EO / MIT Entrepreneurial Masters Program - Year 3

posted by   Ian Wyatt   |    May 27, 2009

Posted in   Entrepreneurship   |   Comments

Today I'm driving from home in Vermont to the Endicott House in Dedham, Massachusetts, an off campus retreat center owned by MIT. This is my third year of the Entrepreneur's Organization / MIT Entrepreneurial Masters Program (formerly known as Birthing of Giants, when the program was also affiliated with Inc. Magazine).

I'll be spending three days in intensive learning sessions led by business leaders, successful entrepreneurs, and MIT faculty. My class of 60 fellow EO Members are entrepreneurs from around the world, including countries such as Australia, South Africa, Switzerland, India, and the U.K. The diverse group of students provides an amazing global view that is difficult to find elsewhere.

Speakers this year include Cameron Herold (BackpocketCOO and formerly 1-800-GOT-JUNK), Omar Khan (author of Liberating Passion), Jack Stack (SRC President and author of A Stake in the Outcome), Mark Eaton (NBA star), and Eran Egozy (CEO of Harmonix, creator of Guitar Hero and Rock Band).

The program begins this evening and ends Saturday afternoon, making for three packed days of learning. I'm excited to get to MIT, knowing that I'll come back to work refreshed and full of ideas to innovate my business model, improve my management, and inspired to grow my business even during this challenging economic environment.

Look for blog posts and Twitter updates (@ianwyatt) from MIT.

Why Vermont? Lifestyle.

posted by   Ian Wyatt   |    May 19, 2009

Posted in   Vermont Living   |   Comments (3)

It's been far too long since my last blog post - just over six weeks. This blogging thing takes time, and that's something I've been short on lately.

Last week Carrie and I completed our move to Vermont, shedding our city apartment in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington DC. My company (Business Financial Publishing) will maintain an office in DC and I'll travel there once a month for business. However, after two years of duel residency, we decided enough was enough, and that it was time to make the move full-time to Vermont.

When I tell people I'm moving to Vermont, the most frequent question I get is, "Why move to Vermont?" And the answer is a simple one.

Lifestyle.

Carrie and I simply found the quality of life to be significantly better in Vermont than DC.

In Vermont, home prices are reasonable compared with a big city or even the suburbs. Working 40 hours a week is considered the norm, not a part-time job. And it's perfectly acceptable to take off a day in the middle of the week to go skiing after a big snow storm.

The climate is amazing. We experience four real seasons. The winter is long, but if you can survive the cold and snow (2008 / 2009 was our first full winter), then the rest of the year makes up for it. Plus if you embrace the winter outdoors, it can be a lot of fun. It gets warm in the summer, but we rarely use the air conditioning. Humidity is almost non-existent. And the state is well-known for its fall foliage and beautiful weather.

There's an abundance of locally grown produce and a big Buy Local movement delivers fresh food to amazing local restaurants (my favorite Vermont restaurants are The Kitchen Table Bistro and Sonoma Station in Richmond, Hen of the Wood in Waterbury, and The Common Man in Warren). We have space for a large garden in our yard, participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) with Maple Wind Farm and enjoy their great produce, and enjoy the local farmers market in Burlington and Richmond. This fall we'll take delivery of a whole pig that we bought from a friend who is starting up a pig raising operation in our town (we appropriately named our pig Pork Chop). It's like wine futures, but with animals. Cool idea - I hope we have room in the freezer.

In the DC neighborhood where we rented an apartment, $600,000 buys a nice two bedroom condo. Private schools can run +$20,000 per year. Politics dominates the town. And for those who can't afford a $3 million home in the city with a yard and a little privacy, the daily commute is exhausting. No thank!

So how did we choose Vermont? My roots to the Green Mountain state run deep. I was born in southern Vermont (making me a true Vermonter), where I lived until I was two years old. While my memories of those first two years are limited, my childhood included frequent trips to Middlebury, Lake Dunmore, and Lake Carmi to visit my grandparents, aunt and uncle, and cousins. I've always loved this state, but chose Washington DC as a "temporary" home for eight years.

Carrie and I are loving our life in Vermont with the pets (Pinot the puppy and the two cats, Almost and Pants). We're looking forward to visits from family and friends this summer, spending a couple weeks at a cottage in Charlotte, and boating on Lake Champlain. Friends - we love having visitors, and if you're summer travel plans take you to New England, stop by for a visit. The wine cellar and beer fridge are always well stocked.

Look for more frequent (and shorter) blog posts in the future.

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