Three Generations Under One Roof | Eben Pingree (father of 3, founder at Kinsome)

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My son was born four weeks ahead of time.

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I had a million things that I was
going to get done in those last

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four weeks before he was born.

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And of course that all
just goes out the window.

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And similarly, our son and our
daughter are four years apart.

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And, you know, in my head.

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We were going to have another kid two
years later, two and a half years later.

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And it was going to be just
like me and my brothers.

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And, you know, with miscarriages and
all this stuff that just teaches you,

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you know, trying to plan these big
life things can be a fool's errand.

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Sometimes you just have to be
grateful for the way things happen.

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Welcome to Startup Dad, the podcast where
we dive deep into the lives of dads,

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podcast where we Who are also leaders
in the world of startups and business.

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I'm your host, Adam Fishman.

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In today's conversation, I
sat down with Eben Pingree.

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Eben is a serial startup founder
who is currently building a

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company called Kinsome, which is
focused on helping grandkids better

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connect with their grandparents.

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He's co founded and sold multiple
companies over the past 10 years.

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He's a husband and the
father of three kids.

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In our conversation today we spoke a
lot about what it's like growing up

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in the same house you were raised in.

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Eben and his wife live in a multi
generational building with units

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that also house his parents, his
brother, and his brother's family.

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All together there are six
grandkids, four adults, and two

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grandparents under one roof.

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We talked about some of Evan's earliest
memories of fatherhood, parenting

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advice he'd give his younger self, and
how he's balanced the pressures of a

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decades long career in startups with
being present for his kids and wife.

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Hello, I would like to welcome Eben
Pingree to the Startup Dad program.

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Eben, it is a pleasure to have you here.

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Thank you for joining me.

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Thank you

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for having me.

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So I found you on the internet.

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I'm not sure how, but you started
a very interesting company that I

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thought would be really relevant.

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And your background is kind of related
to this company and your priorities.

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So why don't you tell me a little bit
about your professional background?

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What would you say you do

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here?

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When I first graduated from school, just
a couple of years ago, maybe 20 years

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ago, I thought I wanted to be a writer.

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So many people thought I was going
to be the next great American writer.

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And I did manage to get a job working
for one of my favorite authors,

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Dave Eggers out in San Francisco.

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So I started working for
McSweeney's for a little bit.

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Moved to a bigger publishing house
and had some great experiences,

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got to work on a book about Bruce
Springsteen, who's one of my heroes.

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That wouldn't happen to
be Nebraska, would it?

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That was not the book, no.

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No, this was about his band,
about the E Street Band.

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I'm

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going to see Bruce Springsteen perform
in two weeks in Phoenix, Arizona.

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My dad is a huge Bruce Springsteen fan.

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It's part of his belated birthday present.

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Is this the first show for you?

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It is the first show for me.

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It is not the first show for my
own father, who has probably seen

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him a hundred times in concert.

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He's a huge fan of the boss.

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So that

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is awesome.

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I'm probably in the thirties
or forties, but we'll have

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to touch base after the show.

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I will

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definitely do that.

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Yeah.

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Going back, I realized after a short
stretch that as much as I loved

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reading and writing, it was not what
I wanted to make my career out of

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somehow made the jump to a very random
world of institutional investing,

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actually followed my older brother
there, which is a theme for my life.

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I pretty much just followed him
for the first 25 years of my life.

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So moved into this weird world of working
for endowments and helping them invest.

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Gravitated towards a venture capital
and kind of started to learn about the

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startup world from 10, 000 foot view.

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And eventually realized I wanted to
kind of move closer to the action.

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And so I made the pretty expensive
decision to go back to business school,

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to make that transition and ended up
kind of going to the other extreme.

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So I founded a company.

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When I was in business school, it
was a kind of private messaging app.

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And so I just kind of dove into the
fire and that company, I made every

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mistake you could ever imagine,
but still walked away, just kind of

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completely hooked on the startup pace
and just the, you know, waking up every

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day with a million different problems
that you have no idea how to solve and

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just kind of having to figure it out.

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So.

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I've kind of been in tech now for 10
or 11 years, all pretty early stage.

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I went from there to a company called
session M that built loyalty marketing

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software and was in a product role.

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That company sold the master card.

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I went over to a company
called ever true, which built

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fundraising software for schools.

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And I ran the product team
there for about five years.

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And that company also sold.

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And that kind of took me
up to my latest adventure.

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And what is that latest adventure?

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Tell me

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about it.

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Yeah.

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So less than a year ago, I founded a
company called Kinsome, which is focused

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on trying to strengthen the bonds
between grandparents and grandkids.

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Very cool.

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We're going to get into that a lot more.

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Do you have a strong relationship
with your grandparents or did you?

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I'm not sure if they're still

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around.

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They are not anymore.

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I did.

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I think I had a good, fairly kind of
typical relationship with my grandparents

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in terms of kind of modern day America.

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But I'd say my inspiration for
starting Kinsome is much more based on.

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My kind of current family, my kids and
their relationship with my parents.

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I live in a intergenerational building.

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I live in an apartment below my parents.

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I'm in a two bedroom with
three kids below them.

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And then below me is actually my
younger brother with three more kids.

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We've got another brother
across town with four kids.

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So.

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We have a lot, a lot of family
around and I've become a, just a

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huge believer in kind of how powerful
those intergenerational bonds can be

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for my kids to have my parents kind
of constantly giving them positive

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attention and then, you know, doting
on them, I think is very healthy for

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my kids, especially because my parents
are just, they're at a less distracted

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stage of life than my wife and I.

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And for my parents to have six
grandchildren under the same roof as them

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kind of keeps them very active, I'll say
probably more active than they'd like,

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but I think it's very healthy for them.

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And then for my wife and I at this kind
of crazy stage in life where we're trying

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to keep, Three young humans alive and,
you know, starting to have to help with

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my parents a lot more and at the peak
of our careers, I think just having my

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parents and my kids kind of watching
out for each other in their own ways is

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a huge, both source of joy and kind of
guilt and stress relief for me, I'd say.

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Yeah.

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And you mentioned your older
brother lives like down the

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street from you or nearby, right?

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Yeah, he's

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nearby.

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He had too many kids
to fit in the building.

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He has four boys.

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Oh my God.

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Wow.

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There's a

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lot of, there's a lot of
children in your family.

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There's a lot of grandkids.

