History
My Story
Four moments that define how I think about building.
The Evolution
You Can't Scale Chaos
When I started Escape Restaurant Group in 2009, I thought “operations” meant working harder than everyone else. I was wrong. We were profitable, but it was brutal. I was the system, and that meant the business couldn't grow beyond me.
Over the next decade — through 'wichcraft and Salad Pangea — I became obsessed with a single question: How do you build a business that runs better without you?
By the time I reached Good Uncle, I wasn't just solving problems; I was engineering systems to prevent them. A scalable company isn't built on heroes — it's built on boring, reliable, bulletproof infrastructure.
That shift — from “Hero” to “Architect” — is what allowed me to guide three different companies to successful exits.
24.8 kWh battery system · dual thermal zones · fleet monitoring
50
Vehicles Built
24.8 kWh
Battery System
500
Meal Capacity
150
Per Charge
The Bridge
The View from the Passenger Seat
In 2017, we had a problem. Our delivery vehicles were theoretically perfect — on paper. But in the field, they were failing.
So I stopped reading reports and got in the truck. I sat in the passenger seat for weeks. I watched drivers struggle to reach ovens mounted three inches too high. I watched them fight with an app that required three taps when they had one free hand.
The gap between “Engineering” and “Operations” is where companies die.
I became the bridge. I brought the drivers' frustrations to the engineers in language they understood. We redesigned the fleet and the app — not based on specs, but on human reality.
The result wasn't just a better truck — it was a team that trusted the tools we gave them.
The Pivot
150 → 2
In 2024, I looked at our P&L and saw a hard truth. We had built an incredible logistics machine — 150 people, fleets of trucks, massive overhead — but the market had shifted. The value wasn't in the trucks anymore; it was in the brand.
Most leaders try to save the ship. I decided to build a speedboat.
It was the hardest decision of my career: dismantling the logistics network I had spent years building. We moved to a partnership model, but that left a gap — who runs the company?
I didn't want to re-hire a bloat of middle management. Instead, I bet on AI. I spent months encoding our brand voice, our decision matrices, and our operational logic into autonomous agents.
It worked. We saved the business not by working harder, but by having the courage to completely reimagine how the work gets done.
Before
150
employees
After
2
employees + AI
I started selling gumballs, but I didn't stop at direct sales. I recruited friends to cover other bus routes, creating my first crude “distribution tier.” I was learning about inventory pinch points and wholesale margins before I knew how to do long division.
Eventually, the Principal shut me down (my first regulatory hurdle) and made me return the proceeds. I didn't care about the lost cash. I was hooked on the mechanics of the machine.
That was the spark that has driven every role since: I don't just want to participate in the economy. I want to build the engine.
The Origin
The First Engine
It wasn't about the candy. It was about the flow.
At age 10, while other kids were trading Pokémon cards, I was analyzing the school bus. I realized it wasn't just transportation; it was a captive logistics network.