Being a dad changes how you think about time.
Yesterday, my oldest turned 5. Five years of watching a human go from barely holding his head up to asking questions I don't know the answer to. Five years of realizing that everything I "build" - businesses, networks, bank accounts - is temporary.
But this kid? He's permanent.
The business lesson nobody tells you
Kids teach you about leverage better than any MBA.
You can't outwork a toddler. You can't negotiate with a 3-year-old. Parenthood forces you to optimize for presence over productivity. "Alignment" stops being a corporate buzzword and becomes getting everyone out the door on time without yelling.
And eventually it clicks: systems matter more than effort.
The diaper bag packed the night before beats the frantic morning scramble. The automated bill pay beats the "I'll handle it later." The business that runs without you beats the one that owns you.
What I'm building now
Highland Private Office exists because I want time with my kids to compound the way money does.
One hour of real presence beats three hours of distracted proximity. One "I'm proud of you" said with eye contact beats a hundred texted encouragements.
The real ROI
Sage is 5 now. In 10 years, he'll be 15 and won't want to hang out with me. In 15 years, he'll be 20 and building his own thing.
I've got maybe a decade left where I get to be the center of his world.
That's the investment I'm optimizing for.
Everything else is just funding the mission.
Where I work
I advise founders through Highland Private Office and help businesses implement AI through Naveron.