Throughout my career I’ve been fortunate enough to have some great bosses and worked with/managed teams of amazing people. Many of my close friends are people I’ve worked with. Here is a chronological breakdown.
Note: If you’re listed in this article and would like what I said (or a variation of it) as a LinkedIn recommendation, just let me know. :)
Ideablue / SocialSimple (recent)
In 2008 I left corporate America to take the entrepreneur path and start my own business. Luckily I had investors which enabled me to build up a top talent team. With Ideablue I was (am) the CEO so my boss was not me, it was my team. When you’re the CEO, it’s not only about running the business, it’s also about keeping your staff dedicated and happy. When you have a trusted and happy staff, you’ll have a great company worth fighting for.
Lee Waterman – The first employee who I hired for SocialSimple was Lee. I remember having dinner with his family and pitching the business plan (through PowerPoint) and doing my best to ensure the pros outweighed the cons of leaving a stable job to be part of a risky venture. I felt like a football coach convincing the family to have him play quarterback for my team.
Throughout the next year, Lee was my right hand man, the voice of reason when I would have off the wall ideas (had many). While I thought I was a technology rockstar, Lee was a technology SUPER rockstar! His dedication to doing nothing but the very best was inspirational. When I thought of taking shortcuts, Lee was there to set me straight. Not only was Lee a technology maven, a web rockstar, an innovative engineer, he was also and still is my close and dear friend. Maybe one day I’ll beat him at Rock Band. Lee also worked with me at Interactivate as the Lead Engineer whom the entire development team looked up to as so did I.
Erica Twining – I never knew how overlooked the operations / accounting areas of running a business is until Erica showed me how much it takes. Some of our staff was full-time employees with benefits (health/dental/etc.) and as an LLC we paid taxes through the nose. It’s amazing how you pay an employee $xx and the true cost of employing an employee is $xxxxx. Erica’s support in starting my own business was the cornerstone to my success. While Erica had a full time job somewhere else, I was amazed how much she helped us out in her spare time. I also worked with Erica at Miva. Just absolutely amazing she was!
Mary Salvatera – I worked with Mary at Interactivate and at Hitachi. We partnered on pitching new business leads, worked on presentations, creative designs, and was just as passionate about always dedicated to delivering a high quality user experience. She was my VP of Everything!! This was my first time running a startup business and Mary helped me keep the priorities on track and that was to grow the business. She is a creative force that understands that keeping the end user happy through great design and great user experiences is a fundamental factor to success. Also, without Mary I could NOT have pulled off our Twiistup sponsorship.
Tanya Milhaud – I was amazed on how passionate Tanya was about Public Relations and Marketing. Although she was fresh out of college, she worked like a true professional. Tanya was also a great student of business. I had her work with me closely on lots of the business aspects and trusted her to help me run a smooth operation. When times got crazy and seemed like out of control Tanya was always there to help calm the storm and bring order. Her positive spirit and genuine smile brought warmth to the office. I still remember when we both ate an entire banana cream pie together in one sitting.
Lisa Leonte (client) – Lisa was one of those dream clients that embraced your ideas and had a great deal of trust in your capabilities. We had some bigs tasks before us and Lisa was there every step of the way in full support. She saw the talent in myself and my team and always made sure to let us know her appreciation. Even when some projects got stressful and down to the wire Lisa kept her cool and did all that she could to help us achieve success. When I would have meetings at the club, it was pure chaos and was always impressed how she was able to manage the hustle and bustle. Beyond a client, Lisa became a close friend of mine. I will always be grateful to her for being an amazing client who had a deep passion for success. I owe a lot to her and I hope she knows it.
Eric Von Sydow (client) – Eric was a straight to the point, let’s get things done type of client. He was very successful in his business and was dedicated to always doing the best that he and his company could do. He was an amazing leader who had great respect among his staff. I am glad I got the chance to work with him on some fun and amazing projects. Eric always made you feel like you were a VIP. Not only is he a great businessman he is also an inspiring man that motivates you to have a strong belief in yourself and that you can do anything. Eric is a force of power in the entertainment industry and an ambassador of personal growth and change.
