top of page

The Journey

A business owner on a journey of starting, growing, fixing, scaling and exiting a business.

My entrepreneurial journey began early and is ongoing today.  Here is a lifetime of learning experiences that have shaped my point of view:​

  • Age 14 – Launched my first business based on paper route arbitrage.

  • Age 19 – Started a photo restoration service while juggling part-time retail work and college. This was an early lesson in understanding the importance of scalability and a sound business model.

  • Age 22 – Acquired Folkemer Photo Service from the retiring owner with SBA assistance. The business offered retail, educational, and wholesale distribution of photographic, A/V, and Apple computer products. After expansion into IT, I eventually sold my shares to my business partner. I still wonder what could have been if it had been properly capitalized.

  • Founded and led a specialized IT systems business targeting the federal government. The company was sold after a major contract award—our growth quickly outpaced our ability to fund it. Another valuable lesson.​

​

  • Joined a video systems integrator startup, which was later sold after peak growth. The timing was perfect, but like many businesses, it reached an evolve or decline juncture for continued growth.

  • Joined a sports analytics company that disrupted the market before “Moneyball” came on the scene. It experienced rapid growth before being sold after reaching its own point of evolution or decline.

  • Joined a streaming media startup to develop enterprise sales. Despite initial success, the company faltered during the dot-com crash. Tough times exposed it for not addressing a legitimate market need.

  • Attempted to bootstrap a conferencing software business long before Webex or Zoom. While the vision was there, the execution wasn’t .. proof that vision without execution is just dreaming.

  • Named on a patent for a novel software architecture invention involving AI object detection in streaming video, marking my first inclusion in a patent.

  • Led U.S. operations and turnaround for a content and records management startup, which was later acquired by IBM. This one involved a mix of luck and optimal market timing.

  • Joined FileNet to build and launch a new product portfolio, including making an acquisition. FileNet was later acquired by IBM. FileNet was a great company. My experience there was a “worst to first” amusement park ride in an emerging fast growth market.

  • Began mentoring veteran entrepreneurs through a partnership with American Corporate Partners (ACP) .. later expanded to include university and government programs.

  • Spent over a decade at IBM in executive leadership roles, driving AI innovation, strategic growth, acquisitions, and turnarounds. Named an IBM Entrepreneur-in-Residence, I also founded the Intrapreneurship@IBM initiative. I loved my time at IBM .. until I didn’t. Operational excellence and scalability remain top lessons from my time there.

  • Launched Building Bigger + Better Businesses in 2021.

Sign Up for the Newsletter

Sign up for the Newsletter to be the first notified about new posts, resources and insights.

©2024 by Rhinehart Enterprises, LLC.  All material appearing on the Building Bigger + Better Businesses website (“content”) is protected by copyright under U.S. Copyright laws and is the property of Rhinehart Enterprises, LLC ... or the party credited as the provider of the content. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, display, perform, modify, create derivative works, transmit, or in any way exploit any such content without prior written permission of Rhinehart Enterprises, LLC.  For permission to use any of the website's content, contact Craig Rhinehart.

 

Rhinehart Enterprises, LLC provides the https://www.buildingbiggerbetterbusinesses.com website as a service to the public.  Rhinehart Enterprises, LLC is not responsible for, and expressly disclaims all liability for, damages of any kind arising out of use, reference to, or reliance on any information contained within this website.  All the information published on this website, or in any article herein is true and accurate to the best of the authors’ knowledge.

​

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Accessibility | We use cookies on our website to see how you interact with it. By using this site you agree to our use of such cookies.

bottom of page