What’s Up With Austin⁠↗

Moving to Austin is the geographical equivalent of saying: “I don’t read the news anymore.” The people moving here are tired of others telling them what to think, which is why the people here are so much less likely to police your speech.

Cultural and technological leaps happen when wealthy people (who often don’t have ideas) meet ambitious creatives on the intellectual frontier (who have lots of ideas). In Austin, the way tech wealth clashes with an established hippie movement makes it feel like a new San Francisco.

Austin’s health-focused energy shows up in gyms with strong perspectives on fitness. Central Athlete is revitalizing gym memberships by focusing on holistic health and giving everybody a personal trainer; Squatch facilitates a social environment with a garage vibe, outdoor CrossFit gear, saunas, and ice baths; and Onnit (a supplement company that sold to Unilever for nine-figures) has a 10,000 square foot gym with martial arts classes an infrared hybrid sauna and a wall of squat racks that resembles an NFL locker room.

Ziki Kitchen, a food truck with ambitions to become the next Sweetgreen

Austin’s experimental scene comes from the synthesis of youth, prosperity, psychedelics, technological dynamism, a free-thinking spirit, and a stubborn belief that the world can be radically improved.

At cocktail parties, people say things like: “Let’s make Austin the center of online education.” It’s already happening.

American society suffers from a lack of public spaces that celebrate knowledge. Bookstores don’t just sell books. They sell the idea of intelligence and intellectual curiosity, which should be praised and promoted.

Economically, the Austin airport can support a local food scene because the vast majority of passengers are starting or ending their travels in Austin. Since it’s not a hub for any airline, there are few connecting flights (in contrast, hub airports like Dallas Fort-Worth, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, and Chicago O’Hare are tailored toward connecting passengers with short layovers).12 The more flyers need to rush through the airport, the less they’ll care about the local city and the more they’ll defer to fast-food chains between flights.

Two neighborhoods in particular, the East Side and Bouldin Creek, are littered with the same repetitive modern homes that look like they’ve been copied & pasted by a slapdash architect. Professional architects might say that the style is “minimalist,” but I think the buildings are just soulless. Though minimalism can be beautiful, it’s become a justification for rampant mediocrity. Many of the new homes are as bland as the temporary modules on the back of 18-wheelers.

If there was ever a home of athleisure clothing, Austin would be it.

As Justin Murphy once said to me, people historically moved to California in search of a fortune. This goes all the way back to the gold rush. But people moved to Texas for freedom. They wanted land and a free-living, don’t-tread-on-me lifestyle. These patterns persist today. People don’t come to Austin if accumulating wealth is their top priority.

Austin’s laptop class is different from San Francisco’s too. For starters, it’s cool to be ambitious in Austin but uncool to be too ambitious. The grindset is frowned upon. Some of the coffee shops don’t allow computers on Sundays, and people will scoff at you for skipping weekend social events to work. Austin entrepreneurs also care more about profit than growth. The people I know aren’t in a rush to build their company. They have a life to live and an income-to-effort ratio to maintain. Slow, steady, and sustainable is the name of the game (which makes it a tough place to be a venture capitalist).