Who he is: "I'm a technology entrepreneur building companies on the Silicon Prairie."
Q: What is a regular work day like for you?
A: Haha, what's a regular work day :) Generally my day starts with emails, followed by "stand up" meetings with each of the folks I work directly with. Then throughout the day I have a variety of other meetings with other departments. The whole Flywheel team eats lunch together every day, so I make sure to take time to do that, and typically am home by 6 to play with my 3 year old daughter.
Q: What do you love most about your career/major?
A: The best part about being an entrepreneur for me is the ability to build an incredible team of people. We get to control who we work with and who we surround ourselves with, and in my opinion that's the best thing anyone could ask for.
Q: When did you become inspired to partake in tech? What was your inspiration?
A: I think I've always been a "tech guy" and have known that I was going to work with technology in one way or another. I taught myself to program when I was very young (before the internet!), and have basically been writing code ever since.
Q: What prepared you the best for your job/major today?
A: I love learning, so that's probably the thing that has prepared me the most. Almost everything I've done in life has been self-taught, even though I have a degree in Computer Science. From programming, to the principles of business, I've always loved reading and learning from others.
Q: What is the biggest obstacle you've been faced with, and how are/did you overcoming/overcome it?
A: The biggest hurdle for starting my first company was simply STARTING. It's hard to convince yourself to take the leap, and I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have solid partners -- both in business and in life. They were both incredibly supporting and encouraging, even in the face of uncertainty.
Q: What non-tech skill do you find most helpful/important that's for your career?
A: The ability to write well is one of the most important skills that ANYONE can take advantage of. Whether you're in tech or not, everyone appreciates someone who can write well.
Q: Where do you see yourself in ten years?
A: Sitting on a beach?!?! Just kidding :) Flywheel will obviously be much bigger, but I hope that our team is just as incredible as it is now, and that I enjoy showing up to work each and every day like I do today.
Q: What's your favorite coding language?
A: Ruby
Q: What are some of your interests outside tech?
A: I really enjoy food and wine, and enjoy travelling all over the world to experience both :)
Q: What are your plans for future projects?
A: 100% focused on Flywheel these days, and we have a bunch of things in the works.
Q: What advice would you give a young person interested in tech now?
A: Take advantage of all of the resources around you -- it's an incredible time to grow up in tech. Whether it's online learning resources like Codeacademy or Treehouse, or whether it's learning from other folks in the community -- there's not better time to be learning about technology.
