Hello World

Hi! I’m Kris. And this is the first post on my personal blog. Since I’m sitting alone at the moment, I’ll just go ahead and interview myself to get this started.

kp: Why did you decide to start this?
KP: Hmmmm…. Great question. I don’t know. Perhaps it was my inner desire to share my life and learnings with the world. I’ve been very fortunate in life. I have an amazing wife who was my high school sweetheart, my daughter is ridiculously awesome and I literally love what I do for a job. Along the way, I’ve had some pretty sweet life experiences and learned a ton about Internet startups, hard work and having fun.

kp: You say that your daughter is “ridiculously awesome.” Why is that?
KP: I see where this is going Kris. You’re one of those people who hates on others who talk about their kids all the time, right? I totally get it and I won’t be doing that here. However, I will say that having a child is truly a magical experience. As someone who was afraid of babies most of my life, a fascination with your kids was something I couldn’t understand until I had one. And I promise every single one of the haters will feel the exact same way if they choose to become parents. For all the others that don’t understand and never will, meh…

kp: Afraid of babies?
KP: Yeah. I was terrified that I’d break them. Can we move on?

kp: Not a lot of people love their jobs. What’s so special about yours?
KP: My brain is wired for hard work and building things. My favorite job ever was working as a laborer for a custom home builder. I spend four summers during high school and college framing houses. There is just something about busting your ass and driving away at the end of the day and seeing the fruits of your labor. Today, I get the same level of satisfaction from building Internet businesses except I don’t get as sweaty. I used to do this stuff nights and weekends outside my real job, but through a little hard work and some luck, I was able to connect with some great people and turn a hobby into my career.

kp: Shifting gears. What’s your favorite food?
KP: [scratching chin in deep thought] I’m not sure I have a favorite. I like a lot of things A LOT, but it’s so hard to pick just one because I’m afraid if someone made me eat that every day for the rest of my life that I’d start to hate it. The food I get excited to eat periodically is Pequod’s deep dish sausage pizza, Chipotle chicken burritos, shrimp tacos, chocolate milkshakes (not the Wiener’s Circle kind) and Cinnabons.

kp: What do you hope to get out of doing this?
KP: I need to get better at enjoying life and making the most of my journeys. I tend to have a “git ‘r done” attitude about a lot of things, and I do them pretty well I might say, but there is so much more to be enjoyed and celebrated along the way. I hope that by having this outlet, I’ll be forced to stop and look around once in awhile so I have something interesting to say here. At the same time, when it comes to starting, operating and raising capital for a startup, I’ve been through a lot for a relatively young midwesterner. Chicago will never be San Francisco, but I’m determined to share what I’ve learned to make Chitown a better place for entrepreneurs, full-time or moonlighters, and the people here who are my neighbors.

Well, that’s it for now, I guess. I’m excited about what’s to come and I hope I’ve inspired you to stop back here at least once or twice more to see what I have going on.

Ciao!