Michael J. Penney

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Bunker Labs RDU Muster 2017: Veteran Founders Meet in Cary

On September 21, 2017, Bunker Labs RDU held its second annual Muster, a one-day startup conference for veteran entrepreneurs, at MetLife’s office in Cary, North Carolina. It was part of the national Muster Across America series. According to the WRAL TechWire recap, it sold out, drawing 250 attendees, 75 percent of them veterans, with more than 75 veteran-owned businesses represented.

Michael was Bunker Labs RDU’s program director at the time; podcast bios from 2016 and 2017 describe him in that role, helping veterans with business creation. He says he spoke at the Muster and helped coordinate it. The published coverage below does not list him by name.

What was on the program

A preview by Bunker Labs RDU executive director Dean Bundschu said the event was hosted by the MetLife Veterans Network, and that active-duty, National Guard and reserve service members could register for free. The recap, written by Bunker Labs RDU community development director Jim Roberts, laid out the day:

  • Opening remarks: Larry Hall, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
  • Morning keynote: venture capitalist and Vietnam-era veteran Art Pappas, on turning military leadership into private-sector success.
  • Hiring panel: Scott Moody of K4 Connect, Tim McClain of MetLife and Ted Studdard of Home Depot.
  • Lunch keynote: former Baltimore Ravens player Marques Ogden.
  • Featured speaker: Daniel Alarik of Grunt Style, which Roberts called the most anticipated appearance of the day.
  • Closing remarks: NC Representative Holly Grange of Wilmington, a veteran and entrepreneur.

A startup pitch contest closed out the competition side. Josh Robertson of Ryker USA took the top prize for his FistGrip product, and Ed Hall of Petrics in Wilmington, a Navy veteran, finished second.

Why it mattered then

Roberts wrote that grants and donations from JP Morgan Chase & Co., MetLife, the Wege Foundation and Grant Thornton had put Bunker Labs in North Carolina on a path to sustainability in its second year. He also noted the competition: some 35 entrepreneur support organizations worked the Triangle. A sold-out room with a strong veteran turnout was proof that the program was reaching the people it was built for.

Looking back

That December, American Grit wrote up a Cigars and Sea Stories episode with Grunt Style’s Alarik, co-hosted by Michael. The work behind events like this one, putting veterans with business ideas in a room with investors, mentors and each other, fed straight into the 5 Paragraph Business Plan.

Read the recap on WRAL TechWire (archived)

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.

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HuffPost: Veteran Entrepreneurs You Should Know in 2017

On February 28, 2017, HuffPost published “Veteran Entrepreneurs you should know in 2017,” a contributor piece by Dwayne D. Paro, a veteran empowerment coach, author and podcaster. Michael J. Penney was #10 on the list, as founder of Cigars and Sea Stories.

What the article said

Paro opened by saying the previous four years had seen “the rise of the vetrepreneurs,” warriors turned business owners with a drive most civilian owners only wish they had. The list ran to “22.6” entries. The final “.6” spot went to American Dream U, an organization rather than a person.

Michael’s entry read:

Penney, a Marine veteran, and marksman, has turned his experiences and connections into the Cigars and Sea Stories Podcast.

Dwayne D. Paro, HuffPost, February 2017

Paro named some of the show’s guests: John Lee Dumas, Rudy Reyes, Tim Jensen, Evan McMullin and Sam Meek. He called the podcast a great place to hear their stories from the service, along with their transitions and new business ventures.

The rest of the top ten shows the company Michael was keeping:

  • Daniel Alarik, Grunt Style and Alpha Outpost
  • Travis McVey, Heroes Vodka
  • Jas Boothe, Discharged and Final Salute, Inc.
  • Jeremy Knauff, Spartan Media
  • Brandon Buttrey, Counterstrike Coffee
  • Donny O’Malley, Vet TV
  • Daniel Eric, Veteran Syndicate Radio
  • Greg Jumes, Victor App
  • Eric L. Mitchell, LifeFlip Media

Why it mattered then

By early 2017 the veteran business world had its own media scene of podcasts, apparel brands and online shows, and lists like this one helped people find it. Landing in the top ten next to Grunt Style and Vet TV put a two-year-old podcast alongside some of the best-known veteran brands of the time.

The entry also shows how people saw his role then. He was the connector. The show’s value was in the guests he could bring to the microphone.

Looking back

Several names on this list came back into Michael’s story. Later in 2017 Cigars and Sea Stories recorded with Daniel Alarik and Tim Jensen of Grunt Style. In 2018 Michael was cast as the voice of Axel in Jas Boothe’s animated comedy Discharged, and he was a guest on Jeremy Knauff’s Digital Marketers Podcast. Paro himself had Michael on his own podcast that August.

Read the list on HuffPost

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
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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
Shop the MJP Store
Get the 5 Paragraph Business Plan
Watch Live

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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

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The Havok Journal: BAMCIS for Veteran Entrepreneurs (2015)

On June 14, 2015, The Havok Journal ran an article under Michael Penney’s byline: “BAMCIS: A Patrol Leader’s Take On ‘Vetrepreneurship.'” He was writing as a former infantry Marine. His audience was other grunts coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan and thinking about starting something of their own.

What the article covered

Penney opened with the state of things in 2015: a growing number of veterans coming home to a strained economy, and many of them choosing to build businesses rather than look for jobs. His argument was simple. The planning a squad leader does before a patrol is the same planning a founder needs, with a little translation.

The processes used to plan and execute a combat mission carry over to the business side of the house.

Michael Penney, The Havok Journal, June 2015

He walked through the six BAMCIS troop-leading steps and gave each one a business meaning:

  • Begin the plan. Find a mission worth doing, a need worth filling, and build a team around it.
  • Arrange the reconnaissance. Do market research. He called it a “Feedback Patrol”: go meet the people you want to serve, ask questions, and listen before you sell.
  • Make the reconnaissance. Get out of the building and talk to customers, with every team member acting as an observer.
  • Complete the plan. Write the business plan, financials in an appendix, executive summary last. He pointed to the military Five Paragraph Order as a model for breaking it into clear pieces.
  • Issue the order. Pitch like you brief an operations order: who you are, the mission, the vision, backed by financial statements and projections.
  • Supervise. Small-unit leadership wins. Give people the tools, then let them perform under pressure.

His working example was BloodStripes.com, which he described as a free professional-development toolkit built by a few Marines. He used it to show how talking to real users changed the product. The team first assumed Marines would not go looking for help. Feedback pushed the site toward a usable toolkit, a kind of “Life Hack” for Marines, instead of passive guidance.

He also named the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) as the top resource he knew of for veterans putting a plan together.

Why it mattered then

In 2015 most transition advice told veterans to translate their skills for a civilian résumé. This piece went the other way. It told veterans their planning habits were already a business tool, and it used language any infantryman would recognize. It closed with a line meant for the men he served with:

Get a plan, get with your brother and, commit to changing the world once more.

Michael Penney, The Havok Journal

Looking back

The nod to the Five Paragraph Order in this article came before the framework he later built. By February 2016, the SuccessVets podcast described him as developing “the 5 paragraph business,” based on the Marine O-SMEAC planning format. That work became the 5 Paragraph Business Plan.

Read the article on The Havok Journal

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