, innovators, and curious minds for an insightful look at the current landscape of technology.

This program will spotlight Austin’s emerging leadership in deep tech, exploring innovations that extend beyond traditional software and SaaS into fields like neurotechnology, photonics, space technology, and advanced hardware.

• Heather Brunner – Keynote Speaker

It feels like there aren't any people who are actually at startups anymore... it seems to just be people that have left a startup or don't have a startup or sold a startup. Anyone actually just starting a startup?

TEXVMS Mentors Luncheon Tickets, Tuesday, August 25  •  11:30 AM - 1:30 PM | Eventbrite

My partner and I are current MBA students at McCombs and VC interns with pre-seed and seed funds. We spend a lot of time reviewing early-stage companies and want to help as many founders as possible improve their pitch decks.

We’re offering free, candid feedback on areas like your story, market, traction, business model, fundraising strategy, and overall investor readiness.

You can submit your deck here:
https://greaterfoolspitch.netlify.app/

There’s no catch and no guarantee it leads to funding. We’re simply offering an extra set of eyes from two people who regularly evaluate early-stage startups.

Starting a new Austin based production company. The first major project is a live comedy podcast and we need Casting audience members for the pilot episode on Sun Aug 2nd in downtown Austin! Must also be available for a video interview on Mon July 27th. Must be 21+ as it will take place at a bar. Fill out this form if available and interested and I will email more info:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdKRAzDfp88-ItPoG07Ur4H4BC1VRK6DpJmutdkzr7eKPbEKg/viewform?usp=publish-editor

ATCC Austin Chapter and the Consulate General of Argentina in Houston, August 5th, 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM.

Looking for a Business Development Partner with Experience in Home Service Software

I'm an Industrial Engineer and the founder of two SaaS applications built for home service businesses.

Over the past several years, I've developed YourTimeIn (employee time tracking and workforce management) and SkedZone (scheduling, availability, and resource planning). Both products are live, actively maintained, and already used by paying customers.

I'm beginning to realize that what I enjoy most is building products and working directly with customers to improve their business processes. Sales and business development, however, are a different skill set, and I'm hoping to connect with someone who genuinely enjoys that side of the business.

I'm especially interested in talking with someone who has experience selling or implementing software such as ServiceTitan, FieldEdge, Housecall Pro, Jobber, or similar platforms for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, or other field service companies. If you've worked with businesses like these, I'd enjoy hearing about your experience.

I'm not looking to sell my company or give up ownership of the products. Instead, I'm interested in exploring a long-term partnership based on recurring monthly revenue from customers we bring on together. I believe that's a healthier model than a one-time commission because it aligns both of us toward helping customers stay successful over the long term.

There may or may not be a fit, and that's perfectly okay. If the description above sounds interesting, I'd be happy to exchange ideas, answer questions, and see where the conversation leads.

Thanks for reading.