Lee Granas (EPOBio, Hist鈥�01) is the co-founder of , a San Francisco-based company providing space for people seeking distraction-free work. WIRED called the company 鈥渢he latest productivity solution to come out of Silicon Valley.鈥�
At focused, clients attend a 2.5-hour small-group session, which starts with a one-on-one goal-setting meeting and a brief meditation practice. Then, it鈥檚 time to get to work on the project or task at hand. The cost: $40. With any luck, at the end of 2.5 hours, their work is done.
Granas previously worked for a productivity app called Workflowy and the National Library of Medicine鈥檚 Visible Human Project. She also helped create an online 鈥渁tlas of human emotions鈥� for The Dalai Lama.
Here she talks about what makes focused work and what it takes to get unstuck during a project.
What is it about life today that creates the need for focused?
Our modern world continually chases our attention. It鈥檚 no surprise how we are unintentionally pulled to our phones, yet it is often a surprise how fractured our attention is even at our computers. When our clients turn off Slack, messenger apps and email they are often amazed at how much they can get done. We help you reclaim your intention and become productive in a more conscious and satisfying way.
Is your service effective because it puts a person, physically and mentally, in a different place?
Absolutely. Many of our clients normally work from home or caf茅s. They find that coming into our space provides a different type of supported container, allowing them to get more done. They also can tackle harder and more complex work that they might avoid or distract from on their own. Our space is like a refuge from the modern world and feels like a retreat center in the middle of a city.
That being said, we are currently piloting remote sessions via video-chat. We are adding components to help create a supportive environment even from your home.
Can you share a success story about someone who just couldn鈥檛 complete a task until coming to focused?
One woman always wanted to apply to an artist residency program, but she had been putting it off for months. Every time she tried to work on the application on her own, she became intimidated and found ways to distract herself. When she came to focused, the structure and support allowed her to finish and submit the entire application.
Often we help our clients with their fears, which allows them to get unblocked and complete hard tasks. Other clients use focused to work on novels or screenplays that they can never make time for during a busy week.
What do you do when you get stuck and just can鈥檛 get something done?
Usually there is an underlying emotion when you are stuck. Perhaps there is fear, or perfectionism, or a deeper reason why the task is challenging. If you can identify that emotion, it can often help you get unblocked. We have found, unexpectedly, that compassion for a hard task is usually more powerful and effective than extra discipline.
Milwaukee journalist was a 35-year newspaper reporter, finishing that career at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Now a freelance writer, his work includes fact-check reporting for PolitiFact and sports reporting for Associated Press. His reporting on Steven Avery was featured in Making a Murderer. Kertscher is the author of sports books on Brett Favre and Al McGuire. Follow him at and on Twitter: and @KertscherSports.
Photo courtesy Lee Granas
Lee Granas is the co-founder of focused, a San Francisco-based company providing space for people seeking distraction-free work.
Gavin Lodge couldn't find a fashionable diaper bag for fathers, so he created his own.
It wasn鈥檛 for a lack of effort. Gavin Lodge (IntlAf, Phil鈥�99) just couldn鈥檛 find what he was looking for.
When he and his partner, Todd Ellison, were preparing for the birth of their first child in 2011, a key baby item was not meeting their needs: The bag.
鈥淚t was while we were doing registry stuff that I wondered, 鈥榃hy isn鈥檛 there a slick-looking diaper bag out there?鈥欌€� said Lodge, a New York City actor. 鈥淓verything was either quilted or feminine or schlumpy and apologetic.鈥�
Eventually, they relented: 鈥淲e bought a schlumpy bag.鈥�
Upon welcoming their second child in 2013, Lodge was not giving in as easily. He decided to design his own diaper bag with dads in mind.
The effort took years. Lodge was performing in the Broadway play Annie and juggling life with his two children, Ellison and Colton. By the time he had a usable bag, his youngest was out of diapers. But he鈥檇 sparked a long-term venture for himself.
鈥淭here鈥檚 this baby industry out there almost entirely catering to moms,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 want to empower dads.鈥�
In fall 2016 he launched his diaper bag company, E.C.Knox, with a navy bag with black racing stripes. A year later, Barneys New York was selling it.
鈥淚 like to say I built this company in four-hour increments of babysitting,鈥� said Lodge, who often raced to design meetings across the Manhattan Bridge on his bicycle.
His sleek messenger-style bag contains ample pockets; removable, waterproof linings; a zip-out changing pad; flashlight; computer sleeve; and instant access to wet wipes. It converts to a backpack when needed. And there鈥檚 room for a sippy-cup 鈥� or, when occasion arises, a wine bottle.
鈥淚 definitely designed that intentionally,鈥� Lodge said.
Entrepreneurism wasn鈥檛 part of Lodge鈥檚 career plan as an actor, nor was it a thought in college.
Lodge, an only child who grew up in Lakewood, 欧美口爆视频, received a Boettcher Scholarship, which brought him to 欧美口爆视频 Boulder. Aspiring for a foreign service career, the Presidents Leadership Class member jumped full force into college life.
鈥淲ith his incredible time management skills, he was good at everything he committed himself to,鈥� said 欧美口爆视频 theater professor Bud Coleman, who worked with Lodge on three 欧美口爆视频 musicals.