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So what was

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life like growing up?

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Did you grow up in this building that
you live in now with your parents?

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We grew up in the apartment
that I am now living in.

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Uh, so.

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Very recently, I switched apartments
with my parents to get a, they

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couldn't do the stairs anymore.

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So I recently moved into the apartment
I grew up in, which is very surreal.

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And we're kind of just now in the phase
of kind of getting our kids set up.

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And it's just a constant lot of deja vu.

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And you know, all these daily kind
of stories being remembered as

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they're getting settled up there.

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But yeah, we grew up right in the city.

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My parents moved.

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To this area in the early seventies
and bought a building where they could

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rent a couple of apartments below them.

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So we always had tenants.

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And now those are the apartments that my
brother and I moved into eventually, and

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it was very much kind of city living.

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We walked everywhere, took
the T, went to school, through

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high school, right in the city.

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And it's kind of the only,
only life I've known.

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I've pretty much always lived
in cities other than when I

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was at college and grad school.

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Yeah.

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You mentioned the T, so I
assume that that is Boston.

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Which I think you told me in our prep.

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So

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we are right, right downtown in Boston.

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Okay.

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So what were you like as a
kid growing up in Boston?

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I'm curious to hear about
you were a middle child.

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So what was life like as the middle
child growing up in your household?

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I was pretty painfully shy.

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I think anyone that knew me
back then would agree with that.

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I was.

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Some of that is probably middle sibling.

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My older brother was pretty gregarious
and outgoing and my young little

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brother was kind of, I don't know,
a little wild, incredible athlete.

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And I was just kind of keep
me out of the spotlight.

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I'll just kind of hang
out in the corner here.

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Classic middle

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child.

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Exactly.

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Under the radar.

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Exactly.

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Yeah.

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I mean, I was super
close with my brothers.

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We have kind of a, Like if people
hear about our family, they

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often remark on just how weirdly
tight my brothers and I are.

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We went to the same schools
through, through college.

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We all moved to San Francisco and
lived in a house together there

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for seven years after college.

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And now we're back
raising our kids together.

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So somehow we've kind of
managed to stay very close.

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And I think growing up, that
was a big, big part of my

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life.

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Who in the family was the
first one to have kids?

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Your older

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brother?

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My older brother, yeah.

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Okay.

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My older brother, I think.

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Yeah, he was the first one married
and, and first one to have kids.

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Do you seek him out for parenting advice
from time to time, or how does the

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parenting advice flow in your family
with, you know, 10 children within a two

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block, two to four block radius from one

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another?

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I think there was a period
when he actually had this.

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First two kids.

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So I was a uncle twice over before
I had my first, but he was still

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living out in San Francisco.

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He hadn't moved back quite yet.

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So that was from afar.

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So I would get tastes of it when I'd
go to visit San Francisco, but it was

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kind of short enough where I didn't see,
you know, everything that came with it.

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So I don't know that it kind
of fully allowed me to go into

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what I was doing eyes wide open.

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So I was still becoming a parent.

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It was still very

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shocking.

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You know, speaking of which,
let's talk about that.

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You have a partner, you have
a wife, you have three kids.

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How did you and your wife meet each other?

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This story is kind of nuts.

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I was working for an investment
consulting firm out in California.

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I was running the team of associates
and the company was based in Boston.

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So I would come back
home to host trainings.

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And because my parents happen to
live in the city, I would sometimes

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Host the new associates for drinks
or whatever, after training.

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And my wife was a couple of
years behind me in college.

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00:11:53,709 --> 00:11:57,920
And we actually met for the first
time when she came over to my

242
00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:00,000
parents house, which is now my house.

243
00:12:00,369 --> 00:12:02,849
So, it's all very, very strange.

244
00:12:02,849 --> 00:12:05,589
We, we literally met in what
is now our, our living room.

245
00:12:07,439 --> 00:12:08,269
That is strange.

246
00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:09,050
It is, yeah.

247
00:12:09,079 --> 00:12:10,530
It's hard to wrap your head around.

248
00:12:10,709 --> 00:12:12,569
We did not ever think we
would be living there.

249
00:12:12,649 --> 00:12:17,369
But I worked with her for three or four
years after that, and the rest is history.

250
00:12:17,909 --> 00:12:18,400
All right.

251
00:12:18,429 --> 00:12:19,659
And you have three kids.

252
00:12:20,015 --> 00:12:21,965
A nine year old, a five
year old, a three year old.

253
00:12:22,005 --> 00:12:22,805
Is that right?

254
00:12:23,125 --> 00:12:23,505
Yes.

255
00:12:23,505 --> 00:12:25,584
One's turning three in a couple of weeks.

256
00:12:25,745 --> 00:12:26,385
Okay.

257
00:12:26,405 --> 00:12:28,314
Well, you've got all
the bases covered there.

258
00:12:28,334 --> 00:12:31,074
No teenagers yet, but you're on the way.

259
00:12:31,214 --> 00:12:36,434
So tell me a little bit about
what your wife does for work.

260
00:12:36,444 --> 00:12:41,165
And then what was the decision like
for the two of you to start a family?

261
00:12:41,555 --> 00:12:47,194
Were you like, Hey, we're in our
parents, our living room now we

262
00:12:47,194 --> 00:12:51,665
should, you know what, let's Have
kids how'd that conversation go?

263
00:12:51,775 --> 00:12:52,655
Yeah, so

264
00:12:52,655 --> 00:12:57,604
my wife works at Fidelity We both
went to Tuck business school graduated

265
00:12:57,755 --> 00:13:02,134
a decade ago, and she's been there
pretty much ever since so in a lot

266
00:13:02,134 --> 00:13:05,015
of ways I think you'll probably
hear throughout this conversation.

267
00:13:05,015 --> 00:13:11,660
We are Case of opposites attract
she loves Big companies, stability.

268
00:13:11,670 --> 00:13:16,560
She has no problem kind of navigating
the bureaucracy and she loves it there.

269
00:13:16,570 --> 00:13:18,389
She's had a great experience.

