An Austin business owner is sharing what it meant to land a spot on the Longhorn 100 â the University of Texas at Austin’s annual ranking of the fastest-growing businesses owned or led by Longhorn alumni â as the application window opens for the next class of honorees.
The recognition, administered through the university’s alumni network, celebrates graduates who have turned their degrees into thriving companies. For many recipients, the honor is less about the plaque and more about the validation that comes with being counted among peers who share the same alma mater and, often, the same long odds of building something durable.
A local success story
For the Austin entrepreneur featured in the KXAN report, making the list served as a marker of years of steady growth â the kind that rarely happens overnight and is rarely visible from the outside. Small business ownership in Austin has been shaped in recent years by rising commercial rents, a competitive labor market and a customer base that has grown quickly but also grown more crowded with options.
Being named to the Longhorn 100 offers something practical, too. Honorees typically gain visibility among fellow alumni, potential clients and investors, and access to a network of business owners navigating similar challenges. For companies that have spent their early years heads-down on operations, that kind of exposure can be as valuable as the recognition itself.
What the list represents
The Longhorn 100 highlights the breadth of what UT alumni build. Past classes have included firms across industries â professional services, technology, construction, consumer goods, health care and hospitality among them â and companies at very different stages, from young firms scaling quickly to established businesses posting consistent multi-year gains.
Because the ranking is based on growth rather than raw size, it tends to surface companies that might not otherwise draw headlines. A modest firm doubling its revenue can rank alongside a much larger operation, which is part of the list’s appeal: it rewards trajectory, not just scale.
Applications now open
With the application period open for the coming year, alumni-owned and alumni-led businesses across Texas and beyond have an opportunity to put their numbers forward. Business owners interested in applying should check the University of Texas alumni association’s official channels for eligibility requirements, documentation needed and submission deadlines, which are published alongside the application.
For prospective applicants, honorees often offer the same advice: don’t self-select out. Many business owners assume their company is too small, too niche or too new to compete, only to find that the growth-based criteria put them squarely in contention. Applying also forces a useful exercise â pulling together several years of financials and taking an honest look at where the business has actually gone versus where the owner thought it was going.
Why it matters for Austin
Austin’s economy has long leaned on its relationship with the University of Texas, and the Longhorn 100 makes that connection concrete. The list traces a line from campus to the local storefronts, offices and job sites that employ Austinites and keep money circulating in the region.
For the business owner profiled by KXAN, the honor is both a milestone and a checkpoint â proof that the work has added up, and a reminder that growth has to be earned again each year. As a new application cycle begins, other Austin-area alumni will get their chance to make the same case. Read More
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