May 3, 2021Creating a High OutputIn 2017, while at Amazon, I was thinking about starting another company, but I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind that I no longer had “it,” that special thing that made normal people into Founders. I decided to grab a flight to Boulder, CO, and meet up with…Entrepreneurship4 min read
Apr 6, 2020Don’t Panic; Let’s Talk“You are not alone.” Over the years I have received and given so much advice about how to build and run a company. Things about hiring, fundraising, leading, and growing. But of all the advice those four words always rang as the most important. “You are not alone.” It is…Startup3 min read
Published in The Startup·May 30, 2019Working With The Voices In My HeadFor most of my life, I would sit down in front of a white screen with a blinking cursor and just start writing. The words would flow and in the back of my brain, a small, but persistent, voice would cheer me on. A year ago or so, that voice…Self Improvement5 min read
Jan 17, 2019Not All Investment Is The Same — Indie.VC Stops By SeattleRecently, there has been a lot of discussion around what types of company is venture capital helpful. A few years back, Bryce and his partners at OATV asked the same question. They came to a realization that there is an entire swath of companies that either isn’t right for traditional…Venture Capital2 min read
Dec 25, 20182018: A Reflection on a Year Of ReflectionEveryone I know has some activity that when everything else is lost, they can find solace within. That when the world is burning around them, they can find respite within that activity and say, “I am fine.” That activity provides sanity, support and the freedom from all the difficulties that…Mental Health4 min read
Oct 12, 2018Perpetual Motion Machine of EntrepreneurshipWhen people ask me what's special about Silicon Valley, I answer: “success begets success, and entrepreneurship perpetuates entrepreneurs.” For any startup ecosystem, there are three phases to its maturation: First Raise; Messy Middle; Repeatable Exits. First Raise Before I went to Amazon, I spent a lot of time flying around the US…Startup5 min read
Oct 1, 2018Don’t Lie; You Don’t CareAs you can see from the screenshot, this post is from a little while ago. I am updating it because things haven’t gotten better and in many ways, Dark UX has gotten worse. As product people, we can do better. It began simply enough. A post in my Facebook feed…UX3 min read
Published in The Startup·Sep 10, 2018Ownership is About TrustAn on-going series taking a look at the Amazon Leadership Principles from a startup point of view. Start here to see others. The Amazon Leadership Principles are a set of 14 statements that drive the culture of innovation at Amazon. Each focuses on a different aspect of that culture and…Leadership5 min read
Published in The Startup·Sep 4, 2018What is Customer Obsession?Back in September, I wrote a post titled, Want to Start a Company? Work at a Big One First with the intent of exploring the Amazon Leadership Principles from a startup’s perspective. What I realized soon after writing that post, that my customer was me, and so I obsessed over…Startup4 min read
Jul 27, 2018What I Wish Always ExistedWhen someone asks me how they should go about deciding what to build, I always answer the same way: “Build something you wish always existed.” Over the years, I have spoken to thousands of startup founders across the country, been involved with Techstars and other accelerators, worked at a big…Seattle3 min read