The Silicon Valley Bank State of the Industry Survey: How Reliable are its Responses?

Too often, desired conclusions skew analysis to produce self-fulfilling results. While keeping faulty data from contributing to sampling error is simply a matter of objectivity and basic arithmetic, more subtle are the subjective factors that yield non-random samples. In the case of the Silicon Valley survey, the psychological disposition of the respondents is a significant distorting factor.  Continue »

Size Matters: Quality & Scale in the Wine Industry

He Said: A recent article in the Wine Spectator suggested that small wineries are better than large wineries, for a variety of reasons.... She Said: It does seem that many of today's wine writers write for the niche market, rather than the Gary's of the world, doesn't it?  Continue »

Biodynamic Farming: Following the Moon

Biodynamic farming is complex, sometimes hard to explain and sometimes hard to quantify. It involves many areas: preparations, compost, biodiversity and an awareness of the rhythms happening all around us. I want to talk a little about using a Biodynamic calendar and the intention behind our practices during certain periods on the calendar by highlighting the thoughts of Rudolf Steiner and all those who have continued what he started.  Continue »