TL;DR: I’m Justin and I write about making things. Products, art, sound, communities, games, businesses, mistakes, newer versions of yourself, and what that all feels like.
For most of my life that meant making tech companies. 20+ years in tech and AI, six exits and one failed startup. Somewhere along the way I stopped making things just for me. I quit drawing in sixth grade, quit singing around the same time, and lost the children’s book I wrote in high school.
And then, like so many of us, life became more about consuming than creating once social media and iPhones took over in the late 2000s.
Then I took a year off in my early 40s, my first ever sabbatical. I quickly took stock of my life up to that point: I had wins & successes, sure. But the most recent memory was my first ever real “L” in the business world, coupled with a series of losses, grief, and unresolved trauma from the past that forced me inward.
That’s when the actual work began.
It started with a question about purpose, “Who am I if I’m no longer a tech CEO?” and led me to rediscovering myself. Remembering.
Who do I want to be? Where do I want to be? Who do I want to be with?
Now I’m making things again, and a lot of them. Music on the handpan. That children’s book, rebuilt from memory. Games, art, poetry, these essays. Because of what it shows me about myself.
So come along for the journey, with lots of stories and reflections along the way. Past, present, and future.
Today, my friend and co-founder Gerhard Molin and I are building Eleven Dunbar, a third space for the real you, capped at 150 people. We also make Levity Field, a podcast where two friends wing it, laugh a lot, and still end up going deep. There are more projects in the works.
A long piece most Sundays, Notes in between. Come make something with us.
Everything I’m making right now:
Eleven Dunbar: a third space for the real you, capped at 150 people.
Elfen Town: the virtual space and social network we’re building inside Eleven Dunbar. Sometimes we build it live on Twitch. We make art, games, and experiences in ET.
Levity Field: our podcast. Two friends. Serious questions. Very unserious people.
JustinTheMaking: my handpan music. Coming soon.
Children’s Book Series, a book, and a fantasy series.
Lucama Studio: where I advise a small number of founders and leaders on high stakes decisions and their inner game.
Find your voice. Find your people. Create your impossible.
