Successful Inventor and Entrepreneur - But Can He Bartend?

Robin Thomas is the inventor of the Noteboard - a foldable, portable whiteboard that earned features in HuffPost, TechCrunch, and Forbes. Robin had left Stanford University during his entrepreneurial pursuits, and in February 2013, in between product launches and press appearances, Robin took the 40-hour PBS course. Not because he needed a bartending job, but because he wanted to learn.

Robin ultimately prioritized his business over bartending, which is exactly the right call when your product is getting national media coverage. The Noteboard had sold thousands of units, and Robin eventually sold the business to a larger enterprise - announcing the sale on Reddit - which gave him time to explore new interests. But the training stuck. Friends and family are now the regular beneficiaries of his cocktail skills, and he has been known to hold court behind a home bar with impressive confidence.

His story is a reminder that not everyone who takes the course is looking for full-time bar work. Some people just want to learn a skill that is genuinely fun and endlessly useful. Robin happens to also be building a company - but the mojitos he makes at house parties are no less legitimate for it.