I am incredibly lucky and grateful for Peter Kaufman’s friendship and mentorship. He has taught me so much about business and, more importantly, about life and character. He has made me a better person and taught me the importance of making things simple, relatable, and actionable. He is a living embodiment of The Latticework in action and his ideas and values permeate this resource. This labor of love would not have been possible without him, and his generosity in teaching these ideas inspired me to take this project on.
Simplicity is the end result of long, hard work; not the starting point.
I am beyond lucky to have so many people in my life who care, love, and support me.
My wife, Danielle, brings color, sunshine, and laughter into my life and other’s lives as well. I couldn’t ask for a better friend, partner, or wife. She not only gives me the space to pursue projects like this one, but encourages me. We make an amazing team, having shared vision, values, and complementary skills. I can’t thank her enough for her patience, encouragement, and for the untold number of drafts she has read and re-read. I love you, Danielle. Thank you for being you.
We also have a new addition to our family, our beautiful baby daughter, who inspires me to become a better person every day. Sequoia, this resource is written with you in mind and I hope it sparks your curiosity one day.
You can’t choose your parents, but I somehow won the lottery. My parents, Blas and Karin, have always given me unconditional love and support – the only thing a child could ever ask for. You two have set an incredibly high bar for Danielle and me as parents, and I can’t wait to spend my life trying to live up to it. Viktor and Anna, I can’t imagine better siblings and I love you more than you know.
I also have several mentors and friends who have dramatically influenced me, and they deserve a bigger “thank you” than I can ever express. Specifically, I am deeply indebted to Santiago Montoya, Paul Buser, Rick Buhrman Andrew Carreon, John Garry, Steve Serito, Chris Begg, Patrick O’Shaughnessy, Brent Beshore, Steve Blass, Ryan Sachire, Bobby Bayliss, Niall Fitzgerald, Matt Johnson, Tyler Davis, Ryan Bandy, Greg Andrews, Jamieson Gray, and several others who I’m sure I’m forgetting and I apologize in advance. Thank you for taking the time to coach, encourage, and push me. Like an axe needs a whetstone, people need other people to keep their edge, and there are no better “whetstones” than you all.
All of these people have guided me and enriched my life beyond belief, and they have made all the difference in the world to me. I love all of them, will be forever indebted to them, and consider my relationship with them the most rewarding part of my life. As the Turkish proverb goes, “No road is long with good company,” and these people are good company. I hope you are lucky enough to experience and be part of a group like this who is all-in, expresses unconditional love and support, and is able and willing to teach you while still giving you the space to try and fail.
As strange as it may sound, I also have many people to thank who I have never met before. In one’s learning journey, one should prioritize the lessons and books which have stood the test of time, and starting with the exemplars below is an inspiring place to begin.1Yes, these people all had flaws. Yes, we should acknowledge that. Yes, we should still learn from them – keep the juice and toss the rind.
Vicarious learning from the experiences of others saves making errors yourself, but I regard the study of successes as being basically more important than the study of failure. As I will say several times, there are so many ways of being wrong and so few of being right, studying successes is more efficient, and furthermore when your turn comes you will know how to succeed rather than fail!
– Richard Hamming, Learning to Learn
