acknowledgments

I have a lot of people to thank for this book finally coming to fruition, starting with my wife of 43 years, Carole Hohl (affectionately known as “Carole with an ‘e’”). Through all these 35 years of startups, including a move away from “safe” North Carolina to earthquake-prone California, she has always been supportive, even during all those sleepless nights and cold sweats. And when one startup ended, and she was sure that was it, Carole remained supportive (tolerant?) while I got the next one going, sometimes with an (understandable) roll of her eyes. Once settled in Boston, I had the incredibly masochistic idea of doing a startup in Portland, Oregon, commuting there from Boston—and she was tolerant (but rolled her eyes even more). As for this book, she watched as I dedicated mornings from 4:00 to 6:00 a.m. to it; and anecdote by anecdote, she asked probing questions that made it much better. She is the love of my life.