News
Optimal Minimum and the Piggy Bank
I heard a really great phrase the other day. The context was chemotherapy medication but I think it can be applied elsewhere usefully - the "Optimal Minimum". Because chemotherapy can have negative consequences you can't...
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Making stuff and the 80/20 Rule
Yesterday I saw a video of Christopher Porterfield playing Away in A Manger on his Mule, his new baby sitting in his lap and his wife filming.
Yesterday I also read an interview with a maker of stuff who used a lot of words...
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Burn the Boat
I read a book by Mark Divine and in it was this quote.
"Burn the boat."
The point was committing to do something before you knew how to do it. Arrive on shore, and then burn the boat. Not as a test of strength, but...
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Work/Rest/Play/Dinking Around
The other day at lunch I made sure to not get on my phone. I just ate and then when I was done I just sat there. Didn't think about anything or do anything, just sat there. I felt uniquely rested when I went back to work.
We...
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Authenticity
Authenticity is a lie. Ok, that's an extreme way of breaking down my point. I don't usually say things that needlessly blunt so I wanted to try it. It felt good! I'll keep going.
Authenticity is a distraction. (That's more...
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Owner-Maker: Daily Progress Pictures
The number one most awesome business thing I've done this year - (almost) daily progress pictures for customers. I used to do it occasionally, 'here's the wood,' type stuff. Now we do it every day. My brother Phil has a...
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Mulebuckers
Okay. Here goes.
We like making stuff. Like, a lot. But we like doing things that aren't being done. This is how Mule was born, how I learned what I needed to learn to make it happen. One day we got it into our heads...
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Let the Wood Be Wood: Fingerboard Wood and Color
Let the Wood Be Wood: Fingerboard Wood and Color
When I started building these resonators I remembered some advice I got in guitar building school 10 years prior - "Save the good wood for later". Even though every bit of...
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