PicoBlog

I spent about 12 years, or 30% of my life, building Catch Co. What started in my garage as a subscription fishing tackle company (Mystery Tackle Box) grew into something beyond anything I could have imagined: $300 million in lifetime sales, well over 10 million boxes sold, and one of the fastest-growing and most well known brands in fishing over the past decade. However, all things must end and last week marked the end of my time with Catch Co.

This is us yesterday morning in the two seconds before the kids left for school and the movers entered our place to break everything down. Not the best picture of everybody, but we took it in one take, with a self timer and then Mike and the kids were out the door. The kids and the movers literally passed each other in two separate elevators. ncG1vNJzZmihnJa7osPIpZysZqOqr7TAwJyiZ5ufonyxe9KasKKml2K0sLvDm7CeZaSkeq7FjKGmpp1dpLNufo9msJ6Zoqh8pLvMppynrKM%3D

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! Wishing you all a relaxing and joyful day — you deserve it! And if you’re not a dad but HAVE a dad, why not mow the lawn for him while he watches a ballgame, reads a book or kicks back with his beverage of choice? Hello, friends! A couple of weeks ago, while assessing my plants, I cringed when I spotted scale …

Every week I share insights from top data leaders on the challenges of scaling data infrastructure. In addition, I aim to make this newsletter feel like you are talking to my guests one-on-one, as each question response includes the audio from my guest. No thanksncG1vNJzZmirk5a5qrrGnZitmZ%2BlwG%2B%2F1JuqrZmToHuku8xo

Hi! Have You Eaten Yet? I hope you have, but if you haven’t yet, here’s a new recipe from my kitchen to yours that I hope you’ll love! I rarely make the exact same fried rice twice. Fried rice has the reputation of being a fridge clean out meal and that holds true for me. On the occasion that I have leftover rice (it’s okay, don’t be afraid of leftover rice!

“It's been very rare to have known you, very strange and wonderful.” My father works in printing, like his father before him and his father before him; the tradition dies, I guess, with me. This was a real Chicago business, begun in 1919 on South Dearborn, then onto Wacker Drive, where just 90 years later I’d find employ ‘round the corner at a Chinese fa… ncG1vNJzZmirk5a%2Fuq%2FOqKOsmZScvLCwwbKcZ6ull8C1rcKkZZynnWS9cL%2FCmqmyZZOkvK150pqbZp%2BfpLGjxcRmbGk%3D

It was a memorable, and ultimately tragic, day for more reasons than just having a date with a film company for a wardrobe fitting (not usually a tragedy, unless done during rush hour). The date was May 27, 1997. It was a Tuesday afternoon, and I was driving home, heading north through downtown Austin on I-35 (of course during rush hour). I had just attended my wardrobe fitting, and noticed a massive, nearly-black storm cloud far in the distance, directly in front of me.

Share Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless. And do no wrong. — Victoria Avalon, director of appellate and civil litigation for the 10th Circuit’s State’s Attorney’s Office, opening her interview May 3, 2023 before the Florida Supreme Court’s Judicial Nominating Commission. She was quoting a speech by Liam Neeson’s character in the 2005 film “Kingdom of Heaven,” which tells the story of knights in the Crusades.

I write about a trivia topic that leads into a themed 5-question quiz for paid subscribers (20 quiz newsletters/month). Join the league and play along or just read it like any other newsletter — either way you'll learn a lot! By Alex Jacob · Over 3,000 subscribersNo thanks“Great way to learn more trivia” ncG1vNJzZmirk528sLjOn6uroaaerm%2B%2F1JuqrZmToHuku8xo