It’s been a little while and there are a few new faces so here’s a bit about the guy you just started following:
I was born in Richmond, Virginia, and have lived in Blacksburg, Atlanta, Houston, and San Francisco.
I grew up with my parents, brother, and sister - I'm the oldest. I went to Virginia Tech, majored in Industrial & Systems Engineering, and was a part of BASIS where I grew a passion for investing and aspired to work on Wall Street.
I was a 5-year grad because I completed two onsite internships but would have stayed in college as long as they’d let me. I had a ball.
I have a stutter that has ebbed and flowed in severity throughout my life. Unfortunately, it thwarted my Wall Street plans. So after graduation, I moved to Houston, TX and took a job with GE in FP&A. I was good at living in Texas (still some of the kindest people I’ve met). I was not good at working for a big corporation.
After 2 years at GE, a connection at Raymond James hooked me up with an interview, and I moved to San Francisco to work the muni bond desk as an analyst. My Wall Street dreams came true but I quickly realized I was as unhappy as I’d ever been. We’ll come back to this in a bit.
On the positive side, I met my wife at a house party a few months into living in the city. We both worked in finance and liked two-stepping ... she's the better dancer.
Back to Wall Street, I spontaneously collapsed a lung about a year into my new job. The stress was immense, and I was not a great employee. With a little bravery and a whole lot of naivety, I quit to syndicate real estate investments.
I syndicated one deal and have posted about that previously. Turns out I was also not very good at that either. However, I was good at creating pitch decks and proformas. After freelancing with a few other investment firms, the concept for Bullpen was born.
Since its formation, Bullpen has helped more than 300 companies hire for 800+ projects. We have a long way to go - there are more than 3,000 freelancers in our network.
Stay tuned for for more on Bullpen’s startup journey.