Phenom, a 500 Startups Company

Too Long; Didn't Read

In writing this piece, I find it funny how things always tend to come full circle. Five years ago I met an incredibly intelligent man in the Cleveland Airport named <a href="http://energy.case.edu/advisory-board/saillant" target="_blank">Dr. Roger Saillant</a>. Roger has had an illustrious career in the private sector, and more recently, has been the Executive Director of Cleveland’s own <a href="https://weatherhead.case.edu/centers/fowler/" target="_blank">Case Western Reserve University Fowler Center for Sustainable Value</a>. In talking with Roger, he said to me, “Brian, you know you’re ready once you can answer three simple questions; <em>Why this? Why us? Why now? </em>At the time I was still a kid and I didn’t really understand what he meant, but in business and in life I believe that there is a lot of power in the <em>“Why”.</em> Why are we doing what we do? As a member of a team, why was I asked to complete a certain task? And as it relates to <a href="https://hackernoon.com/tagged/phenom" target="_blank">Phenom</a> of late, why did we move across the country from our hometown of Cleveland to San Francisco?