Jeff Lin and Sarah Bronson: Dedication and Innovation

Aug 11, 2025

“We met at a bar,” said Jeff Lin, entrepreneur and MPR board member when asked how he met his wife, Sarah Bronson. “I was hosting a viewing party at Brits Pub in Minneapolis for the PBS reality show Colonial House. I was a cast member. I’d invited a wide swath of friends and one of them invited Sarah.” (Check out his blog from the show here).

Jeff grew up in Oberlin, Ohio. His parents always had Cleveland classical music playing. In middle school Jeff remembers starting to choose his stations and his music.

“My musical tastes were a super set of my parents’. They listened to classical. I listened to classical, jazz, hip hop, R & B, and the rock station WMMS out of Cleveland. I got my first exposure to Minnesota listening to A Prairie Home Companion. When my older sister left to go to college at Carleton College in Northfield, MN, our family dropped her off. I realized, this is a normal place with highways and McDonalds.”

After graduating from Carleton Jeff moved to Minneapolis thinking he would stay a year and move on. “I was applying for graduate school in molecular biology. I got offered a job as a software engineer. I ended up really enjoying it and stayed six years doing that before I launched my first company, Bust Out. We design and build custom software, websites, mobile apps and digital experiences.”

For Sarah, radio listening started in the car with her parents and at their family cabin in northwest Minnesota. She listens to news while Jeff leans toward podcasts like Radiolab, Snap Judgement and This American Life, plus The Current.

Sarah is a University of Wisconsin alum and now has a career in public service with the State of Minnesota. “She’s very dedicated,” reports Jeff. Sarah studied behavioral sciences and law. “I was interested in the intersection of sociology and legal process, and how they work together. I wanted to understand what was happening in the world, to like, have opinions and develop values around what was happening in the world.”

Jeff added, “We want our three kids to develop a deeper understanding of current events. We are exposing them to MPR news and getting the print newspaper in the house. Critical thinking is essential.”

Jeff got more connected with MPR when they hired Bust Out to build some software.

“I gave some of the money they paid me as a donation. Then someone suggested we become an underwriter of MPR and it really paid off. It brought us business within 30 days, a new client that I had never heard of before, and the value of that contract was greater than what we were underwriting. That customer is still a customer today—12 years later!”

Jeff is in the early stages of a second startup company, Pennant. In 2023, the Glen Nelson Center made a Horizon Fund investment in Pennant—a software platform that enables performing artists to launch their own custom-branded subscription video channel and connect directly with their patrons and fans.

“Pennant represents the next stage of streaming video. It’s not just the platform, it’s about building a relationship and engaging with your audience through video,” said Liwanag Ojala, Chief Digital Transformation Officer at American Public Media Group.

Jeff joined MPR’s board last December. Then, Jeff and Sarah decided to make a donation to MPR’s comprehensive campaign.

“Sarah's been a dedicated state employee for eight years. State employment is so different than entrepreneurship. She and her colleagues want to make Minnesota a better place. My version is to help MPR and APM improve and innovate. Now we're running in parallel paths—committed to strengthening Minnesota and beyond.”