The snow shoveling, cool lake air and carefree afternoons of Michigan may be in the rearview mirror for Amber Gunst. But you can't quite take the Midwest out of her.
"I'm Dutch and German, and I'm Midwestern, so I've got 30 seconds to listen to your problem, and I'm going to try to start solving it," she joked over coffee at CookBook Café at the Austin Central Library. "Sometimes I give them longer than 30 seconds. But, you know, for the most part, it's like, 'Oh, you told me you have a problem? Well, let's go come up with a solution.'"
It's a useful trait for someone who has been building networks and relationships in the Austin tech and business communities for a little more than a decade — first at the Austin Chamber of Commerce and more recently as CEO of the Austin Technology Council.
Now, Gunst is moving on to her next chapter. After initially planning to leave ATC and launch a startup in late 2019, she tabled her idea as the pandemic set in and ATC fought to adjust. She also bought an SUV, loaded it up with camping gear and her Great Pyrenees mix, Sadie, and traveled the country while many of us were in the early phases of a prolonged lockdown.
Those cross-country adventures also gave her time to reflect. In late March, she formally launched her new startup, FundLyst, with the goal of helping founders, particularly those with diverse backgrounds, connect with investors. Through the startup, Gunst is building upon the vast network she has developed in Austin's tech scene and, along with her Washington, D.C.-based co-founder Devaki Baker, seeking to expand it to the national level.
One of Gunst's main goals is to present opportunities for building wealth to a more diverse group of people. While she sees some progress, she said so much more needs to be done to budge the startup and investing ecosystems closer to equity.
"It's going to feel lopsided for a while," she said. "It's nothing that's going to happen overnight. It's probably not even anything that's going to happen over the next five to 10 years. ... Creating more opportunities for funding for these groups is going to give them a better opportunity to be able to take it further and go further, and to be able to create opportunities for other people to get jobs."
We met through ATC, but what else has led you to where you are today? I moved to Austin in 2009 and got the best first job for moving to a city where you don't know anyone. I sold memberships for the Austin Chamber of Commerce. So pretty much everyone I know now, I met through there initially. I joke with people that I've probably given a name badge and drink ticket out to everybody in town, because it's pretty much what I've done.
I sat down with a mentor [Ray Wolf] in 2017. And he was like, "What are you doing? You're wasting your life, you're wasting your energies, you're so far beyond these individual contributor roles, like this is what you should be looking at." And this was a pretty successful executive who said, "If I was in the process of starting a business right now, I'd bring you in as my chief revenue officer. ... that's what I think of you." I was 43 years old. And that's the first time anybody ever said that to me in my career. Within four months of him saying that, I was the ATC head of sales and member services. And a year later, I was the interim CEO and have been there ever since.
The best part of it was that I wasn't asking him what he thought. I was talking about what I was doing at the time, and he's like, "I'm going to stop you a minute. We need to have a talk about what you're doing with your career." I don't think that happens for enough women. I don't think that that's a conversation that a lot of women get to have. I know how fortunate I am that someone cared enough about me that they wanted to have that conversation with me. So I will always be grateful to him for that.
What were your initial impressions of Austin? I've been coming here since the mid-'90s. I had friends that lived down here. I joke with my best friend from high school that we were both trying to figure out how to get out of Muskegon [Michigan] when we were still in utero. So looking at Austin, it just had everything I was looking for. I think in the nearly 13 years I've lived here, I've only had to potentially shovel once.
How has the city and its tech and startup scenes changed since you arrived? I mean, we're looking out over downtown (from the Central Library), and I would say a good 70% of these high-rises were not even thought of, let alone existed, when I moved here. So when I moved here, the W was finishing construction, and so was The Austonian. Now, there's cranes all over the place in the city. So there's a lot that's changed. I think some of the good things that have changed are definitely the prosperity opportunities for people. And now you've got tech companies that need to hire so many people. So they're looking at it and saying, 'Hey, we're going to be more creative about how we hire, so we're going to hire out a bootcamp, and we're going to hire grads from ACC.' So it gives opportunity for people that didn't think there was an opportunity for them in Texas.
I think the things that are hard is we've created an affordability crisis in the city that we've got to get figured out. And the traffic and transportation issue was actually a problem that was created 50 years ago, when the city council said, 'Well, if we if we don't build it, they won't come here.' It's like, well, that doesn't ever really work out how you think it's going to work out.
I think density planning is something that needs to happen. It's always surprised me in Texas that there's no zoning, which I think is a miss. I think that there's a lot of opportunities for creating manufacturing zones. But looking at density planning and looking at how do you how do you fit more people in but keep the charm and keep the the culture of this city alive. And that's something that we really have to start being thoughtful about. Otherwise, you know, all the cultural things that we love about Austin are going to be gone.
Have any favorite restaurants in town? I love the folks over at Truluck's, just because it was kind of my "Cheers" there for a while when I was working at the chamber.
I love some of the dive-y places or some of the offbeat places. Julio's Cafe is is still my favorite Mexican and it's the best interior Mexican in town. But don't bring your credit card. You have to have cash — they will accept a check though.
I wonder how many people are carrying a checkbook around anymore. My mom carries one around.
Do you have a favorite dish in town? I cook. So if you were to ask me if I had a favorite dish that I made, I would easily tell you it’s my beef tenderloin with mushroom ragu. That definitely is one of my favorites. And then also a salmon with dill sauce.
For restaurants in the downtown area, the barbacoa at La Condesa is fantastic. Usually when I go out to restaurants, I think, "Well, this is how I would have made it, or I would have had this." I’m not a terrible guest at a restaurant. But, you know, I’m going home going, "How did they make that? And how can I put my own spin on it?"
Amber Gunst
Title: Co-founder and chief revenue officer, FundLyst; CEO, Austin Technology Council
Age: 49
Education: Bachelor's degree, Grand Valley State University
Hometown: Muskegon, Mich.
Email: amber@fundlyst.net
