I'm an upbeat guy that is curious about damn near everything. I volunteer a lot of my time helping others build, create and succeed in the areas of business, psychology, and technology. Also, I read a lot. I'm a very sociable person who has to be interacting with people 6 out of the 7 days in a week. That one day though... I need that one day to refuel and do whatever feels relaxing and fun. Other than that, I'm extremely optimistic and a big proponent of "you make your own future".

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Any time I've traveled, my most memorable times have been spent with new people. I've gotten to see parts of cities I would have otherwise not known about. It's also critical to spend time getting to know cultural differences and similarities the minute you step out of the area you consider home; it helps challenge how you approach life and what's important. And really, you never know what kind of interests and connections you will have with someone you've never met before.

Interests

I'm big into entrepreneurship/startups, behavioral psychology, and software development practices. I spend a lot of time learning and practicing software engineering, dedicating time everyday to reading into new areas of behavioral psychology, and donate a lot of my leftover time helping launch startup initiatives in my community and among my friends. Other things I do more as a hobby from time to time include: photography, filming/editing video, reading and incorporating into my life nutrition/health research, puzzles of all kinds, being physically active, and how to go about learning and refining skills.

• design
• photography
• acting
• dancing
• cooking
• technology
• video games
• board games
• reading
• puzzles
• sports
• bowling
• business
• engineering
• entrepreneurship
• psychology
• software
• statistics
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

I listen to almost anything, I love finding new songs I've never heard before. Most of what I tend to listen to is in the Electronica genre, but never hesitate listening to hip-hop, rock, metal, etc, if the song grabs me.

I'm a big fan of mystery/plot-twist/thriller movies, but will watch just about anything, even the hilariously bad ones. My favorite movies would have to be Snatch, Fight Club, and Memento. I've always been interested in how films are made and have worked with video editing and camera work for many years. It's always interesting to quantify what a movie does well and... and not so well. I have a profound appreciation for those that can do it well.

Over half of the books I read relate to psychology in some fashion, my favorites being "Thinking Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman and "Brain Rules" by John Medina. Most of the other books I read fall under leadership, business, and social skills, with the exception of my favorite book "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins; that one I find fascinating particularly because of it's application in solving problems in mathematics and computation.

Although not technically a book, HackerNews is one of my favorite sources for new concepts and great discussions, everything from economics to space travel; I truly admire some of the brains that make that community fascinating to engage in daily. It's also a great source for books if you are ever in need of author/book recommendations.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Maybe it's not amazing, but participating in a Startup Weekend is what I've considered one of the best experiences I've taken part in. I've never learned so much a short amount of time as I did in one 54 hour stint of hustle with a team of like-minded individuals. It's still amazing to me that a random set of individuals can come together and turn out the beginnings of a legit startup over the course of a weekend. I learned what it takes to contribute and help lead a team, where nothing existed just minutes ago. It's an unbelievable challenge to even attempt to see eye-to-eye on everything, and yet, still have a product/idea progress forward. And then to even contemplate speaking in front of a crowd of almost 200 people about something that didn't even exist a few days before, I've never felt so paranoid in my life. Best damn experience ever!

Teach, Learn, Share

I feel like I've shared a lot about what I'm interested or have experience in, but there is still a ton I'm curious about. Leadership, public speaking, acting/voice acting, building things, dance, new sports/activities, cooking, theory behind just about any discipline... I'm not sure there is limit on what I'm interested in. Everything is fascinating to me. What is 'boring'?

What I Can Share with Hosts

Basically, anything I'm interested in. To an extent that I'm helpful:

- I've enjoyed helping people within the areas of behavior design (designing environments and understanding how and why we feel and act the way we do, all in order to accomplish seemingly unreachable goals). In my experience, if you've failed at achieving something, there's something behavioral behind it; digging that out and making the necessary systematic changes is what I find exciting!
- Anything in the realm of startups/business. I failed miserably in starting my own business years ago. A lot of advice you get in the space is absolutely terrible and counter productive. I'm happy to share my story and help sort out the good info from the bad. I've also organized a Startup Weekend event and mentored people on the fundamentals of starting a business. I tend to specialize on the psychological/behavioral components, since it doesn't often get talked about; going into business with the wrong mindset will DESTROY you.
- Personal finance topics. I love getting into numbers, statistics, and public data to make better life decisions. I've systematically crushed thousands in credit card debt and boosted my credit score to the 800 range. 'Financial freedom' is very important to me and I know first hand how debilitating it can be to one's mind.
- Also, games are awesome! I've built everything from board games to video games. Love participating in Game Jams, finding new board games to play, and building unique experiences for others to play.
- A few miscellaneous things I can teach: programming, productivity hacks, building computers, bowling, framework for learning new concepts/skills, nutrition hacks, photography, video editing/filming, plenty of other little random things I'll remember when someone mentions it :)

Otherwise, I'm genuinely curious about people and their ambitions. There's always something fun to find in common and talk about over a few beverages!

Countries I’ve Visited

Germany

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States