Two things this week.
First, the second AI networking event (AI IRL Social) is scheduled to happen on 6/11 at 4:30-6pm at Red Horn near the Crossover in Cedar Park.
This is for anyone interested in AI; experts, newbies, biz owners, professionals, young people, anyone. Just come with curiosity and hoping to learn and potentially share if you’re ahead of people you’re chatting with.
Second, I'm running an experiment, and I want one of you to be part of it.
I'm offering a free business AI audit to one Williamson County business owner. Here's how it works: we get on a call,
I interview you about how your business runs (operations, marketing, sales, the bottlenecks, the time sinks).
My team and I work come up with a plan you could implement in order of most valuable/simplest.
You walk away with a custom set of recommendations on where AI can actually save you time or make you money. No pitch, no upsell, no catch. I want to see how good the output is, and you get a free roadmap out of it.
The ask: You agree to help me; tell me what I did well, what I didn’t, and let me know any ideas of what you think I can do better.
If you want it, reply to this email. Let me know your name, business name, number of employees and business vertical.
More soon.
TJ Larkin
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Round Rock Put 300 People Into Startup Day, Handed Out a $10,000 Prize, and Kept Building Its Founder Lane
Opening Hype: Round Rock’s startup push looks a lot more serious after this month’s Startup Day + Week, which wrapped on May 7 at Embassy Suites by Hilton Round Rock. The chamber says the event drew 300 attendees, featured six startups in the live pitch competition, and awarded a $10,000 seed prize to Imagine Devices Inc., whose Trinity Tube is designed to improve respiratory care and monitoring for vulnerable infants.
Why It Matters: This is the kind of turnout that starts to change how a city is perceived. Round Rock has long had the big-company credentials, but a room full of founders, operators, mentors, and investors gives it a different kind of economic signal, one that says companies can be built here too, not just recruited here.
Bigger Picture: The timing lines up with a broader startup push. On May 5, gBETA Round Rock announced a Spring 2026 cohort of five startups spanning energy infrastructure, life sciences, consumer products, and marketplace tech, all backed through the chamber’s partnership with gener8tor. Add that to Round Rock’s recent win landing AMT PostPro in an 8,900-square-foot industrial facility, and the city is quietly building a sharper innovation-and-manufacturing mix than most suburban business hubs manage.
Pinthouse Pizza Pours $10.4M Brewhouse Development Into Leander's New Hope Corridor
Opening Hype: Pinthouse Pizza is staking its biggest claim yet outside Austin, breaking ground on a $10.36 million three-building brewhouse compound at 1605 East New Hope Drive in Leander. The Austin-based brewpub filed three permits with TDLR for a 27,000-square-foot development bordering Cedar Park, with construction launching in September and wrapping by June 2027.
Why It Matters: Pinthouse, founded by six friends in 2012 and famous for its Electric Jellyfish hazy IPA, is bringing its flagship 13,640-square-foot restaurant and brewery facility plus two additional restaurant buildings to one of Williamson County's fastest-growing corridors. The Leander location gives residents a destination brewpub with an outdoor beer garden while anchoring a development pad that can host two more dining concepts on a single site.
Bigger Picture: Pinthouse's Williamson County investment reflects the broader migration of beloved Austin food and beverage brands chasing the rooftops along the 183A corridor, where Cedar Park and Leander now rival central Austin for new restaurant capital. Landing a homegrown craft beer name of this scale sharpens the county's identity as the place where WilCo’s culture goes to scale up, setting the stage for more multi-tenant hospitality builds across the New Hope and Ronald Reagan corridors.
Project Manager Lead at ERCOT ($112,178 - $190,703)
Plan, direct, and coordinate technical and business projects supporting the Texas power grid and wholesale market, defining scope, scheduling, budgeting, risk management, and resource allocation across all phases.
Requires a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, MIS, Business Administration, or related field, plus 8 years of relevant experience beyond degree requirements. Master's degree and PMP or PgMP certification preferred. On-site work in Taylor, TX.