270
00:13:18,540 --> 00:13:23,070
I wouldn't last a day there, but it
makes for a good partnership because

271
00:13:23,070 --> 00:13:27,735
I am able to take a little bit more
risk career wise and It's worked out

272
00:13:27,795 --> 00:13:32,885
pretty well in that sense in terms of
the decision to have kids we'd always

273
00:13:32,915 --> 00:13:38,075
kind of just talked about it like it
was just when we were Moving into the

274
00:13:38,365 --> 00:13:42,934
apartment that we were in for nine years
in the building, you know It was oh,

275
00:13:42,935 --> 00:13:47,365
this will be the kids room But I don't
know that my wife might tell a different

276
00:13:47,365 --> 00:13:52,234
story that there was like an explicit
Conversation like now is the time.

277
00:13:52,234 --> 00:13:56,935
And I think my wife tends to decide
things and, uh, then they happen.

278
00:13:57,045 --> 00:14:02,534
So it was, uh, probably more like that,
but it was always just having kids was

279
00:14:02,535 --> 00:14:04,855
always kind of a big part of our plan.

280
00:14:04,864 --> 00:14:07,194
And then we had one and then more came.

281
00:14:07,234 --> 00:14:08,274
So did

282
00:14:08,275 --> 00:14:14,164
you have any pressure from your next door
neighbors slash parents to start a family?

283
00:14:14,775 --> 00:14:18,255
Yeah, they were pretty excited about
having grandkids, especially because the

284
00:14:18,255 --> 00:14:21,214
first two were still out west at the time.

285
00:14:21,244 --> 00:14:27,025
So I do think we delivered the first one
in Boston, and then there was this ongoing

286
00:14:27,424 --> 00:14:29,444
pressure to deliver the first girl.

287
00:14:29,454 --> 00:14:34,344
So we had my mom and had three boys,
and then went on to have, of the ten

288
00:14:34,354 --> 00:14:36,415
grandkids, it's nine boys and one girl.

289
00:14:36,425 --> 00:14:41,424
So that was the main pressure, just
keep having kids until there's a girl.

290
00:14:41,425 --> 00:14:44,745
That could be dangerous.

291
00:14:44,765 --> 00:14:46,464
You end up with a lot of, a

292
00:14:46,464 --> 00:14:47,305
lot more kids.

293
00:14:48,155 --> 00:14:49,505
Thankfully we got one.

294
00:14:49,515 --> 00:14:51,645
And at that point, my mom was happy.

295
00:14:52,910 --> 00:14:57,170
What is the earliest memory
that you have of becoming a dad?

296
00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:01,820
I remember Cole, my oldest,
I remember him being born.

297
00:15:01,820 --> 00:15:02,990
He arrived pretty early.

298
00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,800
He was, I think like four,
three or four weeks early.

299
00:15:06,030 --> 00:15:09,399
He was kind of like a little
gremlin when she was born.

300
00:15:09,409 --> 00:15:11,629
So he was like very small and.

301
00:15:12,100 --> 00:15:18,110
It was, I remember just, he was so little
and took him a couple of weeks to kind

302
00:15:18,110 --> 00:15:21,309
of fill out, but it was all very surreal.

303
00:15:21,309 --> 00:15:22,379
I was in the middle of running.

304
00:15:22,380 --> 00:15:27,449
My first startup was very much in
the thick of the startup grind.

305
00:15:27,459 --> 00:15:31,870
And I think in a lot of ways it brought
some good perspective to that journey.

306
00:15:31,870 --> 00:15:32,189
And.

307
00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:33,880
He gave us a run for our money.

308
00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,170
He was not an easy baby.

309
00:15:36,180 --> 00:15:41,189
He like, I think he cried for five
straight months, but eventually it was

310
00:15:41,230 --> 00:15:46,480
one of these cases where a switch flipped
and he started sleeping and everything.

311
00:15:47,005 --> 00:15:49,065
Started getting much
better, but it was rough.

312
00:15:49,065 --> 00:15:53,665
It was like the snowiest winter
in Boston history, nine years ago.

313
00:15:53,665 --> 00:15:57,124
So there were just like, you
couldn't get out of your apartment.

314
00:15:57,175 --> 00:15:59,625
You were snowed in with
this screaming baby.

315
00:15:59,985 --> 00:16:01,774
It was a dark, dark stretch.

316
00:16:02,065 --> 00:16:02,585
Wow.

317
00:16:02,864 --> 00:16:06,784
Tell me about this idea of having
your first kid while you're

318
00:16:06,854 --> 00:16:08,884
also trying to build a company.

319
00:16:09,344 --> 00:16:12,445
A lot of people would say that those
things are incompatible with one

320
00:16:12,445 --> 00:16:14,034
another, but you've made it work.

321
00:16:14,570 --> 00:16:16,190
And you continue to make it work.

322
00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:18,420
So how did that go?

323
00:16:18,859 --> 00:16:21,449
I'd say nowadays I'm making it work.

324
00:16:21,449 --> 00:16:25,579
I can't say that I made it work back
then because the startup didn't work.

325
00:16:25,599 --> 00:16:26,650
Luckily, the kids worked.

326
00:16:26,849 --> 00:16:27,179
Well, you

327
00:16:27,180 --> 00:16:29,170
know, something's gonna work.

328
00:16:29,229 --> 00:16:30,709
The more important one worked.

329
00:16:31,219 --> 00:16:35,290
But these days I do think, you know,
there's certainly something to be

330
00:16:35,910 --> 00:16:40,620
Said for having more hours in the
day and week to work on a startup.

331
00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:44,820
But to me, it's the
perspective of having kids.

332
00:16:44,820 --> 00:16:49,459
And I think specifically for us,
we're building a company focused

333
00:16:49,460 --> 00:16:51,089
on better connecting families.

334
00:16:51,099 --> 00:16:53,550
So it would be pretty hypocritical to.

335
00:16:53,985 --> 00:16:58,675
You know, not be seeing my kids and
my wife and my parents and brothers.

336
00:16:58,675 --> 00:17:03,054
So I think it's kind of ingrained
in our DNA as a company to

337
00:17:03,055 --> 00:17:05,254
try to find the right balance.

338
00:17:05,325 --> 00:17:12,714
And that doesn't mean by any stretch
that it's a lifestyle business or that

339
00:17:12,724 --> 00:17:15,064
we're not working hard hours, but we are.

340
00:17:15,645 --> 00:17:19,095
We're flexible about when those
hours are so that we can be there

341
00:17:19,295 --> 00:17:23,795
at our kids events and be, you know,
parts of big parts of their lives.

342
00:17:23,805 --> 00:17:30,664
So I am kind of constantly working in
work stuff when I'm, you know, on the

343
00:17:30,664 --> 00:17:32,965
train or after the kids go to bed or.

