The luckiest 2,000 square feet in Austin.
April Greetings, Raiders.
I hope you successfully enjoyed, endured, or avoided SXSW.
Personally, I got the hell out of town and went to the Dominican Republic with my youngest daughter. It was a week of whale watching, zip lining, fishing, sunsets, and bonding time (and a little minor head trauma… but I’m okay now). My wife, Teri, and I have been giving our daughters one-on-one trips as their “big” Christmas present for the last 5 years… and I cannot recommend it enough. The dynamics are so different —it’s MUCH easier to agree on a plan that makes 2 people happy than 4!
In this issue: F*ck SXSW, Contrast Therapy, AI Show(s), Easter Eggs, B2B Sales Mysteries, Torchy’s Tacos, Wine, More Wine, Baja Rum, Variety Show, and a Job Posting. Whew.
For the last month, I’ve been fielding the same question nonstop: What is the Society doing for SXSW? And the answer is… nothing. It’s the only week of the school year that we don’t have any official Red Fridge events. Our members used the space for their company and personal events (welcome HBS and Trilogy alumni!), but zero for the Society.
I started the Fridge (and designed the experience) to have total control over my time. My teenage girls are busy and don’t always (ever?) want to hang out with Mom and Dad. But when they will have me, I’m there. I’m certainly not going to miss one of my last 3 precious spring breaks to go to a tech conference!
The SXSW audience is also misaligned with my purpose for the rest of my career: Connecting Austin Entrepreneurs to Thrive. When I was designing my life after I sold Square Root, I spent a long time debating whether to drop “Austin”, but didn’t. Having an outsized impact on the city I’ve called home for 30 years matters more than building a national brand (and a big ego).
But isn’t SXSW the best place to connect with Austin founders? We planned a lunch event three days BEFORE the conference started. 140 people from out of town RSVPed… for 25 slots. No thanks. I’m reserving my energy for founders who are also investing in Austin.
ATX. IRL. FTW! That’s not just my witty newsletter title, it’s the whole business plan.
Top of the Fridge
Hot Take, Cold Plunge. TOMORROW! Dr Jess—one of the best PTs in town and owner of Generator Athlete Lab—is going to school us in Contrast Therapy over happy hour. Sauna and cold plunge optional.
Prompt Response. We had our first AI Show and Tell in March, and it was mind-blowing, so we’re upping the frequency. This month, we have a happy hour (almost sold out!) and a breakfast event. These are mostly filled by our members, but we have a couple of presentation slots for non-members doing amazing things.
Hop on it. Our Spring Easter-themed Happy Hour pops on April 8th. There will be an egg hunt (with prizes!) and Easter-themed snacks. More the merrier… bring the Peeps.
Fridge Got Talent. The Standup Night was an absolute blast, so next up is a Founder Variety Show on May 21. Comedy, moth-style storytelling, and anything else our extended founder community wants to throw on stage (no fire acts or coding demonstrations, please!). Think you’re talented? Apply to be a Founder-presenter by responding to this message!
A funny thing happened on the way to the Fridge
LunchedIn. Our very own Moby Hayat is teaching a LinkedIn Ads Masterclass at our next Lunch Society on April 15th.
Damn, Torchy’s? We’ve got Mike Rypka, the Founder of Torchy’s, sharing his incredible story over some breakfast tacos. (and yes, I’m starting a breakfast series for your morning people!)
Somm Time, All the Time. Our Personal Sommelier, Mario Matavesco, has officially moved to Austin, and our wine game is going vertical. We’re hosting a Bordeaux Masterclass in April, and his Foundation Wine Course on the first Tuesday of every month.
Distilled Down. We’ve got our next few spirits founders in our Distiller Series on the books. In April, we’ll have Australian Gin founder Jez Spencer talking about launching his new Austin-based Baja Rum brand.
Fully Stocked. Most days, we’ve hit the coworking vibe I’m going for, so we are pausing the 24/7 memberships while our new 25 members settle in. Want all the community without any of the pesky coworking? We have availability in our after-4:00 Chill memberships.
Join Team Fridge. We are building out our event and office management team. Know someone especially chill but organized who wants some part-time work at $25 an hour? Send them my way.
The Monthly Magnate
What types of entrepreneurs are part of the Fridge community? Behold!
The April Magnate is Moby Hayat.
Moby Hayat is a self-claimed paid ads nerd. Originally an immigrant from Pakistan, he's now been in Austin for 15 years and calls it home.
Magnate Moby and his Mustache have divined the forbidden secrets of B2B sales.
A decade ago, he was in engineering operations and saw his friends start companies and absolutely fail to get the traction they wanted. He decided to move to marketing to pursue the age-old question: How do you get customers?
He tried it all - podcasting, cold email, webinars, online conferences, social media hacking. Paid ads clicked for him years ago, when he worked with his uncle's healthcare company, generating $3,500 from $300 in ad spend. He went all-in. Since then, he's worked on customer acquisition at companies acquired for $1.5B and has generated multiple 7-figure results for SaaS and tech companies.
When he's not optimizing ads, he's an avid consumer of fiction (Brandon Sanderson + Robert Jordan are his favorites), a frequent visitor to Madam Mams for Thai food with his wife Zoha, and a padel player.
Fridge Factoids
Moby recently joined the Fridge as part of our January influx of community builders.
Moby is demystifying B2B leads at our April Lunch Society with his LinkedIn Ads Masterclass
Get IRL in ATX.