But when the Broadway musical Rent came to town seeking talent, Lodge 鈥� a member of the 欧美口爆视频 a cappella group Extreme Measures 鈥� was intrigued and tried out.
He didn鈥檛 make the show, but the experience was transformative in making him rethink his future plans: 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 feel like having a career yet.鈥�
After graduation, he worked for the 2000 Al Gore presidential campaign and then as executive assistant for Maria Cantwell, a U.S. senator from Washington. She encouraged him to pursue a job in Washington, D.C. But Lodge still felt a pull to Broadway, and moved to New York instead.
He made his Broadway debut in 2004 by performing in the musical 42nd Street. He also met his partner Todd, who was a conductor for the play.
In 2009 the couple decided to have children via surrogate.
Their parenting experiences shaped Lodge鈥檚 bag design, which often ranged from quick diaper changes on city park benches to business meetings after preschool drop-off.
After receiving his first bag sample in spring 2016, a fellow preschool parent helped him secure 15 minutes to pitch his bag to Barneys.
Today, his $250 bags are sold at Maisonette, the online luxury baby retailer, Amazon and several boutiques across the country, including Twinkle by Zoe in Aspen, 欧美口爆视频. Lodge also has expanded his E.C.Knox line to include a weekender bag and swaddle blankets.
鈥淧olitics taught me that if I knock on more doors than the competition,鈥� Lodge said, 鈥渕y persistence will pay off.鈥�
Photos courtesy Gavin Lodge
Gavin Lodge couldn't find a fashionable diaper bag for fathers, so he created his own.In 2015, SoulCycle co-founder Elizabeth Cutler (DistSt'89) launched a spin sensation.
Amid the sea of freshmen fidgeting in the stands of 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 basketball arena at convocation in August 1985, Elizabeth Cutler (DistSt鈥�89) pondered what she鈥檇 just heard.
鈥淔irst, he said 25 percent of us wouldn鈥檛 be here next year because we鈥檇 flunk out,鈥� she said of a dean. 鈥淭he second was that we鈥檇 have to be our own advocates, because 欧美口爆视频 is a large school. The third thing he said is don鈥檛 get too focused on what job you think you are going to do, as 90 percent of us are going to do a job that has not yet been invented.鈥�
The final point struck a chord: You can blaze your own way.
Two decades later, in 2006, Cutler and a partner did it by opening a fitness center, SoulCycle, in a 1,400-square-foot former dance studio in Manhattan. It proved the start of a high-end fitness phenomenon.
鈥淵ou could hardly find our front door, and we turned the hallway into the locker room,鈥� Cutler said. 鈥淏ut we were beyond freaking-out-excited.鈥�
SoulCycle was born of Cutler鈥檚 search for community in New York.
Today, SoulCycle is a marquee name in the business of boutique fitness, operating 90 studios across North America. There are no memberships 鈥� exercisers book seats online by noon on Mondays 鈥� and classes sell out fast, even at $40 or more per session. Charismatic instructors teach up-tempo cycling classes in candlelit rooms, shouting encouragement to cyclists by name. It鈥檚 not uncommon for riders to cry as they pedal in sync in the dark.
鈥淎s I dabbed my eyes and my sweat after class,鈥� wrote an Atlanta magazine journalist in June, 鈥淚 wiped away my cynicism, too. Whatever the special sauce, whatever the science, I鈥檓 sold on SoulCycle.鈥�
Acquired in 2015 by Equinox Fitness, SoulCycle was born of Cutler鈥檚 search for community in New York.
Although a big-city girl from Chicago, she鈥檇 moved east from tiny Telluride, Colo., where she鈥檇 lived 10 years, working as a real estate agent and Jin Shin Jyutsu acupressure practitioner. She was used to seeing familiar faces on the street and taking restorative hikes with friends.
鈥淏y the time the hike was over, we had solved our problems and were ready to get on with our day,鈥� she said.
After the birth of her second daughter, in 2005, a friend invited her to a spin class. Cutler was anxious 鈥� about whether she鈥檇 finish, about how she鈥檇 feel afterward. She hungered for an urban sanctuary offering the physical, social and psychic benefits of an outdoor escapade with friends.
Soon Cutler met Julie Rice, a former Hollywood talent agent with a similar yearning for socially fulfilling exercise. Over lunch they hatched a plan for a cycling studio prioritizing communal feeling.
鈥淸T]here was really nothing out there that was efficient, that was joyful, that was about community,鈥� Rice told Business Insider.
Cutler found a tiny West 72nd Street studio for rent on Craigslist and the pair opened shop. They charged $27 a session and adopted the then-unusual per-class reservation system to encourage riders to feel invested 鈥� and show up.
鈥淲e wanted to create an experience where people could clip into the bike when the lights came down, listen to a teacher who spoke to them in a real way and leave the class after 45 minutes having allowed their being to be able to sort everything out,鈥� said Cutler.
As SoulCycle grew, first in New York, then in California, celebrities discovered it. Kelly Ripa raved. Jake Gyllenhaal, David Beckham and Lady Gaga became regulars. Oprah came on her 60th birthday.
