Build Products to Use, Not to Sell
None of my side projects started with a business model. Every one started because I wanted the thing to exist and couldn't buy it.
Security leader at Chime. Startup founder. Chicago based.
I write about what I'm doing.
I build things. I've been doing it long enough to know what actually works.
By day I lead security at Chime, one of the largest fintechs in the US. Six years there across security engineering, GRC, and now running security at the senior director level. Before that: consulting at Crowe, Sutter Health, Credit Karma. I started as a software engineer and eventually ended up in the boardroom.
I also start companies. I built rifts.to as a free live polling alternative to Mentimeter. Innerplatz is a subscription coaching app for men. I'm building HARDMODE, a fitness platform for trainers and clients. I serve on the board of the Financial Services AI Council.
This is where I write about what I'm doing and thinking. Business, technology, AI, marketing, leadership. Nothing theoretical.
What I Wish I Knew at 30
I'm turning 40 this year, looking back at a decade of lessons about work, people, and judgment. Things that have tended to work for me.
Don't Translate Your Product. Transcreate It.
I shipped Spanish and German on rifts.to, my live-polling side project, by doing the obvious thing. I dumped the strings file into a model, asked for both languages, pasted the output back. Fifteen minutes, two new markets, shipped.
If You're Trying to Break Into Security Right Now
Hundreds of people message me trying to break into security, and most get no reply. Here is the honest, useful version of why, and what actually makes me stop and read.
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