A story about Mindset

An article by Patrick Van Pelt.

On Failing Early

My first business deal was a failure.

The earliest “business deal” that I can recall is from my childhood.

I was fixated on getting a certain toy familiar to many boys - a mini-bike. I pleaded with my Dad to help me earn the money to buy the mini bike.

We lived on an 1800s hobby farm on the outskirts of Saratoga Springs, New York. We had a large pigeon coop. Think of it like a 15’ wide x 10’ deep x 9’ tall clapboard shed.

We were leaving for a trip in a couple of weeks. If I painted our pigeon coop within two weeks, my Dad would pay me enough to buy a brand new Honda mini-bike.

I was eight years old. Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album (8-track tape!) was the soundtrack that summer.

The project was Herculean for me.

I had to self organize the entire deal.

I made the attempt over the first two weeks, but I didn’t fulfill the task.

I returned to the task after the trip.

It dragged on deep into summer.

I did not get the new mini-bike.

My father did give me partial credit, and a used mini bike appeared at some point.

This was my first business failure.

It was early, painful, and perplexing.

I saw the exhilaration and status of a mini-bike. My Dad showed me responsibility, and the duty to create specified value on a real timeline.

Importantly, I did not adequately negotiate or specify the work beyond “painting the pigeon coop.”

My Dad would have been satisfied with something basic. I envisioned a total restoration of the exterior finish.

Using Bloom’s taxonomy analogously, my Dad anticipated “remember - recall basic facts.” I was focusing on “create - creating something new or imagining what could be or should be."

This was my first business failure, but it wasn’t my last. I was privileged to learn with and from my Father...and my brother was nearby needling me!

Post script:

Interestingly, I didn’t know this then, but I learned later that my Great Grandfather Van Pelt was a serious house painter. Further, my Grandpa Van Pelt knew painting well himself. Had I called my Grandpa down in New Jersey, who was living at that time, I might have gotten a different outcome.

In retrospect, my most conspicuous business failure was focusing on inventorying the materials that I would need for the job (scraper, primer, paint, and brushes) without taking stock of the Mindset and project plan that would see me through to success.

In a parallel universe, I invited my Grandpa to spend a week with me and coach me through my first paint job. It took me roughly another 10 or 12 years before I had the EQ to do something like that...and I did!

I was living on another hobby farm outside of Houston, Texas, and my Grandpa Van Pelt and I cleaned, organized, and outfitted my Dad’s barn workshop while he was down for a visit. (I didn’t get a new mini-bike then either!)

I got something better.

My agency, my affection for my Dad and my Grandpa, and my gumption to organize work created an experience that tied together our three generations.

I shouldn’t take - and don’t deserve all of the credit. I brought vision, enthusiasm, and the role of catalyst. My Dad showed grace in letting me do something for him. (He did put up a fight at first.) My Grandpa exercised a sublimely gentle, exceptionally quiet influence over my Dad. My Grandpa showed genuine interest in me and the project.

All of that, taken together, plus breakfasts and dinners, tied our three year generations together. Honda mini-bikes are fantastic depreciating assets. Knowing and living one’s heritage is life itself. Heritage is a treasure and a legacy.

One boy’s business failure is a young man’s first step towards more authentic living and an older man’s story.