鈥淲e were in service for people living their best lives,鈥� said Cutler, who left SoulCycle in 2016, after she and Rice sold their full stakes to Equinox for $90 million each. They now run LifeShop, a business advisory and investment firm.
Cutler still enjoys the fellowship of SoulCycle. Visiting Chicago last year, she joined a class 鈥� pedaling and sweating her way into harmony in the dark.
In our print edition, this story appears under the title "Master of Soul." Comment on this story? Email editor@colorado.edu.
It鈥檚 hard to believe now, but there was a time when there was no Google in Boulder.
No 700-employee (and growing) workforce.
No multi-building campus at Pearl and 30th Streets with aspens in the lobby, indoor fire pit and lovingly restored 1961 camper for meetings.
No chatter about how the world鈥檚 most famous search engine would figure in the life and rhythms of this small, iconic city.
For Brad Schell (ArchEngr鈥�82), the pre-Google days were a happy blur: In the 1980s and 鈥�90s, he and partners were building companies from scratch. One of them, it turned out, would prove to be a Google magnet: In 2006, the tech giant acquired @Last Software, establishing a Boulder beachhead that has evolved into a major U.S. office. Google moved into its new, $131 million Boulder site in December.
Some @Last engineers ran into some Google engineers at a trade show...
Today, Google is both a marquee local employer and 鈥� along with outposts of Twitter and Microsoft 鈥� a powerful symbol of Boulder鈥檚 flourishing tech industry.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of people in this town that go for it,鈥� said Schell, who at 57 sports thick ringlets of blond hair worthy of a cinema surfing champ. 鈥淵ou get excited about something and you want to see if you can bring it to life.鈥�
Like the 鈥�80s, 鈥�90s and early 2000s, the Google era has also been exciting for Schell, who moved to town in 1978 as a 欧美口爆视频 freshman from Steamboat Springs, one of five Schell siblings to attend 欧美口爆视频 Boulder.
After working for Google for about a year, he embarked on a series of adventures 鈥� boat-building school in Maine, Spanish lessons in Guatemala, a tour of Baja by camper, kite surfing in the Pacific Northwest and an array of business endeavors in tech, real estate and wind energy. Most mornings you can find him at Boxcar Coffee Roasters on Pearl, an animated and friendly eminence grise of the Boulder tech scene.
From time to time, he drops by Google鈥檚 new offices, where many members of the former @Last crew still work, including site director Scott Green 鈥� the top Googler in Boulder.
鈥淲e still talk about how damn much fun it was,鈥� Schell said.
The short version of the @Last-Google story goes like this:
Keen to work for himself, Schell in 1989 co-founded CadZooks, a small Boulder software firm that vastly simplified the production of complex construction drawings, largely automating what once required intense labor by skilled draftsmen able to think in 3D. After California-based Autodesk acquired CadZooks in 1996, Schell stayed on for a while, then turned toward new possibilities.
When Joe Esch, a software developer he knew, suggested starting a new company in 1999, Schell shared some notes and sketches he鈥檇 made over the years for easy-to-use 3D modeling software. Esch liked them, and they founded @Last in an office at 10th and Pearl in Boulder.
Scott Green, left, Google鈥檚 Boulder site director, with Brad Schell, at Google in January.
Their core product, SketchUp, was intended for anybody who wanted to design in 3D, Schell said 鈥� 鈥渁 10-year-old or the highest-profile architect in the world.鈥� In a burst of brain work Schell called 鈥渢he best six weeks of our professional life,鈥� the @Last founders created a prototype and lined up investors. Though initially of interest to professional designers 鈥� architects, landscape architects, engineers 鈥� SketchUp had a simple interface that captured 鈥渢he spirit of drawing,鈥� Schell said, making it possible for amateurs to use it. For redoing the family kitchen say, or designing a woodworking project or making a castle for history class.
By 2005, @Last had two small offices overseas and about 50 employees in a new space behind the Starbucks on Pearl.
Around that time, some @Last engineers ran into some Google engineers at a trade show. They discovered a mutual admiration and kept in touch. Wouldn鈥檛 it be cool, they all thought, if people could use SketchUp to insert 3D creations into Google Earth?
1982: Brad Schell (ArchEngr) graduates from 欧美口爆视频 Boulder.
1989: He co-founds CadZooks, a Boulder firm that makes software for 3D construction planning.
1999: Schell co-founds @Last Software. The Boulder firm produces software for 鈥渁nybody who want[s] to design in 3D.鈥�
2006: Google acquires @Last, planting a flag in Boulder.
2014: Google announces it will build a multi-building campus at 30th and Pearl Streets for up to 1,500 workers.
2017: Google moves in.
One day in 2005, Schell recalled, someone at @Last鈥檚 offices said to him, 鈥淪chell, do you know there鈥檚 a guy from Google in the conference room? You ought to go in and meet him.鈥�
He did, and the encounter led to a subsequent t锚te-脿-t锚te at Trident Booksellers and talk of a partnership.
Months later, Schell鈥檚 cell phone rang as he passed through a Boulder alleyway. It was another Google executive: 鈥淲ould you entertain an acquisition?鈥�
By early 2006, the deal was done.
