In August, our youngest child Jimmy left for UW-Madison. After a quarter of a century of being full time parents with kids at home, my wife Sarah and I are now empty nesters. We have no fall sporting events to attend. The house is eerily quiet, the dishwasher takes three days for us to fill … Continue reading Empty Nest Adventures – Part One
Author: Mark McGuire
Biking Home
It takes me around 5 hours to drive the 295 miles between our home in Minneapolis and our cottage outside of Watersmeet, Michigan. I’ve driven the route countless times. It’s a chore. The Drive For years I’ve thought about making the trip in a different way. In a way that would turn that chore into … Continue reading Biking Home
The Startup Maze
I recently gave a talk at UW-Madison. The presentation--part of WARF's Entrepreneurons Series--was about entrepreneurship generally, and more specifically, about what it's like to think up, launch and scale a start up. It's something I've done four times, and I really enjoy drawing lessons from the success and failure I've had along the way. Start-ups are … Continue reading The Startup Maze
Find the Experts-How to use Podcasts & Curated Lists to get Smarter/Faster/Better
In my last post announcing my EIR role at American Family Ventures, I mentioned how much I value working shoulder to shoulder with smart people. Today, I want to highlight another method to surround yourself with brilliant people that can teach you, inspire you and drive you, even if you don’t have the opportunity to … Continue reading Find the Experts-How to use Podcasts & Curated Lists to get Smarter/Faster/Better
Why I’m Working at an Insurance Company
I just finished a year off. As I mentioned here (Why I’m Taking a Sabbatical), I set out to have an adventure with my family and to better answer the question "what am I on this earth to do?" It was an incredible opportunity to step out of regular life and take a long, hard look … Continue reading Why I’m Working at an Insurance Company
What We Can Learn from Silicon Valley
I’ll admit it. As an entrepreneur working in Wisconsin, I’m jealous of Silicon Valley. Case in Point: A few weeks ago, a social planning app called Free (Ffrree.com) launched. It wasn’t much different than the dozens of other mobile apps that have tried (and failed) to solve the tricky problem of social planning. There is … Continue reading What We Can Learn from Silicon Valley
Travel School. What I Learned Homeschooling my Son for Five Months
My wife, son and I just returned from a 5-month trip. We spent most of this time sailing a boat from Grenada to the Virgin Islands. Just the three of us—it was an amazing, inspiring, awesomely fun adventure. I had several goals for the trip, but now that it’s over, I think one of the … Continue reading Travel School. What I Learned Homeschooling my Son for Five Months
Re-Entry—It Isn’t Just Hard On Astronauts
We are back. Just a few short weeks ago Sarah, Jimmy and I stepped off the boat that had been our short term home and began a 22 hour journey from Tortola, B.V.I., that included a ridiculously dangerous taxi ride, a ferry ride involving the rescue of a capsized sailboat, two long flights, and a 1AM … Continue reading Re-Entry—It Isn’t Just Hard On Astronauts
New Friends & Sad Endings
“Welcome back,” the Cruz Bay Customs Official said to me as I stepped up to clear into the United States on the island of St John. After the longest absence of our lives, we were back on U.S. soil. I have to confess that it felt good in a familiar sort of way. Like walking … Continue reading New Friends & Sad Endings
Into the Dark
“I think I just saw an old colonial woman out there,” Sarah said to Jimmy and me as she rejoined us at the helm. Having not seen the movie Bridesmaids, I didn’t immediately get the joke, but quickly realized that I didn’t need to worry about a sea rescue. “Wow, is it dark out here . … Continue reading Into the Dark
wander and wonder 