My CEO Manifesto
Be patient with people, we're all human, and nobody cares about their job the way I care about my business. Don't take things personally, and don't assume to know what people are thinking. Inspire people to grow and improve, more through actions than words.
Trust people to find solutions, allow them to make mistakes. Blame the system first, and arrange things in such a way that mistakes are difficult to make. Confront challenges head-on, but not instantly. Allow space to consider the goal of confrontation, and make a plan.
Be in service to people, not in charge of them. And above all, treat people with gratitude and respect.
A Little About Me
I'm an extremely lucky guy. I survived cancer, found my soul-mate as a teenager, talked my way into every job (as a college drop-out), started two businesses, and get to live in where most people can only vacation.
I was born in Indiana, Pennsylvania. It sounds fictitious, but it's a real place near Pittsburgh. My parents grew up in Jewish neighborhoods (Dad in the Bronx, Mom in Philly), but chose to raise me in an Appalachian cow-town with a decidedly Midwest flavor. The impossibility of me ever fitting in was a gift in disguise.
I was a good student until I discovered music, drugs, and girls. That's when I transformed from geek to freak. Nonetheless I remained on the academic track (largely due to luck & talent, and not study habits) as a Political Philosophy major, with an eye on Pre-Law.
My life transformed into an uncharted journey as a result of my battle with cancer at 17. I skipped out of college and took off with Liz for some wild adventures...
The Wild Adventures of Cowboy Dan
- 1990 - Skipped 11th & 12th grade in Indiana, PA
- 1991 - Dropped out of college to fight cancer
- 1993 - Beat cancer & took off with Liz to be rock stars
- 1995 - Helped sell over $100 million in construction jobs for Bovis
- 1996 - Got married and recorded a CD
- 1997 - Worked at web development pioneer Cyrus Company
- 1998 - Started my own web development company SmartGorilla
- 2000 - Failed in business due to dot-com crash
- 2001 - Appointed CTO of emerging voice-tech startup Xertus
- 2003 - Started Liz Lovely Cookies with Liz
- 2004 - Relocated the whole show to Vermont
- 2009 - Began hosting Karaoke shows as a side project
- 2010 - Started writing about all this stuff on my blog
The Artist Within
I've always considered myself an artist first. Liz and I used to joke that Liz Lovely was just an arts and crafts project that got away from us. My mom calls me a "doozer" (Remember? From Fraggle Rock?) because I never stop "doing" projects. Business, or otherwise.
I've developed quite a few hands-on skills... drawing, playing instruments, singing, photography, computer programming, cooking, audio engineering, graphic design, hosting shows, copywriting, machine repair, songwriting, web site design, public speaking... but without fostering creativity and silencing the inner critic, they're useless. That's the on-going struggle of the artist within.
