I'm an average Joe. I know that. You probably know that too. There isn't very much that is special about me. I have green eyes, which apparently is pretty rare. That's about as special as I get. So I won't write this "about" page as the usual fluff piece you run across. This will be honest...
Currently I am 44 years old. Father of 2 adult daughters. One is living in Spain and the other is in college. I was married to a wonderful woman at the age of 19. While she still is wonderful, we went our separate ways years ago. I'm a born and bred Angelino and aside from a short stint in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Southern California has always been my home.
In 2021 I was ready for a change and moved to Nicaragua permanently. It was a move that was in the works for many years and finally came to be. My daughters are grown, I did my job, so I decided to give myself a shock and just go.
I live in Managua with my amazing wife and our three year old Golden Retriever / Chocolate Lab mix named Lou Dog (named after the original Lou Dog). I also have projects going in Popoyo/Guasacate, Tola Nicaragua.
For fun I like to be a goofball with my daughters, grab beers with friends, go surfing, ride motorcycles, lift heavy things, read all sorts of books, write all sorts of stuff, watch soccer, basketball, baseball, football, and movies.
Another huge passion of mine is travel. I've made friends all over the world and experiencing new places is a thrill I don't think I'll ever get enough of. Latin America is definitely my favorite part of the world but Africa and Europe are awesome too. At least the parts I've been to. The furthest I've been is Wellington, New Zealand. It's still my favorite city that I've ever visited although Medellin, Colombia is a very very close second.
One thing that completely fascinates me is business... in general. Not a specific industry, or method, or person. Just business. I find it exciting and heart breaking at the same time. It's cruel, competitive, and cut-throat. It's also warm, friendly, and fun. I don't pretend to be very good at it. But I do love it.
I'm the founder of a small software company named Netlandish. Co-Founder of another small software company named Insight Miners (RIP). Co-Founder of California Wax Bar, Nicaragua's first specialty wax salon. I'm a small partner in a marijuana farm and rosin lab called [Gold Fish Farms][gfi] in New Mexico. I also have a business in Nicaragua that currently is focusing on real estate projects. The current project is called Colonial San Martin.
Via Netlandish I've worked with clients, either directly or through larger agencies, like National Association of Realtors, Chicago Transit Authority, National Geographic Channel, Washington University, HBO, Sony, Fox SearchLight, HUGE, Beach Body, The Scripps Research Institute, and many other smaller but just as important companies and organizations.
In the past I co-founded two companies that had modest success. JumpLaunch was a web hosting company and Smart Jabber was a software / service company. After things got hairy with my former business partner I took a payout and left the companies. Which turned out to be a lucky break for me because he had some trouble later on. I wouldn't have wanted to have our businesses mixed in with his other business, which was the source of his trouble. My reputation is important to me.
I've also had a ton of duds. Ideas that just died. Some because I never really tried. Some because I got 90% of the way there and got scared. Chickened out. Around 2007 I had an eBay business shut down by the cops because they said I was selling stolen goods. I wasn't of course and had receipts to prove it. While no charges were officially filed it still cost me a job I loved at ICANN. Speaking of jobs, other places I've worked are America Online, NMIA, iPower Inc., and Groovr.
If you're really interested in my work history, just head over to my LinkedIn profile.
Working for others never really excited me though. I'm much better working on my own projects, and yes, this includes my clients projects. Our clients love us because we treat their projects with absolute care and respect. Before I closed the Netlandish offices we had a pin board in the break room with a ton of thank you cards from clients. Along side those was a quote from Mark Cuban that read: "Treat your customers like they own you. Because they do." (see pic here)
I think that one of my biggest talents is not just being able to solve very difficult engineering issues but being able to explain them to clients who usually are not super tech savvy. I believe that my explanations should leave an average 10 year old with an understanding of the issues and their resolutions - from a high level. Taking complex problems, breaking them down and simplifying them is an important part of any engineering project.
Sometimes I bite off more than I should but I'm working on controlling that. Both personally and professionally. That said, there are a million things I want to do this year.
If you want to see what I'm currently focusing on, please visit my now page.
Last updated November 15th, 2024.
[gfi]: https://www.instagram.com/gold_fish_farm_nm "Gold Fish Farms"