What's your company's story?

This company makes fantastic coffee. Try their Darkest Roast if you like it strong. Biking through a town north of here this past weekend, I noticed this poster by the cash wrap. Caught my eye because we're writing copy now for our packaging and web site, including the inevitable "about us" page.

The poster - or story - is effective because it's simple, earnest and memorable. Passionate coffee expert travels around world to find the best beans and then roasts them lovingly just around the corner in Vermont. What's not to get? Or like? Really, the coffee's awesome. Try it.

Sorry the photo's not clearer - there's a lot of caffeine in this stuff!

Burgeoning 'Lohas' marketplace

"The first Earth Day was 40 years ago and the green marketplace was just taking shape. Today, a majority of consumers are incorporating environmental considerations into their day-to-day lives — not just attitudinally, but by voting behaviorally with their dollars by spending $290 billion on goods and services that are environmentally-friendly, socially responsible and/or healthy." NMI LOHAS Business Director, Gwynne Rogers

Yes the Big Bear plans to get a small share of that them there $290 billion pie...

Inspired by good beer on a Friday

Some weeks we're firing on all pistons and things just seem to go our way. This week was one of them, so this weekend it's going to feel great to put the 'Big Bear ' aside and get outside into the woods, even if it's meant to start snowing again!

Btw, we've started sharpening the pencil on a not-too official URSA MAJOR web site which we plan to launch in 2-3 phases starting with a lightly branded version this spring. It's time for a more pulled-together online presence so retailers and investors start taking us for real :)

It's Friday at 5.30pm so it's about that time - to head off and get a cold tasty beer! I think the URSA MAJOR guy is the one who appreciates tasty, well-made beer... and coffee... and chocolate... and cheese... and spirits too (although we go light on that stuff around here)!

Speaking of beer, there's a LOT of good beer in Vermont and that's good because Vermonters like the stuff. A lot. Pioneers like Sam Adams and Anchor Steam did a lot to help wean American guys off Bud and Coors light and we take inspiration from that. Big time. In a MAJOR way.

Chomping at the bit to get live

We're chomping at the bit to get out there and start talking to retailers in earnest about the 'Big Bear' but we're not quite ready to do so and it's agonizing!!!

Retailers want to see (pretty) final product, packaging, web site, collateral, etc. and, while we're working over-time on all of these items, we're just not ready for show time.

Good stuff takes time to develop. Hopefully it'll show when we finally take the Big Bear out for a walk!

Thank God for the UPS Guy

We're in that weird place right now, waiting for products to be finished up, waiting for costing info, waiting for retailer feedback, waiting to hear back from investors...

At times like this you can drive yourself nuts by second-guessing things you can't control, pushing too hard, or you can re-focus on the business and keep building, moving things forward one piece at a time.

Then, later, just when you're totally immersed in the moment, working, creating, the call or email will come in, or the package will arrive, and the waiting's over, the answer has arrived.

That's often how it goes...

This very thing happened a few days ago, when the UPS truck rolled up, interrupting a working lunch, to deliver five samples of a 100%-natural deodorant we absolutely love. It's the first natural one we've found that works. Really well. Stay tuned.