In this special 100th episode of The Reluctant Entrepreneur Podcast, Mike Konrad steps away from the interview format to reflect on the mission behind the show, the stories shared over the first 99 episodes, and the personal entrepreneurial journey that inspired it all.
Mike shares why he started the podcast, what it means to be a “reluctant entrepreneur,” and why honest conversations about business matter more than polished success stories. He also reflects on his own path from founding Aqueous Technologies in 1992 to learning, often the hard way, that passion alone isn’t a business strategy.
This episode is also a thank-you to the guests, listeners, entrepreneurs, and business owners who have been part of the journey. Mike also introduces the growing role of Reluctant Lessons, a series that looks at companies that rose, stumbled, collapsed, or lost their way, and asks what today’s entrepreneurs can learn from those stories.
It’s a milestone episode about gratitude, humility, hard-earned Wisdom, and the real story behind entrepreneurship.
Podcast Website:
https://www.reluctantentrepreneurpodcast.com
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.
