Posts by Dan Fontaine

Many professions and businesses require additional training and education above and beyond the knowledge necessary to start and run a business every day. Louie Northern of Ascend Aerials needed specific training in several different aspects of using UAS, or drones, to get his company off the ground. First, he had to attend flight school, learning…

Starting Ascend Aerials has presented many challenges to founder Louie Northern, most notably in the form of FAA regulations. But, he says, overcoming those challenges requires not just the ability to do it, but the will. Wanting to do something, and even being capable of doing something, are not enough. It comes down to willpower…

Everybody is looking for the ingredients for success. Louie Northern of Ascend Aerials suggests that success in your business requires not only the competence and capability to deliver on what you promise, but just as much and perhaps even more a belief in your ability do deliver. To succeed, you have to believe you can.…

When you’re starting a new business, one of the first challenges is making it real—and that includes in your own mind. Making something tangible that you can see and commit to is a big help to getting off the ground, says Louie Northern of Ascend Aerials. After coming up with the idea for the business,…

Coming up with the idea for Ascend Aerials began with a love for technology. Louie Northern’s work as an urban designer gave him a lot of exposure to the world of video editing and multimedia presentations, and when he first encountered UAS technology he was immediately smitten with the possibilities. While at first he was…

Louie Northern of Ascend Aerials spent the past decade working as an urban designer and landscape architect, roles that prepared him well for becoming an entrepreneur and owning his own business. Many things contributed to his entrepreneurial aspirations, including his upbringing and professional roles that brought different challenges and different problems to overcome with each…

There are many different paths to becoming an entrepreneur, and the question of whether you can teach someone to become one is an important question for encouraging the growth and spread of entrepreneurship. Simms Jenkins of BrightWave Marketing says that he wasn’t a born entrepreneur. “I know in my case, certainly, the skills have been…