About

I’ve spent a decade building software where the stakes were real: contributing to early versions of Coinbase Wallet, Custody, and Prime as the company scaled from 400 to 5,000 people, with these business lines now accounting for significant portions of annual revenue.

I currently run Aqua Flamingo Labs, a small venture studio where I build and consult on software, media, and education projects.

Most of what I do comes down to one question: what do we actually need next? Sometimes that’s identifying hidden friction or a reframe of the whole problem. But sometimes, it’s just someone willing to say the obvious thing out loud that no one else is saying. I tend to be that person but when I’m asked.

The way I think about it: if you have 100 units of energy a day and half of them are going toward fighting an environment that isn’t built for you, nothing moves cleanly. That applies to products, teams, and people equally. My work is usually about finding where the drag is and refining until it isn’t there anymore.

I’m a systems thinker, but I’m equally drawn to the human side of life. I enjoy training in Muay Thai and Ashtanga/vinyasa yoga. I love literature like Dostoevsky, Girard, Krishnamurti and Watts. These aren’t separate interests  they’re the same question from different angles: how does the world actually work, where are we going, and what makes effort feel like effort versus flow?

This site is where I write about concepts I encounter. It’s also home to my podcast Robert Meets World, where I talk to culture theorists, builders, and people enjoying the human experience. 

If any of this resonates, I’d like to hear from you.