Photo Illustration: Dora Godfrey | Photos: Drew Anthony Smith

Austin Was Destined to Replace Silicon Valley. Then the Pandemic Hit

What the hottest boomtown off the coasts will look like on the other side

Last summer, RigUp moved into a 24,000-foot, magazine-spread worthy office in the kind of location you’d expect for one of Austin’s most buzzed about venture-backed startups. The company — a hiring platform for energy-sector…