Marzena Kmiecik (business partner) – It’s hard to find powerful creative minds that equal your passion. With Marzena I felt she and I had the same mindset to push innovation to the limits, to break the mold with traditions. With SocialSimple (and Ideablue) Marzena and I collaborated a lot on many of the strategies and directions of our products and services. She was one of the few people that I looked to for creative strategies. I was inspired by her passion for the customer, passion to never settle for less than perfect. Marzena also introduced me to the best gelato place in San Diego called Pappalecco.
Johan Viberg (business associate) – Johan and I would meet from time to time for lunch/drinks/coffee and just talk about life and business. With running a small business you have the ability to change your strategic direction. I would bounce ideas off of him and truly valued his input. I have a great deal of respect for his brilliance in business and technology. I also love his iPhone app DailyFlower.
There are others that I also am grateful for (long list) which you can read here.
Hitachi (HDS)
Rick Repsold (boss) – One of the things I learned greatly from Rick was his candid honesty. He didn’t have time to beat around the bush, he was very straightforward which I found very refreshing. We worked together and with the executive staff to campaign strongly that the web/IT/marketing systems needed to get renovated asap.
Nigel Porter and David Burden
David Burden – David was my partner in crime in just about all operations and projects. While I was Director and David was Manager (my direct report) I always viewed David as my equal counterpart. I had some innovative ideas that shocked the foundations of traditional web and David was there with me through the thick and thin and always supportive. In corporate companies, you have lots of hurdles like internal politics, budgets, other depts you have to work through and David was there every step of the way. He was also heavily involved with social media too (Facebook/Twitter/Blogs) which helped when we both were pushing hard to integrate social media throughout the enterprise.
When I left Hitachi, David replaced me as Director which there couldn’t have been a better person to have filled the role. Watch out current CEO of Hitachi, I’m sure David will be replacing you in no time!!
Nigel Porter – I could summarize Nigel in one sentence. One of the smartest and hardest working technical geniuses that I have ever known. This is a big statement coming from me as I’ve know lots of technical folks. Nigel was the type of person that when overloaded with work, he didn’t stress, he was committed to the customer customer customer. I am just in awe of how great of a mind he is.
Crystal Mack – One of my peers was Crystal Mack who knew the business very well. When I was new, fresh from the agency world, Crystal helped me navigate the big corporate machine of Hitachi. She managed her staff well and was successful on her projects. I never told her this, but I really looked to her for an example of a good manager. She was!
Derrick Yee – Wow, what a passionate and dedicated person to quality assurance. QA has always been dear to my heart so it was so refreshing to work with someone that felt the same commitment to doing everything possible to ensure a quality product/project.
Tae Oh – Tae was one of my project manager for many of the internal projects. I was very impressed with his commitment to each project. It’s always comforting knowing you have a good PM on task. He shined beyond expectations!
Olivier Naimi – Olivier was one of my peers responsible for the public website of HDS. He and his team had a “plan” to clean up the web mess which was not the same plan that IT had. So, on day one of working at Hitachi there was already differing ideas on the overall strategy to streamline everything. Many of his ideas were a bit far fetched and not very realistic from a technology standpoint which made him labeled as the opposition by many. Being a fan of the book The Art of War by Sun-Tzu, the best quote is “keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.” While Olivier was not my “enemy” his group was making my IT counterparts very frustrated. I got close to Olivier and the more I knew him the more I understood his plight. Even though his plans were not too consistent with IT, his zeal and passion was still something to be admired.
Interactivate
Anthony Lloyd (boss) – When I started at Interactivate there was already a consensus throughout the company to reduce operational costs and improve the development workflow. While some ideas worked ok, my plans were far beyond anything the company has ever done before. I worked closely with Anthony on a lot of these ideas and plans to bring the web operations to the modern age which I think helped me earn much respect from Anthony. With any companies, change is hard and sometimes pushed back on. Anthony was my biggest supporter and it was his belief in me and the abilities of my web team that helped us to make things happen.
His in-depth knowledge of technologies, IT infrastructure, and business made him a man to be deeply admired. He was such a great boss to have worked for. He showed me that being a boss is not only about managing people, it’s also about helping them grow, helping them achieve the best within themselves. This approach made everyone who worked for Anthony love him with such great respect. It’s bosses like Anthony that make work a passion and not just a job.
