We pick up where we left off before our annual holiday episode: on the front porch of the Chautauqua Mission House at the Reversing the Arrow Conference, held in Boulder in June 2024. This time around, Brad and Jeff are joined by: — Ben Waterhouse, Professor of History at UNC-Chapel Hill — Katie Brownell, Asst Prof of Management at Virginia Tech — and the omni-present Bob Eberhart, Associate Professor of Management at the University of San Diego, founder of the Reversing the Arrow conference, and frequent guest on the podcast Katie sets the tone for the proceedings by stopping by with a bottle of State 38 Bourbon, distilled just down the road in Golden, CO. It’s the perfect accompaniment to a lively conversation about the intersection of history and business, sparked by Ben’s book, “One Day I’ll Work for Myself,” an examination of the (predominantly American) dream of self-employment — and its not-so-dreamy history. Ben notes that, in the last century, the American business ideal has trended from centering the collective good to shifting that burden to the individual by glorifying “going it alone,” leading to today’s gig economy and “DIY” entrepreneurial ethos — and putting particular pressure on today’s business students. This topic falls right into the Creative Distillation wheelhouse, as it’s a long running theme on the podcast that starting a business isn’t for everyone — but that entrepreneurship isn’t just about starting a business. All of our guests agree that whether they use them to start a business or not, the skills entrepreneurship students develop — independent thinking, communication, creativity, and problem-solving — will set them up for success regardless of the undertaking, and are exactly what hiring managers are looking for these days. It’s a fascinating meeting of brilliant business and history minds. Enjoy and cheers! ————— This episode of Creative Distillation was recorded on the front porch of the Chautauqua Mission House at the Reversing the Arrow Conference, held in Boulder in June 2024. Ben Waterhouse’s book, One Day I'll Work for Myself: The Dream and Delusion That Conquered America, is available from your favorite bookseller. Learn more about Ben on his faculty page at the UNC-Chapel Hill website. https://history.unc.edu/faculty-members/benjamin-waterhouse/ Learn more about Katie Brownell on her faculty page at the Virginia Tech website. https://management.pamplin.vt.edu/faculty/directory/brownell-katrina.html Learn more about State 38 Distilling at https://state38.com. -- Learn more about CU's Deming Center for Entrepreneurship: https://deming.colorado.edu Comments/criticism/suggestions/feedback? We'd love to hear it. Drop us a note at CDpodcast@colorado.edu. Thanks for listening. -
An Analog Digital Arts Production for the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship
Produced, recorded and edited by Joel Davis "Whiskey Before Breakfast" [Traditional] performed by Jeffrey York and Brad Werner. Recorded, mixed and mastered by George Figgs ___ CREATIVE DISTILLATION University of Colorado-Boulder professors Jeff York and Brad Werner distill entrepreneurship research into actionable insights. Jeff York | Associate Professor | Research Director
jeffrey.york@colorado.edu Brad Werner | Instructor | Teaching Director
walter.werner@colorado.edu Deming Center for Entrepreneurship | CU Leeds School of Business
303.492.9018 | deming@colorado.edu