On Friday May 16th @ 3pm I’ll be discussing burnout at the monthly meeting of Lean Startup Twin Cities.

We’ll be covering the early signs, techniques to avoid it, and ways to bounce back from it.

More info here: Lean Startup Twin Cities

Kevin Morris today:

“Say hello to the new Facebook. You won’t find many people here. But you will find a lot of trash.” – Kevin Morris

My comic from a year ago:

“Don’t collect data. If you know everything about yourself, you know everything. There is no use burdening yourself with a lot of data. Once you understand yourself, you understand human nature and then the rest follows.” – Kurt Gödel, A Logical Journey, MIT Press, 1996

reminds me of the Greek gnōthi seauton.

Today, April 5, I planted 6 hops rhizomes (2 each of Chinook, Willamette, Cascade) on the south side of the house, a few inches down in a compost/manure mixture and covered in mulch.

This is my third attempt at growing hops at home. The first year nothing came up. Last year, half the rhizomes broke through the earth only to be destroyed time and time again by a mix of lawnmower, gale force winds, and japanese beetle. I feel much more confident to combat all 3 this year.

Everything has a price.

At the last job where I was an employee – my immediate manager was always busy and happy to work long hours. Then, I observed that he didn’t really enjoy spending time with his family. Then and now, I see people commuting 45+ minutes each way, for decades, to live where they want to live. But they’re commuting, and spending more time in an office and on the road then in their dream house with their life partners. Any time I feel a pang of envy, I remind myself, I don’t know what price they’re paying for the thing I’m envious of, but it’s likely much higher than I’m comfortable with.

“Years later, I find out that the person, the one I modeled my creative habits after, was going through a bit of a cocaine addiction at the time.” – Ze Frank

13. Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside. –
The more you practice your craft, the less you confuse worldly rewards with spiritual rewards, and vice versa.

“You are your own problem, and you always will be. Also worth noting: you’re the biggest problem you’ll ever have. Better figure out how to deal with yourself.” – Jason Zabel

For the past 10 years I’ve owned and managed a small business selling consulting services to larger businesses. I’ve been fortunate that Minnesota’s business climate has allowed me to support my growing family and work with some great Minnesota businesses. While many of my clients have been based in Minnesota, many others have been based throughout the United States: California, Colorado, and Florida.

Under the Governor Dayton’s proposed tax plan my small business would be required to collect a 5.5% sales tax on our services. This will immediately make my business 5.5% less competitive in Minnesota and around the US. But it’s more than just 5.5%, it a adds a layer of complexity to my day-to-day operations, eating into my overall profitability, and discouraging me from engaging other businesses to support my clients. Taxing professional services will mean not just lower profitability but decreased business activity for many of the great creative service firms Minnesota is known for: design, advertising, architecture.

The past couple years have been some of the most challenging for my business – it’s been a slow and arduous recovery and I’m just now starting to see some of the profitability I once enjoyed. The addition of a sales tax burden on my business will significantly impair my ability to grow my business in Minnesota.

I’m a small business owner, I’d rather not be a smaller business owner. I’m against Governor Dayton’s Sales Tax proposal – I encourage you to vote against it as well.