Non-compete provisions have long been a staple of employment agreements in most companies, especially smaller, start-up ventures where it is more likely for the average employee to have access to the company’s “secret sauce” as part of their day-to-date duties. While protections on the “secret sauce” itself are not changing, mechanisms whereby a company might prevent employees, or independent contractors, from going to work for a company’s direct competitor the day after handing in their company access badge have all but disappeared, thanks to a recent spending bill that was passed by the Minnesota legislature.
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Thursday, May 25, 2023
A Review of Summertime Inventions
Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of Summer. As we start preparing for picnics and barbeques, outdoor concerts, trips to the beach or days at the pool, I thought it would be fun to review some interesting inventions and innovations that often evoke childhood memories of summers past. In this prior post from December 2021, I took a nostalgic look at some of the toys and games we grew up with and examined the patents behind those innovations, including U.S. Patent No. 3,359,678, issued on December 26, 1967, for Wham-O Manufacturing Co.’s “Flying Saucer,” modelled after pie tins manufactured by the Frisbie Pie Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Wham-O’s flying discs, of course, are known as Frisbees, which are perfect for a nice summer day at the park.
Monday, May 22, 2023
The Power of Finding your Community on Twitter
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Rinker Buck, Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure (Simon & Schuster, 2022)
In an effort to be timely and topical, I thought about writing something about the coronation of the new titular leader of our closest ally, but—let’s face it—this subject is of limited interest except to the most devoted Anglophile. And, aside from commenting on the huge amount of capital that must have been expended in this exercise, there wasn’t much I could think of in relation to this event that has instructive or inspirational entrepreneurial overtones.
So I turn instead to a story of plain old American ingenuity. In the early days of the American republic, soon after we had overthrown the shackles of colonial status and our allegiance to this leader’s ancestor, the distance between nascent agricultural settlements and trade ports considerably hindered economic development. It didn’t take long, though, for those on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains to discover that they could use rivers as an economical way to float goods to market in New Orleans via the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Even the flatboats used for this purpose themselves generated revenue: after arriving at market, they would be disassembled and the wood sold or repurposed.
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Next Up in the Tank – Lessons from Watching the “Sharks”
Seriously – learn from watching often-hapless people pitch often-ridiculous products and concepts to a bunch of millionaire/billionaires, frequently subject to brutal ridicule? Actually, entrepreneurs can incorporate many lessons from the show when making their own pitches to potential real-life investors.
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Using AI to Create “Creative” Works

Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Jurassic World Dominion (Universal Pictures, 2022)
What better way to pass a snowy March evening with family and friends than to take in a movie about dinosaurs and errant scientists?*
Frankly, that’s pretty much all I took away from the film. As with previous iterations in this franchise, the entertainment value is in the special effects (which, admittedly, are quite good). The story itself may be most charitably characterized as formulaic.
So what’s the formula? Start with an astounding scientific breakthrough. Make it something that could have massive practical implications. Put it into the hands of a large, faceless corporate entity led by a charismatic yet ostensibly non-threatening genius who, alas, has ulterior motives driven by greed. And someone’s life has be put in danger by the machinations of the evil capitalist.