Colleen McPhillips - While I was responsible for managing the web development and interactive teams, Colleen was responsible for the production workflow. In the first few weeks Colleen and I butted heads because I didn’t see why we both were managing the same teams. It wasn’t until the chaos at Interactivate got out of control (which seemed to be just about every day) that I learned to truly appreciate the awesomeness of Colleen. Every day I was more and more amazed at how well Colleen was able to manage the expectations between the Client Services, Web, Marketing, SEO, Creative teams. Just about everything funneled through Colleen. I soon became her biggest fan. The closer I became to Colleen the more productive my teams were. She is without a doubt one of the best people I have had ever worked with. In the later stages of SocialSimple she also helped us out and was our kick in the ass to keep us on track (she’s a great Project Manager). She rocked! I am lucky that she and I have became very close friends who I hold very dear to my heart.
Desiree Handley - Desiree’s development code was one of the cleanest and most quality code I have ever seen. Her commitment to quality and high standard results were inspirations not only to me but the entire team. I remember one day we were looking at code and I mentioned the < b> tag, she said “um, that tag is depreciated”. I was shocked and realized that I was getting old and out of touch. I was constantly impressed with her development talent and passion for web technologies.
Jason Fardo – Jason was responsible for Quality Assurance. Within an agency environment, getting clients to pay extra for QA was always a struggle though Jason worked his magic to ensure that QA was part of projects. QA has always been a great part of my passion to deliver high quality results which Jason was an ambassador for. I made sure he was part as many projects had he could so we can ensure the client got nothing but the best end results. Jason and I are still close friends. He also beat me to buying a boat first.
Lee Waterman, Jake Bonham, Todd Foley
Jake Bonham – When I think of people who are on the cutting edge of technology I think about Jake. He was always pushing us to be more innovative and to harness the advancements in Flash. Jake was one of the hardest working creative minds I’ve worked with.
Todd Foley - I saw nothing but extraordinary potential within Todd. I may have pushed him a bit hard at times though it was only because I saw a developer that could rule the world one day. His commitment to his work and his strong work ethic was something I admired. I remember when a project was pushed through quickly (by client services) and was not given any time to QA it had bugs and was quickly pushed to production Todd was targeted as the blame. Seriously people!! I knew that Todd was not the cause, it was the powers that be (client services) that pushed even after our many many warnings not to. Todd is a true top talent individual that I wish I had his talent when I was his age. I look forward to following Todd and seeing him rise to greatness. Todd was the go-to-guy because we knew there was nothing he could fail at.
L-R: Jason Fardo, Erica Twining, Steve Berry, Scott Brooks
Scott Brooks – Scott was one of those developers that when given a project and task would run with it and do his very best to ensure it was innovative. When we had ideas to incorporate more social media into the client projects he was our go to guy. I remember he canceled plans just so he could commit to getting a project done for a client. His dedication was a true skill to have.
Steve Berry – Oh Steve, just about everything he worked on worked and worked well. Steve was the type of developer that loved what he did and never complained about anything.
Scott Berg - Scott and I have had many many strategy sessions on how to be more innovative with our clients. Sometimes when you brainstorm with people there is always opposing forces and ideas. With Scott we both were on the same mindset and that was to give the best to our clients. If you need to find a solution to just about anything, just put Scott and I in a room and we’ll figure it out. Scott and I are still friends and later would be a great business partner with Ideablue.
Sean teaching Social Media
Sean Dreilinger – Sean was one of the founders of Interactivate and I was always impressed with how in touch he was with current technologies and trends. He was the spark to a lot of the fires to get the company to improve and grow. In 2007 it was hard to push social media (largely unknown then), though Sean was one of the biggest supporters to get clients more involved. It was very encouraging to hear his compliments on our projects. Also, Sean is an amazing photographer.
Kent McIntosh (boss) – Kent was responsible for the company’s operations and workflow. While working with Kent I learned a great deal about operations, about resourcing, about budget management. I was impressed with his professional respect and courtesy to his peer and staff. He was quite driven to reducing operational costs and making sure the company was running efficient. It was great working for Kent.
Thomas Sessions – Thomas was our VP/Creative Director whom I worked closely with. I remember we would just sit and draw (we both love to draw) out our ideas. It was great to meet someone that loved to draw as much as I did. Thomas was an amazingly creative individual who showed a great deal of respect for his staff. His creative genius was well complimented by his great business mind. I had a great time just being able to work beside such a creative force and leader.
