thumbs up..

1. Can you recall one person of a leadership position that you admire & how they have influenced your life? (Professional or otherwise)

Tim Ferriss. He is a New York Times bestseller, but the reason I admire him is he is always willing to challenge the status quo and try to improve things. He doesn't except things without testing assumptions. This is very important in order to grow and develop everything from products to customer relationships to investment strategies.

2. How would you encourage creative thinking and collaboration between all members involved in an organization?

I believe that open communication is key. The people who work on the front lines often have great ideas that are never communicated up because there is no system in place for communication. It is important that there are common goals set in place for everyone to work towards because this is a more productive management style than a dictator-style leadership method. Open communication and common goals will get results every time when executed properly.

3. Can you recall any online web based technologies that have assisted you in your past or current occupation or profession, and describe in detail the benefits?

I have used twitter extensively to promote the company and interact with customers. This has generated a more active customer base who are plugged in to the company and actively engaged in its affairs.

4. What type of cell phone do you own and why did you pick it?

Droid Eris. I picked it when it was first released because of the increased number of apps compared to Blackberry that were available and the potential for the future. It has been instrumental in communicating with customers and being productive.

5. The Mission for the company is, “Using Good Faith business principals such as integrity, trust, and loyalty, we are focused on building a successful open collaboration company that benefits our Investors, Guests, and Company.” Can this mission line up with your personal beliefs, and then please explain why or why not?

I am a big fan of open communication as I previously mentioned. I like collaboration and this is one reason I chose the Android operating system mentioned in the last question. I believe that when people get together with a common goal, a synergistic effect can be achieved and great things can be accomplished.

6. Can you explain what your knowledge of the past housing boom and bust is. When you first heard of it and what you’ve learned?

There were many factors which contributed to the housing bubble and bust which I do not have space to discuss adequately, but I will try to summarize my beliefs. The government leaned on banks to loan money to people who were not qualified for financing and the banks buckled under the pressure. The results from loosening requirements and loaning to unqualified people caused a large bubble from a surge in home buying. Bubbles can only grow for so long, and eventually when many adjustable rate mortgages came due, people who should not have had loans in the first place were not able to make their payments and thus defaulted. This led to the bust.

Bubbles can occur in any market, especially when free enterprise is tampered with. My takeaway is to look at 3-5 year graphs before making investments to try to spot bubbles. Depending on the risk I'm willing to take, I decide whether to invest or not but always calculate the potential bubble factor into my risk.