The Story Behind Plinth
I STARTED PLINTH 2 YEARS AFTER I WENT ON A MID-LIFE CRISIS TOUR ACROSS AMERICA. ON MY EPIC ROAD TRIP I DID A LOT OF SOUL SEARCHING AND REALIZED I HAD A GIFT. THROUGH SHEER WILL AND SEEING THROUGH MY INNER EYE, I COULD BUILD EXPERIENCES INTO BRANDS THAT TURNED BRANDS INTO BUSINESSES.
I prospered through the first .com boom as a web designer comfortable with code, but I quickly learned that I could apply my design skills beyond the pixels on a screen and build experiences in the real world around music. I went on to be a founding member of an artists / music collective called Massive Selector.
Massive Selector
We produced epic soulful music events across the Bay Area that focused on building the best experiences ever. We programmed nights where like minds gathered, dj’s would drop gems, people would groove into a higher state, and possibly find love. Along this journey I co-founded a boutique design firm, but gained real prominence when music led to food.
Our 10yr anniversary to all things Stevie Wonder: Wonder-full
Poleng Lounge
I co-founded Poleng Lounge in 2006 which quickly became a San Francisco Chronicle Top 10 restaurant. An amazing feat for a first time restauranteur in our nation’s food and wine epicenter.
Poleng had an amazing run bring Filipino food into the mainstream which lead to The Summit.
THE SUMMIT SF
I was at the peak of my restauranteur game in 2010 when The Summit opened with great fanfare. We were the world’s first cafe / incubator backed by a fledgling venture fund. The Summit was the juncture where SF’s techies, free thinkers, and foodies collided. I was surrounded by other tastemakers, innovators, and entrepreneurs and quickly learned that spirit of entrepreneurship and the quest to do big things and shake-up the status quo reverberated across all fields. The disruptive power entrepreneurs were harnessing was attracting more like minds, big money, and charlatans looking to siphon the ever growing wealth that was being created.
Through a series of misfortunes, man’s tendency towards greed, and mistakes made on my part - it all came crashing down in 2012. I fell from the summit and I was lost trying to figure out what I did wrong and most importantly, where do I go from here?
Eastern Addition
During this dark time I kept resilient. I tried my hand at design again, but quickly missed having a community of foodies around me. Four friends of mine felt the same way and we tried our hand at the burgeoning pop-up dinner scene and experimented with this phenomena call Kickstarter.
My first crowdfunding campaign was eye opening. It was intense period of time that reminded me of building a new business from the ground up. In 3 months we would develop a concept and revenue model, create a marketing campaign, fundraise, and build out our operations. It was more complicated than I expected, but luckily my past ventures and my skill set as a designer, owner / operator prepared me well.
Other crowdfunding project creators aren’t so lucky. The tools and best practices on the internet don’t prepare people properly, and lot of sites and so called “experts” peddle tactics not tested in the real world. Everyone sells you the dream, but do they prepare you for the reality?
Entrepreneurship is highly personal because new ventures are the embodiment a of a person’s hopes and dreams. There are companies, consultants, and the like that capitalize on entrepreneurs ambitions for personal gain. I want to change all of that.
Plinth
Plinth is the next chapter in my career. Plinth is the synthesis of what I know best. Plinth is a merger of strategy, design, and execution.
Plinth in architecture is the base of a column. Plinth is my lab to develop new concepts. Plinth is a creative agency that builds successful crowdfunding campaigns for innovative clients.
Plinth is a platform for me to pay it forward by helping other free thinkers and entrepreneurs realize their dreams.
Plinth is a building block for growth.
