I have had one of those eclectic careers during which I have been able to move from idea to idea, somehow without (necessarily) falling flat on my face each time. My experience spans financial markets, media and technology.

I recently joined the faculty of Washington & Lee University as an Assistant Professor within the Williams School of Commerce, Economics & Politics.  W&L is one of those cool, liberal arts universities distinguished not only by its USNews rankings (14), but also by its possession of schools/programs of/in Commerce, Law, and Journalism (which most top Liberal Arts colleges do not possess).

I am also a PhD Candidate in Management & Organization Studies at Vanderbilt University, within the Owen Graduate School of Management. I try to look beyond the gizmos to understand how technologies such as automation play an integral role within modern organizations. I try to understand not only how, why, and what happens when people and machines work together to get things done.  Of particular interest to me is the role automation plays in innovation – an outcome least often associate with programmed work – developing new opportunities and new kinds of work.  My catch phrase: How and why might automation lead not only to the end of work as we knew it, but also to the beginning of work we never knew?

Here is a link to my online CV.

EDUCATION

PROFESSIONAL

Immediately after my undergraduate degree, I worked as a trading assistant, and shortly thereafter as a market maker at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. My experience on the floor crossed currencies, index and commodity options. I eventually founded my own firm (Vega) and focused on currency options (primarily the Japanese Yen). In my time trading (seven years), I never experienced a losing quarter. As the exchange became more “electronic,” coincident with a good proportion of currency operations moving over the counter, I decided it was time for a change.

In 1998, I founded two digital music websites - Noisebox and Audiodiner. Both sites were featured in a number of news outlets (e.g., Wired, Chicago Tribune, Crains, Hong Kong Morning Post, PCMagazine) for their experimentation in legal, online music delivery (subscriptions, alternative royalty models, curated search). Being “legit” had its shortcomings however, as the music industry felt no real drive (yet) to shift attention online and experiment with new models – instead, often choosing to sue technologies into humility. My sites were eventually acquired by Sonique, a media player company.  I was also involved with a media service provider that was acquired by Launch (now part of Yahoo!).

At Sonique, I led marketing and online content for what became one of the more popular, software-based media players. In a matter of months, Sonique was downloaded tens of millions of times and the site became a popular destination for skins, plug-ins and music. In late 1999, Sonique was acquired by Lycos. At Lycos, we worked alongside the Wired Digital folks, and I continued my role in marketing and media strategy.

In 2000, I began work on a site called MyFilms.com, a community for sharing digital videos online. Hosting and bandwidth costs for video at that time were rather intimidating, so I shelved the project (i.e., I failed). Five years later, YouTube, Revver and a number of other ventures would prove a market might actually exist. I recently sold the domain to a firm representing the UK Film Council.

In 2001, I was invited to lead the marketing for Kick, Inc. The team at Kick had built an awesome system for personalizing the media experience – primarily music (think Last.fm, four years too early). Online profiles, personalized media portals, all based upon actual, individual, and willingly shared music experiences. Kick was acquired by Sony later that year. One of the double-takes of this history is that Kick, a maker of a media player plug-in that augmented the music experience, rented office space from a company owned by the Partovi brothers, who now operate iLike, a media player plug-in that augments the music experience. Weird. We had to walk through the showroom of Zappos to get to our office.

In 2002, I led a team of consultants on a wireless (cellular and data) project for McDonald’s corporate. MCD wireless, in the form of a system of cellular options and WiFi hotspots now exists throughout the United States.  I also began work on a digital distributor for music, but was rebuffed by the focus of music survices and storefronts – PressPlay, MusicNet, and Rhapsody at the time – upon first licensing major rather than indie music catalos (my frustration became the fish that got away).

While completing my MBA, I worked for fun as a writer and features editor for Joystiq, a video game news site within the Engadget domain. The site was acquired by AOL as part of the Weblogs, Inc. acquisition.

In the summer between my MBA and the PhD program, I worked as a research assistant for the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance, in New York.

Since 2000, I have consulted for various clients in the media industry – AgentArts (acquired by Fast Search / Microsoft), ViewStream, and Musicfans.com. Most recently, I have worked with the chief economist (Will Page) of the MCPR-PRS Alliance on various projects related to the licensing of new internet music providers (PDF), and the opportunities/challenges/dilemmas (PDF) presented by information networks and file sharing.  Versions of our work have been released publicly, and while apparently controversial, have helped to trigger a discussion around how various alternatives – e.g., financial instruments, tiered licenses – might bridge the gap that exists between copyright, new technologies, and music licensing terms.  This work has been covered by Wired, The Register, Digital Media Wire , ContentAgenda, and other media news outlets.