344
00:17:33,595 --> 00:17:38,045
Wherever it is, work is kind of always
waiting, but when my kids have something

345
00:17:38,055 --> 00:17:39,725
going on, they're the priority.

346
00:17:39,725 --> 00:17:44,295
And I think that's something that
gotten better at this time around.

347
00:17:45,085 --> 00:17:48,155
So I wanted to ask you, because
you mentioned their current company

348
00:17:48,155 --> 00:17:52,835
now, and that's focused on helping
grandkids better connect with

349
00:17:52,835 --> 00:17:54,784
grandparents and I guess, vice versa.

350
00:17:55,294 --> 00:17:58,464
So you have your situation where
you live in close proximity, all

351
00:17:58,464 --> 00:18:01,954
the grandkids, all the grandparents,
like right there together.

352
00:18:02,290 --> 00:18:06,620
And I imagine that you've seen
some real benefit from that.

353
00:18:06,870 --> 00:18:12,289
And so what was the Genesis for wanting
to start this kind of a company?

354
00:18:12,289 --> 00:18:14,850
Why did you need to see
something like this exist in the

355
00:18:14,850 --> 00:18:15,200
world?

356
00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,820
So unfortunately, one of the sparks
was a little over a year ago.

357
00:18:19,820 --> 00:18:24,659
My mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's
and unfortunately my father in law got

358
00:18:24,659 --> 00:18:26,639
the same diagnosis around the same time.

359
00:18:26,639 --> 00:18:30,380
So it pretty quickly became
a huge part of our lives.

360
00:18:30,380 --> 00:18:30,660
And.

361
00:18:31,705 --> 00:18:37,305
Among the many kind of reactions we had,
one was just this huge increase in urgency

362
00:18:37,355 --> 00:18:42,724
around making sure our kids developed
as strong a bond as possible and created

363
00:18:42,725 --> 00:18:45,024
as many memories as possible with them.

364
00:18:45,024 --> 00:18:48,594
And, you know, to your point,
it happens naturally when you

365
00:18:48,594 --> 00:18:50,124
live in the same building.

366
00:18:50,225 --> 00:18:54,590
But with my in laws, even though
they're not very far away, But at

367
00:18:54,590 --> 00:18:58,190
this stage in life, even trying to
coordinate a, you know, FaceTime

368
00:18:58,230 --> 00:19:00,560
call can feel totally daunting.

369
00:19:00,629 --> 00:19:06,079
And so as we kind of thought about how we
could recreate some of the magic that we

370
00:19:06,079 --> 00:19:11,990
see in our very unusual living situation,
kind of remotely, We were just very

371
00:19:11,990 --> 00:19:16,520
underwhelmed with the tools that were out
there and, you know, talking to friends.

372
00:19:16,540 --> 00:19:21,049
It felt like chasing the kid around with
the iPad and trying to get them to sit

373
00:19:21,059 --> 00:19:26,549
still for 30 seconds, bribing them with
anything possible to, you know, have

374
00:19:26,549 --> 00:19:30,049
some sort of a meaningful connection
over FaceTime with the grandparents

375
00:19:30,050 --> 00:19:31,840
is kind of the de facto solution.

376
00:19:32,544 --> 00:19:36,855
Most people felt like it left
all parties pretty unsatisfied.

377
00:19:36,855 --> 00:19:41,235
And so that's what sent us down this path
of thinking about what a platform that's

378
00:19:41,285 --> 00:19:46,364
really focused on the challenges of the
relationship between people that are 50

379
00:19:46,365 --> 00:19:50,875
plus years apart and what we could deliver
that would solve some of those unique

380
00:19:50,875 --> 00:19:51,615
challenges.

381
00:19:52,284 --> 00:19:52,624
Yeah.

382
00:19:52,665 --> 00:19:53,815
And what's important.

383
00:19:54,189 --> 00:19:55,120
To get right there.

384
00:19:55,129 --> 00:20:00,620
Like what does Kinsome do differently
than me chasing, by the way, I fully

385
00:20:00,620 --> 00:20:04,979
appreciate the challenge of chasing it,
get around with an iPad, trying to get

386
00:20:04,979 --> 00:20:09,060
them on FaceTime, I still don't think my
kids quite, even though they're even a

387
00:20:09,060 --> 00:20:13,520
little bit older than yours, still quite
know how to use a phone appropriately.

388
00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:16,709
Like I watched my son hold it
like five feet away from his

389
00:20:16,709 --> 00:20:18,729
face and he's yelling at it.

390
00:20:18,729 --> 00:20:20,790
And, and I'm like, no,
no, up to your ear, man.

391
00:20:20,830 --> 00:20:22,149
What does Kinsome do?

392
00:20:22,535 --> 00:20:28,485
To like combat that horrible, painful
process that parents go through.

393
00:20:28,995 --> 00:20:29,355
Yeah.

394
00:20:29,355 --> 00:20:34,264
So a big part of our hypothesis
is that we wanted to kind of take

395
00:20:34,264 --> 00:20:36,414
this stress off the parents plate.

396
00:20:36,415 --> 00:20:39,985
So we wanted to kind of remove
parents as the bottleneck, because

397
00:20:40,385 --> 00:20:44,275
there are a lot of reasons that
grandparents and grandkids are kind of.

398
00:20:44,605 --> 00:20:47,935
Uniquely situated to form
a really strong connection.

399
00:20:47,945 --> 00:20:52,745
And, you know, kids need more attention
now more than ever, and grandparents

400
00:20:52,765 --> 00:20:54,144
need more social connection.

401
00:20:54,154 --> 00:20:57,415
There's a lot of evidence that's
come out of the surgeon general's

402
00:20:57,825 --> 00:21:00,505
loneliness epidemic report
has highlighted some of the.

403
00:21:01,075 --> 00:21:02,335
Health impacts there.

404
00:21:02,335 --> 00:21:06,745
And so the need and the opportunity
for those two generations to

405
00:21:06,955 --> 00:21:09,475
connect is very obvious and strong.

406
00:21:09,514 --> 00:21:14,364
But the problem is that parents
typically have to be the facilitators.

407
00:21:14,375 --> 00:21:17,075
They're the ones that are kind
of situated in the middle.

408
00:21:17,435 --> 00:21:18,835
But they just don't have the bandwidth.

