2019: The Year of Cider

Reading Time: 9 minutesThis “year in review” post marks the fifth year where I’ve taken the time at the end of the year to look back over my accomplishments and examine both successes and failures from the past twelve months. This review, along with predictions for the coming year, are my favorite pair of posts each year. It’s … [Read more…]

You Can’t Get There From Here

Reading Time: 8 minutesI’ve just returned from an amazing trip to New England this past week, my first-ever trip to that part of the country. I spent four full days traveling through western Massachusetts, eastern Vermont, and the very western edge of New Hampshire, taking part in the 25th annual Franklin County Cider Days. I had been looking … [Read more…]

Book Review: Startup CEO

Reading Time: 3 minutesMatt Blumberg Startup CEO ISBN: 978-1-118-54836-3 Over the course of my life, I’ve worked in a lot of different fields. In high school, I held down a part-time gig at a local TV station editing tapes of the weekend evening news. During one of the summers of undergrad, I worked at one of the smaller … [Read more…]

If You Can Dodge a Train, You Can Dodge a Ball

Reading Time: 13 minutesNever before has it taken me three entire days to get plugged back into life at home after a long trip out of state. Should that be the metric to gauge the success of a trip? Number of days following to get back to normal and back to work on things? It didn’t take me … [Read more…]

Are We Ready For Adventure?

Reading Time: 8 minutesIn just a few hours, I’ll be on my way to Denver for Denver Startup Week, part one of the fall entrepreneurial mega-trip. This will be my third year attending Denver Startup Week, and the week following will be my second trip to the 1 Million Cups Organizer Summit in Kansas City. My trip to Denver … [Read more…]

Embrace Your Inner 30 Year Old Boomer

Reading Time: 6 minutesIt seems like the same thing happens each summer. I notice that my calendar empties out with the conclusion of school and kids’ activities around the first week of June. My optimism builds as it looks like I have nearly three months of productivity ahead of me. Then, in what seems like just a few … [Read more…]

I Wasn’t Energized Before, But Now I Am

Reading Time: 5 minutesWe’ve arrived at roughly the midpoint of summer. The days are as long as they are going to get, which makes bedtime for the kids that much more difficult. When daylight begins to appear before 5 am, and stays light past 9 pm, it feels like everyone is awake all the time. I tend to … [Read more…]

Cider Probably Shouldn’t Taste Like Easter Eggs

Reading Time: 7 minutesCan something be exhausting yet invigorating? If so, that’s how I would describe the two weeks I spent traveling across the Midwest, from eastern Iowa to western Michigan, back to central Iowa, and then home again. Being away from home and driving nearly 1300 miles over the course of a nine day period was exhausting, … [Read more…]

This Seems Like a “Jay Thing”

Reading Time: 5 minutesI’ve managed to find a brief moment during this busy time to collect my thoughts and reflect on all of the entrepreneurial activities of which I’ve been a part recently. This is probably the last break in the action I’ll have until the end of May. A week from now, I’ll be on the road … [Read more…]

These Sausages Are Too Barbecuey

Reading Time: 4 minutesTaxes have been filed, snowblower put away, and the sounds of farm equipment can be heard outside the opened window of my home office. These are the signs that spring is finally here! The other sign of spring, at least for me, is that I’ve been constantly moving from one event to another, much of … [Read more…]