It’s been over six months since I shared that Tech.Co was acquired by MVF Global. I’ve spent that time transitioning the media brand and all of it’s intricacies over to the new team, and in that time I also celebrated a milestone birthday and retreated to a seaside town in southern Maine to enjoy the summer.

Limiting my travels to just a few trips this summer was a huge change from the “Fight Club” schedule I maintained while building Tech Cocktail /  Tech.Co – circulating the country to host, cover, or speak at events and any business development opportunities. That said, it hasn’t exactly been quiet behind the scenes at Casa Gruber.

Calm water to reflect on after a long TechCo journey.

It didn’t take long to realize I wanted to keep going with some of the efforts that I’ve been working on for a decade or more – building stuff is just part of my DNA. You may have seen the soft launch of our new business, Established, as we partnered with Steve Case and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest bus tour in May. We had our new and somewhat mysterious brand circling the South East with little explanation until recently, when I penned what could very well be my last article ever penned for TechCo. 



Rise of the Rest Bus

Established is my new company and I’d like to share a bit more of what we’re up to.

First, you’re probably wondering, why Established?
We all have established dates in our lives – every idea, startup, city, country, person, etc. It’s the day a project or organization is established, marking the beginning of something with unlimited potential – a never ending story of possibility. And I’m a fan of the never ending story, both the film and the concept. It’s important to remind people of that, whether they are just starting up, or have been at it for a while but realize there is more they could do or become. In either case, you might need help along the way and that’s where Established comes in.

Pepe’s Cafe in Key West, Florida – Established 1909

Whether it’s strategy, communications, innovation programs – we’re set up to come in and work with you to help you achieve your goal, like we’ve been doing with Chase, NASA, Capital One, and many others. Established will also manage our key startup programs; Startup of the Year and our conference, Innovate Celebrate. And I’m absolutely hellbent on growing our Startup of the Year investment community that has invested in our top startups from that program.

Frank Gruber hosting Innovate Celebrate which culminates the Startup of the Year program.

So, as I take a break from mowing my lawn with my electric lawn mower (because it just ran out of juice, making me think gas may still have a stronghold here…) I decided to write this, letting everyone know I’m back in the game… just a slightly different game, one that allows me to continue working with amazing people and companies leveraging the knowledge and experience we gained growing the TechCo audience from zero to millions from the ground up, working with thousands of startups and hundreds of larger organizations over the years.

Summer in Maine means mowing the lawn – until your electric mower runs out of juice anyway.

I’ve also decided to start a podcast to share my thoughts and interesting conversations with people from around the tech world. From 2005 to 2010, I blogged at a site called Somewhat Frank. Blogging for 5 years everyday without a break and being one of the first contributors to TechCrunch (yes, that TechCrunch) was great practice for what was in store for us building TechCo but now, after an 8 year hiatus from my personal brand, I’ve decided to bring it back as a podcast called, (creatively) Somewhat Frank. So I hope you enjoy this new journey with me by subscribing and taking a listen, once it gets approved by Apple. 😉