Choose Freedom
I’m a lifelong entrepreneur, outdoor athlete, adventurer, flow aficionado and intuitive creative. My mission is to help others choose freedom.
Projects
Kitesurfing Adventure Skills is a unique new program that I’ve developed for 2018 – an intensive week-long kitesurfing clinic on Brazil’s incredible northern coast. Learn long distance kite skills and adventure skills including route planning, gear selection, navigation, safety, leadership on and off the water, and how to choose freedom and harness flow as a gateway to adventure. I’ll also be leading a shorter kitesurfing trip in the same area Nov 25-29 and a custom trip for Founders Kite Club afterwards.
There’s quite a boom happening in non-alcoholic craft beer, and I’d like to be part of it. As part of my research I’ve started a interest group called Beer Without Fear. #nonalcoholicbeer is a good follow too.
I love language as an art form and t-shirts are a great medium. My second series of shirts is available here, and I’m in the middle of designing series III – coming soon!
Affiliations
I’m a brand ambassador, guide, and advisor for SurfinSemFim, the leading kitesurfing adventure travel company in Brazil and South America. SSF is affiliated with egroup hotels, which include the incredible Rancho do Peixe and Vila Kalongo.
I’ve been flying the beautiful, elegant and highly functional Boardriding Maui Cloud kites since they were introduced in 2013, and I’m a team rider and founder of the Cloudriders facebook group, a passionate and very active community.
EO, the Entrepreneurs Organization is a global nonprofit network of entrepreneurs whose mission is to engage leading entrepreneurs to learn and grow. I joined EO in 2009 and have served in various leadership roles including chapter president of EO San Francisco, at the global committee level, and as founder of Flow Forum.
The Battery – founded in 2014, the Battery is a social club in San Francisco. I joined as a member and in 2018 was invited to become a Creative/Athlete in Residence. I am one of the co-founders of the Battery Adventure Club.
Alpinefoil team rider • REVL investor and team rider • Kurtis Eyewear team rider
ActiveProtective investor • inDinero investor • Fullcycle Energy investor • Grip investor
Business and Entrepreneurship
My earliest work experience was delivering the SF Chronicle around the neighborhood. Even at that age, we had to buy the papers from the distributor, manage our own subscriptions, and collect the dough. I started my first company at age nine with my buddy Zack, we sold D&D books and dice to the other kids at school and I worked after school at age ten coding in dBaseIII.
From there I eventually found my way to an early career in software, and then in online media at WIRED in the late 90’s, during which time I started what became my first company, AdMonsters. After a long and winding road and many many conferences, I successfully sold AdMonsters to Access Intelligence in 2015. I continue to think and work as an advisor, investor, and entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship has been a key part of my own path to freedom. It’s hard to get outside if you’re in the office – join us, choose freedom!
Expertise and Subjects
Here are some of the topics that I have experience with, speak and write about, and enjoy discussing.
Kitesurfing • Paragliding • Trail Running • Hydrofoils • Outdoor Sports
Adventure • Adventure Travel • Geography • Languages
Entrepreneurship • Freedom • Intuition • Flow
Community • Connection • Conferences • Events • Designed Experiences
Writing • Language • Branding • Communication
Youth • Depression • Alcohol
I’m a proud San Francisco native and have lived all over the city, in particular in Noe Valley, the Mission, Potrero Hill, the Panhandle, North Beach, and now in Sausalito. I went to Alvarado, Nueva, Everett, Lowell, McAteer, and graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in Geography.
There’s a reason the pioneers went west, and that California is called the Golden State. A passionate Californio, I’ve explored this beautiful place all my live, and while I know it intimately, I continue to discover new places here all the time.
I first discovered Brazil on a trip in 2008 and have been there perhaps ten times since then. Brazil is roughly similar to the U.S. in scale, population, and diversity of landscapes – and the most diverse country I’ve ever spent time in, with a warm, welcoming, curious, fun, active and vibrant culture. I love Brazil and now have many friends there, and I feel lucky to spend a month or more there most years.
