Michael J. Penney

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Port City Daily: Bunker Labs Speaker at Wilmington Vet Event

On July 17, 2016, Port City Daily reporter Hilary Snow previewed an event for veterans starting businesses in Wilmington, North Carolina. It was set for Thursday, August 18, 2016, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at Ironclad Brewery, 115 N. Second St., downtown. The featured guest speaker was Michael Penney of Bunker Labs RDU.

An upcoming entrepreneurial event will serve those who have served their country.

Hilary Snow, Port City Daily, July 2016

What was on the program

The host was Jim Roberts. He had led UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and was running the Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington (NEW). The article laid out the program:

  • Short pitches from local veterans who had launched start-ups
  • A talk from guest speaker Michael Penney of Bunker Labs’ RDU branch
  • A panel on resources and opportunities for former service members, followed by networking

The panel included:

  • Dean Bundschu, executive director of Bunker Labs RDU
  • Stephen Clossick, who manages an angel investing group in the Triangle
  • Chris Kelly, former head of Durham’s First Flight Venture Center

Clare Pozek, a venture capital specialist and military spouse, was listed as moderator.

The event was free. Veterans and their spouses were welcome, and registration was encouraged because seating was limited. When the article ran, 55 seats were left.

Why it mattered then

Bunker Labs started as a Chicago-based national nonprofit that helps veterans use their military experience to start businesses. In 2016 it was expanding into the Triangle. Taking the RDU team down to Wilmington pushed that work past Raleigh-Durham to the coast.

Roberts told the paper the visit was especially relevant because Wilmington had a reputation for veteran-founded companies. The article named some of them:

  • Andrew Williams of Elite Innovations
  • Edward Hall of Petrics
  • Jeremy Tomlinson, co-creator of Port City Brew Bus

For a veteran in eastern North Carolina with a business idea, the evening put a local investor, a venture-center veteran and the Bunker Labs team in one room.

This archive entry is based on the advance coverage. We have not found a separate write-up of the event as it happened.

Looking back

Two months later, the Veteran On the Move podcast introduced Michael with the line “Michael recently took over as the director of the Bunker in Raleigh Durham, NC.” His work helping veterans plan and launch businesses grew into the 5 Paragraph Business Plan.

Read the preview on Port City Daily

This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.

Work with Michael

Marine veteran, TEDx speaker and author of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. Bring him to your stage, wear the gear, or catch him live.

Book Michael to Speak
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Doug Stewart: A Conversation with an Entrepreneurial Marine

On March 1, 2016, Doug Stewart posted “A conversation with an Entrepreneurial Marine” to his YouTube channel. Stewart was one of Michael’s co-presenters for TEDxRaleigh 2016, set for March 19. A week earlier he had hosted a group Blab with Michael and another speaker. This time it was a one-on-one, and it runs about an hour and fourteen minutes.

What they covered

Stewart’s description lists the ground they covered:

We talked about TEDx, Public Speaking, Passion, bad teachers, learning disabilities and a lot of awesomeness about entrepreneurial veterans.

Doug Stewart, YouTube description

In plain terms, the topics were:

  • TEDx and public speaking: two speakers on the same lineup, a few weeks out from the event.
  • Passion: what drives the work.
  • Bad teachers and learning disabilities: school experiences and learning differences, and how they shape a person.
  • Entrepreneurial veterans: veterans starting and building businesses.

Stewart closed his description by pointing viewers to three places they could find Michael at the time:

  • Cigars and Sea Stories, the podcast he co-founded (cigarsandseastories.com)
  • BloodStripes.com, the Marine professional-development site he wrote for
  • Bunker Labs, the national nonprofit for veteran entrepreneurs

Why it mattered then

The long-form format gave Michael room that a 12-minute talk does not. A TEDx talk is cut down to one idea. A relaxed hour with another speaker leaves time for the background behind that idea: how he learned, what frustrated him in school, and why he cared about veterans in business.

At about 74 minutes, it is the longest recorded conversation from the weeks before his TEDx talk. For anyone who only knows the 12-minute talk, it gives a fuller picture of the man who gave it.

The Bunker Labs link matters too. In early 2016 Michael was already connected to the organization’s Raleigh-Durham effort. His TEDx talk description, published that June, invited people to link up with him at Bunker Labs RDU, “where he spends most of his time connecting and working with fellow veterans.”

Looking back

Less than three weeks after this conversation, Michael gave his TEDxRaleigh talk, “What’s your IED? How to add value in explosive situations.” By October 2016 the Veteran On the Move podcast reported that he had taken over as director of the Bunker in Raleigh-Durham. The topics from this conversation, speaking, learning and veteran business, stayed at the center of his work.

Watch on YouTube

This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.

Work with Michael

Marine veteran, TEDx speaker and author of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. Bring him to your stage, wear the gear, or catch him live.

Book Michael to Speak
Shop the MJP Store
Get the 5 Paragraph Business Plan
Watch Live