409
00:21:18,865 --> 00:21:23,425
Like we talked to hundreds of parents
and as much as they love the idea of that

410
00:21:23,425 --> 00:21:27,365
bond forming, you could just hear in their
voice that like they're just trying to get

411
00:21:27,365 --> 00:21:29,235
through the day with everything going on.

412
00:21:29,235 --> 00:21:34,334
And so we wanted to remove them, but we
knew that you couldn't typically put,

413
00:21:34,594 --> 00:21:38,795
you know, a seven year old and a 70 year
old on a zoom call like this and think

414
00:21:38,805 --> 00:21:42,045
that they're just going to have this
beautiful connection and conversation.

415
00:21:42,045 --> 00:21:43,895
It doesn't work that way, unfortunately.

416
00:21:44,314 --> 00:21:48,895
And so we wanted there to be some
level of facilitation and, and with

417
00:21:49,104 --> 00:21:53,315
everything happening in the, the AI
world, we saw this chance to basically

418
00:21:53,345 --> 00:21:57,634
build this conversational facilitator
that was trained specifically for this

419
00:21:57,685 --> 00:22:01,714
intergenerational challenge and use
that particularly on the kid's side

420
00:22:01,754 --> 00:22:06,945
to kind of teach them to share more of
their lives and open up more and learn

421
00:22:06,955 --> 00:22:10,959
about their family history, but do
it kind of through this, Intermediary

422
00:22:10,959 --> 00:22:14,759
that is kind of based on what parents
often have to do to get their kids

423
00:22:14,759 --> 00:22:18,539
to talk to their parents, but without
that burden being on the parents plate.

424
00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:21,020
Wow, pretty amazing.

425
00:22:21,030 --> 00:22:22,110
I'm gonna have to check this out.

426
00:22:22,429 --> 00:22:30,699
If you could go back in time, let's
say you had a an ebb and time machine

427
00:22:30,779 --> 00:22:35,139
and you could rewind the clock to the
right before you had your first kid.

428
00:22:35,970 --> 00:22:39,440
Or maybe you were talking to your
older brother and he already had two.

429
00:22:40,510 --> 00:22:45,679
What advice would you give
the younger version of you or

430
00:22:45,679 --> 00:22:47,560
what advice did you receive?

431
00:22:48,030 --> 00:22:51,620
That you would really, like,
hold on to and want to pass

432
00:22:51,620 --> 00:22:54,959
forward to younger Eben in that

433
00:22:54,959 --> 00:22:55,659
situation.

434
00:22:56,219 --> 00:22:58,840
I mean, there's a lot of advice
I would have given to myself,

435
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:01,240
you know, five years before that.

436
00:23:01,259 --> 00:23:06,080
Just about, you know, things that you will
not be able to do once you have a family.

437
00:23:06,129 --> 00:23:10,139
So I think that there's definitely
something to, you know, taking advantage

438
00:23:10,159 --> 00:23:12,260
of the time before you have a family.

439
00:23:12,750 --> 00:23:18,700
I think in terms of the moments leading
up to right when Cole was born, it's

440
00:23:18,700 --> 00:23:23,630
definitely cliched, but I think just
the idea of like not wishing away any of

441
00:23:23,630 --> 00:23:26,360
your time, I think even in those first.

442
00:23:26,929 --> 00:23:29,899
Awful days and months where
he was not sleeping at all.

443
00:23:30,279 --> 00:23:33,309
You find yourself being like, God,
if I can just wake up tomorrow

444
00:23:33,309 --> 00:23:36,679
and it'd be six months from now,
life would be so much better.

445
00:23:36,679 --> 00:23:40,759
And even still, we have a three
year old who won't sleep and you're

446
00:23:40,759 --> 00:23:44,570
constantly tempted in the middle of
the night to be like, God would, this

447
00:23:44,570 --> 00:23:47,720
would be great if it was his fourth
birthday, but I think with a little

448
00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:49,820
more perspective now, I'm able to.

449
00:23:50,980 --> 00:23:55,210
Look back and try to just always remind
myself that, you know, you got to

450
00:23:55,210 --> 00:24:00,769
find the good, even in those really
dark days and grab onto those and

451
00:24:00,769 --> 00:24:02,539
just not wish your life away at all.

452
00:24:03,060 --> 00:24:03,480
Yeah.

453
00:24:03,879 --> 00:24:05,649
Now, what about the opposite of that?

454
00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:09,389
There's obviously a lot of parenting
advice being thrown around in your

455
00:24:09,419 --> 00:24:12,730
family because there's 10 grandkids
and grandparents, there's lots of

456
00:24:12,730 --> 00:24:16,420
generations of parenting experts in your.

457
00:24:17,065 --> 00:24:18,025
immediate circle.

458
00:24:18,035 --> 00:24:21,695
So what is the advice that you
found to not be super valuable?

459
00:24:21,695 --> 00:24:24,235
Or what would you tell younger Eben to

460
00:24:24,235 --> 00:24:24,805
ignore?

461
00:24:25,484 --> 00:24:28,525
I naturally ignore most
advice, I guess I'd say.

462
00:24:29,495 --> 00:24:32,335
My nature is to want to
figure things out for myself.

463
00:24:32,345 --> 00:24:36,900
So I'm like, The type of person
who gets something new that

464
00:24:36,900 --> 00:24:38,760
they have to assemble or set up.

465
00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:42,160
And I'm like, throw out the instruction
manual and I'll figure it out.

466
00:24:42,530 --> 00:24:44,419
And I love figuring things out.

467
00:24:44,469 --> 00:24:49,539
And so for me, you know, I wasn't
reading parenting books or, you

468
00:24:49,540 --> 00:24:53,029
know, trying to lean too much on
friends and family for advice.

469
00:24:53,060 --> 00:24:53,579
I kind of.

470
00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:58,379
Just wanted to experience it and
figure things out as we went.

471
00:24:58,389 --> 00:25:03,190
So I don't know if anything jumps
to mind in terms of specific advice

472
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:07,450
that in retrospect didn't turn out
to be very helpful, but it's probably

473
00:25:07,450 --> 00:25:08,970
because I ignored it to begin with.

474
00:25:09,580 --> 00:25:11,170
Oh, well, maybe that is the advice.

475
00:25:11,250 --> 00:25:12,369
Ignore it all.

476
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:14,159
First principles only.