Over a three-day weekend, Google remodeled @Last鈥檚 offices, installing, among other things, an eye-popping snack bar.
鈥淎ll of us are fairly food-motivated,鈥� Schell said of the former @Last crew, marveling, more than a decade later, over the 鈥渆xtreme makeover.鈥�
鈥淪omebody said to me, 鈥楽chell, can we eat this stuff?鈥欌€�
Google continued to iterate and improve SketchUp, ultimately selling it to Trimble, a California-based producer of positioning tools, in 2012. Trimble鈥檚 SketchUp team remains in Boulder, as do many original @Last employees 鈥� some at Google, others at start-ups of their own.
鈥淭here are hundreds of absolutely fascinating, inspiring stories from this town,鈥� Schell said.
Of @Last鈥檚 story, he鈥檒l say this: 鈥淟et鈥檚 admit it 鈥� it is fun that we had a part in Google being here.鈥�
Photos by Glenn Asakawa
It鈥檚 hard to believe now, but there was a time when there was no Google in Boulder.Madalyn Kern (MechEngr'12; PhD'16) at the Catalyze 欧美口爆视频 Demo Day in July. Her company, ReForm, is developing a low-cost, adjustable prosthetic socket for amputees.
Photo by Logan Guerry
Madalyn Kern's company, ReForm, is developing a low-cost, adjustable prosthetic socket for amputees.Entrepreneurs are coming out of the woodwork at 欧美口爆视频 Boulder. It's no accident.
Kimberly Drennan had two goals in late summer 2014, and neither involved starting a business.
The 欧美口爆视频 instructor, an architect, was honing an idea for an upcoming sophomore design studio and aiming to aid America鈥檚 long-suffering honeybees.
Yet three years later she鈥檚 CEO of HiveTech Solutions, LLC, a Boulder-based start-up firm developing technology and data services for commercial beekeepers to monitor hive health remotely, enabling timely, efficient interventions.
鈥淎ll of this was new to me,鈥� Drennan said of start-up life.
At root, HiveTech is the product of an idea, an attitude and an increasingly robust 欧美口爆视频 Boulder entrepreneurial ecosystem that encourages students, faculty and staff to see themselves as enterprise builders 鈥� and helps bring enterprises to life.
欧美口爆视频 hasn鈥檛 always been an easy place for would-be entrepreneurs. That began to change after local investors and business leaders convened with 欧美口爆视频 professors and executives in 2007 to tackle two big questions: What is an entrepreneurial university, and how could 欧美口爆视频 Boulder become one?
Kimberly Drennan, 欧美口爆视频 instructor
Among the first initiatives to emerge from the 35-member group鈥檚 discussion was the New Venture Challenge (NVC), a nine-month, incubator-like program culminating in a spring championship with real money at stake.
In 2016 HiveTech won NVC鈥檚 grand prize, walking away with nearly $25,000 in all. The most recent top five finishers netted almost $100,000 in prizes and private investment. Greater sums will be on the line in 2017-18, NVC鈥檚 10th anniversary.
Since NVC鈥檚 founding, 欧美口爆视频 Boulder has vastly expanded support for entrepreneurs across campus. There鈥檚 broader access to relevant academic courses, new co-working and maker spaces, a selective business accelerator program, intensifying interaction with Boulder鈥檚 start-up community 鈥� and a growing appreciation that entrepreneurship isn鈥檛 just for MBAs and software developers.
鈥淣ow it鈥檚 really the opposite of 10 years ago,鈥� said the law school鈥檚 Brad Bernthal, who oversaw NVC until this year and teaches a popular venture capital course. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a different university.鈥�
NVC now falls under the purview of 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 Research & Innovation Office, home of a burgeoning cross-campus innovation and entrepreneurship initiative.
Amid all this, in 2014, Kim Drennan was exploring projects for her environmental design students.
Scouting a potential site on 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 East Campus one summer day, she spied a cluster of beehives along Boulder Creek. Aware of the dramatic decline of the honeybee population in recent decades, she wondered if there might be a way to help them through architectural design. Maybe her class could dream up better hives.
Drennan tracked down the hives鈥� owner, a doctoral student named Chelsea Cook (PhD鈥�16), who was studying how bees regulate hive temperature. They then met with Drennan鈥檚 faculty colleague Justin Bellucci (EnvDes鈥�08; MCivEngr鈥�12), an expert in sensors. 鈥淲e sat down over martinis and just started talking,鈥� Drennan said.
The idea began to evolve beyond the project her students would ultimately take on. Maybe Drennan, Cook and Bellucci could develop a sensor technology system that would generate data for commercial beekeepers 鈥� data about hive temperature and humidity, perhaps, or weight and acoustics. This would add a more scientific dimension to beekeeping, minimize reliance on time-consuming visual inspections and benefit both bees and hive operators鈥� bottom line.
When Drennan filed an invention disclosure with 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 tech transfer office, she learned about the NVC and dove in headfirst.
鈥淲e wanted to test if our idea could be a business,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e really didn鈥檛 know.鈥�
NVC has deliberately minimal entry requirements. Teams need one person with a valid 欧美口爆视频 ID 鈥� faculty, student or staff 鈥� an idea they can articulate and the chutzpah to present it to a live audience in 60 seconds at an annual fall 鈥渜uick pitch night.鈥� Last year 30 teams showed up, including NVC 9 overall winner Give & Go, which has developed an automated film-editing process for sports teams.
