End Of A Season...

I recently stepped down as the CEO of Boardable with Jeff Middlesworth stepping into the role. Here is a recap of the journey. 

After we completed our Series A in late 2020 we hit the gas on growing the team. We doubled from 25 to 50 people in about 6 months. It was an exciting time! But I began to see that my talents were more suited for getting businesses up and running than scaling operations and revenue. 

Now with 2000 customers and millions in revenue, Boardable had achieved lift off and then some. By the end of 2021 I saw that my time in the CEO role was coming to a close. The business was at a stage where it needed someone who was more comfortable with the road ahead than the road behind. Someone who had “been there, and done that.” Someone with the energy and vision for scaling the business. Fortunately that person was already in the business. 

When I first Jeff Middlesworth 4+ years ago I knew I wanted to work with him before we finished our first conversation. The wisdom he had from building and scaling products (Exact Target, Emma and others) over the last 20+ years shone through immediately. 

I first engaged Jeff as an advisor before he joined fulltime as our Chief Product Officer in early 2020, right in time for the pandemic. Over the last 2 years Jeff took over more and more of the business. Through our conversations I learned that he was interested in the CEO role.

In January of this year we promoted Jeff to the President role and I began pulling away from the day to day of the business. We made the CEO change in mid-April and announced it to the team. It was an emotional time for me and many others. 

I am so grateful to Jeff, Andy Clark (co-founder and COO) and the board for their support during this journey. I never felt threatened or rushed. They let me initiate and lead this process. Not all CEO transitions are smooth and I am grateful to them for a low-drama transition. 

I am especially thankful to the Boardable team, past and present. There is something special about the people that work at Boardable. They will always be family to me. Thank you!   

Thank you to my wife, Jenny Banner, who supported me through all the emotional ups and downs I experienced while making this decision and going through the changes. I love you Jenny.

Thank you to my coach, Dave Kashen, who lovingly helped me work through the fear and anxiety I had in making this decision and change. 

Our Boardable customers deserve a special thank you. From early on, our customers gave us the feedback and support we needed to grow a successful software company. Our customers are kind, caring, and fun. Not every business can say that and we don’t take it granted. 

You may be wondering- so what’s next for me? Near term, nothing much, I am in a season of rest. I will stay engaged with Boardable as a founder and continue to help out as I can. After a 20+ year run in CEO/leadership roles I need some serious re-charging. I’m not sure if I will be a CEO again, I’m open to it. But I do want more variety in my life. I’d like to work with 10-15 businesses vs 1. I love advising and mentoring. I love sharing what I’ve learned with others. I love seeing others grow. I love starting new things. I love working with early stage companies and first time entrepreneurs. I love being in nature. I love making music with friends. Maybe there is something out there that overlaps some of these interests? We will see.

Thank you for reading. I would be happy to answer any questions you have in the comments. And if you have been a part of my journey the last 5+ years (or more), thank you! I feel very blessed to be on this journey with yo

Finding Common Ground - 10 Principles We Can (hopefully) All Agree On

I’ve come to believe that most Americans actually have a good deal of agreement on a number of core issues. Where we differ it is the details and often those details are being magnified and exaggerated by these parties that benefit from pitting us against each other. Essentially we have been riled up to care deeply about nuances that we didn’t really care about previously. Consider how one party is championing a cause (health care, immigration, etc) until the other party takes the mantle and then it’s suddenly opposed. Clearly, it’s bad business to agree with your enemy in American politics. And seeing the other side as the “enemy” is much of the problem. We, the citizens, are often the pawns in this zero sum game. In time it will do serious damage to our democracy, if it hasn’t already.

So I thought it might be good to take a step back and look at 10 things we can all agree on. Sure, once you get a level or two down the path with any of these items you have serious disagreement. Take #5 “fewer unwanted pregnancies”. Some would say that we need to make birth control and abortion more widely available, others would argue that we need to teach abstinence. Many others would take nuanced positions across the spectrum of options. But if we could pull back to what we agreed on, returning to common ground, I believe we could debate each other in good faith, not painting each other as the devil when our views differ.

