First, the inspiration. It’s 2012, I’m a decade into my dream of redefining the traditional menswear store having piloted a small private, social club addition to it for two years. After months of back-and-forth, I’m about to sign a 10-year, $10M lease on 22,000 square feet of retail and office space in a national historic landmark building in downtown San Francisco.

The Godfather was the last fiction book I read back in my freshman year of college for Poli Sci 2. It’s been all non-fiction, mostly business books, ever since. Not great, I know. And many of the business books I’ve read are very forgettable. These three are not. They’ve had a huge influence on my life and career, and you can read more to find out why…

Throughout this site, you might come across a reference to Wingtip, a business I founded and ran from late-2002 until early-2018. It included a men’s retail component and a private social club and it was based in San Francisco’s Financial District. Wingtip taught me many of the bar & restaurant tricks I incorporate into my dinner, so if you wanted to learn more...