My personal goal is to improve human connections. As a young entrepreneur, I co-founded Vivid Studios, one of the first digital agencies. Instinct (and meditation) led me to understand that brilliant open-minded people would always be in demand and that an outstanding culture was key to delivering great professional services.After leading the sale of Vivid in the late 90s, I explored the patterns of impactful Internet companies, as well as the culture of the free software and open source movements. In 2004, I co-founded the digital transformation agency CivicActions to empower social organizations with emerging free software (and open source) technologies. In 2010, we pivoted from helping NGOs to helping governments leverage public funds into public code, data, design, and knowledge.Our business model was (and still is) to “monetize being present”. We stay clear of monetizing past ideas.We have never strayed from our commitment to open by default and people first.I am on the board of the Free Software Foundation. Specialties: emerging civic tech, remote work, agile methodologies, free software, startups, culture, conflict resolution, neuroscience, meditation, circling.Not so recent press: