Path & Principle

I help 9-5 escapees build sovereign lives—on land, road, or their own terms. From my MN forest home, RV travels, and lakeside cabin. 25 years living it.

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

@leakorsawe @X Agreed re:linkedin... for me it is necessary these days. BTW just in case you are interested, we are looking for "creators" to try an iOS app in case you or anyone else would like to hear more.

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

@MDiPaolaMD it is! lessons in observation, patience and resilience, for sure.

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

Fruit is a lagging indicator.

I was walking through our orchard just now. We’ve been slowly developing it for about ten years.

Feels a lot like building products and businesses for 20+ years:

prepare the ground
prune what drains life
protect what’s fragile
wait longer than you wanted

And every once in a while, by the grace of God, the pollinators pass through.

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

@timothybutler @jameygannon that will get the job done!

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

kid staying close to home for college, doubling down on the faith, and setting up Roth IRA
>
kid leaving home

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

@LinearLabs Just think about how chuffed the production staff person was who devised the scope overlay on this... and then the compositing with the shade coming down!

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

artisanal all-organic free range wild caught audio editing is alive in northern Minnesota

[Audiofile @weareaudiofile]

Not all friction is waste.

Some of it is the texture of the work itself.

Chopping a sample by ear. Finding the right start point. Listening for the tail. Nudging a loop until it breathes.

A tool can be intelligent without taking the decision out of your hands.

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

@mattdberk real momentum takes teamwork, that is for sure.

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

I spent years writing about sovereignty.

Land. Family. Road life. A house in the forest. Work on your own terms.

Here is the part people don’t talk about:

If the business can’t feed the family, sovereignty becomes theater.

I’ve pulled from savings for months while rebuilding a technical company from a forest studio in Minnesota.

No VC cushion. No day job. No institution behind me. No romance left to hide behind.

Just the question every independent builder eventually has to answer:

Can the work actually carry the life?

I’m going to document the rebuild honestly:

what gets attention
what brings revenue
what was wishful thinking
what modern tools actually help
what breaks when the bills meet the dream

Not guru content. Field notes.

And yes, the work is real: apps, firmware, audio engines, product systems.

If you know a founder with a stuck technical product, send them my way.

But the deeper question is bigger than my company:

A lot of “independent life” content shows the cabin, the land, the road, the tools, the family, the freedom.

Almost none of it shows the spreadsheet.

I still believe in independent life.

But I am done acting like the romance matters if the numbers do not work.

[Audiofile @weareaudiofile]

Name another music tech company where this blocks
the road to the studio.

We'll wait. 🫎

📍 Two Harbors, MN — Lake Superior North Shore

#musictech #proaudio #northshore #moose

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

@MelanieSent Haha! that is really funny, our 2 dancers were just showing off their muscles last night. They're quite happy with them.

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

@musestoomuch What? How else is he going to circle back and touch base with the boat navigators about the new beacon subscription discount for referring new signups?

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

This goes for all small business: shaming them for using tools everyone else uses will simply lead to the end of small business.

What an irony that only soulless conglomerates will remain.

[Audiofile @weareaudiofile]

If tiny music companies are shamed out of using modern tools, only the giants will be left.

We are run from a studio in the forest, five miles from the mailbox.

#MusicTech #AItools

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

@becomingjules cool, what is your plan for it? Congrats on your engagement!

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

2 giant cedars - the twins, one of my favorite spots. Impressive. Just a short hike from the studio, away from our tiny clearing.

If you’ve heard about the fires up here, we’re okay. Some folks lost their homes.

Spend time in the wilderness today. Find the peace that can only be found in God’s creation, unspoiled.

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

Any Doctor Who fans in the house...?

[Audiofile @weareaudiofile]

Sound editing used to be physical.

Tape loops. Timing marks. Machines held in sync by patience and nerve.

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

@de_la_boue Do it, highly recommend!!

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

I know I’ll never be a social media expert. I’m an engineer, after all.

While I’m here, I’ll share an uncommon perspective.

I’m not just drawn out of the studio, every day, to the land here, but to projects most tech people would find primitive. I read once that Seymour Cray would dig tunnels for hours in the sandstone around his property in Chippewa Falls. For me, when I am not in the woods, I’m often working on ponds.

This one has been years in the making, and I am not even close to done improving it.

I realize not many people will get this, and I am okay with that.

I’ll be out by the pond planning this year’s projects and checking to make sure the fish made it through the winter. It’s a place for wildlife, rain catchment, top-quality irrigation, mosquito control, a skating rink, and simply a beautiful place to be around.

What is completely outside your normal work/business that you love to keep up on?

[Path & Principle @offgridding]

@alinainmiami that is a nice way to look at it!

[Audiofile @weareaudiofile]

Who doesn’t want to listen to Orbital through BigSky and a Studer?

Fidelia 2 hosts plugins right inside the player — for when your music library deserves a unique signal chain.

3 AU slots. Built-in DSP. No subscription. No data collected.

#MacAudio #Audiophile #AUv3