When I was 14 years old, I decided that my purpose in life was to amplify human capability and raise standards. For the past 19 years, that's what I've spent most of my time trying to do in one form or another.
Today, I'm the co-founder of Thoughtful, an alternative to using social media apps in your downtime, which transforms wasted time and degraded mental health into time spent learning and growing. We believe in the power of the Internet to enrich our lives and minds—not distract us with stimulating junk.
Prior to starting Thoughtful, for 7 years I was an engineering leader at Facebook, before my "somewhat" controversial departure. Most recently I led the team responsible for building tools and providing education and support for community leaders using Facebook Groups.
Previously, I started and led the Core App UI team at Facebook, where we built design and engineering infrastructure to make Facebook feel more cohesive and simultaneously make our product teams more efficient. We also redesigned much of News Feed, commenting, and navigation patterns.
When I joined Facebook, I was one of about 20 who built the first native iOS app, shortly before tech-leading Paper—an ambitious new way to use Facebook on the iPhone that was widely regarded as one of the best iPhone apps ever made.
I'm an Objectivist, and attribute most of my own happiness to the integration I've achieved between my philosophical views, the way I live each day, and the long-term goals I spend my time focused on. In my spare time I use Thoughtful, drive and obsessively detail sports cars, snowboard, and go for long, ambling walks through the mountainous grandeur of Utah.