Hi, I'm J — a product strategist, builder, author, and 9-time entrepreneur.
I love using tech to solve problems for humans.
For the last thirty years I've been building products and companies. Starting in the late '90s by creating software that helped millions of people make websites, then founding a consulting company where we helped Delta Air Lines, Intercontinental Hotel Group, UPS, and a long list of startups do great things.
I wrote Loops - the book about eary-stage product design. Hosted the Design Driven podcast. More recently I'm building a AI-powered restaurant platform and running a casual Italian restaurant in the north Georgia mountains.
Some of the companies I've helped include:
The Book on Early-stage Product Design
Loops: Building Products with Clarity & Confidence
Loops is the playbook I wish I'd had when I started. The processes, exercises, and methodologies for figuring out what to build, validating it, and building it well — methods I've used at Delta, Google, Samsung, and dozens of startups. In an era when AI is accelerating every phase of the product cycle, that clarity matters more than ever.
Available in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook.
Writing
Read more →What Happens When AI Replaces the Middle Class?
If AI takes over office jobs, what will people do? Where will they work? The honest answer is nobody knows for sure — but restaurants might be part of it.
AI Won't Save You From Building the Wrong Thing
AI-powered lean teams are the new flex in Silicon Valley. But the real advantage isn't fewer people — it's faster learning.
The Interface Is Dead. Now What?
Why the companies closest to the problem will win the AI era — and why that might finally include yours.
Speaking at conferences and leading workshops is one of my favorite parts of the work — discussing ideas out loud, in a room full of people collaborating in real time.
Off the clock
When I'm not at a screen, I'm probably in the kitchen, behind the wine bar, or up in Marble Hill, Georgia — where I own Lucky Hare and Night Train Pizza. The kind of place where you learn whether the work was actually good about five minutes after the plates hit the table.
Let's talk.
Working on something interesting? Want a sharp outside perspective on a thorny product problem? Send a note — the kind of conversation I love starts with a real problem and zero pitch.