As I sat at CoWork Jax late yesterday afternoon writing this post for today, I was inspired. There’s a sense of focus. There’s a community. There’s a visible passion demonstrated by the people at CoWork working on their business.

I can’t help but to take a moment and be nostalgic while thinking back to the days just a few short years ago when One Spark was coming to life as sticky notes on the windows in this space. Things were relatively simple then… there was an idea in its infancy with an overly ambitious group of people that wanted to bring it to life.

I’ve received hundreds of questions over the past few years about why I’m still in Jacksonville (JAX) as have many of my great friends and colleagues. Questions such as “Why continue to swim upstream in a smaller startup community?” “Why not just go somewhere else and plug in where it’s ‘easier’ to launch a company?” Or, “What makes JAX so special?”

During this same time a few themes have surfaced as key reasons to start in JAX. Some people may argue with the points outlined below. That’s good. Healthy debate spawns new thought patterns. So, check them out below and let’s chat.

With everything going on, I've decided to bring on a part-time assistant to work with me on a variety of projects. Namely helping keep my life organized while working on  One Spark, CoWork Jax and Zero Confines amongst a few other startup adventures (yes, adventures, not ventures). It will be a lot of work and a lot of fun. If you think you have what it takes, check out the posting below and follow the steps at the bottom.

That's right... "Under-train," not "under-promise" and over deliver. It's something that's permeating my thoughts this past week as I mentally prepare to race in Venice, FL at the Rev 3 Half Rev on Sunday. Now, that I'm here sitting outside on a balcony writing this post and the weather has the upper hand, it all seems a little more calm. I should clarify that. My normal pre-race anxiety is a little more calm whereas the weather, is less than calm with winds howling around 20mph with gusts to 35 plus. It's kind of an odd thing to see as the sky is a wonderful blue, very few clouds, and nice and warm out, but it sure is windy.

This past week I had the opportunity to travel to a place I had never been before, Des Moines, Iowa to attend the Thinc Iowa 2012 conference put on by my new friends at Silicon Prairie News. My trek to Des Moines began with a few goals and ended with more positive surprises. The bottom line is that if you've never been to Thinc Iowa, you should definitely check it out next year.

I’m an aspiring triathlete, entrepreneur, and passionate human. I've spent the past couple of years of my life rebounding from a half-decade in the corporate world while consulting others on launching things via Zero Confines and co-founding/launching a few ventures as well (CoWork Jax, One Spark). While I spent some time blogging about my triathlon trials and tribulations at tristarter.tumblr.com I haven't yet put fingers to keyboard for my own personal blog.