Give & Go ultimately walked away with $64,000 in seed money. Second place finisher ReForm, which is working on self-adjusting prosthetic limb sockets, netted $21,500.
A year earlier, Cook (now a postdoc at Arizona State University) had made HiveTech鈥檚 opening pitch, taking home the award for best idea, the first in a series of successes.
鈥淚t was a real shot of energy,鈥� Drennan said 鈥� and yet not HiveTech鈥檚 biggest score that October night.
Sue Heilbronner, CEO of MergeLane, a firm that cultivates and invests in women-led start-ups, was among the judges. Peggy Tautz (MBA鈥�17), then a 欧美口爆视频 MBA student with an engineering background, was in the audience.
鈥淪ue actually grabbed Peggy鈥檚 hand, grabbed me and said 鈥榊鈥檃ll need to talk,鈥欌€� Drennan said.
Heilbronner went on to mentor HiveTech. Tautz helped the team explain the technical aspects of their evolving project in terms businesspeople could appreciate.
欧美口爆视频 Boulder's start-up infrastructure is paying off.
At a later mentor-matching event, the HiveTech founders met other local businesspeople who would help them test their ideas, asking tough questions and unearthing 鈥渁ll the pieces we didn鈥檛 have in place,鈥� Drennan said.
鈥淓very time we went to one of those events, some other little golden nugget showed up,鈥� she said.
The HiveTech trio found a name, won midway NVC contests and gradually came to see the firm as both a technology and data services provider. The founders also polished a five-minute pitch for NVC鈥檚 championship round.
In the spring, Drennan, Cook and Bellucci delivered it jointly before a standing-room-only campus crowd.
Before the night was out, NVC 8鈥檚 four-judge panel declared HiveTech the year鈥檚 overall winner.
As a 欧美口爆视频 doctoral student, bee expert Chelsea Cook and two 欧美口爆视频 instructors co-founded a Boulder firm that aims to help large-scale commercial beehive operators maximize hive health and business efficency.
Fresh off the NVC victory, HiveTech won a spot in another campus program for entrepreneurs, Catalyze 欧美口爆视频. Where NVC is a highly-inclusive shaper and filter of ideas, Catalyze 欧美口爆视频 is a selective business accelerator that hastens the formation of actual companies.
Founded in 2014 by the College of Engineering, Catalyze 欧美口爆视频 offers entrepreneurs of all backgrounds an intensive eight-week summer boot camp: Weekly lectures on business fundamentals plus opportunities to rub elbows with other start-up teams while refining their ideas with mentors and beginning to build businesses. Each team gets a $4,000 stipend.
Drennan learned about raising capital, business plans, budgeting and types of corporate structures. She and her co-founders labored over their technology, began talking with potential customers and expanded their idea of what the company could be. Was it just a hardware maker, or a data services and analytics firm, too?
By the end, the HiveTech team better understood their aims and potential and were convinced that an architect, a civil engineer and a biologist could also be entrepreneurs.
That鈥檚 the mentality 欧美口爆视频 wants to foster, said Sarabeth Berk, assistant director of the innovation and entrepreneurship initiative 鈥� one that 鈥減ushes people beyond what they thought was possible for themselves.鈥�
HiveTech is still in its early stages. The firm is perfecting its technology and fine-tuning its focus to address the needs of large-scale growing operations in particular. But there鈥檚 momentum. The company has grown to six people with diverse expertise. It鈥檚 testing its latest prototype on dozens of hives while courting customers and investors. And it鈥檚 winning notice outside Boulder: The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture recently awarded HiveTech $100,000 to forge ahead.
鈥淭he training wheels are off,鈥� said Drennan. 鈥淲e are in full-scale execution mode.鈥�
Without NVC and Catalyze 欧美口爆视频, HiveTech might be a good idea, she said 鈥� but not a business. 鈥淚t wouldn鈥檛 be anywhere but back in the classroom,鈥� she said.
Photos courtesy HiveTech Solutions; 漏 iStock/Antagain
Entrepreneurs are coming out of the woodwork at 欧美口爆视频 Boulder. It's no accident.Will Americans eat insects? Dave Baugh and twin brother Lars are betting on it.
Kurt Perkins rarely eats before 10 a.m. and usually not until afternoon, a practice he calls 鈥渋ntermittent fasting.鈥� When the time comes, he reaches for a protein bar made of cricket.
The 欧美口爆视频 Springs chiropractor said fasting promotes health by minimizing strain on the digestive system. He likes cricket bars because of their exceptionally high protein content and keeps a supply on hand for patients, too.
鈥淚 brought 鈥檈m home to my kids 鈥� five, three and a one-year-old,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey chowed it down. It passed the kid taste-test.鈥�
Billions eat bugs worldwide
Perkins gets his flavored cricket bars 鈥� blueberry vanilla, banana bread and dark chocolate brownie 鈥� from Lithic Nutrition, a start-up health foods company founded by former U.S. Marine Dave Baugh (Mgmt鈥�10) and his identical twin brother, Lars, a University of Arizona Graduate.
