Welcome to ‘The Founding Board’, a collection of musings from a bunch of dudes that just liked making jerky, and inexplicably found themselves running an actual company. Since this is our first entry, I should give you some background: this blog series will be an ongoing, behind-the-scenes account of our company’s history, as it’s made. Think of it like Serial, but for dried meat snacks.

Some of the content will focus on current developments here at HQ: updates on our successes, failures, opportunities and challenges. Some of it will be more thematic: for instance, on ‘communication’ or ‘managing cash flow.’ All of it will be transparent and honest, and will derive from actual ongoing issues.

Why do this? 

Honestly – see, honesty! – because of Kickstarter. (A quick tangent on Kickstarter/Crowd-funding: The insane beauty of these sites is that, somehow, they successfully match the entrepreneurial ambitions of a vulnerable few (no matter how unusual) with the benevolence of an anonymous many. And while the Internet usually greets such vulnerability with venom and negativity, on Kickstarter it is rewarded with cash. It’s a fusion of charity & capitalism that defies explanation, and I’m proud to live in an era where a platform like this exists, let alone thrives.)

A little over 18 months ago, we raised $14,181 thanks to the crowd-funded generosity of 290 seriously awesome guys and gals. Without exaggeration, any success we ever have can be directly traced back to that campaign. In the literal sense, it provided enough working capital to print bags, place a bulk order, and launch an online business. But symbolically, it gave us a necessary push; it gave us validation. Moreover, we now had someone to whom we felt (and feel) accountable. 

We have since been searching for a way to repay that generosity, and while we can’t refund the $14,181, we can pull back the curtain and allow any willing readers to share in this journey with us. On the spectrum of famed business literature, it will probably be more Scott than Welch; all we can hope is that our documented shenanigans will help another group of young entrepreneurs turn a weekend pastime into their weekday full-time. At the very least, we hope it’s interesting, entertaining, and stimulating.

We also hope it has a happy ending.