“Unify”: What MLK’s Letters Taught Me About Startup Leadership
I started reading the letters of Martin Luther King Jr. in 2018 while Morgan and I were on our honeymoon. My intention was to learn more about the civil rights movement, and to study MLK as a leader by way of his writing. Surprisingly, two thoughts, both relevant to...
2019 Book List + Lasting Thought
I love looking back and reviewing the books I read in a year. As part of a yearly personal wrap up, the practice helps me to reflect & connect the dots in a continuous pattern of learning and exploring. Here are the books I read in 2019, and the first thought that...
Best Meeting of the Week
I was nudged by a friend, Rick Desai, into a ten mile run yesterday morning. We had been occasionally crossing paths during early morning jogs on Chicago's 606 trail. When Rick asked if I wanted to join for a 10 mile run along the lake Saturday at 6:30am, I couldn’t...
All Statues Fall
Take a walk with me. We’re strolling eastbound down Wacker Street in the heart of Chicago’s River North area, alongside the aesthetically gorgeous polluted river. On almost every corner we pass a statue, typically of a man. Sometimes it depicts a full body, sometimes...
Diamond in the Smog
Picture this: a thirteen-year-old kid is sitting at the computer. A Google Images results page is displayed on his desktop. Immediately he sees a flurry of Benjamin Franklin heads floating midair as two men casually toss stacks of one hundred dollar bills into the...
From Chi to Sharks, It’s the Weird Ones that Matter -3/24/14
My good friend Kasey Gandham and I showed up on TV screens nationwide this past Friday. By the time the clock struck 9:00CT, over 8 million people had watched us shake hands on a quarter million dollar investment with Mark Cuban. 250+ of those were watching (and...
B-Horowitz Strugglin’ in Chicago -4/18/14
(Left to right: Mcdonald's CEO Donald Thompson, Ben Horowitz, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Amy Rule, J.B. Pritzker, Howard Tullman) Part of the privilege of being in the 1871 community is the opportunity to observe and interact with the “big dogs” of entrepreneurialism that...
Mr. Wonderful, You Are Wrong. Here’s How We Work With Publishers -4/01/14
One more post here addressing Shark Tank. Any viewers might recall Kevin O'Leary declaring that Kasey and I will look like him (not as a compliment) by the time we are done fully establishing Packback as a staple of the higher education industry. Well, Mr. Wonderful,...
Surprisingly BEST Way to Spend Winter Break -11/27/13
I know it’s only Thanksgiving break -a short but sweet week off from class for rambunctious college students- but this means one thing: it’s time to start game-planning how to properly spend the precious minutes of the soon-to-come winter break. For...
NFL Hall-of-Famer Ronnie Lott and the Value of Story-Telling -7/09/13
“Startup life”, while often over-hyped, is truly never dull. Throughout the journey, no matter what stage you are in, the adventures and stories continuously compile. With Packback, starting straight out of college, we’ve stacked up stories abound. I went on a...