GRATITUDE

Everything we do starts with the power of this word. Sometimes, it even makes bottles of great whiskey appear. I call it BoBR, or Bottles of Bourbon Received. These are some bottles I’ve been gifted.

Day-to-day, I spend my time working for gratitude – it is the bedrock of this company. It is my firm belief that giving of oneself without an expectation of remuneration will lead to future opportunities. In the past I mentored for the University of Iowa Venture School and served as an Advisory Panelist for VentureNet Iowa as much as my busy schedule allowed. Currently, I am a very active member of the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce, mentor for the Urbandale GenYP program, am a SCORE Mentor, and I started a local chapter of Bunker Lab s here in Des Moines. This investment of my time, world-wide experience, and connections yields a far richer life than dividends can alone.

current gratitude gigs:

Board Member, Polk County Health Services

This worthy organization helps approximately 9,000 central Iowans with mental illness, intellectual or other developmental disabilities.

City leader, bunker Labs Des Moines

Bunker Labs is a national non-profit focused on turning veterans’ entrepreneurial dreams into reality.

Advisory Committee, USGLC

USGLC advances this country’s interests by promoting world leadership through smart and effective investments in development and diplomacy.

Connector, Urbandale chamber of Commerce

It’s the only five-star accredited Chamber of Commerce in Central Iowa for a reason: It serves its community by making one-on-one, highly effective business connections in a world overrun with Zoom fatigue.

Collaborator, Entrepreneurial Leap

We at SSC believe in continuing education. For example, our founder continues to develop himself, and is constantly searching for the best tools out there to assist his own businesses and yours. To that end, Bernie Stone is a voracious reader, and is a Collaborator with Gino Wickman, whose books can be found here and here.

Business mentor, score

Mentorship works. Experience is one of our world’s most valuable commodities, and leveraging that experience to help new businesses grow is just plain fun.

MENTOR, VETERATI

Veterati is the only Veteran Mentorship Platform to let you choose your own mentors and as many as you would like; our average member selects 4 mentors, and some mentees have 25+ mentors!

organizer, central iowa business conference

A wide breadth of inspiration and education, neatly packaged in a handful of conference hours.

MENTOR, FEDTECH

Since 2015, this venture firm has been dedicated to introducing the world to breakthrough technologies from aspiring entrepreneurs from the DoD, NASA, DoE, NIST, VA, federal labs, research institutions, and corporations.