I was fortunate to be flown to Oahu to last month to attend a software industry skills development panel. It was a great experience as I got to meet a lot of people who are passionate about the same things as me; entrepreneurship, tech startups, developing a software based industry to transition Hawaii away from its heavy dependence on tourism (which I personally have a long standing beef with).  It sadly was the first time [...]

It seems like ever since I returned to Kauai, I’ve watched business after business close up shop. Many of the local businesses still operating are still struggling more than ever. These businesses are family owned and operated and have been gone through multiple generations. When asked why sales are so poor, they always cite outside sources; Costco, Wal-mart, K-mart, Safeway, the economy, etc. How can they compete with these big box stores with huge national [...]