I’m launching a new series from The Reluctant Entrepreneur Podcast called Lessons From a Reluctant Entrepreneur.
This series is based on stories and lessons from my book, The Reluctant Entrepreneur: Anatomy of a Business Startup, From Uncertainty to Unstoppable.
Episode 1 is titled The Myth of Being Your Own Boss.
People often say, “It must be great being your own boss.” And I get it. From the outside, entrepreneurship can look like freedom. No boss. No time clock. No one approving your vacation. No one telling you what to do. But once you start a business, you quickly learn the truth.
You don’t eliminate bosses. You multiply them. Customers, employees, vendors, banks, landlords, tax collectors, regulations, the Economy, and cash flow all get a vote. And somehow, every problem eventually finds its way back to your desk.
That’s the reality of entrepreneurship, and that’s what this series is about.
Lessons From a Reluctant Entrepreneur isn’t about business theory or motivational slogans. It’s about the real entrepreneurial journey. The uncertainty, mistakes, fear, ego, resilience, decisions, failures, lessons, and occasional moments of Clarity that shape the people who build businesses.
In this first episode, I talk about the myth of being your own boss and why the real reward of entrepreneurship isn’t freedom from responsibility. It’s Growth through responsibility.
Mike Konrad entered the electronics manufacturing industry in 1985. Four decades later, he continues to dedicate his career to advancing reliability within the industry. In 1992, he founded Aqueous Technologies, an equipment manufacturer serving the electronics sector. Becoming an entrepreneur was never part of his plan, he simply had a passion for a product he designed. When his employer declined to build it, he realized the only way forward was to create it himself.
Mike entered business with strong technical skills but no business acumen. His early assets were ego, passion, arrogance, ignorance, and above all, a poor assessment of risk. Ironically, those traits proved useful in the beginning, ignorance really was bliss. But as his company grew, Mike recognized that those same traits could lead to its downfall. To survive, he had to transform himself, developing business acumen, adopting sustainable strategies, and evolving from reckless enthusiasm into purposeful leadership.
Today, with 40 years of industry experience, Mike shares both his technical expertise and his entrepreneurial journey, offering lessons from personal and professional growth, the near-misses that almost derailed him, and the strategies that carried him forward. He is also a strong advocate of “conscious marketing”, moving beyond traditional chest-thumping advertising toward education-driven authority building. By offering value through knowledge rather than hype, Mike helps organizations connect with a new generation of decision-makers who prefer independent research over bold claims.
