On Time is Late

Before VGKids had employees, before we had a reputation for dependability, and before I knew pretty much anything at all, I had one deadline. I’d promised a haunted house in Florida a batch of t-shirts for their opening night. They were clear about the deadline from the beginning, and it was…

The Twelve Year Overnight Success

When I told my close friends I was starting a fulfillment company, you could see them flinch and try to mask their disappointment. You could almost see the single word forming inside their heads, “WHY??”. They looked at me with something like pity while they struggled…

In Weird We Trust

The year was 2004, and I was packing a box of freshly printed posters at VGKids. The order was for another shop some friends…

Everywhere I Look, There I Am

Last week, a high profile client had a bad experience on our platform. Their customers were expecting an album on Friday, and many of the packages we’d shipped were tracking for delivery as late as the following Wednesday— 5 days late. People were pissed, and understandably…

Consistent is Correctable

Making the same mistake is actually awesome

I was skating a few months ago(skateboarding if you’re not hip to the slang), trying to land a board slide down a low railing. I kept leaning back too far and slipping off. I started to…

Success, Euphoria, and a Very Bad Decision

How I ruined everything just when I had it made

When I was 19, I admitted my first major defeat. Two years earlier I’d opened — and subsequently closed — a small grocery store. I’d burned through an…

The Art of Being Wrong

Years ago, there was a guy on my staff the rest of the team absolutely hated. I defended him, and wouldn’t let them fire him. It went on for months, causing friction between my best people and myself.

Working on What Matters: 20% Today

Part 1: Defining What Matters

Everyone You Know is Hard of Hearing

In the early days of Whiplash, as we considered focusing on fulfillment, there was a VGKids customer that I thought would be great to do a trial with. It was perfect, I thought. They already trusted me through VGKids, and, because we made their products, we already…

Get out of the F@&$ing Way

Twice this week, I found myself debating with people on my team. The disagreements were trivial in the grand scheme of things: what day a new employee should start, and how a new project management tool would be organized.