Small business is the most trusted institution in America, according to a new Gallup poll, with 68% of the public expressing a high degree of confidence. (The only other institution that still enjoys majority support is the U.S. military.) In polarized and cynical times, small business is a rare unifier between Democrats and Republicans.

Big business is also a unifier, but in the opposite direction: Only 14% of the public expresses high trust. If your startup or midsize company is looking to disrupt industry titans, the public is on your side — until you become a titan, anyway.

Charles Woodson: See the NFL legend’s entrepreneurial second act.

Podcast: Netflix co-founder’s That Will Never Work indeed works.

Banana-Peeling Bot: The future of automation? Opinions are split.

Why do we keep talking about the Great Resignation? Because it’s the biggest labor phenomenon in years — and the biggest entrepreneurial one:

• Americans started 5.4 million businesses last year, an all-time high, and 2022 will most likely top those numbers. This reverses years of decline.
• Of Americans who founded a company, 56% believe “now is a better time to start a business than before the pandemic,” and 63% did so in a new industry for them, according to Salesforce.
• More than half of Americans who quit their jobs in 2021 changed professions, including 61% of those younger than 30.

So, why are half of us starting from scratch? One of the big reasons is “pandemic epiphanies,” in the words of Texas A&M University professor Anthony Klotz (who originated the phrase “Great Resignation”). Stuck at home and reassessing their priorities, millions of people decided it’s never too late for a career change — especially if they can be their own boss.

43%

Americans who intend to start a business in 2022

(Source: Digital.com)

(Source: Shutterstock)

Charles Woodson chased perfection for 18 seasons with the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers (truly remarkable in light of the punishing position he played: defensive back). He was a key player in the Packers’ Super Bowl-winning season in 2010.

Since retiring from the NFL in 2016, Woodson has embarked on a new career in an equally competitive arena: winemaking. His label, Intercept Wines, is produced in California’s Paso Robles region, where he spent time each summer at the Raiders’ training camp.

We caught up with Woodson to find out how he made the transition from NFL superstar to small business owner.

What have been the biggest challenges for you in making a career transition?

Woodson: I had to learn a lot about the wine industry from a different perspective. I am very passionate about wine, but you don’t necessarily know as a consumer about all the aspects that go into crafting delicious wine.

When you watch a game on Sunday, you just see the final output — but maybe not all the extensive time and work put in the week before by the players. It’s the same with wine … you get to enjoy the final product, but don’t necessarily see all the work that went into it, the weather, the terroir [soil and terrain], the blending, and everything else that affects that bottle. There are many pitfalls that can get in your way and potentially spoil everything!

What skills did you learn in the NFL that applied to your business?

Woodson: I approach wine just like athletics — you can bruise your hip, or dislocate your shoulder, but you’ve still got to pull through on Sundays; you’ve still got to deliver world-class wines each vintage. … All the physical and mental grinding of preparing for a new football season has greatly helped me get ready for each harvest.

Retired NFL stars often say what they miss most is the camaraderie with their teammates. Have you found similar team spirit in business?

Woodson: I value teamwork and bringing people of varying expertise together. … One key teammate is the Intercept winemaker, Amanda Gorter, who is amazing and an expert.

What advice would you give to others starting their own business?

Woodson: Talk to those who have come before you, always be ready to learn, and spend time building your skills and knowledge base as you start your own business. … It is hard work, but that is not something that deters me after spending 18 years in the NFL.

In 2019, Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph released That Will Never Work, a memoir about how a company that rented DVDs over the internet — an unlikely proposition 20 years ago — became an entertainment behemoth so powerful that it’s now a common verb. Netflix changed the TV and filmmaking game forever and spawned countless imitators.

Perhaps the company was a victim of its own success, but that early spirit of innovation lives on in Randolph’s weekly podcast, also titled That Will Never Work, in which he encourages founders to revel in being told their ideas are impossible. Guests walk through stories of scaling their family coffee passion or personal jewelry recommendations to big business.

The diversity of topics is as clear as Randolph’s passion for listening, but each episode comes back to the heart of the original book: It’s all about the amazing life of an idea whose time has come.

Inspiration to chase your every dream, no matter how bizarre.

(Source: University of Tokyo)

This idea must a-peel to somebody?

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have programmed a robot that oh-so-gently peels bananas — and it takes three minutes, with a success rate of 57%. This doesn’t sound impressive, but the Banana Terminator (not its official name) may be a significant leap forward in automation: It only took the bot 13 hours to learn the art of banana peeling through deep imitation learning.

Today, we’re used to robots handling simple physical labor on assembly lines. But if one can learn to do a decent-ish job peeling fruit in half a day, others will soon perform tasks that require a similar amount of fine motor skill, like making lunch, packing small items, or handing a customer their cup of coffee. The implications for scaling businesses and streamlining costs are enormous.

(Source: Twitter)

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Written by Brian Hill and Dan Ketchum.