For the past 17 years, millions of people have watched entrepreneurs walk into the Shark Tank and ask a panel of wealthy investors for money. The formula is incredibly simple. Tell them what you created, how much you have sold, and what your company is worth. Then tell them how much ownership you ar...

I used to believe I could never achieve anything significant without taking a risk.

When I look back at the biggest decisions I have made, that seemed true. I moved across the country as a teenager, changed careers several times, and started new businesses in different industries. In all of those s...

When I started Project Wonder in 2019, I didn’t have a grand plan of becoming an entrepreneur. I left a really great job because I believed it was time for a new challenge. I reached out to friends and people in my network for opportunities, and I found myself landing short-term projects and consult...

Design is often discussed through the things it produces, whether that is a product, a visual identity, or an experience. The longer I work as an artist, the more interested I become in what the creative process reveals about the relationship between the work and the people experiencing it.

I recen...

For most of my life, I used intelligence to prove my value. 

I learned early that being smart came with rewards. Getting good grades came with praise from my parents and my teachers. By the third grade, I had already decided I was going to become a doctor. I remember telling my teacher about it and...

In a previous journal I talked about creating my hero personas and how they allowed me to grow and evolve in many aspects of my life. Now I want to talk about how I got there.

We are constantly exposed to stories of heroic characters, first through fiction, then through pop culture in the form of a...

Recently I completed my 8th year at Electric Daisy Carnival. I consider EDC my Super Bowl, the biggest event of my year and the one that requires the most preparation. Every year teaches me something new about myself. This year taught me how much time I am willing to dedicate in order to have a succ...

Festival season has officially begun and I’m preparing for my biggest event of the year in May. I spent the last two weekends watching the Coachella livestream and found myself intrigued by what separates the more experienced artists from the others. 

The best performers are very clear about who th...

Read part 1 here.

Let’s discuss the good and bad of raising money for your business. I can only base this on my experiences and observations, every case is individual and there are always exceptions. But from years of advising founders through fundraising I have learned to distinguish between healt...

One of the most common conversations I have with early stage founders is about raising money from investors. There’s a lot to unpack, so I’m splitting this into two parts. Part 1 is about my personal experience and what I learned. Part 2 will focus on when raising money actually makes sense.

Fresh ...

Through decades of work with small businesses I’ve noticed two distinct patterns with entrepreneurs that appear over and over. The first approach I see is founders who identify a problem then create a unique solution that serves a specific audience. The second approach I see is founders who create a...

On this journey of Creatorship, I’m always searching for the fuel I need to keep going. The people closest to me, my wife, family, and friends, provide constant support and encouragement, especially in times of uncertainty. I’ve also found camaraderie with others who stepped away from a traditional ...