For all Perkins鈥� enthusiasm about the Baughs鈥� bars, he isn鈥檛 oblivious to the challenge they face in selling Americans on insects as food.
鈥淭he biggest hurdle is going to be Western culture,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he 鈥榠ck-factor.鈥欌€�
The Baughs, 28, know it, too: 鈥淭here鈥檚 a huge education component to the whole thing,鈥� said Dave, who discovered insect-eating while stationed in Asia with the Marines.
That鈥檚 why the amiable brothers, clean-cut and quick to laugh, are starting with flavored cricket bars and cricket-protein powders for mixing into smoothies and baked goods. None of their products look anything like insects or insect parts, and their packaging bears no bug imagery, though it鈥檚 clearly labeled 鈥渃ricket protein.鈥�
鈥淭his is a nice easy way to ease people into it,鈥� said Dave, who lived in Arnett Hall at 欧美口爆视频 and played water polo. 鈥淓verybody鈥檚 used to what protein bars look like.鈥�
Americans may find the thought of eating insects unappetizing, but elsewhere in the world bugs are a dietary staple. A 2013 United Nations report estimates that at least two billion humans eat insects, primarily in Asia and Africa, but also in Latin America. Beetles, caterpillars, bees, wasps and crickets are common fare. As the Baughs and a handful of other insect protein entrepreneurs see it, bugs could, and should, have a place in the U.S. diet, too. The brothers know of a handful of domestic competitors, one of which, Utah-based Chapul, appeared in the reality TV show Shark Tank in 2014 and ultimately received an investment from Mark Cuban.
The marketplace has sent other encouraging signals.
In March the Wall Street Journal ran a front-page story about insects as an emerging food fad titled 鈥淢illennial Entrepreneurs Think Americans Should Eat More Bugs.鈥� In April the Baughs were invited to participate in Twitter鈥檚 annual 鈥渟nack fair鈥� at the firm鈥檚 San Francisco headquarters. And Amazon has agreed to add Lithic products to its inventory this summer, starting with pure cricket flour. The flavored bars, which retail for $2.99 each and typically sell in variety packs of 12, will come next, the Baughs said.
They believe one consumer category will be especially receptive: Hard-core, diet-conscious athletes 鈥� 鈥減eople,鈥� Dave said, 鈥渨ho might already eat things considered different for the nutritional benefits.鈥�
Advocates of insect-eating, or entomophagy, cite a few basic arguments for it, all practical: Bugs are plentiful, nutritious and generally easy to cultivate at low environmental cost.
Crickets, for example 鈥� the Baughs use a tropical species, Acheta domesticus 鈥� offer more calcium per gram than milk, more iron than spinach and more vitamin B12 than salmon, they said. Crickets are also rich in protein: Pure cricket flour is 67 percent protein by weight, they said, compared with about 35 percent for lean ground beef.
鈥淭his is a superfood,鈥� Dave said.
The brothers cast insect protein as an alternative to better-known protein-rich food sources, such as whey and soy products. They emphasize that humans are well adapted for processing insects, having eaten them for millennia.
鈥淲e鈥檙e giving you what your body鈥檚 used to,鈥� Lars said.
Then there鈥檚 the environmental benefit: Raising crickets is less resource intensive than farming cattle, a traditional protein source for Americans. Growing one pound of cricket protein requires less than one gallon of water, according to the UN report 鈥淓dible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security,鈥� which runs nearly 200 pages. For one pound of beef, it takes 2,500 gallons.
Whole Crickets
Protein-Rich
Non-GMO
All Natural
Sustainable
Soy Free
Gluten Free
Lactose Free
Paleo
Lithic Bars
100% Pure Cricket Flour
Dave was the first of the twins to give bugs a try. It was 2013 and he was in Asia with the Marines. During a jungle survival exercise with the Thai military, the Thais began roasting whole grasshoppers and crickets over an open fire and offered to share.
鈥淚鈥檓 a try-everything-once kind of guy,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 said 鈥榓bsolutely!鈥欌€�
Roasted and salted, he added, they tasted 鈥渒ind of like a potato chip.鈥�
When Lars, then working in corporate sales in Denver, saw a picture of Dave and his snack on Facebook, he remembered reading an article about insect protein and eventually began wondering if there might be a business in it.
The twins鈥� entrepreneurial bent was well established. As preteens they'd collected and resold stray hubcaps and golf balls. And while living apart for nearly a decade, they exchanged ideas for future enterprises.
鈥淲e began thinking, 鈥楾his is the one,鈥欌€� said Lars. 鈥溾€榃e could be on the leading edge of a food supply revolution.鈥欌€�
The timing was right, too. In high school, both brothers had their sights set on 欧美口爆视频 Boulder. But the twins agreed it was important for them to experience life separately for a while, so they flipped a coin to decide who would apply. Dave won, and they鈥檇 been apart ever since, at times separated by oceans and continents. They were ready to reunite.
In fall 2014 a business plan began taking shape. Within six months, Dave, then stationed in San Diego and surfing before work most days, told his commanding officer he planned to resign to start a bug-food business.
