Lover of trading, tacos, 3D/AR/VR, cryptos, and most things Japanese



Yesterday I had my second interview for a position with the Apple Retail Store. I met with the Store Leader Jill and a Marketing guy whose name I can’t remember. I arrived about five minutes early, checked in with one of the Specialists, and looked around the store while I waited for Jill.

As I was waiting, I noticed that Apple no longer displays software in the store – it’s all hardware now. The big graphics on the wall had been updated to include a couple beautiful shots of the iWatch, which is coming in April. As I took in the vibe of the store, I was greeted by Chris, one of the managers. He said that Jill would be along shortly and we chatted briefly before he went about his business.

After about ten minutes, Jill apporached with the Marketing guy. We said our introductions and she suggested we walk over to the neighboring Starbucks to have our interview. Having spent a hell of a lot of time at various Starbucks the past year, I felt reassured and confident that I’d be on home turf for our discussion.

The interview went well – it was a lot of “getting to know you” type questions, “Describe a time when you…” scenarios, and a general discussion to see if I’d be a good fit for Apple and, just as importantly, if Apple would be a good fit for me. I strode to put my best self forward, there was lots of smiling and eye contact, and I the process flew by. After about 30 minutes, we closed our conversations and Jill said that Nick, the HR guy, would be in contact in the next week or so to discuss next steps, if any. I am hopeful that things will continue to go well and that I make it to the next round. We shall see.

In the mean time, I finally decided to update my 2008 MacBook Pro’s operating system. I ordered Snow Leopard from the Apple Store and it was delivered last night. My internal DVD drive on my MacBook has been acting up, and unfortunately it wouldn’t load the OSX DVD I ordered. So I made an appointment for Monday at the Genius Bar at the Aspen Grove store to take it in and have the DVD issue diagnosed. Then I had a flash of inspiration – maybe Dick had an external drive I could use! Sure enough, he did. I plugged it in, inserted the DVD and began the update process.

I’m updating to Snow Leopard so I can update to the latest and greatest, Yosemite, which is free, but my old OS was so old I had to spend the (gasp) twenty bucks to have Snow Leopard sent to me. I’m really looking forward to checking out the new features of Yosemite and getting to know my Mac again. Now if only I had the desk space to hook up a keyboard and my 21-inch Cinema Display…

Great news! After a long series of interviews and meetings and over a month’s time, I have been offered and accepted an executive position with a local startup company. I’ll make a more formal announcement as things like contracts get figured out, but the gist of it is that I’m on a three-month, “trial contract” so that I can evaluate the company and they me. After that, we renegotiate salary and equity structures going forward.

I will be heading up their technology division, managing designers and developers, implementing best practices, running servers and cloud-based computing solutions, budgeting and forecasting, as well as rolling up my sleeves and writing code. The CEO and I are meeting with the CMO later today to discuss Marketing plans and Social Media strategies.

It feels like I’m home again, back doing what I love to do: Build companies. There are several interesting layers to this one, and its Big Idea is one that could have a profound effect on the interwebs in the the coming years. Love me a Big Idea. We’re well positioned to capitalize on a huge shift that is beginning to take place online. I’m energized and excited to be a part of it – so much so that I’m writing this post at 2am because I have too many things running around my head at the moment to fall asleep. (Writing always helps flush enough of them out that I settle down and can get back to bed after doing so.)

Yesterday was a great day! Not only did I get the position, but I was also able to quickly diagnose and resolve – with the help of our Android developer – one of the key bugs that had been plaguing the system for some time. It’s always nice to be able to make an immediate impact when in that initial proving ground stage.

More details as they become available! 🙂

Great TED talk by Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action