The Founding of The Flipside, Part III
Balter’s Essays of Mostly Acerbic Witticisms
The Founding of The Flipside, Part III
(Reading part I and part II first recommended)
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Let it be known that it is fully acceptable to apply an armbar to force the perfect cofounder to join your startup.
And that's pretty much what we did to Eric Stone.
And I have absolutely zero shame about it.
Back in 2017, did Jim and I woo Eric slowly, like two cheetahs happening upon a Dorcas Gazelle on the Sahara, with calculated stealth, crouched low to avoid detection? We did, yes we did that. Was he fully aware we were doing this? Who knows, and to be honest, I don't care a lick or even a lil' bit. Because at the right moment we jumped with explosive power, swiped with dewclaws, and locked a suffocating grip on his throat.
Hey, it's the unforgiving desert out there - and it's what we required to transform Flipside from a good startup to a great one.
You see in the earliest days of Flipside's formation, Jim and I hunkered in our conference room each evening, struggling to navigate the process of just buying crypto; it was a nasty bramble of exchanges, ledger cold wallets, 24 phrase passkeys, KYC passport processes and blockchain explorers. But even as we figured this out, a big piece was still missing from the equation: We still weren't quite sure which crypto to buy and - with statistical rigor - why to buy it.
And that's where Eric Stone came in.
We first met Eric in the Summer of 2014 when Smarterer - our skill assessment startup that utilized bayesian algorithms to qualify anyone's skill in anything in 10 questions, 120 seconds - required a savvy data scientist.
Eric interviewed; he was most certainly brilliant, with PHD-level of coursework in statistics completed at Temple, but also wonderfully charming and personable and quirky. There also remained an air of mystery, in that his resume showed post-graduate work forecasting world events for, get this, 'the government.'
So on top of all else, could he be a spy?
Anyway, x-ray glasses and disappearing ink aside, a few months after joining, Smarterer was acquired by Pluralsight, and we all landed there to integrate our technology to help PS to go public. A year or so later, startup wanderlust called, so Jim and I left to launch Mylestone - while Eric stayed for some stability while he plied his craft as Pluralsight's lead data scientist.
And so a few years down the road, and Jim and I are doing the Mylestone by day, while befuddled by crypto at night thing.
What to buy, what to buy?
Hmm, a creative solution: Why don't we call Eric Stone because before he was a spy...er, worked for the government forecasting crop harvests (seriously, you don't buy that cover do you?), Eric had developed swing-trading algorithms for a hedge fund.
And so, lickety split, tap tap, we sent a carrier pigeon over to Eric.
Us (Innocent Cheetas):
"Hey, it's Jim and Dave, remember us? Can we borrow your swing trading algorithm to evaluate crypto assets?"
Stone (Foraging Gazelle):
"Well, umm, it's not that easy. The algos would kinda need to be rebuilt from scratch to work for crypto," he said - as any good spy would. "Yeah, so don't think so."
But, Eric, was curious but also cautious. So, as any Gazelle might do, he pronked (real word), head held high, legs stiff, in an effort to show us predators that while he may be helpful, he was capable of outrunning our overtures should it be required. Soon enough, he was upgrading his algorithms, and as dusk descended each evening, Jim and I turned into diurnal hunters, trading crypto assets and salivating over Eric Stone's prowess.
Finally, with momentum building on our crypto project, he agreed to consider coming aboard.
January 2018, I reached out to Pluralsight's CEO, Aaron Skonnard to inform him of the change. He responded:
"It looks to me like you've intentionally recruited away a key player from Pluralsight in a critical time for our business to benefit your new venture. You did this as a major shareholder, ex-board observer, and major beneficiary from the Pluralsight acquisition of Smarterer. Is this accurate or is there something I'm not seeing here?"
Well, yeah, Skonnard wasn't wrong. But, as I explained to him, it had been three years since the acquisition - and two years since I'd even been with Pluralsight. And I hadn't so much as considered hiring anyone from our old Smarterer team. Zero people. I offered all the reasons why this felt appropriate, and we agreed to a phone call. Once on the horn, Aaron's response was simple:
"All that may be true, but, well ... this isn't just anyone: you took Eric Stone."
You see, as any spy worth their corn predictions will tell you, there's nothing more important than the art of a good disguise. Because in truth, Eric Stone is hardly a mere gazelle.
Eric Stone is more precious than that. More unique. More a 10x of a 10x. In short: he's more a horned steed in the form of an absolute unicorn or, if rodentia is your flavor, maybe the most purplest of squirrels.
Whatever the case may be, we now had Stone's commitment, and the 3rd leg of Flipside's stool in place.
This, of course was brilliant and excellent and amazing - but really only magnified the challenge we had on our hands with Mylestone: We had a team of people working tirelessly there everyday; we had a business that was beginning to work, and capital still to deploy.
And maybe most importantly, valued deeply a trusting relationship with our lead backer, True Ventures and Board Member, Tony Conrad.
So Jim and I devised a plan: At the next Mylestone Board Meeting, we'll provide Tony the Mylestone update as with any board meeting, but then after, once it's complete - we'll walk him through a few slides on the progress of Flipside's Crypto Clubs, just to get his take and thinking.
I mean, what possibly could go wrong?
The Founding of The Flipside, Part IV to follow...