So I humbly, and perhaps foolishly, offer these 10 principles we can (hopefully) all agree on:

1. All are created equal

2. The economy should create more opportunities for more people

3. Country over party, be willing to compromise for the greater good

4. Commonsense gun laws make sense  and don’t negate the 2nd amendment

5. There should be fewer unwanted pregnancies

6. The earth is worth protecting

7. The government should have a limited role in our lives

8. War should truly be a last resort

9. A free press is vital to our democracy 

10. Health care should be more effective, available and affordable

In Praise Of Bill Withers

Bill Withers was a factory worker. He was writing and playing music and was signed to a record label. He didn’t think it would last so he kept his job. He’s standing outside of his place of work on his first album cover. The first two albums are his best. They act as a piece, you get the sense that all the songs were ready to go and he just spread them over the first couple albums. This wasn’t uncommon but I’m not sure if that was really the case. And I know I could go look it up but I don’t want to. Somethings are better not researched. Let’s just decide to not find out. 

Bill has an unique voice. No-one sounds like him. He doesn’t hit every note and you get the sense that he could’ve done a few more takes, especially on the first record, but, like JJ Cale’s first album “Naturally” – which deserves its own blog or book or something – you get the sense that Bill was perfectly happy with what he heard playing back in the speakers and said to producer “sounds good, let’s keep moving”.  

Of course we all know the hits- “Lean On Me”, “Use Me”, “Ain’t No Sunshine” for starters. But it’s the other tracks that really delight. They are often as good or better than the hits and, you aren’t sick of them yet. I’m not sure I can hear “Hope She’ll Be Happier” too many times. It is some kind of perfection. Bill Withers has soul, and not just in the Motown sense. He has a deep well of human knowing. 

Another great stop on the Bill Wither’s journey is the double live LP from Carnegie Hall. They kept in a lot of the dialog and there are some great exclusive tracks like the Vietnam inspired “I Can’t Write Left Handed” which is a heartbreaker. He didn’t play live much, from what I have read, and so this probably his way of getting the experience out there without actually going out there. Marvin Gaye was similar. He hated touring in the 70s and instead put out two live albums. Surrogates. 

One quick word about production before we go. If you have any inclination to get the original vinyl records, do it. They are well pressed, pretty available at decent prices ($20 or less) and sound amazing. If you want to know why people say vinyl sounds different, this would be a good place to start. Even the hits have a personality that I missed when I heard them on the radio growing up. 

The late 60s and early 70s were the golden age of recording and vinyl. Studios were entirely analog but had expanded to 16 track machines. They also had great gear- mics, effects, amps, etc. Add to this, the vinyl industry was at its peak in terms of quality and quantity. This driven by better and better home systems, pushing an audiophile culture that originated in the 50s. So, this all adds up to original pressings of albums from this time often being the best sounding format to hear the music. It also happens to be Rock’s golden age. 

How I Got To "Get In, Get Out"

I wrote and recorded “Get In, Get Out” during a week in July this year while staying by myself at a friend’s cabin in Northern Michigan on the Au Sable river. The songs on the album are in the order they were written and recorded that week. The album is available on iTunes, Spotify, etc. Thanks for listening!

1. First Thing. Called so because it was literally the first thing I wrote once I brought in my stuff and picked up my guitar. It came out mostly formed and I recorded it before I unpacked my bags. 

2. I Know You, Yes, You Know Me. This song came later that same night. It’s a meditation, of sorts, on the mind/body relationship. “You’re where I belong”. As you get older your body starts to whisper a little louder and louder. The ethereal sound is two acoustic guitars, stereo, run through a heavy delay, then a flanger into a Fender amp with the reverb and tremolo cranked- for you music nerds. 

3. Memory World. I woke up the first morning with this song in my head. The main melody. I went out to the porch to grab my guitar to catch it. Dream songs fade quickly. When I went to the porch the door slammed behind me. I thought nothing of it. But when I tried to go back in, it was locked. I was wearing shorts and nothing else. I ran around to the front door, it didn’t open, tried the side doors, all locked. I started to worry. I was in the middle of nowhere with no phone, etc. Anyway, I went back to the front door, tried it again, it opened and I went in to finish and record this song. It’s for my Dad who had just passed away the month before. “I’m yes, you’re no”. Probably my favorite track. 

