Fridge Friends: Austin Nostalgic & Austin Fresh

Author

Chris Taylor
August 04, 2025

The luckiest 2,000 square feet in Austin.

And we are back…

…after being TOO on vacation to pull together a July newsletter. Our event calendar and fridge humor are also back in full force, and we’re delighted to share both with our beloved Fridge Raiders.

On a personal note, last week I was feeling a little nostalgic (and a LOT old). I moved down to Austin 30 years ago to join the inaugural year of Trilogy Software’s famous (infamous?) new hire “training” program. There’s a lot that’s been said about the Trilogy culture-both inspiring and cringe-but it brought hundreds of amazing people to Austin who dramatically impacted my life with their friendship, and the tech scene with their talent.

1995 Chris couldn’t have imagined how he and Austin would grow up, but he’d be proud of both. I feel Austin has kept its soul amazingly well through all the scaling, and it has been a joy to play my tiny part in the city’s evolving story. My company building days may be over, but I’m obsessed with my new mission to help Austin entrepreneurs thrive, and I am grateful you are on the journey with me.

In this issue: Keeping Austin Fresh, Space for Beer, Tiki Time, Poker Deets & Seats, A New Soccer Magnate, Celebrating Wins, and the Chess Wars begin.

Wait, what’s this? This is the once-a-month newsletter from Austin’s luckiest entrepreneur club, the Red Fridge Society. You can always unsubscribe here.

Top of the Fridge

  • Keeping Austin Fresh. One of the ideas that came out of our family vacation brainstorm is a program to help integrate founders new to Austin. We’re opening up a few free spots at the Fridge each quarter for recently relocated, experienced founders. Sound like you or someone you know? Apply for Austin Fresh here.

  • This Space for Beer. Wednesday, August 13th, we’re hosting the next in our Brewer Series with Starbase Brewing. Founder Nate Agroves is going to walk us through a beer tasting intermixed with the craziest founding story I have ever heard… and I know crazy.

  • Stone Cold Brew.  Next Thursday, we’re hosting an encore coffee tasting with the founders of Cold Cycle Coffee, who will share their story and patented cold brew machine that makes 2 gallons of cold brew in 30 minutes.

  • Island Time. A Tiki-themed version of our Community Happy Hour will be on August 21st. The more the merrier, so bring a grass-skirted friend.

  • Poker Deets. This Thursday, we have an encore of our poker school and novice tourney to brush up on your skills before the quarterly tournament. It’s almost full, but join the waitlist in case of a last-minute cancellation.

  • Poker Seats. August 28th is our quarterly 36 Founder Poker Tourney, and it’s almost here. Members and founders new to the game get a seat before I open up to everyone else, 2 weeks before. Grab yours!

  • Hold for Awesome. I usually don’t feature events over a month out, but the September calendar is already FOMO worthy. Hold the dates (and bring one too) for our Wine & Watches with local watch collectors, and an evening with Ballet Austin’s creative director, Stephen Mills.

  • Celebrate the Win! One of our values at the Society is Celebrate Wins- Entrepreneurship is hard. We take time to revel in our victories. Last week, Magnate Chris Eyhorn sold his company, DroneSense, after an inspiring 10-year journey. Congrats to Chris and team, and we’ll be properly celebrating after Chris's vacation!

The Monthly Magnate

What types of entrepreneurs are part of the Fridge community? Behold! Our freshest newsletter feature: The Monthly Magnate.

The August Magnate is Tony Aguilar. 

Tony Aguilar is a serial fintech entrepreneur known for creating bold, category-defining companies. Backed by some of the most respected investors in the country, Tony has built and exited multiple high-growth ventures, including Vault, Chipper, & CampusSlice. He has been featured in Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Bloomberg, and on CNN as a thought leader on student loans, fintech, and entrepreneurship.

Tony and family are always on brand as soccer fanatics.

Currently, Tony is co-founding a new venture in the sports entertainment space alongside 7 Austin FC players. They're launching TURF, an immersive soccer entertainment venue that combines tech-powered games, live match experiences, and elevated food + drinks. Think Topgolf for Soccer.

Tony lives in Austin with his wife, three kids, and two dogs. He enjoys distance running, coaching his kids’ sports teams, and attending sporting events around the city with friends & family.

Fridge Factoids:  

Tony recently joined the Society and has been hosting the who’s who of the Austin soccer scene there as he kicks off fundraising for TURF—they have already secured $1.75M, but have room in the round if you’d like to be connected.

Prior to his entrepreneurship journey, Tony was an online poker pro, so don’t sit to his right during RFS poker nights (trust me).

What’s Fresh in the Fridge?

The event calendar is back in full force and hotter than the weather. You can check out our entire calendar, but here are some featured events. Note that “Founder Only” events are limited to founders past or present and start on a waitlist.

Bring Serendipity Into Your Summer

  • Join Austin’s Luckiest Entrepreneur Community. 

  • Although the ridiculous amenities, meeting rooms, coworking, and events are all great reasons to join, the community is the primary value driver of the Society. We promise that you’ll have a conversation at the Fridge in the first few months worth more than the cost of a few years.

  • Memberships start at $850/month. You can apply here.

  • New to Austin? Apply for our Austin Fresh program for a free 2-month Fridge membership.

  • Want to come check out the Fridge, but can’t make an event? You can grab an hour on Chris’s calendar to get the tour.

July Leftovers

Even though many of our members (and our proprietor) were on vacation in June and July, we still had a robust set of Magnate-led events and informal gatherings.

Fine wines and conversation were served to wish Chris Bon Voyage on his summer vaycay.

The addition of a chessboard in the Hotpoint Lounge has created new friends and rivalries.

Magnate (and Mixologist) Davison served up Dark & Stormies at his Summer Tropicale event.

A few of the Trilogy alumni gathering decades later… I think we’ve aged well.

That’s a wrap for our August newsletter.

Be cooler than necessary, and I hope to see you Fridge-side soon.

Proprietor, Red Fridge Society

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