Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.

My time at X, the moonshot factory is coming to a close.? In my time here, looking back as objectively as possible, the most frequent adjective used to describe me by colleagues is “magical.”? This makes me super uncomfortable, however, if it is applicable to me then I am glad that how I have shown up for my friends and colleagues has manifested in such a way.??

(Leaning in…) Life Gandalf the Grey showing up in Middle Earth with an undetermined mission, I showed up at X eight years ago unsure about the adventure ahead of me.? I found a playground of creativity, genius, and most importantly, open space. I was a sponge and learned very quickly about the space needed for creativity and greatness to emerge.? I learned A LOT about technologies of all sorts, cutting edge research and science, entrepreneurship, product design, and the journey of exploration. Yet, none of them could exist without …space.

So while I focused on making our moonshot tech, on the side I studied (to me) the most important piece; how do we optimize the environment that makes great ideas + great minds catalyze?

The first thing I discovered (and the last thing I acknowledged) was: I’m really good at creating this kind of space.?

To experiment I started with a simple premise that aligned with my own values: charity.? My theory was that the passion part of breakthrough work comes from a desire to have impact, however, great things take time and since the process is hard, you lose track of why you started in the first place.

Now anyone who knows me, knows my medium is geekery (I’m a real life Stormtrooper).? I am a movie/sci-fi geek to my core and proud of it.? That said, hypothesis two, was the understanding that everyone is a geek about something. Introducing play into an experience (even a serious one) changes the dynamic entirely if you can discover how the people involved define play.? I have always called this the “twinkle.” My interview tactics are optimized for it. A lot of you I’ve hired know what I’m talking about.? It’s a subtle facial tic that happens to everyone when you land on a subject that excites them and, through its acceptance, makes you instant best friends with that person.? When you find and engage with someone on those terms, they’re 10x more creative and capable.

I decided to start big and try to see how many people we could convince to let out their inner child all at once, while channeling that creativity in tandem with charity (or impact). I figured if we could get premise 1 to align with premise 2 we might make magic..

To do this, I leaned on my old friend Joseph Campbell and set up a series of experiential Hero’s Journeys clothed in mainstream sci-fi.? We did Star Wars + Makers, Ready Player One + Game Strategy, Trivia Quizzes + Teamwork/Context Shifting, Built Community during the pandemic in Minecraft, and even a gladiator style competitive pie-in-the-face event to illustrate the power of the collective.? Over 5 years, these events were able to build an internal community, inspire creativity, and collectively raised over $1 million for an assortment of charities.

It should be noted, none of this was my job.?A statement I used to believe, but if I take any learning for myself to my next adventure it's this – it was my job.?

My job has been to catalyze and organize the most dynamic set of minds across an even more diverse set of topics and targets. The rule book here was, there are no rules.?

To do my job well, people needed common ground and connected purpose and I accessed the common denominator – companies don't innovate, people do. Individual humans working together to make 1+1=5.

I cannot express how proud of this work I am and from the bottom of my heart wish to thank those of you who, on this journey with me, saw me for me, saw what I was trying to do, and made that oh so important space for me.?

X never felt like a job to me and I will miss the place (the people most of particularly) greatly.? That said, as I step back into the job market I plan to do so more akin to Gandalf the White, eyes wide and aware of the grand unseen adventures ahead, but much wiser and more confident in his magic.