Learn How To Lead A Company - Faster

Leading is hard. Running a company is hard. Learning to do both at the same time is even harder. I’ve probably made every mistake you’re going to make…at least twice. I can help you accelerate this learning curve so you don’t waste decades making the wrong decisions.

A man smiling outdoors by a body of water, with houses and trees in the background.

My Journey

My founder story was on accident. Mom said be an accountant, it’s a safe job. I made it to first week in my 5th year of Tax and quit to start what would become Contour Cameras. I couldn’t take it. 23+ years later I wouldn’t have traded this journey for anything.

  • Played College Soccer (being an athlete is a lot like being a founder).

  • Started my own soccer camps (at 15 , couldn’t drive to my own camps!)

  • Won 3rd Place in a UW Entrepreneurship Program (this was the spark)

  • Founded Contour Cameras ($30M biz that lost to GoPro - best product does not win!)

  • Founded Hardware Workshop (5 year side project that helped +1K Startups).

  • Mentored a lot of founders (Techstars, Highway 1, UW, etc.)

  • Founded Moment (12 years and still going).

Snow-covered mountain range under a partly cloudy sky, with a large snow-capped mountain in the background and a forested mountainside in the foreground.
Sunny beach with sandy shoreline, ocean waves, a historic fortress in the distance, and blue sky with streaks of clouds.
Three hikers stand on a narrow dirt trail along rocky cliffs overlooking the ocean at sunset.
Snow-covered landscape with a waterfall or river partially frozen, under a blue sky with some clouds.

What We’ve Built

*I say WE because none of this was possible with out amazing people. Founders can be the spark, but not the flame without everyone else.

Two men are filming a third man on a hilltop overlooking a cityscape with mountains in the background during daytime.

Moment

Founded in 2013.

Mission: Get more people to go more places and capture more moments.

Story: It started with a mobile lens for your phone and grew into a community of incredible creators who wanted to capture more, see more, create more.

The Business: It’s a DTC + Wholesale business with customers around the world. It grew with the rise of Instagram, crescendoed with Covid, and has to scale back down as the creator market returns to it’s pre-covid size.

The Full Breakdown

A man giving a presentation to an audience in a dimly lit room with industrial decor, including exposed ducts and concrete walls. The speaker stands with arms outstretched in front of a large screen displaying a slide titled 'Example 2: Competitive pressures.' The audience is seated, watching the presentation, with some taking notes on laptops.

Hardware Workshop

Founded in 2012.

Mission: Help hardware startups get their start

Story: It started out of my own struggles to build Contour Cameras. When I started, I had no idea that building underwater action cameras was so incredibly hard and without any resource to help I wanted to created an in person workshop series that could actually help founders.

The Project: We held 5x annual stops around the country, bringing experienced operators in each to teach 6-8 highly relevant subjects. This was hands-on learning along with local peers you could connect with

The Full Breakdown.

A headlamp, a park map of Whistler in British Columbia, and a GPS device.

Contour Cameras

Founded in 2003.

Mission: Never made one.

Story: We were skiers and we wanted a simple way to record our riding. What started with a wired helmet camera became an all-in one, HD action camera. We were the first to invent everything, but what I learned is the best product does not always in the market.

The Business: This was pre-ecommerce, essentially a wholesale business that was driven by the invention of YouTube. As YouTube grew, people wanted more videos of themselves doing crazy and crazier things.

The Full Breakdown.

What I’ve Learned

I've been building companies for 23+ years. It's both an incredible journey and a humbling experience. And if you were to have told me when I started my first company that it would be a 10-year self-discovery experience…I would have gotten a normal job.

Over that time I've learned what works and plenty of examples of what does not work. The most important lesson I've learned is that team building gets easier but winning a market is always a Rubik's cube to figure out. Each is unique in market conditions, timing, and luck.

Although this journey is not for the faint of heart I hope everyone tries it. It changes your POV on what matters most in life.

Read The Field Guide

1:1 Sessions

I’ll help you break down your most critical business problems. These are hands-on, don’t waste your time sessions.

The topics I can best help with.

  • Product & Positioning.

  • Customer Acquisition.

  • Making Products.

  • Building & Managing Teams

  • Being Profitable.

How it works.

  • Pick a time.

  • Email me materials in advance.

  • I’ll spend 1-2 hours on it preparring.

  • We dive right in and solve them.

  • It’s ok if you need a few extra minutes.