Finance Manager at Penske Automotive Group ($88k–$157k).
Run finance and deal-structure work at Round Rock Hyundai. Apply now!
Staff Supply Chain Analyst at ZT Systems ($82.5k–$101k).
Support inventory, planning, and cross-functional supply chain work in Georgetown. Apply now!
PCS Vendor Management Professional at Samsung Electronics ($57.8k–$104k).
Handle vendor coordination and fab-side procurement support in Taylor. Apply now!
Procurement Professional: Buyer at Samsung Electronics ($57.8k–$157k).
Manage purchasing and supplier-side buying work for Samsung’s Taylor operation. Apply now!
Intelligence Analyst Sr at ERCOT ($112.6k–$136.3k).
Handle senior intelligence analysis and risk-facing work in Taylor. Apply now!
Data Analyst Lv1 at TechDigital ($58.2k–$90.3k).
Support reporting and data analysis work from Round Rock. Apply now!
Material Technology Gas Team Manager (TR) at Samsung Electronics ($70.5k–$179.1k).
Lead a specialized materials team inside Samsung’s Taylor operation. Apply now!
Logistics-Systems Professional at Samsung Electronics ($156,950).
Support logistics systems and process coordination for Taylor operations. Apply now!
Planning Engineer Lead at ERCOT ($104k–$136k).
Lead planning work for grid operations out of Taylor. Apply now!
Want your job featured? Reply to this email and give us the info and link!
Google’s big AI event was last week
They announced a ton of new products. Literally too many. Biggest issue many people have with google is how confusing their whole system is and what product to use for what.
They’re also still far behind in the AI coding/agent world, although trying to catch up.
For most people in the space, they’re still far behind OpenAI and Anthropic in the coding/business context. But that could change, just like everything in AI can.
Personally, I’m all in on Codex/ChatGPT right now. They were left for dead a few months ago by most people in the space. And in just a couple of months, they’ve blown past Claude in a big way.
If you haven’t tried their Codex app yet, would highly recommend you do so. Or come to the next meetup and I’ll explain why, and even show you how amazing it is on my phone.
Escalera Ranch Flex: 2.25 Acres, a Rock Waterfall, and Sunset Balcony Leverage
117 Covington Cv, Georgetown, TX 78628
This one has range. The house sits on 2.25 acres in Escalera Ranch, backs up next to Garey Park, and brings 5 bedrooms, 5 baths, and 4,670 square feet with 20-foot walls, wall-to-wall picture windows, and dual glass sliding doors that keep the whole place wide open.
The better part is outside. You get a sparkling pool, a tranquil rock waterfall, multiple patios, and a balcony built for late-day hill country light. It’s listed at $2,150,000, and it has exactly the kind of “we should host here” energy this section is supposed to reward.
😄 Pflugerville Chamber VIP Event with Cinemark | Cinemark Stone Hill Town Center | Pflugerville | 05/23 | More
Ribbon cutting plus a private screening makes this a smarter chamber social than most.
💼 GDA - Georgetown Development Alliance | Georgetown Chamber of Commerce | Georgetown | 05/27 | More
One of the better rooms of the week if you care about land, development, and commercial growth.
⚾ Chamber Night with the Round Rock Express | Dell Diamond | Round Rock | 05/27 | More
A lighter networking play, but still a solid excuse to show up and meet people.
🤝 Tech and Business Networking | Elevating Your Potential | Parlor & Yard | Austin | 05/27 | More
Good option if you want a broader mix than the usual founder-only crowd.
🌆 Karaoke at The All Good | The All Good | Cedar Park | 05/27 | More
Not a pure business event, but chamber-adjacent and a decent casual follow-up play.
☕ Mid-Morning Mixer - Island Riddim Jerk & BBQ Grill | Island Riddim Jerk & BBQ Grill | Round Rock | 05/28 | More
Thanks for reading our newsletter! We’ll have more updates for you next week!
See you around!