鈥溾€榊ou what?鈥欌€� Dave said, recalling the commander鈥檚 reaction. 鈥溾€楾hat sounds crazy! I don鈥檛 understand.鈥欌€�
I'm a try-everything-once kind of guy."
Lars left his job, too, and in September 2015 the brothers moved in with their retired parents in Centennial, Colo., and got to work.
They applied for and received FDA and other licenses. They rented a 1,000-square-foot factory-warehouse in Aurora, east of Denver, and they began importing finely ground cricket powder from a farm in Thailand. They also hired a contract food scientist to help develop their first products, the all-natural flavored protein bars, introduced in mid-2016.
Along the way, they raised more than $12,000 through a Kickstarter campaign, won 欧美口爆视频 Denver鈥檚 business plan competition and its $9,500 prize and assembled a board of advisors that includes Justin Gold, founder of Justin鈥檚 Nut Butters, the Boulder firm acquired last year by Hormel Foods, maker of Skippy and Spam.
鈥淚f there鈥檚 a window of opportunity to go for it, it鈥檚 now,鈥� said Dave, mindful that he and Lars are young, unencumbered bachelors.
To be sure, Lithic is still a start-up. The brothers, who have mainly financed Lithic from savings, are still living with mom and dad and have yet to pay themselves a salary. As of May, they were personally making and packaging every one of their cricket protein bars.
But good things are happening.
By early 2017 demand had grown sufficiently to warrant plans for mass production through a third-party manufacturer. This will allow the brothers to devote more of their time to sales and marketing.
Already they鈥檙e regulars at trade shows and food fairs, and they make appearances at gyms that stock their bars. In January they participated in a 鈥淏ug Banquet鈥� hosted by Linger, said to be Denver鈥檚 only restaurant with insects on the menu (cricket-and-cassava empanada, for instance). In April they flew to San Francisco for the Twitter event. And in May they planned to attend Los Angeles鈥� Annual Bug Fair for the second year running.
Amid all this, they鈥檙e filling orders for paying customers: One Tennessee family regularly orders two pounds of 100-percent pure cricket flour for blending into smoothies and pancakes.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 our ultimate goal,鈥� Dave said, 鈥渢o get that normalization in the American diet.鈥�
Hooking more Americans on insect protein will take time, and bugs may never become a staple food source. But as the Baughs' fellow industry pioneers have observed, another critter, once ignored, has managed to find a secure niche in the national cuisine.
鈥淎t the turn of the [20th] century,鈥� Dave said, 鈥渘obody ate lobster.鈥�
Photos by Glenn Asakawa
Will Americans eat insects? Dave Baugh and twin brother Lars are betting on it.Forbes recently ranked us No. 18 among national universities for entrepreneurship, but more important is that we are establishing an entrepreneurial culture across the entire campus, in all disciplines. That sounds good on paper, but our students, graduates and employees are continually demonstrating it.
I鈥檓 very proud of Maithreyi Gopalakrishnan (EngrPhys, MApPhys鈥�16) [see page 21], who founded a company to create affordable hybrid electric motors to replace purely gas-powered rickshaws in her native India, with the goal of reducing massive pollution and high-priced fuel for operators who can鈥檛 afford to educate their children. Her team includes students from other majors around campus. They are using knowledge gained at 欧美口爆视频 to change lives and transform a society.
Many, and here鈥檚 one outside the realm of business 鈥� Christine Lehnertz (EPOBio鈥�85) [see page 15], became superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park over the summer, the park鈥檚 first female superintendent. During the 100th anniversary of the national parks this year we鈥檝e all read that these treasures are challenged by resources, aging infrastructure and great popularity. Christine has a track record of innovative problem solving that put her in this challenging position. Whether it鈥檚 today or 30 years ago, engineering or biology, our graduates are in a position to make a difference.
Entrepreneurship and problem solving are important ways of life here. It is not just an academic discipline, but a way of thinking by students, faculty and staff in all disciplines 鈥� from the hard sciences to the arts.
The old definition of entrepreneurship was restricted to business schools, but entrepreneurship is a valuable life skill that can help students succeed in any career or endeavor. On our campus, it鈥檚 embedded in every academic course of study today. In fact, our certificate in music entrepreneurship is the first of its kind in the country.
Illustration by Melinda Josie
欧美口爆视频 as an entrepreneurship university.16,877
Total fall enrollment
$286
Tuition per year for 欧美口爆视频 residents
$1,134
Tuition per year for non-residents (beginning fall 1967)
FIRST
Ralphie run through Folsom Field
$2
Cost to see student production of Oklahoma! at Macky Auditorium
4,700
Students voting in a Nov. 8 campus election: Topics included the Vietnam War and the legalization of marijuana
50
Pages in The Seer, a booklet published by 欧美口爆视频 student government evaluating teachers and courses
We might have more control over the pain of romantic rejection than we realize, according to new research led by 欧美口爆视频 Boulder scientists.
In a brain-imaging study of 40 subjects recently involved in an 鈥渦nwanted romantic breakup,鈥� researchers found that administering a placebo 鈥� basically, a fake medicine 鈥� diminished both negative feelings and also activity in brain regions associated with rejection.