Gregory Wall - I had the use of many offshore developers which Greg was our project manager for. His knowledge of web and his available resources made is easy to staff up on priority projects. He also served as a great mind to collaborate with on strategies for the company and clients. His commitment to his company Santex and team was genuine and it was obvious. He’s also a great San Diego Chargers fan. Go Chargers!!
Javier Arias – Javier was one of our Lead Developers in Argentina through Santex. I was quickly impressed with his skills and polite personality. He was amazingly thorough and always delivered quality work. I’m glad I got to know him when he made a trip here to the states. He was a great fit within our team and everyone was glad that he was on our team, an all-around great guy.
Jon Clark - Throughout my career I’ve worked with lots of SEO people and I would say 90% are hacks. This was NOT the case with Jon. SEO is one of those disciplines that can be done 20 different ways. With Jon, he was a master at SEO and in my honest opinion was a leader. He would inspire everyone about SEO and was very passionate about it which earned him great respect throughout the company.
Modern Postcard
http://www.modernpostcard.com/
Darian Pasterski (boss) – In 2006 when I was interviewing around town and about to make a decision, I got a call from Junior Trujllio, a recruiter friend of mine and asked me to stop by Modern Postcard (down the block from my work). I went and interviewed with the web team there. It was a standard interview. Then finally I met with Darian. We had an amazing conversation and I was in awe of her experience, her confidence, and her business savvy. I took the job just to have the opportunity to work with Darian. It was one of the best decisions of my career.
IT / Web Team Luncheon
While I was very focused on technology, Darian taught me about having a great business mind too. She was a great leader and teacher. Everyone in the company had a great deal of respect for her including myself and my team. Not only did she have an amazing business sense and strong technical vision, she knew how to inspire her staff. She knew how to keep us dedicated to our projects and proud of our work. Although I worked at Modern Postcard for less than two years, it was a great time simply because I had the chance to learn from such a great strategic mind. I will always have a great deal of respect and gratitude to Darian for believing in me and helping to shape me into the person I am today. She helped inspire me to be the best that I could be.
When I was starting my new job (after MP) I remember she gave me the advice of Listen, Learn, Lead. The advice was to first listen to the business and learn it’s operations then you lead. This was just one of the many great teaching from her, it was one that I still carry with me today and has brought me success throughout my career.
Julie Walker - Julie was responsible for all Creative for MP. I’ve worked with many creative executives thought the thing that set Julie apart was that she is a great business executive as well. I remember one day she drew on a piece of paper some ideas she had for my department and how we could thrive even more. I was in awe of the great ideas she had and her sheer brilliance. I still have that paper. Working with Julie on business strategies was one of the highlights about Modern Postcard.
Greg Wasmuth – When Greg first started at MP, he was the golden boy, the solution to our VDP (variable data printing) problems. Within the first few week he proved it by defining in details how VDP would work and inspired the entire company to follow suit. I also remember one day Greg and I were sitting on a plane coming back from a conference and we hashed out some ideas on how to do “lights out” print production” (100% automated workflow) which later became of one of our biggest projects. Just about every grand idea/project Greg was an inspirational part. I always admired Greg’s talent to define a high quality product. When I started my own business I still relied on the great mind of Greg Wasmuth as we continued to hash our ideas for innovation.
Marie Miscioscia – Marie was the glue that held our team together. We all had differing personalities, some shy, some crazy and Marie made us all feel as one team, as one group. I was always impressed with her work ethic and dedication to doing great work. She was loved by everyone, a personality that you were glad she was your friend. She also was not shy on expressing her love for Boston and Tom Brady.
L-R: Craig Rand, Marie Miscioscia, Ann Lynott, Dean Orman, Cameron Brown, Damon Brollini, Johnny Negretti
Cameron Brown - Cameron was our top notch web developers who quickly gained respect from everyone for his amazing talent. Working at MP was a chaotic environment and Cameron never let it get to him. Lots of last minute edits and he always came through for us. I’ve worked with many web developers and Cameron is a TOP talent developer who always worked his hardest to be the best. I’ve become close friends with Cameron who I still have drinks with. Hmmm, as I am writing this I’m just remembering I think I’m supposed to be having lunch with Cameron today. :P
Damon Brollini - I remember interviewing for the Creative person for our team and we’ve interviewed soooooooo any people. Damon was without a doubt the very best of everyone. He was one of those employees that you are so lucky to have. I kept wondering “how did we snag such top talent??“. He had a talent for design, art direction, flash, coding, and good with business management. He is truly a creative rockstar!! If I ever need creative/art direction, Damon is my first choice. I’ll pay an arm and leg just to get a small fraction of his extraordinary brilliance. I will always be one of his biggest fans. We just need to get him on Facebook!
