This Is 3rd + Lamar

Business news has followed the same formula for a while – especially local business news. We have something different in mind.

I’m Nick Schenck. Along with Tony Stolfa and Heather Grass, we founded 3rd & Lamar to create a platform for the Austin business coverage that we follow.

• We enjoy learning about bootstrapped companies that contribute to Austin’s bohemian vibe.
• We are curious about the people making money in this city in ways that didn’t exist 5-10 years ago. 
• We are attracted to independent thinkers and nonconformists who create their own playbooks and challenge conventional wisdom. 
• We love passion brands that serve niche audiences that turn into movements. 
• We admire mom-and-pop businesses that have lasted generations.

This isn’t about listicles describing these people’s daily habits. Neither is this a site touting the latest fundraising news. And we won’t publish an annual hot startup list. 

We plan to take our time and bring a level of depth that does these stories and subjects justice. Also, we’re going to have fun with it. If you judged people’s general job satisfaction by the tone of existing business coverage, you’d think we all worked for the government.

Here are some other things we want to share.

We Make Money From Subscriptions

Some of our content will be free to access. The rest will require a subscription. Either $13/month or $99/year. 

We’re going to be straight-up with you. Some subscription media companies try to mislead users with their pricing and conceal the actual cost in hopes that you won’t check your credit card statement.

When you subscribe to 3rd & Lamar, you are doing a lot of things. Supporting local journalism. Feeding your business knowledge. Paying for entertainment. Joining a community. 

What you aren’t doing is supporting our lavish lifestyle. We are independent, and (in case you haven’t checked the headlines) local news isn’t where people go these days to get rich. We’re doing this because we love it and we see wide-open canvas for us to paint on.

We will sell some ad entitlements, but our primary focus is subscribers.

This is why:

• We never want to be tempted to chase stories for clicks.
• We never want to sacrifice the user experience.
• We want to remain focused on quality content over vanity metrics.
• We want to emphasize quality over frequency. This favors storytelling.

Austin Needs This Now More Than Ever

This project has been in the works long before COVID-19 entered the global lexicon. We’ve seen the fallout from SXSW’s cancellation and the prolonged closure of many small businesses.

There’s a groundswell of support for anything local these days. If we can add to this momentum by shining a light on the businesses contributing to Austin’s unique culture, we’re happy to do so.

We also hope to inspire other people to take risks and get out of their comfort zones. We’ll leave you with an excerpt from filmmaker Francis Coppola that inspired us to pursue “the highest possible thing” we could imagine. Also, listen to Episode 1 of the “Cover Charge” podcast below to learn more about our backstory.