Action Creates Momentum and Momentum Fuels Motivation

A Weekly Roundup of Events, Insights, and Inspiration to Keep Your Entrepreneurial Spirit in Motion

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Aubrie Smith & Jorge Ortiz
August 22, 2024

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Welcome back to another week at In the Loop Houston. This week we’ve got another great line up of events to help you grow your business, as well as, events that are loads of fun! As you will see in our ‘Food for Thought’ section, this week we encourage everyone to have a bias towards action and make sh*t happen! You got this!

As always, thank you so much for being a part of In the Loop Houston! If you’re new or this email was forwarded to you, make sure to join our growing community and stay in the loop. Loving our content? Share it with your friends and help us spread the word!

Let’s get into it.

Houston-Sized Happenings

Events for Business

Below are some awesome events going on this week where you can meet like-minded people who are enduring the same struggles that you are.

Houston Startup Summit & Demo Day

Join us at this awesome all day event hosted by The Cannon, Dell Technologies, & Dell For Startups. Start the day off with a coffee meetup hosted by Dickinson Wright, attend a variety of engaging panels throughout the day, and finish it off with the Dell For Startups Demo Day Pitch Competition and Happy Hour!

Thursday, August 22nd

8:30 am - 7:00 pm

The Cannon West Houston

Events for Fun

Not everything needs to be focused on work! Below are some fun events to help you relax and spend some time with friends and family.

Silent Disco

Get ready for a night of dancing like no other at the Social Beer Garden HTX. With three stages of music to choose from, you can groove to your favorite tunes all night long. Grab a pair of headphones, pick your channel, and dance the night away with your friends.

Saturday, August 24th

10:00 pm

Social Beer Garden HTX

Small Beer

A quick interruption to give a huge shoutout to our partner in crime, Small Beer! For the big thinkers of Houston, Small Beer reinvigorates the lost tradition of lower-alcohol beer. Why low alcohol? Because sometimes you need to have a cold one or two and still need to get things done. Trust us they are fantastic! Next time you want a cold one without the punch pick one up. Embrace innovation, savor quality, and toast to big ideas with Small Beer—Small Beer for big plans.

Food for Thought

Image Credit: Steven Bartlett & “The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck” by Mark Manson

Starting something new is often the hardest part. It's so easy to get caught up in talking about our goals, dreaming up plans, and lingering in the world of possibilities. Many of us become experts in the "theory" phase, where ideas are abundant but action is scarce. The challenge lies not just in taking that first step but in finding the motivation to do so.

But here's the twist: motivation doesn’t always have to come first. In fact, more often than not, it’s the action that sparks motivation. This has been a core lesson for us at In the Loop Houston. Take this newsletter, for example. We could easily get lost in the vision of what we want to deliver each week, paralyzed by the enormity of it all, and end up procrastinating. But we’ve learned that simply getting words on paper, however rough they may be, is the key to moving forward.

Action creates momentum, and that momentum fuels motivation. Once we take that initial step, it becomes easier to keep going and refine our efforts along the way.

So, if you find yourself stuck or overwhelmed by the idea of what you want to achieve, remember that action doesn’t have to wait for motivation. Sometimes, just doing something—even something small—can create the motivation you need to do even more.

Things That Interest Us

Are we in a start-up apocalypse?

Everyone’s losing it over a chart showing that VC-backed startups are dropping like flies—254 shut down in Q1 2024 alone (thank you Carta for delivering the bad news). Yikes, right? But hold on: after looking at things a little further and breaking down some of the further data our fellow startup watchdogs have provided this seems to only be VC-backed ones. Meanwhile, indie startups are quietly crushing it. The people scrapping products together without the shiny ping pong tables are solving real problems and making bank. So, while Silicon Valley freaks out, indie founders are having their moment.

And all we can say is welcome to the age of the indie startup, where the real action is happening one profitable customer at a time.

If you’re a ramen lover like us, Kizuki Ramen is a must-visit. This spot offers top-notch quality that won’t break the bank. Every visit is a hit with consistently delicious dishes and exceptional service. Trust us, your taste buds will thank you!

Pork Gyoza

Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen

In a world where everyone’s chasing the next big thing, it’s easy to overlook the power of going small—really small. But here’s the thing: the real money isn’t always in the mass market; it’s in the niches. Whether you’re a bootstrapped startup or a savvy solopreneur, finding and owning your niche can be the secret sauce to sustainable success. This is why we loved Marshall Haas story of how he turned this physical product into a $$$ generating machine.

Hot Reads of the Week

Roasts are no longer just for the Walk of Fame caliber individual and can be hosted outside of Netflix. Individuals across the country have taken it upon themselves to have our “world revolutionizing” artificial intelligence ChatGPT use its infinite powers to roast their social media pages…and Senor Chat is good! Kevin Hart might have a little competition these days. If you feel like getting a laugh go give it a run!

Here’s a quick one it dropped on us: That "Passion Sparks, Determination Drives" graphic? Artistic, sure, but it feels like it’s trying to compensate for the lack of, well, actual sparks and determination on the rest of the feed. And what’s up with that aerial shot? Are we showcasing Houston’s traffic patterns or did someone just accidentally upload their Google Earth screenshot?

ChatGPT Will Roast Your Instagram For Free: How to Access It | Entrepreneur

ChatGPT can now provide a humorous analysis of your Instagram — and social media users are posting the AI's unique roasts all over social media.

www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/chatgpt-will-roast-your-instagram-for-free-how-to-access-it/478710

We have had our fair share of bad weather here in Texas but nothing as wild as a yacht-seeking tornado. UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter were among the six people missing after bad weather sank his 184-foot luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily. This is an ongoing development and our thoughts go out to all the families affected.

Six people missing, including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, after tornado sinks luxury yacht off Sicily | CNN

Rescuers were on Monday searching for six people missing after a luxury yacht was hit by a tornado and sank off the coast of Sicily, killing one of the 22 people on board.

edition.cnn.com/2024/08/19/europe/tornado-sinks-luxury-sailing-yacht-sicily-intl/index.html?utm_campaign=mb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew

There is a seemingly growing interest and confidence in space ventures as the next frontier for high-risk, high-reward opportunities. This article touches on the technological challenges and future prospects of asteroid mining as an industry. Super cool!

VCs See Dollar Signs in Space, Commit $40 Million to Asteroid Mining Company

AstroForge's mission of landing on and mining asteroids has hit some snags, including technical difficulties during their first launch.

gizmodo.com/vcs-see-dollar-signs-in-space-commit-40-million-to-asteroid-mining-company-2000489355

That’s all for today! We hope you have a fantastic rest of your week and find ways to take action!