About

I was a happy caterpillar. And I did what caterpillars do best – I consumed. Books, blogs, conferences, I gobbled them all. I was growing fat on ideas, but there was just one problem. I didn’t know I was a caterpillar. And a caterpillar can’t keep consuming forever, it was time to change.

I used to assume something magical happened in a cocoon. But, as I recently learned, the reality is much different. The fat caterpillar literally dissolves into mush. He consumes what he no longer needs and rebuilds himself from scratch. When ready, he must fight his way out of the cocoon. The struggle to escape is the final stage of his metamorphosis. Once he breaks free, he stands triumphant, inflating his wings, ready for flight.

For the caterpillar, this all happens in a handful of days, but for me, it took over 9 months. I huddled in my cocoon and dissolved into mush. I digested everything: the path of my career, why games work, the uniqueness of my family, the love of my wife. I spent a lot of nights, laying in the dark, staring at the ceiling. I had some false starts and made some products that failed, until I began to study the stories in my own life. I realized I didn’t want to do just one single thing. I wanted to combine it all: business, family, games, and life. I was rebuilding, and then I gave the best speech of my life. I broke through my cocoon. Metamorphosis complete. I had become Gigi, ready for flight.