I have a somewhat eclectic background. I grew up in Chicago, first on the south side of the city and then moving to Downers Grove in the western suburbs while in high school. I did my undergrad at Northwestern, studying biomedical engineering. The allure of Europe was strong for me, starting when I made some trips there with friends during high school. Thus, I did my Masters degree in bioengineering at the University of Sussex, in Brighton on the south coast of England, and defended my M Phil in December, 1980, on the now quaint topic of using computer algorithms in the diagnosis neuromuscular diseases. After spending three years working as a lab technician at National Jewish Hospital in Denver, Colorado, I moved to Sweden to do my PhD. This was done partly because I kept getting lured back to the European way of life, but mainly because while in England I met my wife, Merete. She spent the year with me in Colorado, and so by then we were a couple, and moving with her to Sweden to do a PhD in Pharmacology and Neuroscience was a combination of all my favorite things in life. Well, maybe not all.

I defended my PhD thesis in September 1986, on the effects of botulinum toxin on synaptic transmission, a year after the Chicago Bears won their last Super Bowl, and Merete and I moved back to the US to live in the San Francisco Bay area. My first postdoc stint was in the lab of Zach Hall, a prominent investigator who did most of his work studying the molecular makeup of the neuromuscular junction.  After enjoying the fruits of that wonderful city for about three years, our first child was born, and he was forced to live in the hollowed out closet that was the only space for a baby in our apartment.  Deciding it was time to make a life somewhere, we decided to move back to the mountains and outdoor lifestyle of Colorado, and I took another postdoc position with John Caldwell at the University of Colorado Health Science Center, again studying the neuromuscular synapse, this time focusing on molecular composition and regulation of the proteins concentrated there. I also moved into studying the role of certain vesicle types in the growth and differentiation of growing neurons.

Although I was only 32, at this point it was time for me to get a real job, and so I went on the circuit seeing what kind of academic positions I could attract. Although I did receive some opportunities around the country, none were in locations that we really would choose to move to. Thus, I took the next logical step in my career and opened a microbrewery. After spending about a year researching the possibility and finding a promising partner who had good experience in brewing German style lagers and Weiss biers, Tabernash Brewing brought its first beers to the market in September, 1993. After 5 years of consistent awards for the quality of its beers and inconsistent revenue growth, we merged Tabernash with Left Hand Brewing, which was a brewery focused on traditional English style ales. We continued our focus on quality, mainly traditional beers at Left hand, and I remain on their board of directors, doing as much quality control work as I can.

About 8 months after the merger, Left Hand/Tabernash had gotten through much of the process of meshing the two companies, and really didn’t need my expertise or extra salary, and so I moved on to the next phase of my life. One of my best friends, whom I have known since moving to Downers Grove when I was 16, was also moving on from his current position, and discussed with me the possibility of starting a company that would make investments in technology, and also funnel money into the non-profit sector. I started at Tango in December, 1998, and for the next 5 years worked with a great group of people making investments, mainly in early stage companies in the IT sector (this was 1999-2001,the high point of the internet bubble).  I learned a lot about investing, did the first 2 years of the Chartered Financial Analyst program, and met a lot of great people.  However, I really wanted to try to get back into science somehow, and so I began working with a few biotech related companies in the area, as a part time consultant. In 2004, along with my partners Chris and Jerome, I started High Country Venture, which is a venture firm that invests in early stage companies in the IT and Life Science sectors in Colorado. We are currently managing two funds, each around $25m, split approximately evenly between IT and Life Science.