4. Get In, Get Out. This one came to me on the porch later that day. It was a beautiful day and insects were trying to get in and then get out of the screened in porch. It was like they were indecisive. I then start meditating on what I wanted to bring into my life and what I wanted to get out of life. It turned into this. I recorded it on my phone and then ran the signal into effects and the Fender amp and tracked it multiple times adding lush electric guitars. It truly sounds like the cabin, which makes me feel like I’m there again. 

5. Do You Know It? I had just visited some of my relatives in Grand Rapids on the way to the cabin. I was really struck by how much love they had for me. Especially my aunt and uncle who had known me since birth. That lead me to reflect on how many people have loved me throughout my life. I realized that I’ve often failed to truly appreciate, feel and reciprocate that love. So I asked myself “do you know it?” and the song went from there. I said yes to every idea that came way. This was the end of day two. 

6.  Purple River Mushroom. This one makes me smile. It’s something of a time capsule, all three things were big parts of my week. Michigan is full of purple flowers and plants. I’m pretty sure purple is God’s favorite color as well, but that’s just a theory. The river, Au Sable, was a constant presence in the backyard and always seemed to be in such a hurry “don’t hurry past me as you flow.” And I was getting into identifying mushrooms, bought a book etc, and so when I wasn’t recording I was often mushroom hunting in the woods around the house. Found some good ones. 

7. Every Echo. This came quickly then took a while to craft. I probably worked on this one the most, overall. I’m still not 100% sure about the vocal but, as my buddy Vess would say, “it’s the one we have!” Truth. I think you can hear a little bit of a Yacht Rock vibe in this one. I’d just seen the Yacht Rock band play, on a boat in Louisville of all things, and loved it. I’m a sucker for radio music from the mid/late 70s. It’s pretty and I like how it ends.

8. Au Sable. Named after the river flowing in the backyard. Sounds like water flowing doesn’t it? Well, I think so. Anyway, it started out very strangely. I was outside lying on a hammock listening to Jimi Hendrix “Machine Gun”, great track, and the record started skipping. It was a crazy sounding skip. I decided to follow it and set up a mic to record it. I recorded it multiple times, layering on top each other, then I added drum machines. It started to get insane. I remember burning a CD of it and listening to it in my car and just laughing at how crazy it was. Then I added the synth playing the main melody, liked it and deleted everything else and built a completely new song from there. So none of the original Hendrix stuff survived. Which is good, so now I can’t get sued. 

9. Practice. When I wasn’t doing music, hunting mushrooms, cooking or floating down the river, I was often practicing meditation. I had brought with me an intention to take my practice of mediation to a new level that week. And I did, but that’s another story. Practice became something of mantra for me and this song’s rhythmic riff was trance-like when played over and over like it is here. 

10. Every Moving Thing. This one kinda just fell out. I wish I was a better singer since it’s a song that could use a better singer, but again, I used what I had. I hear now that I was writing this to my future self, a message to take back with me: “Don’t be blinded, by the light, reflecting off, every moving thing, keep the path, see what it can bring.” It was one of those moments where I didn’t know who was driving, which is a wonderful thing while it lasts. 

11. Ring Ring Ring. Ok, so I wanted to end the album with something special. Eventually it came to me. I would do a song trilogy but base it on a recorded walk around the property. It starts out on the porch- you hear the wind chimes, then down to the river then back to the house where I walked around it rhythmically a few times. Then I wrote and recorded songs to interweave with it. In the end you only really hear the “walk” at the beginning of songs, but the overall structure was still informed by it. But I broke the three songs into two tracks since it made more sense that way for a listener.

12. Hello Goodbye/I Never Go Away. All week I’d been working through my Dad’s death. It was a constant sub-current. Sometimes it was like he was there, not in a presence way as much as his mind, if you will. Hello Goodbye sounds to me now like me saying goodbye and I Never Go Away feels like his God-joined response. 

The Mess Men Have Made

Everyday another revelation. Yesterday, Matt Lauer and Garrison Kellior were felled by accusations of misconduct and harassment. Both of these men are icons in their respective realms. Surely today will bring more revelations. As I write this at 11am on 11/30/17 we now have Russell Simmons resigning from businesses over sexual misconduct. And it doesn’t appear to be letting up soon. Sometimes these revelations can feel like a never-ending, disheartening onslaught of male failure. And, in reality, that’s pretty much what it is. Men are being called to the carpet in record numbers. As a man, I feel ashamed for my gender but proud of the women who are standing up and calling these men out on their behavior. The reckoning has arrived.

