30-YEAR REWIND < < Non-Competes, Snowstorms & the Beastie Boys

June 25, 2025

By late April 1995, things were heating up.

We had our little startup dream, a floppy-disc business plan in progress, and we were still working full-time at Mike’s Camera. But after Greg’s innocent chat with the UPS driver (aka the most casual career detonator of all time), the whispers had started.

And then it happened.

Friday, April 28, 1995

Each of us—Greg, William, and I—got called into our managers’ offices.

We were asked to sit down and handed paperwork: a non-compete agreement.

The message was clear: We know what you’re up to, and we don’t like it.

We were stunned. We hadn’t launched a business. We hadn’t left our jobs. We weren’t stealing customers. We were just dreaming, planning, building something on the side. But in their eyes, it was a threat. I guess we were just that awesome.

Luckily, we didn’t have to navigate this alone. Between the three of us, we had more than a few attorneys in the family (bless them), and when we showed them the non-compete that night, their collective answer was:

“Absolutely not. Don’t sign a thing. Let them sweat, or move on.”

Turns out, they didn’t sweat.

Monday, May 1

We were fired. All three of us. No severance. No notice. Just: thank you, and goodbye.

So…what do you do the night you get fired from your stable jobs, lose your health insurance, and have no idea how you’re going to pay your mortgage next month?

You go see the Beastie Boys.

We had tickets to the Quadraphonic Tour at Red Rocks that night—except due to a surprise late-season snowstorm, the show got moved last-minute to the Denver Coliseum. It was their first tour after Ill Communication, and we had been pumped for this show for a long time.

It was…not the night we expected.

We were emotionally wrecked, financially terrified, and still in our twenties. We should’ve been dancing our faces off, but honestly? We were just dysregulated and overwhelmed. It felt like everything was unraveling. But the setlist was great, and we’re still die-hard B-Boys fans.

The next morning, we got up.

We made coffee.

We opened the business plan.

We started making phone calls.

And we never looked back. We had plotted, planned, doodled and sketched…now it was time to make it all a reality.

HISTORICAL NOTE

On April 30, 1995, the Internet quietly crossed a major milestone—its government-funded backbone was retired, clearing the way for full commercial use. Just days before we launched our startup lives, the digital age officially opened for business. And we were right on the edge of it.

WHY IT MATTERED

We didn’t quit our jobs to start a business. We didn’t feel the agency of making that decision. It was do it or go find another job working for someone else. That moment defined our grit and determination. And boy, would we need grit and determination over the following 30 years! We learned that sometimes the biggest leaps come from the biggest shocks—and that discomfort is the birthplace of real momentum.