BuilderIt startedwith avacuumfilter.
My parents’ vacuum store gave me an idea: cut out the middleman. I began manufacturing vacuum filters and selling online. Then came software, a conference, an agency, and a pricing company. Four acquisitions later, I’m still building.
4:5 · 1200px or larger
Built
from
friction.
Each company came from a problem I hit while building the last one.
- 2006My parents' vacuum shop. This is where it started.
- 2009The crash ended my Wall Street run. Inspired by my parents’ store, I started manufacturing vacuum filters and selling them online. Today, we make replacement parts and accessories for the whole home.Think CrucialStill cash flowing
- 2016I wrote down what I learned. It became an Amazon bestseller.Cheaper Easier Direct
- 2017AcquiredAmazon sellers needed a place to learn from each other.Prosper ShowAcquired 2017 · Emerald↗
- 2019AcquiredSelling the product was only half the job. Brands needed marketing help.Seller's ChoiceAcquired 2019 · Jerrick
- 2021AcquiredAt 60,000 orders a month, my software couldn’t keep up.SkubanaAcquired 2021 · Extensiv
- 2026AcquiredToo many pricing decisions. Too much guesswork.ProfaseeAcquired 2026 · Titan
- NextSomething hard enough to obsess over.I’m not done.
Apparently, I’m
bad at taking
a break.
Spending time with my family. Getting my hands dirty gardening. I still catch myself thinking, “Someone should build that.” Sometimes that someone is me.
a glove.
Shoe Kung Fu
Stop buying shoes you think might fit.
Find shoes that fit like a glove.
Shoe Kung Fu matches your foot measurements to shoes’ internal dimensions.
Eldorado Aventura
Built in the ’70s. Rebranded for today. New website. New resident portal.
What comes next?
Something hard enough to obsess over, and worth the next twenty years.
Favorite episode.
Not favorite podcast.
I ask people for the single greatest episode they have listened to. These are their picks.
4:5 or 3:4
A little family time. Something growing in the garden. Another idea brewing.
On the
nightstand.
Three books I'm reading now, plus books I'd buy you.
Reading now03 / open
Books I'd buy you04 of 07 keepers
I talk
shop.
Strong opinions, loosely held.
I'd rather excite the few than bore the many.Rule 07
Rules I
live by.
4:5
I wrote these for my family first. The companies were reflections of us.
I can do hard things.In fact, they're the only things worth doing.
There is no good technology without humanity.Be kind.
Work without play doesn't work for me.Great ideas thrive on good vibes.
Enlightenment over entitlement.Respect the holy moments.
You can't go anywhere if you stay in your comfort zone.Get comfortable with discomfort, and get going.
Entrepreneurship doesn't have to be a solo adventure.We all go higher when we climb together.
Being for everyone isn't for me.I'd rather excite the few than bore the many.
If I start something,I finish it.