Join Austin’s Luckiest Entrepreneur Community.
We promise that you’ll have a conversation at the Fridge in the first few months that is worth more than the cost of a few years. The ridiculous amenities, meeting rooms, coworking, and events access are just an excuse to show up.
The 24×7 Fully Stocked Coworking Memberships are currently on pause while the 25 Magnates that joined in Q1 settle in.
Our after-4:00-on-weekdays Chill memberships—all the community, none of the pesky work—are available. You can apply here.
New to Austin? We love to help Founders get connected. Apply for our Austin Fresh program for a free month.
Want to come check out the Fridge, but can’t make it to an event? Grab an hour on Chris’s calendar.
What’s Fresh in the Fridge?
You can check out our full, always-free-for-founders calendar, but here are some featured events open to non-members. Note that “founder” events are limited to founders and start on a waitlist.
April 2nd: Fridge Fire! Benefits of Sauna and Cold Plunge with Dr. Jess (founders) Join us for a happy hour, sauna, cold plunge, and discussion led by Jessica Tranchina, DPT, the Co-Founder of Generator Athlete Lab.
April 6th: Fridge Madness! (invite only) Who will win our Fridge March Madness Bracket Challenge? (spoiler alert... not me). Join us for the men’s final game to wrap the season. This is a family-friendly member-guest event; we may have a few spots for potential members.
April 7th: Agentic AI Show and Tell Happy Hour (founders) Since we all sit around talking about everything we're doing with AI all the time, we're starting a series where we do a show-and-tell to learn from each other. Mostly a members’ event, but we’ll have a couple of longer presentations that non-members can apply for.
April 8th: Raid the Fridge! Spring Happy Hour (open) Raid the Fridge and join our spring community happy hour. We’ll have our usual vast alcoholic and non-alcoholic bars available with a few special spring-themed surprises. More the merrier... bring the bunnies.
April 15th: Lunch Society-LinkedIn Ads Masterclass (founders) Have lunch with Moby Hayat, founder and writer of Hunting Leads, as he breaks down the exact LinkedIn ads playbook that works in 2026 to scale B2B SaaS and Service businesses.
April 16th: House Poker Game (magnates) Our monthly member cash game. Occasionally, we’ll have a spot open up for non-members if you want to hop on the waitlist.
April 21: Founder Coffee Tasting (founders) Coffee lover or just confused by all the coffee options at the Fridge? Try the same bean prepared six different ways — cold brew, hot cold brew, bean-to-cup, pour over, vacuum siphon, and Belgian balance siphon — to find your perfect cup.
We take all our beverages seriously at the Society.
April 23rd: Damn Good! Tacos with Torchy's Founder, Mike Rypka (founders) Grab a Torchy's breakfast taco, and hear the incredible Torchy's founder story from Mike Rypka himself.
April 23rd: Distiller Series-Baja Rum and Australian Gin (founders) Join Jez Spencer, Founder of The West Winds Gin, and Jen Bailey, Head of Americas and Europe for Four Pillars Gin, to talk about their experience in the Australian Spirits industry and hear about their new Austin-based Spirit venture, Baja Rum.
April 28th: Agentic AI Show-and-Tell Coffee (founders) Since we all sit around talking about everything we're doing with AI all the time, we're starting a series where we do a show-and-tell to learn from each other. Mostly a members’ event, but we’ll have a couple of longer presentations that non-members can apply for.
April 30th: Bordeaux Futures Masterclass (founders) Join our personal Sommelier, Mario Matavesco, as he walks us through the most unique wine market in the world--Bordeaux Futures. We'll be tasting the 2022 Wine Spectator #1 wine of the year, Château Giscours Margaux. Mario will have just returned from tasting the 2025 vintage at En Primeur in Bordeaux and can tell us how the vintage is shaping up.
May 5th: Foundation Wine Course (magnates) Our Personal Sommelier, Mario, has officially moved to Austin! We're doing his private wine education course on the first Tuesday of the month. A different region each month.Occasionally, we'll have extra spots available if Raiders want to hop on the waitlist.
May 7th: Yaupon Tasting w/December (founders) Join December Yaupon Company Cofounder Ian McCluskey for a first taste of the new Cacao Creation and Vanilla Vision Yaupon Nitro. Yaupon is a descendant of yerba mate, offering the same benefits and a richer, roaster flavor
May 14th: Founder Invitational Poker Tournament (founders) Manifest some Serendipity at our 30-founder, $200 buy-in Poker Tourney. Members and new players get seats first —sign up now!
May 21st: Fridge Got Talent! Founder Variety Show (founders) Following up on our hilarious Founder Comedy Night, we are doing a Founder Variety Show.Comedy, moth-style storytelling, and anything else our extended founder community wants to throw on stage (no fire acts or demos). You can apply directly to me.
March Leftovers
We know it’s hard to keep up with everything going on at the Society, but here’s a little visual recap of some of the events from last month.
The Trilogy Mafia raided the Fridge for their SXSW Alumni Happy Hour
Magnate Davison hosts a festive poker night (SXSW edition!)
That’s a wrap for our April newsletter.
As always, be cooler than necessary, and I hope to see you Fridgeside soon.
Proprietor, Red Fridge Society
Did someone forward this email? You can become a Friend of the Fridge here.
Don’t think fridge puns are cool? You can unsubscribe here.
What? You made it this far? You are a true Friend of the Fridge. Hit reply and give me some feedback, and I’ll pour something special for you the next time you’re Fridgeside.