But ask almost any woman and they will tell you, this is nothing new. Women have been enduring this behavior for millennia. At home, at the office, on the street, everywhere.  And when women have come forward in the past the tables were often turned against them which only further enables predatory men. It’s a sick, messed up dynamic and change is overdue. 

In many ways, as a man, I’ve been oblivious to just how systemic the abuse is. I don’t knowingly associate with many men that behave this way. Although I have addressed egregious examples when they are in front of my face, I’ve also been guilty of not calling out friends and associates when they treat women in a derogatory or sexist way. As I’ve woken up to the real situation I’ve also felt called to take a more active role in advocating for and defending women. I won’t deny that living with 4 women has influenced this. I hate to think of my daughters entering a world that offers them less opportunity than it has me.

Some might argue that Weinstein was the tipping point. But I think it was Trump. The fact that Trump succeeded in being elected despite pretty clear evidence that he thought of women as little more than objects to be groped was a huge blow to the cause of equality. Perhaps the most pissed off group was professional women. These are women working in the white collar world where male dominance and abuse has run amok for decades. I think they are officially done tolerating the advances, harassment and out-right assaults by their male colleagues, often their “superiors". The dam was ready to break. If they had to put up with Trump in the White House they weren't going to tolerate that grope-y jerk in the corner office.

So here we are, wading through a national reckoning that is both cleansing and depressing. As a man, I struggle to find my place in it. I cannot claim to understand the experiences that women have had but as a husband, father of three girls, employer and friend to many women, I consider myself an ally in their struggle for true equality.

It would be tempting to stop at sexual offenses but the issue runs much deeper. I’ve been in enough business meetings to know that many men tend to talk to the other men, often leaving women as observers regardless of their title or role. Then we have that horrid “Billy Graham” rule where men (aka Mike Pence) refrain from even having one-on-one meetings with women because they fear losing control, or something. This kind of thinking has quietly held back the careers of countless women. My concern is that this mindset is only going to spread among certain male populations out of the perverse fear that they will be accused wrongly of sexual misconduct after being alone with a woman. Add to this all the ancient biases and beliefs that still exist and you start to see that the deck is heavily stacked against women in almost all situations. 

I believe we are in the middle of a massive transfer of power. Women are finally beginning to demand and receive a seat at the table. But to do that men need to step up as their allies as well as step aside to make room. And the male ego is not historically inclined towards this behavior. It might not be pretty but it needs to happen and, from what we can see, it's well underway.

I believe a female future is a better one for the human race. Whether it’s nature or nurture, I don’t really know, but when you have women in the mix empathy spikes and aggression declines. These are two things we need badly across all sectors of society, business, and government. Giving women an equal seat at the table is critical to our survival as a species. The current one-sided dynamic is not working. Our planet is sick and our nations are constantly at war with each other. We are out of balance and I believe that giving women an equal seat at the table can bring that balance. 

The death of the patriarchy is going to be messy. Men, including myself, will need to stand down at times to make room for women. Transparency and accountability, like we are seeing now, will need to spread like a disinfectant. We need to bring sunlight to bad behavior that has been quietly holding back women’s lives and careers which outputs as suppressing their access to leadership and wealth. More money in the hands of more women would be a very good thing. I can’t imagine a future where money and power aren’t intermingled, even a more women-lead future. So we need women to hold more of the wealth to wield the influence it carries. 

What do we do with all these offending men? Do we put them on an island with no women and let them rot? I think the best option is to go case by case. If they are on the Weinstein side of the scale they probably need to go to jail, if they are on the Franken side of things they probably need to get counseling and treatment. In time, most of these men will need to find their way back into society. And we will need to find a way to welcome them back while holding them accountable for a new standard of behavior. That will require some grace from the women they offended. But I am confident that if men put in the legitimate effort to grow and change then that grace will be extended. Maybe not for Harvey, that guy should go rot on an island.