Entrepreneur, Attorney and Technologist.
I build teams, develop products and solve problems.
On Teams - Throughout my career, I've involved myself in jobs that require lots of interaction. Whether teaching, debating, lawyering, or consulting--I'm usually talking and listening to people and solving problems.
On Products - I love gadgets. I'm an early adopter in every way—hardware or software. I started building computers and websites as a teen and have always been a tech junky. I've built a blog that amassed 30,000+ monthly uniques and designed a web app that generated over $100,000 in value for our clients.
Random fact about me.
I began my career as an entrepreneur at 12. Throughout my childhood I mowed lawns, built computers and sold items on eBay. I put myself through college by working throughout.
★ Assisted the partnership with strategic business objectives and operations
★ Worked with the Think Big portfolio companies to improve product development, business strategy, and marketing initiatives.
★ Served the Kansas City entrepreneurial community as a resource and connector
★ Served as the founding CEO
★ Developed and maintained attorney relationships with both in-person speaking events and a monthly newsletter
★ Served CTO on product development and feedback
I consult with and train clients in the areas of investigative research, social media and tech trends for the legal community.
★ Worked with large for-profit and non-profit media organizations.
★ Webbmedia Group's clients include ABC, NBC, Time Inc., CBC, Gannett, People, Entertainment Weekly and the United States State Department
★ Beta tested and gave UI/UX product feedback
★ Provided digital strategy for increasing conversions, reducing bounce rates
★ Developed Sales / New Business Strategy for Global / National Brands—TrueLens structures big data for Fortune 500 companies.
★ Acquired trademarks for company assets
★ Generated product feedback for executive product team as product developed rapidly to best serve clients.
★ Built the founding team, which consisted of cofounders from Google/ITA and Goldman Sachs/TPG Capital
★ Developed the sales / marketing assets and launched the product and generated over $100,000 in value for attorney / clients within 90 days of launch
★ Designed Product, which was built in HTML5 and CSS3 for modernity and responsiveness
★ Hired first 5 teams members
Helped build the brands presence for the SCVNGR and LevelUp platforms. My role was a combination of sales, marketing, legal and biz dev in a blender.
★ Completed sales from pitch to close with Cathay Pacific Airways, Pendaflex and Chrysler.
★ Navigated litigation strategy
★ Worked collaboratively with the brands team to bring in record sales revenue.
I concentrated on employment law. Specifically, I represented clients with wrongful termination, discrimination (Title VII), and retaliation claims.
Provided operational and product strategy to for-profit and non-profit organizations.
Developed the Online News Association's (ONA) 5-year strategy plan grow revenues from $1m to 1.7m and diversify ONA's revenue sources. Also re-branded the journalism.org homepage and streamlined operations.
★ Built monetization strategies for numerous online businesses
★ Provided brand-management strategy for building online reputation
★ Counseled on corporate formation / capital strategy
Edited legal articles and student notes published in two volumes.
★ Wrote a law review note on Kivalina v. ExxonMobil climate change litigation in the Northern District of California.
★ Redesigned the Iowa Law Review's website.
★ Participated in mock arbitration led by RKMC partners.
★ Researched consumer lease laws for Best Buy's new technology buyback program.
★ Wrote an appellate brief for a medical malpractice case concerning juror biases and challenges for cause in the state of Minnesota.
★ Coached the nationally ranked Colorado College debate team.
★ Top team reached the National Final Four.
★ Hosted the NPDA National Tournament, which consisted of booking catering and hotel agreements and site arrangements for hundreds of people from dozens of universities all over the world.
★ Lectured for two introduction to speech courses.The class focused on both the content of speech writing and the mechanics of public speaking.
As a child and young adult, I often struggled to keep my weight in check. At my biggest toward the end of college, I weighed just over 250 pounds. I’m a little over 6’ tall, so that was untenable.
My sleep suffered, I was sick more often, my joints would hurt when I would exercise. So around that time I started kicking myself in the ass and taking better care of myself. Over the next few years I would slowly go from 255 to 240 to 230 to 215 and eventually get down to 200.
My weight loss wasn’t dramatic, but slow and steady—that’s why it stuck. Occasionally, I’d start to gain a few pounds back and then I would alter a bad habit or two and I’d start losing again.
At first, changes were simple, ditching soft drinks, eating out less, eating more fish, eating more greens. But as anyone will tell you, the more you lose the harder it becomes. Those last 5 pounds are a pain in the ass.
Last summer before Harper was born, my weight was right at 200 pounds. I wore a 32’ waist, could run a 7 minute mile and could squat 400 pounds.
After the last 8 months of caring for Harper and Kristin, moving back to Kansas City where I walk considerably less and changing jobs and routines, I’ve gained about 15 pounds (I’m at 213.8). My waist is back up near 34 and god knows how poorly I can run a mile. (I’ve never been a great runner. I’ve always been pretty strong, but relatively slow.
Given that without goals you aren’t improving, I’m setting out not just to get where I was, but get where I want to be. I’ll be updating this weekly to have some accountability for where I’m going.
I’ll update not only my biometric markers, but habitual changes that I use to attain my goals.
My intermediate goal is to get back down to 200 pounds by July 1.
My long term goal is to get to 185 by October 1.
The most obvious habits to change are first, to stop eating out so damn much—which I can mostly blame on building a professional network in Kansas City. Lots of coffees, lunches, breakfast meetings etc. Even eating the healthy option out mean consuming way too much sugar, fat and salt.
Second, I’ve got to get my walking / running back to up to par. In Boston, I routinely stepped at least 10,000 times a day. In Kansas City, if I don’t make a conscious effort, I’m hovering around 7,000. That’s a pretty enormous difference. I’m moving a hell of a lot less.
I’ll add more to this as I progress, but this is mostly for my own accountability. My goals extend beyond simply losing weight. I’m going to get faster, stronger and meditate more often, but in my experience it’s best to start with a couple of small goals and add as you go.
If you take care of customers, writes Martin, shareholders will be drawn along for a very nice ride. The opposite is simply not true: if you try to take care of shareholders, customers don’t benefit and, ironically, shareholders don’t get very far either.
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things.
An idea worth spreading. Taking control of work / life balance with incremental improvements.
Most people say that it’s the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.
People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character
Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
What are the best parts of “Do more Faster” by Brad Feld and David Cohen? Why? 3 answers on Quora
What are the best parts of “Do more Faster” by Brad Feld and David Cohen? Why?
This youngman highlights HOPE in our youth. Just 15 years old!
His name is Barby from London (UK).
He is just standing up for what he believes in…
To make your thingy, you have to quit something impressive, like Cambridge or Google or McKinsey & Co.