Helping wineries and regional winery associations better understand their own trends and discover new growth opportunities.

This was a fun gig and introduction to the business of Mendocino County. I was a management consultant to new and small businesses - helping clients articulate their products, find their market segments, talk to customers, and increase sales. I helped with the business development activities of West Company and lead the charge on doubling all four of their economic development goals for the county.

Played farmer for two seasons by growing, harvesting, and market salad greens. Eat Yogreens!

After deciding to sell ARMS, my life opened up and I interned with the organization that inspired my love of agriculture. Ecology Action (EA) teaches people worldwide to sustainably feed themselves. EA has developed a mini-farming system that produces 2-6 times US average yields while using significantly less water, fertilizer, energy, and land.While an intern, I completed a labor study of EA's methods. It involved stop watches, gargantuan spreadsheets, and presentations - almost like I was back in the business world.

ARMS is a software product for college athletic departments that facilitates student athlete management. Starting and growing this company was a wild ride and a helluva learning experience - especially in sales and marketing. In my last 10 months before acquisition, I presented at over 50 universities in 43 cities ...

This company is where my partner and I really cut our teeth learning the business of software. Being able to learn about so many types of organizations, their issues, and how technology could help (or get in the way) was invaluable and no doubt what lead us to the success of ARMS.

On my second application attempt, AU offered to pay me to go back to school and research the latest and greatest tech. In the dungeons (basement computer labs of a very old building) of McKinley hall, I met and bonded with my future business partner over database theory and many more ...

This was an opportunity to extend my stay in Honduras, enjoy a beautiful culture and land, and explore my love of teaching. I taught mathematics, "computers," and rowdiness. I also created their website after teaching/tutoring hours.

This was probably my first attempt at walking into a foreign organization (literally) - and working to leverage the web for their benefit. Here also the "seed was planted" for my agricultural passions.

This was my introduction to the big corporate world. I was one of 4 developers on a project that we took through the full and proper development life cycle (read tons of documentation) for a world wide sciences corporation by the name of Dupont.

In the valley during the last of the .com goldrush I was exposed to a wide variety of strategic business issues for high tech companies. My two favorite projects involved a lot of primary and secondary market 1) research profiling growth opportunities for a global electronics firm and 2) and assessing demand for small software startup.