477
00:25:14,409 --> 00:25:14,829
Right.

478
00:25:14,899 --> 00:25:15,289
Right.

479
00:25:15,509 --> 00:25:16,529
I love that.

480
00:25:16,939 --> 00:25:21,405
When you think about Some of this advice
that you, you know, would give your

481
00:25:21,405 --> 00:25:29,014
younger self, has that translated into
any kind of frameworks or guardrails,

482
00:25:29,074 --> 00:25:32,725
is there a, a philosophy or something
where you and your wife have kind of

483
00:25:32,725 --> 00:25:36,365
aligned on a framework for raising kids?

484
00:25:36,705 --> 00:25:36,905
I've

485
00:25:36,905 --> 00:25:39,735
been actually listening to a
number of your podcasts here

486
00:25:39,735 --> 00:25:44,225
and I've been very impressed and
intimidated by how thoughtful some

487
00:25:44,225 --> 00:25:45,875
of your other guests have been.

488
00:25:45,885 --> 00:25:46,444
It's all fake.

489
00:25:46,665 --> 00:25:47,244
All of it.

490
00:25:47,415 --> 00:25:51,855
My wife and I are very much going back
to this opposite to track type thing.

491
00:25:51,865 --> 00:25:57,234
We have very different viewpoints and we
just come into every decision probably

492
00:25:57,244 --> 00:26:03,065
from like polar opposite sides and we find
some sort of middle ground and to date

493
00:26:03,095 --> 00:26:05,205
that's kind of been our way of getting by.

494
00:26:05,215 --> 00:26:05,605
So.

495
00:26:06,144 --> 00:26:06,464
I don't know.

496
00:26:06,464 --> 00:26:08,534
It's related to my last answer.

497
00:26:08,534 --> 00:26:11,384
I think it's where we kind
of just take things as we go.

498
00:26:11,434 --> 00:26:12,394
That's probably my side.

499
00:26:12,404 --> 00:26:13,504
That's unfair to my wife.

500
00:26:13,504 --> 00:26:18,465
She's got things planned out far in the
future, but from where I sit, I wouldn't

501
00:26:18,465 --> 00:26:23,774
say that there's, there's a framework
or strategy again, it comes back to

502
00:26:23,784 --> 00:26:28,254
me feeling like why I'm attracted to
starting a company it's each day we

503
00:26:28,254 --> 00:26:34,084
wake up and we got new problems and it's
not worth trying to come up with some

504
00:26:34,084 --> 00:26:38,345
sort of framework or Tomorrow's problem
is going to be totally outside it.

505
00:26:38,345 --> 00:26:40,475
And then we just have to figure it out.

506
00:26:40,545 --> 00:26:42,925
So that's kind of been
my parenting approach.

507
00:26:43,285 --> 00:26:43,725
Yeah.

508
00:26:43,965 --> 00:26:44,295
Yeah.

509
00:26:44,815 --> 00:26:52,664
So I wanted to reflect on and ask
you about this idea of living under

510
00:26:52,664 --> 00:26:54,745
the same roof as your parents, right?

511
00:26:54,745 --> 00:26:57,425
Even though it's an apartment,
you're separated by floors

512
00:26:57,425 --> 00:26:58,774
and ceilings from one another.

513
00:26:59,285 --> 00:27:04,155
A lot of the folks that I've talked to
for this show, they don't have family

514
00:27:04,155 --> 00:27:06,405
nearby, they don't have a community.

515
00:27:06,814 --> 00:27:09,905
And I think it's kind of
acknowledged that that's hard,

516
00:27:09,975 --> 00:27:11,324
that it, that can be challenging.

517
00:27:11,645 --> 00:27:15,064
It can also be challenging to have
parents that live right on top of you.

518
00:27:15,585 --> 00:27:21,175
And so, I guess, what are some ways that
you've seen your life really enhanced by

519
00:27:21,185 --> 00:27:28,075
living in super close proximity to your
parents slash the kid's grandparents?

520
00:27:28,385 --> 00:27:32,395
And also, I guess, siblings and
your nieces and nephews, too.

521
00:27:32,735 --> 00:27:36,475
What are those kind of distinct advantages
that you found from everybody kind of

522
00:27:36,475 --> 00:27:39,345
living in one big communal household?

523
00:27:39,665 --> 00:27:39,775
I

524
00:27:39,775 --> 00:27:44,155
think there's very like practical
day to day things that that certainly

525
00:27:44,255 --> 00:27:51,234
add up over time I mean we are we
kind of approach life as a pack.

526
00:27:51,234 --> 00:27:55,545
So, you know, someone's car needs to
be moved because of street cleaning.

527
00:27:55,545 --> 00:27:58,574
It's, you know, someone else
jumps in and then takes it.

528
00:27:58,585 --> 00:27:59,605
Someone's at the store.

529
00:27:59,605 --> 00:28:04,135
They text the six adults in the building
to see if anyone else needs anything.

530
00:28:04,624 --> 00:28:05,824
You know, you run out of sugar.

531
00:28:05,834 --> 00:28:07,414
There's two apartments you can check.

532
00:28:07,424 --> 00:28:10,804
So there is very practical
day to day things.

533
00:28:10,844 --> 00:28:16,435
I think at a higher level, what I
really appreciate is, and this goes

534
00:28:16,435 --> 00:28:20,870
back to trying to run a startup, is
You know, there are times when I'm

535
00:28:20,870 --> 00:28:26,399
not able to be there, but knowing that
my kids are with my parents or with

536
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:31,070
my brothers or with their cousins, I
think it certainly reduces the guilt

537
00:28:31,139 --> 00:28:35,310
that I feel because I think that,
you know, developing those bonds with

538
00:28:35,340 --> 00:28:39,439
their family, spending that time with
their grandparents is well worth it.

539
00:28:39,439 --> 00:28:43,339
So I think that is a big
part of how I make this work

540
00:28:44,319 --> 00:28:46,309
from an emotional standpoint.

541
00:28:46,359 --> 00:28:48,479
And then practically speaking, like.

542
00:28:48,899 --> 00:28:52,409
The number of days I have to
call my parents and say, Oh,

543
00:28:52,939 --> 00:28:54,379
you know, I'm going to be late.

544
00:28:54,399 --> 00:28:56,470
Can you run and grab coal at school?

