Benchmarks for companies I want to work with full-time

Last month, I left my full time job at a local startup (we’re still on good terms, and I still consult with them) to focus on building product, as well as consulting where it makes sense. Almost instantly, I started getting multiple inquiries from companies regarding new opportunities. Almost unanimously, I’ve politely and respectfully declined … [Read more…]

Jumping Through Hoops

A couple years ago, I attended a talk with Sun co-founder and tech investor, Vinod Khosla, for a University of Utah MBA class. The first thing Khosla told the packed audience was “Most of you will do nothing remarkable with your lives because you’re doing what’s expected of you”. He further elaborated that coloring in … [Read more…]

2014 Berkshire Hathaway Takeaways

Once again I attended the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, NE. And once again, it was a pleasure to hear Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger get grilled with 6 hours of very tough questions. These guys are my personal heroes, and like other meetings, I came away just a little wiser. The funny thing … [Read more…]

Your Business Fighting Style

I’m a major MMA fanboy, as well as a lifelong practitioner of combat sports. As a kid in the 80’s, karate and ninjitsu were in vogue. So was boxing, thanks to Mike Tyson. In the 90s, Brazillian Jiu Jitsu came into popularity after a skinny guy named Royce dominated much larger opponents with his then … [Read more…]

Culture Clubbed…

The Culture Club – This place is so f*cking cool! Culture is one of the top 3 thing that I believe a business must get right in order to survive, let alone thrive. If people positively resonate with the culture, then amazing things can happen. Conversely, if the culture sucks, people don’t give their best … [Read more…]

Mr. Money Mustache…

I’ve been called a cheapskate, overly frugal, etc, etc. I guess my wife inherited that badge of honor when she married me. Whatever you want to call us, we’re not in debt and steadily working toward leaving the rat race as soon as humanly possible. And that’s a great thing. Some of you may want to … [Read more…]

Some call it lean startup. Others call it common sense.

A couple nights ago, I attended Sessions @ The Leonardo, a monthly fireside chat in SLC featuring top tier tech and business entrepreneurs/investors. This month was Charles Adler, Head of Design and co-founder of Kickstarter. He gave a pretty humble story of Kickstarter’s beginnings. Like most successful startups, Kickstarter began with a mission to change … [Read more…]