The Long Haul

Oct 5

I was born in Austin, Texas, the son of a game designer and a nurse. I find playing guitar more useful in life than many things I have learned in school. The intense feelings of satisfaction derived from the frustration of failing a song only to overcome is an experience everyone should strive to achieve. It is a solo instrument, and yet one that can and should require teamwork from time to time. It is easy to pick up, but incredibly arduous to master.

I find art incredibly interesting, and the design, color, space, and overall context of a piece is like a puzzle for us to figure out. I also enjoy body building, another type of art that requires sculpture of the body. Crafting a body or mind takes grit, determination, and supreme confidence that you and only you can figure out the path.

My life has been an experiment in cutting corners. To do what others think is not possible. I am not talented; I just have high standards. I am not smart; I am just curious. I am not lazy; I just work smart. I see things others may not notice from the outset. I see implications in actions that others may not see. Every action carries some consequence.

Some things I have learned throughout my career as a financial engineer as an adaptation of Nike’s Ten Commandments:

• 1. Engineers may struggle with tiny defects.
• 2. You must understand your own code.
• 3. You are always a work in process.
• 4. It will get ugly.
• 5. Business is change, embrace it.
• 6. Be scrappy.
• 7. You know nothing.
• 8. Money is means to an end, not the end.
• 9. Never lie.
• 10. Always give it your all.