The Well and the Cathedral

August marked one year of full-time business building. It had been a rocky year. I must admit there were times when I wondered if I really understood what I was getting myself into.

Then things started to take off. I have to preface this next statement because every day I am reminded of something I can do better, some way I can be safer, healthier, a better business person, a better partner, etc. but sometimes one concept sticks. This one came from Seth Godin’s Linchpin. I just had a problem shipping. So shipping has been my big project for the last several months. I successfully fundraised for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and ran a half-marathon in June. I continued to set smaller, more achievable goals in my business and am continuing to meet them. Last month I launched a major project that I thought might never come to fruition.

Without further adieu, I present The Backburner Project that Actually Happened: cincyveg.com

It was a collaboration with a lot of different fantastic people around town who are doing fantastic things. I was very happy to finish this project with them.

My company, Watercourse Technology, is moving forward. This is in large part due to the actions of several talented contractors and now employees. We’ve achieved a few small business milestones and are looking towards the stability a sustainably growing company can provide. We’ve upgraded software and hardware offerings, our capacity for getting things done is greatly increased, and everyone is having fun. Check out our recently refreshed website and leave some feedback if you get a chance.

Next year I’ll be shipping a marathon, some academic achievement and my wedding. Mazol tov!

Recently I finished a fictionalization of Nikola Tesla’s life written by Samantha Hunt, and on a seemingly unrelated note, I tried to explain to my business-savvy dad how a business can make money and still contribute source code back to the world at large. I began thinking about the ways Tesla worked within an essentially open source framework. (more…)

My cousin, Nate, posted this video on his blog. He wrote about ways for companies to think about their modus operandi. It’s also an enlightening way to think about the direction computer-facilitated communication has been moving for the past few years. Definitely worth watching (and drop.io is useful too, by the way!).