鈥淒oing anything that you believe will help you feel better will probably help you feel better,鈥� said 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 Leonie Koban, a postdoctoral research associate in psychology and neuroscience and the study鈥檚 lead author.
The research paper, 鈥淔rontal-brainstem pathways mediating placebo effects on social rejection,鈥� was published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
For further details, visit .
"There is probably not as much gang-joining happening in prison as we once thought."
鈥� 欧美口爆视频 Boulder criminologist David Pyrooz, author of recent research that casts doubt on the common belief that prisons foster gangs.
A sports-related film editing platform, an adjustable socket for prosthetic legs and a digital networking platform for aspiring musicians took home the top prizes at 欧美口爆视频 Boulder鈥檚 ninth annual New Venture Challenge competition in April.
In all, entrepreneurs won nearly $100,000 in awards and investments.
Established in 2009, the challenge is a business development and mentorship program for 欧美口爆视频 Boulder students, faculty and staff. Teams form in the fall, develop their ideas during the academic year and pitch them to a panel of judges in the spring.
The 2016-17 winners are, respectively, Give & Go (film), ReForm (prosthetic socket) and Gigsicians (musician networking).
The challenge maintains lists of winners at .
Sarah Kauss鈥� 厂鈥檞别濒濒 water bottles have style.
With about 200 billion plastic water bottles consumed and trashed in landfills worldwide each year, there鈥檚 ample opportunity 鈥� and growing competition 鈥� to provide reusable alternatives. Sarah Kauss (Acct鈥�97) embraced the challenge and has shown that her company, , can elevate the ordinary in an appealing way.
鈥淚鈥檓 trying to make the most fashionable water bottle,鈥� she says.
In just five years, 厂鈥檞别濒濒 has struck gold with a sleek, chic line of more than 100 bottle designs, selling more than four million units since 2010. Last year the New York-based firm generated more than $10 million in revenues.
鈥淓very one of our sales channels are exploding in demand,鈥� says Kauss, 40, who attended Harvard Business School after 欧美口爆视频.
When she launched 厂鈥檞别濒濒 in 2010, Kauss avoided the sporty or functional looks of bottles made by other companies in favor of self-consciously stylish bottles. She started with an old-fashioned milk bottle design in Ocean Blue.
The stainless steel 厂鈥檞别濒濒 bottles are priced at $25-$45, depending on size, and consumers use them for more than water, Kauss says. Some people store wine for picnics, others use them to keep their children鈥檚 hot chocolate warm. Even the 9 ounce bottle, originally made for children, is gaining popularity because it fits inside a woman鈥檚 clutch.
鈥湷р€檞别濒濒 merges style and function with environmental and social consciousness,鈥� says Kauss. 鈥淲e base our designs the same way the fashion industry works, looking at seasonal Pantones and prints and applying them to our bottles.鈥�
The approach has struck a chord with fashionable people and retailers. 厂鈥檞别濒濒 bottles have appeared in two Guy Pearce movies and on Ellen DeGeneres鈥� talk show. Facebook ordered 500 bottles for employees and clients. Starbucks, Nordstrom, J. Crew, Whole Foods and Neiman Marcus all sell 厂鈥檞别濒濒 bottles.
Kauss came to entrepreneurship well prepared, with business school training and experience working with entrepreneurs as an Ernst & Young accountant in Los Angeles. A few years after business school, a job took her to New York City, where the abundant resources made starting a company seem feasible to her.
She settled on a water bottle company after attending a panel talk about the global water crisis.
鈥淚 had carried the idea for 厂鈥檞别濒濒 internally for some time,鈥� says Kauss, whose environmentally conscious attitude dates to her 欧美口爆视频-Boulder days, when she usually carried a giant reusable cup or bottle around campus and into the mountains. 鈥淥nce I learned of the scale of the water crisis, I was inspired to create a product that could give back to these communities around the world that did not have access to clean drinking water, while eliminating the need for plastic bottles.鈥�
Within a year of 厂鈥檞别濒濒鈥檚 first sale, the world 鈥� and Oprah 鈥� took notice. O, the Oprah Magazine featured 厂鈥檞别濒濒 bottles in its 2011 鈥淥 List鈥� of summer products. Soon afterward Kauss landed her first big clients, Crate & Barrel and J. Crew. By 2012, 厂鈥檞别濒濒 had about 300 accounts, including Starbucks. Sales boomed further after Kauss appeared in a 2014 Fortune magazine article.
Today she presides over a company with more than 40 employees and ambitious plans to introduce new products and enter new markets, especially in Asia. Canada and Brazil are already hot markets.
Commercial success has allowed Kauss to expand her commitment to environmental and humanitarian causes. This year, 厂鈥檞别濒濒 donated $100,000 to UNICEF鈥檚 efforts to provide children with clean drinking water, and proceeds from some 厂鈥檞别濒濒 bottles support the planting of trees in American forests.
鈥淚鈥檓 not a tree-hugger, but am an environmentalist,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he message for me is trying to replace plastic in an elegant way.鈥�
Photography 漏 Patrick James Miller via 厂鈥檞别濒濒 (Sara Kauss); Glenn Asakawa (water bottle)
Sarah Kauss鈥� 厂鈥檞别濒濒 water bottles have style.