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Sail Loot Podcast 016: Active Captain Jeff Siegel, Part 1

By on February 10, 2015

Jeff Siegel and his wife Karen didn’t have to create Active Captain in order to find their sail loot. The Siegels are entrepreneurs and were lucky enough to have created, run, and sold a technology business, Evergreen Technologies, prior to living life on their boat.

“Lucky” probably isn’t the word I should use. When you believe in something that you’ve created, like MedVision, to the point where you’re willing to mortgage your house, and create and run a business to implement that creation, it should probably be called hard work and determination.

After being rightfully rewarded for their hard work and dedication and selling Evergreen Technologies to a large pharmaceutical company, it was time for Jeff and Karen to set sail and cruise down the Inter-coastal Waterway (ICW).

During their first 3 years of cruising they realized that they wanted more from their cruising guidebooks. Rather than going to the marina with the biggest ad in the guidebook, they wanted to know which marina would accommodate their two dogs. With the internet, gps, and chart plotting electronics becoming more and more accessible to boaters they thought that an interactive platform would provide the most value, especially to technology gurus like themselves.

Active Captain aCappella on the Erie Canal

aCappella Cruising the Erie Canal with Active Captains Jeff and Karen Siegel

Active Captain was born. Jeff and Karen didn’t need to make money from Active Captain, but they’re entrepreneurs. They created a solution to a problem that they were having. They knew that other boaters shared a pain that they could cure. They knew that they could offer Active Captain for free to all boaters.

Take a listen to hear it straight from Jeff Siegel, co-owner, co-creator of Active Captain.

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A Few Things You’ll Learn About Active Captain In This Episode:

  • How Jeff and his wife, Karen, decided that the cruising lifestyle was for them.
  • Why run a business from a typical office building overlooking a parking lot when you can run a business from anywhere with the internet?
  • Evergreen Technologies and how Jeff’s software and technologies have helped save lives.
  • MedVision
  • Bringing guide books to life.
  • The real reason why Jeff and Karen wanted to build Active Captain.
  • How they came up with the Active Captain name.
  • How the Skipper Bob guide books inspired Jeff and Karen.
  • Jeff wrote the first chart plotter that worked on a smart phone or palm pilot called Outdoor Navigator and showed it to Maptech
  • How Ben Ellison and Panbo helped launch Active Captain and ActiveCaptain was able to get the exposure that it needed.
  • The rough times that Jeff and Karen had to fight through as entrepreneurs to achieve their vision.
  • The selfish needs that helped build ActiveCaptain.
  • How living on a boat can be a beautiful place to form a business.
  • Why and how the boater is able to be ActiveCaptain’s customer, but the boater will never be charged any money.
  • Why there are no banner ads on any of Jeff and Karen’s websites.
  • How ActiveCaptain also helps marinas provide better services, run their businesses better, and make more money.
  • Why banner ads don’t work in the boating industry. 
  • How Jeff has learned all of his technology and entrepreneurial skills.
  • Why Jeff and Karen are such a good team.
  • Why you should keep going, and be stubborn about your ideas even if people tell you that you’re wrong about something that you are passionate about.
  • Why all marina’s big and small pay the same price for a sponsorship on ActiveCaptain.
  • How Jeff and Karen went about getting marinas to sponsor ActiveCaptain.
  • And much more!

Links and Resources From This Episode:

THANK YOU!

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TeddyJ

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About Teddy

I am a 37 year old that just wants to find a way to make a remote income, gather some Sail Loot and cruise the world! I have been sailing for a couple of years now, but mostly on 10 day trips as vacationing crew. I just recently took sailing to the next level by completing my Basic Keelboat, Basic Cruising, and Bareboat Cruising Certifications! I am also Vice President of a Medical Consulting Company, have a Mechanical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech, and have taken several Coding, Computing, and Online Business courses. It's time to share what I have learned!