Hey friend 👋,
My name's Drew. I'm an entrepreneur, software engineer, and writer living in Charlottesville, VA.
In 2017, after working as a freelance video producer and motion graphics artist, I started producing animated explainers on YouTube. My goal was to show how stories about seemingly innocuous topics can profoundly shape the way we see the world.
I loved writing and producing those videos, but running a YouTube channel is really hard. I was fortunate enough to join a few online creator communities to help share the struggle. But unfortunately, I realized that the tools we used in those communities weren't very conducive to fostering strong communities of practice.
Which sparked in me the naive thought every founder has when they start a company: "What if I built it myself?"
I ran Lumastic - a collaborative project management tool for YouTube creators - for the next 4 years. We went through many of the ups and downs of startup life until I eventually burnt myself out, we ran out of money, and made the hard decision to move on.
Running Lumastic with my business partner Keith will likely go down as one of the most defining periods of my life. I learned so much about who I want (and don't want) to be as a person and an entrepreneur.
I write those learnings here on my blog and talk about them on my podcast. But for the past year, I've also been incorporating them into a book called The Five Vices of Founders which will be coming out in 2025.
To learn more about the book and be notified when it comes out, you can subscribe to my newsletter.
The life stuff
Home to me is being in the Blue Ridge Mountains with my wife and my dog. Currently, I work as a growth engineer at a software company called Sanity that makes content publishing software for major brands. Outside of work, I love board sports, cooking, and playing music with friends.
Want to connect?
I'm always happy to meet with interesting folks or founders looking for a sounding board.