Dean Orman - Dean was the conduit between Marketing, Creative, and Engineering which all three areas were chaotic and high stress though Dean had a knack for brining calm to the storm. One of the things I loved best about working with Dean was his smile and uplifting spirit. Our team always was a glow when Dean was with us. Beyond his genuineness, he was a strong part the business and a great mind to work with to really reach out to and connect with our customers.
Christopher Foster – I don’t think I have ever know anyone who has been so in touch with their customer. Christopher is very passionate about user data, market research, and customer feedback to deliver an amazing brand, a brand that users would love. It was Christopher that I learn to know the customer, to be the customer, then you’ll have a great product. He was loved and respected by his team and throughout the company. Not only was Christoper a great marketer he was a great person to be around, a man who when talked with you, you felt like he listened. I still need to go surfing with him, hopefully soon.
Anthony Martin - Ok, while I know IT, I will never know it as well as Anthony. I love web, it’s my passion, it’s my fuel and for Anthony I could say the same for him in Technology. Anthony also has a great business management mind and a true leader. His staff respected him well and so did all his peer, including myself. I would work for Anthony any day.
Robert Offerman – Bob was the strong force withing our business committee to ensure all projects were inline with the company’s business objects and goals. I remember just about every project Bob was the example to follow, he was the man who kept everything together.
Michael Senger (boss) – When I first started at Modern Postcard Michael was my boss who I learned so much about Marketing from. One of the things I admired about Michael was his commitment to the customers. He was a great business leader, manager, and a great marketing mind. I’ve become close with Michael and is a dear friend who I continue to take his money in poker. :P
Ryan Cowen - Most guys in IT are just seen as the dude to fix things. Ryan was so much more! He was a great friend to everyone, he was a guy who found solutions, a guy to had patience, a guy who worked hard to deliver the very best.
Ann Lynott – Ann was an amazing all around web developer who could take on just about any task. She was thorough and very consistent with her work. She also was a good friend to myself and the rest of the staff. I also remember when I left Modern Postcard Ann got my a great departing gift, it was a box of Sharpies. If you know me well, then you know that I always have a Sharpie on me!
Michael Foster – Michael was the company video production guru. One of the things I loved about Modern Postcard was the creative talent and how the executive staff let Michael show his amazing video talent for us. He would rally the staff to help make great company spoof videos. We all would look forward to the next great video from Michael. Watch out Steven Spielberg, Michael is hot on your tail. People become friends with Michael now so you can say, “yeah I know that big time Hollywood director.” Michael was also was a great help on some Ideablue video projects.
ViaSat, Inc.
Gordon Dankberg (boss) – When I started at ViaSat I was tasked with creating a “web” department from the ground up. Gordon was supportive in all areas and it was his support and belief in me that helped me grow and thrive. I have fond memories of sitting in Gordon’s office and just shooting ideas around on how we could do this better, how we could better promote the website, better server our internal staff, reduce costs, etc. He was also a great manager of myself and the rest of the staff which I had nothing but the upmost respect for. He was also a great host for poker games. Hmmm, I think we need another poker game soon (hint hint)!
Shiv Bhushan – Shiv was our DBA, or should our say our data guru. I remember seeing an SQL query he was debugging taped to his wall, it was several pages long (about 5 feet long). I will always be in awe of his great business mind. Beyond his brilliance, Shiv is also a decent and honorable man. Throughout the years Shiv and I have became very close friends.
Craig Rand - We were hiring for a web developer and I interviewed a few people and was about to hire someone then Craig came in. He didn’t have much web experience though he was very passionate about learning more and just wanted a chance. I was blown away by his zeal. I hired Craig. He quickly proved he was the best choice. He was always consistent and a great employee to have. When I left ViaSat and went to Modern Postcard, I was lucky enough to have him join me there too.
Arlene Nash – Arlene and I worked on a few internal project for Facilities and soon became good friends. I was impressed with her ability to manage several projects at once. Within her group there were so many immediate priorities needs and Arlene was always there to ensure things would work out.
