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…]
A couple of weeks ago, I visited my hometown of Omaha to visit my family, as well as attend the Berkshire Hathaway 50th Anniversary Shareholders Meeting. Here are some notes from the trip related to Berkshire and Buffett. My cousin bought a house a few blocks away from Warren Buffett. Anyway, after dinner, we took … [Read more…]
Recently, the notion of a startup has bugged me, and not for the typical reasons. I know what a startup is, and I have many years experience with startups in one form or another. My confusion (or call it frustration) is that the general notion of a startup in the popular press has moved from … [Read more…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
My career path has been described as “quirky (in a good way, of course)” and circuitous. Does this upset me or make me pause? Not at all. I’ve had the fortune of meeting and befriending several very successful founders. If I had stayed at one job the whole time, I wouldn’t had multiple exposures to a … [Read more…]
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…]