Recently I was contacted by Dustin Freund of Innocent Traveler Games about his current Kickstarter, The Ghosts Betwixt. In a sheer display of passion for this project, Dustin ended up sending me a variety of thoughts over a series of e-mails—a mix of insights, anecdotes, lessons learned, and observations about his project and Kickstarter in […]
I had memorably bad experience at a bank recently that left me thinking about customer service from a business perspective, so I’d like to share it with you. It’s incredibly rare that I actually walk into a bank. I bank online, and I rarely spend cash. I’m probably not alone in that experience, so I […]
During a recent trip to Kansas City, we enjoyed several delicious brunches. I noticed a trend at every restaurant: They each had their signature blend of coffee, all from a local place called The Roasterie. As I learned more about it and realized just how many restaurants had their own blend, the more I admired […]
This weekend, Stonemaier Games hosted its sixth annual Design Day. On Saturday, various hosts in St. Louis (myself and a few others) held day-long game days at our homes. On Sunday, the Design Day itself featured designers, playtesters, and gamers from St. Louis and around the country for 10+ hours of playtesting and gaming at […]
A few months ago, I wrote about how the challenges offered by indoor rock climbing–a new hobby introduced to me by my lovely girlfriend–were making me a better creator, publisher, designer, and entrepreneur. We’ve continued to climb on nearly weekly basis, and I’m loving it. Recently, Megan has introduced me to yoga, and I’m enjoying […]
I’m starting to wonder if product leaks are a viable and exciting part of any pre-marketing strategy. I could point to examples like the leaked Deadpool footage that resulted in the film getting made or the plethora of iPhone leaks that happen leading up to Apple’s annual announcement. But I can’t speak to them with […]
I’m not much of a bourbon or whiskey drinker. But this weekend I learned about a Maker’s Mark strategy that fascinated me, and I wanted to share it my understanding of it with you (this is secondhand information). If you go on the Maker’s Mark website, you can sign up for free to have your […]
This is the ultimate damned if you do, damned if you don’t scenario. Jamey got lambasted with Wingspan for “not supporting retailers” because many retailers didn’t get enough copies of the game to fulfill their own pre-orders. Now, Jamey is getting ragged for selling out his own pre-order which is largely due to him allotting […]
I’ve spent the last two weeks craving fried chicken sandwiches. Why? It all started with a tweet from Popeyes suggesting that its new chicken sandwich rivaled that of Chick-Fil-A. The result has been a perfect storm of traditional and social media–I’ve heard about these sandwiches from CNN, the NY Times, The Daily Show, Conan O’Brien, […]
At a recent wedding, I was reminded of the 5 love languages, one of my favorite concepts for romantic relationships. The idea is that people feel and express love in different ways (gifts, quality time, physical touch, words of affirmation, and acts of service); it’s important to remember that the ways you feel loved may […]
