About Me

Back when there were still orange groves and strawberry fields in my southern California neighborhood, I was a serious student who somehow found time outside of school to take painting lessons, and to secretly write songs and stories.

I studied economics, literature and African history as an undergraduate at UCSD then spent a few years doing econometric modeling and forecasting. Then on to graduate business school at UCLA where I found my way into as many film classes as I could--many taught by the "Peters" - Peter Guber (in the Flashdance days when the idea of movies, soundtracks and product spin-offs was born) and Peter Dekom (a brilliant deal maker who often had small roles in his client's films).

Through UCLA, I worked on some of the first non-military uses of interactive video technology--my first clear experience of the potential inherent in the intersection of left and right brain, technology and media--storytelling that sat somewhere between an ad and a movie.

I migrated to northern California in early 1985 - to be part of a place called Apple Computer ­with hopes to play a role in the intersection of technology and creativity. (I had never owned a PC before this--had only time-shared on minis and mainframes). Was given the life-changing opportunity to build the first music market group at the company in 1987 (3 years after MIDI was born) and built a unit that pulled in more than $100M in revenues on a budget of under $1M. Later headed up marketing communications and market development for digital media when it was "new," and developed and managed multi-million dollar communications campaigns.

Left Apple in 1993 to start my own firm called (e.g.) ventures, (e.g.) - my initials and it also stands for "exemplia gratia," "by example." Where I built on many of the capabilities and perspectives I had employed in the corporate world, but with a greater variety of individuals, industries, and partnerships; from ­Fortune 500, to startup companies, to individual artists and entrepreneurs. During this time, I focused on developing and launching new products, services, programming, markets, brands and major marketing/consumer campaigns - with a goal of equal attention to the business and creative aspects of the venture.

Over the past decade I have worked with established technology companies such as Microsoft, WebTV, Netscape, Apple Computer, Macromedia, and SGI; in media and entertainment, I've worked with the House of Blues, 25th Anniversary of Woodstock, Peter Gabriel and Real World, and the launch of Paul Allen's Storyopolis (featuring the work of Pulitzer prize winner Berkeley Breathed); and I've worked with new companies backed by various venture funds including Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, the Mayfield Fund, IVP, Venrock Assocates, Carlyle Venture Partners, and Mobius.

The Idea
The idea for What Really Matters grew largely out of the belief that some of the best ideas, partnerships, and solutions to the previously "unsolvable" come from unexpected sources. That if we look at the world as one large Venn diagram, it is in the unconventional intersection of ideas, experiences and people that those moments of great inspiration are found. And that when matched with the right tools and frameworks, the opportunity exists to capture and employ these moments into forces for catalyzing creative change ­ be it in a major corporate, in a person's life, in a social movement.

The world appears to be growing increasingly fragmented, despite the promises of many communications technologies, at a time when the approaches, ideas and resources of one group might be of great benefit to another. Too often in the world today, many want to compartmentalize people, ideas, and perspectives - to keep everything in its own tidy little box:

-- a business person cannot be creative,
-- an artist or musician cannot be practical,
-- the bottom line and the personal ideal are inherently mutually exclusive

Why should we believe this?

What if we could create the ultimate water cooler ­ where these conversations and idea exchanges could be facilitated? And what if we paired it with an ongoing framework and network to help facilitate the translation of idea into the spark that could have the chance to catalyze creative change?

Sometimes we need to mix it up. With a purpose in mind.