When I was 12, my dad gave me the gift of 'support' and 'encouragement.' Using his credit, he borrowed $1200 for me to buy a riding mower. I mowed 10 lawns a week. He showed me how to write my first checks to pay back the loan. He bought me my first carbon copy invoice pad so I could invoice customers. He pushed me to call my customers when I busted their sprinklers. My mom helped me to win a big rest area client. My dad loaned the family truck to my brother so he could drive me around. My dad forgave me when I drove a very expensive tractor into a light pole.And my parent's support didn't stop there. They encouraged me to tinker. When I wanted to weld a go-kart at 14, they supported me as I tore apart several engines to try to make one work. They didn't seem to complain that the family patio was cluttered with parts for months. The freedom they gave me to take on challenges, to be responsible and take on risk was a gift. They taught me how to work. One summer, they gave me the job of digging the trench for the foundations of a block fence. That consumed hours of my summer digging by hand. Every winter, they asked me to carry in firewood to heat our home. When I was 16, they helped me get a farm job 30 miles away and trusted me to drive a hand-me-down 100 cc motorcycle at 5 am for a day of labor moving sprinkler pipe. They taught me to be adventurous, fearless and to embrace the world. When I was 19, they let me move to Argentina for 2 years of service to my church. When I was 21, I borrowed the family car and moved to Texas to do door-to-door sales. That same year, they helped me borrow money to do a semester study abroad in Jerusalem. Little did I know then how meaningful those parental gifts of support, hard work, resourcefulness, and fearlessness would be.Today I am lucky to be working with exceptional cofounders to build innovative software. We employ amazing people across the globe. While my weaknesses are many, my business skills include product development, marketing, strategy, operations and they are growing in finance and fund raising. I hope to wear out my life being a supportive husband/father, a responsible global citizen, a multi-startup founder, building software solutions to meaningful problems, employing people with life-improving work, living my faith, and engaging in philanthropic projects focused on education.