Part One of my story is done. It covers fifty years — the Navy, Vibranalysis, BMR Associates, CatTrax, 9/11, VideoPhotoBuzz, six years in an 18-wheeler, and the van that turned into SuperVan Adventures. You can download it for free from the book page, or let me read it to you.
Part Two is different. It is not history yet. It is happening right now, and I am going to write it down here as it happens — the winter ski-season pilot at Crystal Mountain, the U.S. Forest Service permits, the foster-family seat program, the franchise model, and whatever fails next. Because something will. That is not pessimism. That is fifty years of data.
Why write it in public?
Every business book I have ever read was written after the author knew how it ended. The lessons were tidy because hindsight tidied them. I would rather show you the messy version: the decision before I know whether it was right, the permit before I know whether it will be approved, the empty seat before I know who will sit in it.
If you are an entrepreneur — or you are starting to suspect you might be one — this is what the road actually looks like. Not the polished version. The real one.
Start small. Start young if you can. Start old if you must. Start scared. Start broke. Start confused. Start imperfect. Just start.
I am 76. I am starting again. Follow along.