I had a wonderful time last week in Dothan, Alabama! Dothan is one of our ATF Roadside MBA towns, and we featured Key Fire Hose and Panhandle Converter Recycling in the book. The occasion was the Dothan Area Chamber's General Membership Luncheon, and I was honored to be invited to deliver the keynote address. I talked Roadside MBA, tried to tell a few funny stories from the road, and generally had a great time. Some highlights from the day: Breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Lyle Peluso Jr. Lyle gave me a great update on the remarkable growth at Panhandle Converter, and then we … [Read more...]
Mazzeo and Oyer on Cincinnati Edition
Mike Mazzeo and Paul Oyer were guests on Cincinnati Edition last Wednesday on 91.7 WXVU, and you can listen to their interview here. We buzzed through the greater Cincy area in April 0f 2012, and a couple local businesses --- Berns Garden Center and PMC Solutions --- are featured in the book. Ohio is also the scene of Paul's greatest lodging crime: To Scott's utter dismay, he booked us into a Bed & Breakfast rather than a sterile Holiday Inn Express. Mike and Paul had a great time, and we thank the folks in the Queen City for hosting us! … [Read more...]
Talking Scale with Clyde Lear of Learfield Communications
Our latest piece for Inc.com features Clyde Lear, the founder of Learfield Communications. We talked with Clyde way back in July of 2010 on the very first Roadside MBA trip. And as we've written before, calling Clyde a “character” is akin to calling Yellowstone a park. Our visit with Clyde was one of our all-time-favorites, and we're pleased to tell his story --- and illustrate a brilliant application of economies of scale --- on Inc.com. … [Read more...]
Roadside MBA in Fast Company
Roadside MBA was featured in Fast Company's "Future of Work" column this past week. A quick excerpt: One of the more interesting business books available this summer is Roadside MBA: Backroads Lessons for Executives, Entrepreneurs, and Small Business Owners. Written by three economists, it’s a rather corny look at various concepts you’d learn in business school, like barriers to entry, and economies of scale. What’s redeeming about it is that the authors went out and created case studies about dozens of small- and medium-sized businesses that you’ve never heard of. From Arnold Tool in … [Read more...]
Mazzeo Talks to KC Examiner
Mike Mazzeo recently talked with Eric Jacobson about the Missouri-based businesses featured in Roadside MBA. We visited the Show Me State back in 2010, and had a great time. In addition to meeting lots of interesting small business owners, we hit the Dairy Queen in Saint Joseph and toasted Paul's birthday with dipped cones. … [Read more...]
Schaefer on the Stacking Benjamins Podcast
Scott Schaefer recently joined host Joe Saul-Sehy for the Stacking Benjamins podcast. This was a fun one, and you can listen in here. Thanks for having us on! … [Read more...]
Mazzeo on MSNBC
Mike Mazzeo chats with JJ Ramberg on MSNBC for Business War Chest. Here's a note from the intro: While we’ve been traveling around the country visiting Main Streets throughout this past year, three economists who teach at top business schools around the country have been doing the same thing. They took some time off from their jobs to find out what’s working for main street businesses and what’s not. Catch a few wise words from Mike here! … [Read more...]
Review: Young Upstarts
Hey! Another favorable review of Roadside MBA! This one from Young Upstarts. Here are a few lines: Readers will discover, in the co-authors’ conversations with those business owners, how those small companies dealt with their individual challenges.... Businesses cover the gamut of industries and in different situations, so if you’re a business owner yourself there’s almost definitely an example in “Roadside MBA” that you’ll identify with and can learn from.... Certainly a worthy read. Check it out here! … [Read more...]
Roadside MBA Launches Column on Inc.com
We have interviewed 100+ small businesses in the last few years, but only had space for maybe 45 in our book. What to do with the great stories, insights, and "It Depends" examples from the other 55+? Our friends at Inc.com have been kind enough to bring us on as columnists, and we're pleased to say that our first piece hit the web just this week. Check out our first column here, and look here for our Inc.com home page where you can find all of our posts! … [Read more...]
Schaefer on Business Fuel Podcast
Scott Schaefer joined Ty Kiisel and Patrick Wiscombe for the Business Fuel Podcast on the Lendio.com Blog. You can listen here! … [Read more...]