Why am I building a banquette? In August 2024, I left my role at Raptive to recover from burnout and take a career break in preparation for working on whatever’s next for me. I reflected on my experience leading up to that point, and found (among a variety of things) that what I lacked for a long time was the ability to enter a state of flow. I had been there for three years since the acquisition…
See all the photos here Introduction One year ago, Stephen and I finished our Colorado High Country Bike Tour. For 2022, Stephen wanted to sign up for the NYC triathlon and asked if I’d be interested. Of course I said yes. And given that they just opened the Empire State Trail, we decided to tack on a week long bike tour and make it our ride for 2022. Our tours in the past have had unique…
Our company, Topic, was recently acquired by CafeMedia. How did we get here?
See all the photos here Introduction Two years ago, Stephen and I finished our Grand Canyon Connector Bike Tour . Riding on a wave of enthusiasm, we started thinking about what’s next. Now that we beat the heat, what would push us even harder? But just as we started getting into planning mode in early 2020, COVID hit. We were forced to hit pause and wait. The question still bugged us though: What…
Introduction Right after Stephen and I finished our Pacific Coast bike tour from San Francisco to Los Angeles, we talked about what our next tour would be. He brought up the American Southwest. Unfortunately, work and life got busy for the both of us, and as time passed I thought our commitment would sadly fade away like most grand plans made between friends in the moment. But I was wrong. Two…
Doing competitive analysis is a skill that I’ve picked up on an ad-hoc basis over the past couple years. I never received any formal training, but I wish I did, and this is why I’m writing this post. One note: If you’re reading this, you probably have an idea and want to find out if someone’s already done it. Well, I hate to break it to you, but there are almost certainly people who have already…
3 years ago I wrote a 2014 Financial Year in Review that documented my spending habits. Since then, my life has changed a lot. I live in a nice 1 bedroom in the edges of SF instead of in a converted closet-room in the Tenderloin. I travel more to see family and friends. And I spend more freely now (more weekend trips, entertainment, and hobbies). This year has also been a year of change for me.…
If you’re connected to me or anyone else at TINT, you might know that we’ve been looking for someone to take the keys to our company. The big news is that we signed a deal to sell TINT to Filestack . The press release will cover what both organizations want the world to know: This deal is a winning union between two successful companies, combining forces to strategically take on more of the user…
Your browser does not support the video element. The Problem My company, TINT, produces dynamic social displays for digital signage (among many social media related products). If you’re walking through a mall and you see Instagram photos show up on a kiosk screen, it could be us, especially if it’s a Westfield mall. Our product is built using web technologies (HTML/CSS/JS) and is rendered through…
It’s after work, before the holidays in 2016 and inside the Lever office in downtown San Francisco, I’m hanging out with my friend Jen, catching up and venting about work. I’m telling her about some hard decision that I didn’t have enough validation on when she suggests, “You know, one thing that’s worked really well with our team is professional coaching.” She explains how she helped her team…