Jack Tassos – Jack was my boss’s boss though I always felt like he was in the mix with the rest of us grunts. He was a great listener and helped you realize your potential. I remember when we were listing out the “pain points” within the organization Jack went out of his way to listen to everyone and he truly did listen. He has a warm and genuine spirit who always made you feel welcomed and appreciated. Oh, he also was a pool shark and showed no mercy. :P
Kamal Swamidoss – Kamal was in another department and not part of my web team though he was ALWAYS a bright spirit to be around. He was always upbeat and was passionate about life which made being his friend a great joy.
Lori Stratford – Lori and I worked on the corporate Extranet which was quite the project. While my group was responsible for the technology Lori was responsible for the customers which she did nothing but the very best.
Nikolai Devereaux – Nikolai was a collaborative member on some of our internal web focus groups. Nikolai always had great advice and useful suggestions which helped out with our plans to renovate our web sites. It was encouraging to see employees from other departments take such a great interest in our web systems too. It’s been great to stay connected with Nikolai throughout the years on Facebook.
Steve Hart – Steve was one of the founders of ViaSat and well respected throughout the company and industry. Steve had a way of making you feel listened and valued. Not only was he a great business man he was also a great friend to many within the company. He also out bit me for the Chargers season tickets at a silent auction. Arrrg! :P
Cox Communications
Martin Jones (boss) – Marin was a great boss that motivated us to work very collaboratively on every marketing promotion. We worked together as a great team. While most managers were reluctant of pushing new and emerging technologies Martin campaigned for it. He taught me to look at each project and task as an opportunity to do better than the previous one and to do what we must to reduce operational costs.
Chris Snyder – Chris and I worked hand and hand on marketing promotion. Chris had an amazing talent to drawing the online users to be more interactive with each promotion. I was always amazed on the quality of work he did and how committed he was to great marketing.
KFKI Solutions
Jeremy Russell - I previously worked with Jeremy at Miva though worked more closely with him at KFKI. While I was tasked to focus on technology, Jeremy was tasked with product management which he did like a rock star. I remember having strategy sessions with Jeremy on defining product features and it was pretty awesome to see how organized and thorough he was with everything. I’m glad that Jeremy and I have stayed friends throughout the years.
Billy Maryanski - Billy was the company’s web designer and I’ve worked with many designers before so I just expected a default creative guy. Oh that was not the case with Billy, he was so much more. I remember just sitting by him and watching him work his design magic and being in awe. Not only was he an amazing graphic/web designer he also had a great sense of what the customer wanted and harnesses this talent to develop some great user experiences.
Miva Corporation
Jeff Huber (boss) – The is one thing I will always remember about Jeff is one time I was in his office and saw a cartoon making fun of management, it showed birds shitting on different levels of wires over each other, each bird below got more shit on them than the bird above them and where the final bird on top had no shit on them. Jeff thought the cartoon was funny, though he said “being a great manager is protecting your staff.” He taught me that being a manager is like being a parent. You need to take care of your staff, doing everything in your power to make their life better, making them grow in their potential, helping them discover their core passions and talent. While I thought I was a Miva Script god, I think Jeff was probably one of the only other person who loved and knew Miva Script even better which made me have such respect and admiration for him.
Quiche Jackson – I met Quiche “Q” awhile back (before Miva) when I worked at Frys and we’ve become close friends since. He had a similar passion for web and technologies so I helped get him a job at Miva. While his time at Miva he impressed everyone with his amazing skills, dedication, and charm. He has been a great friend and someone that I have a great deal of respect for.
John Maslanik (boss) - It was great to work for John (we called him “Maz”). I learned a great deal about information technology from servers, clustering, databases, and most importantly exploring other web technologies. John was really open minded to all technologies, teaching me to learn everything I could and to adapt to the fast growing changes in the IT industry. He also entrusted me with Lead on many high level projects. He was a great boss! Recently John made a joking comment to me that he just needs to follow my Facebook updates to know what happening with me. Hmmm, maybe I’m on Facebook a little too much. Nah! :P
Varigon, Inc.
John P Myers (boss) – When I was a young web developer, John saw potential in me and gave me a great opportunity to work for him. He not only helped me harness my skills, he also taught me much about the operational side of business. He also taught me a great deal about ecommerce and product development. John was a great boss who I will always be grateful to.
