102: Rum, Bourbon, and Rum + Lots of Papers from Katie Brownell (VA Tech) and Tom Dean (CSU)

For this episode of Creative Distillation, Brad and Jeff are holed up at Jeff’s Tiki Hideaway, where they’re joined by returning guests Katie Brownell from Virginia Tech University and Tom Dean from Colorado State.
This episode covers a lot of ground, beginning with a recap of our thrilling visit to Smugglers Cove in San Francisco, then diving into a few different recently- or soon-to-be-published papers written by Katie, Tom, and Katie and Tom.
First up is a discussion of Tom’s paper on Property Rights Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which looks at how separating property rights into different categories can lead to innovation. Tom cites the scooter industry as an obvious example of this.
Brad and Jeff expand the conversation to discuss the challenges of regulating new technologies, AI and social media being two obvious examples.
Katie then talks about her new paper examining reproductive loss in the workplace, and how organizational silence can impact employee identity and support.
Then there’s the paper Katie and Tom co-wrote, about entrepreneurial opportunity evaluation and how founders’ anticipatory regret over doing (or not doing) something influences the decision-making process.
Finally, Katie introduces another paper she’s working on, which takes a look at Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy on team survival. (Spoiler: founder narcissism can actually be beneficial, at least in a startup’s early stages.)
All of this floats on a tasting of rum, bourbon and more rum, expertly led by Jeff, as he expounds on the virtues of rum’s complexity and versatility. Jeff also invites you to participate in the Tikipreneur Project, which you can learn more about and participate in at tikitimewithjeff.com.
Enjoy and cheers!
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This episode of Creative Distillation was recorded at Jeff’s Tiki Hideaway, located somewhere in the foothills of Boulder, Colorado. Access is by invitation only. (Sending Jeff an email may just get you in. Or maybe not.)
Learn more about Smuggler's Cove at https://smugglerscovesf.com. That website is also where you'll find our guidebook during this season of Tiki Time with Jeff Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki
You're invited to participate in our Tikipreneur Research Project. Learn more and sign up at https://tikitimewithjeff.com.
Big thanks to our guests:
Katie Brownell, Assistant Professor of Management in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech https://management.pamplin.vt.edu/faculty/directory/brownell-katrina.html
Tom Dean, Tinberg Business for a Better World University Professor at Colorado State University https://biz.colostate.edu/about/directory/tomd
Papers discussed in this episode:
Dean, T.J., Forster, W., & Dew, N. (2026). Property Rights Entrepreneurship: The Drive for Product, Asset, and Resource Excludability. Managerial and Decision Economics. http://doi.org/10.1002/mde.70149 (open access link)
Brownell, K.M. (2026). Unmothered at Work: Organizational Silence Around Reproductive Loss. Gender, Work & Organizations.1-24. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.70158
Brownell, K.M. (2026). Getting Along, Getting Ahead, and Sometimes Getting It Wrong: A Socioanalytic Perspective on Team Dynamics. Journal of Small Business Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472778.2026.2698768
Katie and Tom’s paper on anticipatory regret is still under review. Stay tuned to their faculty pages for publication information.
Thanks for listening! See you next time for another round of Creative Distillation.
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CREATIVE DISTILLATION
University of Colorado-Boulder professors Jeff York and Brad Werner distill entrepreneurship research into actionable insights.
Jeff York | Associate Professor | Research Director
jeffrey.york@colorado.edu
Brad Werner | Instructor | Teaching Director
walter.werner@colorado.edu
Deming Center for Entrepreneurship | CU Leeds School of Business
303.492.9018 | deming@colorado.edu