545
00:28:56,470 --> 00:29:01,620
Or can you listen to the monitor
while Beckett's napping so I can, you

546
00:29:01,620 --> 00:29:03,289
know, run out and take this meeting?

547
00:29:03,340 --> 00:29:07,509
And so in a lot of ways, I
can't fathom how we would do

548
00:29:07,510 --> 00:29:09,034
it without all this support.

549
00:29:09,545 --> 00:29:12,815
And I should mention my in-laws,
they're not far away too, so we are very

550
00:29:12,815 --> 00:29:14,915
spoiled in terms of the support we have.

551
00:29:14,945 --> 00:29:17,705
My sister-in-Law, who lives
below me as a pediatrician.

552
00:29:17,705 --> 00:29:19,235
We've got like the Oh wow.

553
00:29:19,295 --> 00:29:19,835
Full set

554
00:29:19,835 --> 00:29:19,985
up.

555
00:29:20,045 --> 00:29:20,315
Yeah.

556
00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:24,575
This is like old school village,
you know, compound child rearing.

557
00:29:24,605 --> 00:29:24,815
Wow.

558
00:29:24,815 --> 00:29:25,595
This is amazing.

559
00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:27,635
I can I come in, move
in, in your building?

560
00:29:27,755 --> 00:29:29,615
Is there room in a closet or something?

561
00:29:29,615 --> 00:29:29,735
For

562
00:29:29,735 --> 00:29:29,855
me?

563
00:29:29,885 --> 00:29:33,006
I mean, unfortunately, I think we've
maxed out too many kids at this point.

564
00:29:33,545 --> 00:29:35,095
We're a full occupancy.

565
00:29:35,135 --> 00:29:35,395
Yeah.

566
00:29:35,565 --> 00:29:39,235
My older brother would be pretty mad if
I let you in when he was not allowed in.

567
00:29:39,415 --> 00:29:45,355
So, but I, I mean, definitely
putting myself in my wife and my

568
00:29:45,355 --> 00:29:50,104
sister in law's shoes as the two non
originally non Pingree's in the house,

569
00:29:50,125 --> 00:29:54,885
like they're the ones that have,
Certainly had to adapt a lot more.

570
00:29:54,885 --> 00:29:59,265
And luckily they can vent to each
other about, you know, how crazy we

571
00:29:59,265 --> 00:30:01,665
all are and how stubborn we all are.

572
00:30:01,665 --> 00:30:05,335
And, but I think we're very lucky
that they get along really well

573
00:30:05,335 --> 00:30:07,725
with my parents, with each other.

574
00:30:07,765 --> 00:30:12,855
And then I think we all just think
having the cousins grow up basically

575
00:30:12,855 --> 00:30:14,695
like siblings is pretty amazing.

576
00:30:15,185 --> 00:30:15,895
That is pretty

577
00:30:15,895 --> 00:30:16,435
amazing.

578
00:30:16,695 --> 00:30:19,105
But someday I'll have to have
your wife on the show and she can

579
00:30:19,105 --> 00:30:20,685
spill all the tea about, oh boy.

580
00:30:23,470 --> 00:30:23,870
It's okay.

581
00:30:23,870 --> 00:30:25,010
Nobody listened to this show.

582
00:30:25,010 --> 00:30:25,730
They'll never know.

583
00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:26,290
All right.

584
00:30:26,290 --> 00:30:31,350
So speaking of which I have found that
partnership is super important when you

585
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:39,520
have kids and It is also very difficult to
fully agree 100 percent of the time with

586
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:45,210
your significant other, what is a point
of friction or where, what's something

587
00:30:45,210 --> 00:30:48,590
that you and your wife don't necessarily
see eye to eye on when it comes

588
00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:49,050
to parenting?

589
00:30:49,430 --> 00:30:50,230
I mean, that's.

590
00:30:50,815 --> 00:30:52,035
How much time do we have here?

591
00:30:52,035 --> 00:30:55,615
This is a good one.

592
00:30:55,795 --> 00:30:59,795
I'd say just child discipline is
probably the most, most obvious one.

593
00:30:59,825 --> 00:31:03,085
We are a polar opposite
ends of the spectrum there.

594
00:31:03,155 --> 00:31:07,585
My wife is, I would say, very, uh,
accommodating with the children.

595
00:31:07,675 --> 00:31:12,595
I'm not sure she has a single rule and
I like to have some level of order.

596
00:31:12,625 --> 00:31:15,685
So we kind of have to
meet in the middle there.

597
00:31:15,805 --> 00:31:18,275
I think the kids get very
different tastes of parenting

598
00:31:18,275 --> 00:31:19,535
when it's just one of us home.

599
00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:21,590
When we're not balancing each other out.

600
00:31:21,710 --> 00:31:21,840
Yeah.

601
00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:24,910
We've definitely got like the
good cop, bad cop routine.

602
00:31:25,010 --> 00:31:25,360
So.

603
00:31:25,940 --> 00:31:28,800
You know, that is really funny
because it is the opposite of

604
00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:30,270
your professional lives, right?

605
00:31:30,310 --> 00:31:35,600
Like, you, chaos, personified as
a startup, and she works in a big

606
00:31:35,610 --> 00:31:41,850
company and loves the structure and
bureaucracy of a company, but not so with

607
00:31:41,850 --> 00:31:42,390
parenting.

608
00:31:42,540 --> 00:31:46,920
I know, we get home from work and we
need a taste of the other side, so.

609
00:31:47,460 --> 00:31:50,480
Yeah, it must be because
you've got to find something

610
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:51,780
that you can have control of.

611
00:31:52,610 --> 00:31:53,110
Exactly.

612
00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:55,600
Building a company

613
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:56,630
who Lord knows.

614
00:31:57,430 --> 00:31:58,710
That is hilarious.

615
00:31:58,770 --> 00:32:03,570
So you've built a, you know, you built a
career, at least the last you mentioned

616
00:32:03,570 --> 00:32:08,580
decade plus in technology, starting
companies, building technology companies.

617
00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:14,980
Your company now is a technology
company designed for kids to be

618
00:32:15,555 --> 00:32:19,155
On a device, communicating with
grandparents, things like that.

619
00:32:19,785 --> 00:32:24,565
How do you think about the relationship
that you want your kids to have

620
00:32:24,565 --> 00:32:27,425
with technology as they get older?

