About
About me
My work has unfolded across two worlds: the startup world of Silicon Valley and the world of Tibetan Buddhism.
After earning degrees in business from Indiana University and law from Harvard, I built the first technology transactions law practice at Silicon Valley's largest law firm. Having provided strategic counsel to many startups, I left the law to become a startup executive.
That culminated in being CFO, a member of the Office of the President, and a Board member at Pixar Animation Studios—a story I tell in my book To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History. You can also hear about it in a recent talk I gave at the Computer History Museum for the 30th anniversary of Toy Story.
The opening essay in this project—To Buddha and Beyond: My Journey from Pixar to Buddhism—describes the transition from that world into decades of study in philosophy, contemplative practice, and the nature of mind.
My aim is not to build a mass audience but to create a community of thoughtful explorers curious about what lies beyond the surface of modern life. I hope you'll read along and stay in touch—I'd genuinely love to hear from you.
With gratitude
I offer these acknowledgements in the spirit of recognizing that anything we create is only the visible crest of forces that have been moving for a very long time. Whether at Pixar or this project, I don’t see myself as the author so much as the person helping an already moving force rise to its next expression. I am privileged to have been shaped and guided by much love and wisdom, and feel tremendous gratitude:
To my Buddhist teacher, Segyu Choepel Rinpoche, who opened the world of Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism to me with mountain-like patience and skill. Without the depth of his transmission, nothing in these pages would exist.
To my wife, Hillary, partner in life, extraordinary practitioner, intuitive, and wise—her loving insight and our endless collaboration on practice and content have shaped this project and kept me on track more times than I can count.
To my fellow Juniper co-founders:
Christina Juskiewicz, Buddhist nun and fellow traveler whose quiet wisdom, dedication, and clarity have inspired this work for years;
and Pam Moriarty, dear friend, devoted practitioner, the embodiment of quiet generosity and care.
To my children:
Jason, whose brilliant instincts as a writer and creative thinker push my work into places I cannot always see or am reluctant to go;
Sarah, whose courage, tenacity, and boundless enthusiasm for life remain a continual source of inspiration;
and Jenna, whose deep understanding of human behavior provides the guardrails I often need.
To my granddaughters, Elle and Brynn, who remind me—simply by being who they are—why any of this matters.
To my family, Joanne, Carolyn, Lindsey, Nicole, David, Carley, Kyle, and Evan, whose joie de vivre enriches my life immeasurably.
To Ellen, cousin and cherished companion on the Buddhist journey, and her husband Mike, and his insatiable curiosity.
To my close Dharma friends, Boston and Bjorn, whose thoughtfulness, integrity, and friendship have shaped this project in ways they may never fully realize.
To my dear friends whose companionship and wisdom have supported me more than they know—Alan Fant, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, Terry Moriarty, Peter Baumann, Peter Glassman, Jim Cusick, James Shaheen, Tom Murray, Todd Cassese, and Jill Dallas.
To the luminaries of my practice tradition—Saraha, Nagarjuna, and Je Tsongkhapa—whose genius echoes through the ages, and whose written works sit behind my desk at all times.
To the Western Buddhist scholars Edward Conze and Herbert Guenther, whose pioneering translations and commentaries paved the way for practitioners like me.
To Bernardo Kastrup, whose courageous and utterly brilliant work in analytical idealism has helped me more than he's likely to ever know.
To the many hands, seen and unseen, who carried this lineage through history so it could reach our shores.
If this project has any value, it is thanks to all of you.