{"id":4405,"date":"2013-10-01T07:27:54","date_gmt":"2013-10-01T14:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.dlvr.it\/?p=4405"},"modified":"2026-03-30T20:34:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:34:53","slug":"brought-up-to-be-a-entrepreneur-early-life-on-the-family-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dlvrit.com\/blog\/brought-up-to-be-a-entrepreneur-early-life-on-the-family-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"Brought Up to be an Entrepreneur: Early Life on the Family Farm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"life<\/a>It was summer time. I had just woken up. The sun pierced through a crack in my bedroom curtain like a laser beam. \u00a0I had no idea of the time (nor date for that matter). I sat up in bed, pushed the curtains aside and looked out my window to see my dogs chasing one another. The smell of freshly brewed coffee was making its way up to my second floor bedroom. I could hear the crackling of fresh eggs being fried. My mom and dad were talking in the kitchen. My dad had already been up for hours doing chores.<\/p>\n

I heard the call for breakfast. My sisters and I, barely awake, slowly shuffled across the hardwood floors, down the steps and into the kitchen.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know what the day had in store for me. I was only 8 or 9 at the time. We lived on several acres of land. My sisters and I always found something to do. Maybe I would ride my bike. Maybe I would go explore the acres of forest behind our house. Or maybe I would play in the hayloft in the barn.<\/p>\n

I sat down at the table where my mother was serving breakfast (how I miss that) – two fried eggs, two slices of bacon, a piece of toast with butter and a glass of milk. What to do today, I was thinking. My fate would quickly be decided for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cBill?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, dad<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI need your help today<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t mind helping my dad. I was eager to just hang out with him (remember, i was under 10 and my dad was still cool.). He would sometimes let me drive \u201cBig Bill\u201d. That was one of the \u00a0tractors on the farm. I would sit on his lap, he would push the pedals and I would steer. And yes, I had a tractor with my name on it!<\/p>\n

\"picking<\/a>There was one job on the farm I dreaded more than any other thing – picking rocks from the freshly plowed fields. For those of you who have no clue what I am talking about, good for you. And for the small minority who do, you can sympathize. It was a labor intensive process.<\/p>\n

\u00a0And then I heard those dreaded words come out of his mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need help picking rocks<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

I replied \u201cAw, dad<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

He replied with just \u201cthe look.\u201d \u00a0The power that his look possessed would have made Super Man weak in the knees. That\u2019s all it took. I was picking rocks today.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe outside in 15 minutes<\/em>,\u201d my dad said.<\/p>\n

\"combine\"<\/a>Just like the job implies, you pick rocks out of the fields so when it came time to harvest, the rocks wouldn\u2019t get caught in the machine that would harvest the crops. If a rock got caught in the harvester, it could quickly put it out of commission for days – until the mechanic could come fix it. You only had one machine – these were $100k+ pieces of equipment. You were always dealing with a small window of time when it came to harvesting. You have to harvest just when the crops are at their peek. Any delay could mean lower prices when it came time to sell them. That meant it was critical that stones were removed from the fields.<\/p>\n

Growing up on a farm, I quickly learned what hard work was and the dedication it took to be an entrepreneur. Picking rocks was one of the hardest jobs there was on our farm. We managed over 3,000 acres of crops (that\u2019s a lot of rocks to pick), a couple hundred head of cattle and a fleet of trucks (to transport all the crops). It was a big operation at the time – the largest in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

As I look back on my childhood, it hadn\u2019t dawned on me until recently that I experienced a phenomenal transition in American history. For decades, America relied on the family farm for food. Nothing was more American than the small family farmer. Advancements in farming and crop output today has changed America\u2019s landscape forever. The family farm is quickly disappearing and being replaced by big corporate farms. \u00a0Drive around my old stomping grounds and you will see decaying barns and new housing developments where silos once stood.<\/p>\n

The Last Farmer Standing<\/h3>\n

The 80\u2019s ushered in a new kind of \u2018farmer\u2019 – the technology farmer. I witnessed first hand the chapter close on the family farmer only to usher in a new era with the computer revolution and information age. Very few people can say they straddled two transformational eras in America\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

My dad never pushed me into taking over the family farm. I went off to college to set a new path for my life. When I look back on the history of my family, I am the first son on my dad\u2019s side not to be a farmer. When I left for college I had no idea that I was not only setting a new course for myself but also changing the family\u2019s lineage and taking part in a massive transformation happening in American history. We\u2019ve gone full circle from a time where most Americans where entrepreneurs during the Agricultural Age to the Industrial Age where only the rich could afford the large machines in factories to the Information Age where the cost to start a business is extremely low<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

From the Family Farm to the Server Farm<\/h3>\n

The life lessons I learned growing up on my family farm in Wisconsin have helped me succeed as an entrepreneur and \"entrepreneurship\"<\/a>provide perspective as I pioneer a new chapter in America\u2019s history. It takes the same hard work, passion and patience to be a technology entrepreneur as my dad possessed when he started his farm with just one cow (seed capital) and a dream. You have to dig in, get your hands dirty and realize some years you are going to have bad crops. You can control what you can but outside forces are playing against you like mother nature or a well funded competitor<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Am I still picking rocks? Sure. \u00a0Every time I throw one into the pile, another one appears\u2026 intellectual property rights, SPAM, economic uncertainty, ever changing technology, new competitors cropping up. \u00a0Success means learning and adapting continually. \u00a0My life on the farm has prepared me well for the challenges of the new era.<\/p>\n

As far as my family’s farm? That has long been gone. My parents have retired from farming and moved to the \u2018big city\u2019 living comfortably in a condo about 30 miles from where I grew up. My mom still wakes up early and makes fried eggs, bacon, toast and coffee. When we get together, we talk about the \u2018old days\u201d and reminisce about the times in the fields. And then my dad always turns to me and asks, \u201cWhat is it that you exactly do again<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was summer time. I had just woken up. The sun pierced through a crack in my bedroom curtain like a laser beam….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"yoast_head":"\nBrought Up to be an Entrepreneur: Early Life on the Family Farm -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It was summer time. I had just woken up. 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