Episode Details

Send us Fan Mail

What do utility-scale solar, Bitcoin mining, hotshot trucking, and Texas barbecue have in common? Michael B. Stevenson II has built in all four. This week Aram and Yemi are joined by guest host Gabbi McErlean to talk with Yemi's brother Michael — a builder who turned a 12-year solar career into a launchpad for venture after venture, and is now betting it all on brisket. 🤠

Michael takes us from graduating into solar and building Sunscreen, a QA/QC app born out of eight-inch paper binders, to Mine2Hodl — the garage Ethereum rig (once running out of a hotel room 😅) that grew into a ~3-megawatt Bitcoin self-mining and hosting operation. He breaks down why hosting beats self-mining for steady cashflow, how a 401(k) rollover (ROBS) funded his second mining company Hash Hive, and the July 4th phone call that ended his trucking company Open Air Logistics overnight. 💥

Then the heart of it: That Good Smoke — the New Age Tex-Mex concept he co-founded with his fiancée (an Army-vet cook 🎖️), run as a five-kid family business. Pecan-wood, 18-hour smoked brisket, everything from scratch, signature sauces heading to retail shelves, and a plan to go from food truck to brick-and-mortar. Michael's leaving his project-management career at the end of August to chase it full-time — and his advice for anyone scared to leap? Just go for it. 🙌

In this episode:

• 12 years in solar & building the Sunscreen app (and the equity lesson he learned the hard way)
• Mine2Hodl: from a $5K hobby rig to a 3MW operation — hosting vs. self-mining explained
• Using a ROBS 401(k) rollover to launch Hash Hive
• Open Air Logistics and knowing when to walk away
• That Good Smoke: family business, from-scratch Tex-Mex, and sauces going retail
• Legacy, calculated risk, and betting on yourself

🔗 Find That Good Smoke:

• Website: https://www.thatgoodsmoke.com