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I am a business media sicko.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with understanding how businesses actually work. Not the press releases. Not the corporate jargon. The real story.
Why did one company succeed while another failed? Why do some founders build enduring institutions while others flame out? Why do certain industries evolve the way they do? What can we learn from the people who built them?
Over the years, I’ve consumed an unhealthy amount of business content: books, podcasts, annual reports, shareholder letters, company histories, biographies, interviews, earnings calls, and everything in between. Much of it has shaped how I think about investing, entrepreneurship, and business itself.
But I kept running into the same problem.
Most business media focuses on Silicon Valley, New York, or whatever is happening on the coasts. Meanwhile, some of the most interesting companies in America are quietly operating in places like Cincinnati, Columbus, Indianapolis, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Louisville, St. Louis, and Chicago.
The Midwest is home to roughly 70 million people. It remains the backbone of American manufacturing, logistics, food production, industrial technology, and countless other industries. Its economy is larger than most countries. Yet surprisingly few people spend time studying how Midwestern companies are built—or what makes them successful.
That’s what this publication is about.
I write about business history, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, and the companies that shape the Midwest. Sometimes that means digging into a century-old industrial company. Sometimes it means exploring a fast-growing startup. Sometimes it means trying to understand the broader forces changing the region.
Underlying all of it is a simple question:
What does it take to win in the Midwest?
I don’t think the Midwest follows the exact same playbook as Silicon Valley or Wall Street. The incentives are different. The talent markets are different. The cultures are different. The customers are often different.
This newsletter is my attempt to figure out why.
By day, I’m an investor at a venture capital firm in Cincinnati. By night, I’m a student of business. This publication is where I share what I’m learning.
If that sounds interesting to you, I’d be glad to have you along for the ride.
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