621
00:32:27,805 --> 00:32:33,175
It's something I think a lot about,
and maybe I'm just justifying our lack

622
00:32:33,175 --> 00:32:37,735
of screen time control right now, but
I, I worry more about it as like my

623
00:32:37,745 --> 00:32:43,735
oldest starts to reach tween and teen
years, I think reflecting back on.

624
00:32:44,585 --> 00:32:48,385
Being a kid and just how
shy and insecure I was.

625
00:32:48,385 --> 00:32:53,165
I think that it would have been
very dangerous to be in this

626
00:32:53,195 --> 00:32:54,835
kind of social media world.

627
00:32:54,835 --> 00:32:59,705
And I can only imagine how it would
have amplified some of those issues.

628
00:33:00,205 --> 00:33:02,855
So I definitely think a
lot about like how we will.

629
00:33:03,235 --> 00:33:09,745
Control and teach the kids about kind
of the world of social media and how

630
00:33:09,745 --> 00:33:14,455
to try to kind of brace themselves
against the kind of pack mentality of

631
00:33:14,475 --> 00:33:17,295
people judging you online and whatnot.

632
00:33:18,155 --> 00:33:22,095
The other end of the spectrum, we've
kind of just waved the white flag in

633
00:33:22,095 --> 00:33:25,035
terms of screen time with our children.

634
00:33:25,035 --> 00:33:29,475
Now, I feel very ashamed listening to some
of the other guests, but our kids right

635
00:33:29,475 --> 00:33:34,235
now, I think we are fairly relaxed about.

636
00:33:34,895 --> 00:33:40,335
What they watch, we try to balance it
with kind of being outdoors, playing

637
00:33:40,335 --> 00:33:42,415
sports, getting out as much as possible.

638
00:33:42,425 --> 00:33:45,635
So for us, it's less about how much
they watch and more whether they

639
00:33:45,635 --> 00:33:47,315
balance it with other things right now.

640
00:33:47,835 --> 00:33:48,085
Yeah.

641
00:33:48,085 --> 00:33:48,255
That

642
00:33:48,255 --> 00:33:49,255
makes a ton of sense.

643
00:33:49,305 --> 00:33:51,105
And don't let these other guests fool you.

644
00:33:51,155 --> 00:33:52,855
You're probably sneaking
in some scream time

645
00:33:52,855 --> 00:33:53,195
too.

646
00:33:53,235 --> 00:33:56,385
I mean, our kids have just been
terrible sleepers and I just, I

647
00:33:56,385 --> 00:34:00,835
don't know if I'd be alive today
without the iPad in the morning.

648
00:34:01,145 --> 00:34:03,565
Without that Saturday
morning, 5am iPad time.

649
00:34:03,835 --> 00:34:04,685
It's our savior.

650
00:34:05,525 --> 00:34:11,775
So aside from sleep, what is something
that you've had to give up to become a

651
00:34:11,775 --> 00:34:12,315
father?

652
00:34:12,625 --> 00:34:18,275
I mean, I'm a big believer in like trying
not to give up a lot of my hobbies.

653
00:34:18,275 --> 00:34:22,285
This is a very non answer, but I
definitely tried to kind of get

654
00:34:22,305 --> 00:34:26,525
my kids into the things that I
love and been fairly successful.

655
00:34:26,525 --> 00:34:31,255
And in a lot of that, I've got my older
son is a diehard Boston sports fan.

656
00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:37,230
My daughter loves helping me with
gardening and I do a lot of like

657
00:34:37,250 --> 00:34:39,310
woodworking and outdoor chores.

658
00:34:39,310 --> 00:34:42,620
We, we go to Vermont a lot and she
loves helping with all that stuff.

659
00:34:42,620 --> 00:34:46,990
So definitely try to like involve them
in the things that, that I love to do

660
00:34:46,990 --> 00:34:51,370
so that selfishly, maybe I don't have
to give them up, but I think so that

661
00:34:51,370 --> 00:34:55,410
I can kind of help them figure out
what they love to do at an early age.

662
00:34:56,025 --> 00:34:59,335
It's hard to say besides sleep, because
that would be my number one answer.

663
00:34:59,435 --> 00:35:00,805
Like I've had to give up sleep.

664
00:35:00,825 --> 00:35:04,405
I've been tired for 10 years
now since my oldest was born.

665
00:35:04,525 --> 00:35:07,565
So between the companies and the
kids, there's not a lot of time

666
00:35:07,565 --> 00:35:08,165
for sleep.

667
00:35:08,415 --> 00:35:08,855
Nope.

668
00:35:09,055 --> 00:35:09,435
Nope.

669
00:35:10,065 --> 00:35:13,265
So what would you say is a
mistake that you've made as a dad?

670
00:35:13,905 --> 00:35:22,840
I think early on when my wife was pregnant
for the first time, kind of As we did

671
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:26,360
kind of start to think about, like,
what our life is going to look like and

672
00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:31,160
what the schedule of events was going to
be, I think we didn't fully appreciate

673
00:35:31,180 --> 00:35:36,860
just, you know, how much things could go
differently than your plan, you know, my,

674
00:35:37,060 --> 00:35:39,730
my son was born four weeks ahead of time.

675
00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:43,850
I had a million things that I was
going to get done in those last

676
00:35:43,850 --> 00:35:45,660
four weeks before he was born.

677
00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:48,600
And of course that all
just goes out the window.

678
00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:53,040
And similarly, our son and our
daughter are four years apart.

679
00:35:53,100 --> 00:35:57,450
And, you know, in my head, we were
going to have another kid two years

680
00:35:57,450 --> 00:35:58,810
later, two and a half years later.

681
00:35:58,810 --> 00:36:01,740
And it was going to be just like me
and my brothers and, you know, with

682
00:36:02,050 --> 00:36:08,525
miscarriages and all this stuff that
just teaches you trying to plan Big

683
00:36:08,695 --> 00:36:11,395
life things can be a fool's errand.

684
00:36:11,395 --> 00:36:15,495
Sometimes you just have to be
grateful for the way things happen.

685
00:36:15,515 --> 00:36:16,905
So I don't know.

686
00:36:17,005 --> 00:36:21,895
That's not a, that's kind of a rambling
answer, but I think learning to just go

687
00:36:21,905 --> 00:36:25,985
with what life gives you, particularly
with these big events, and we're pretty

688
00:36:25,985 --> 00:36:27,565
lucky with how everything's turned out.

689
00:36:28,185 --> 00:36:28,655
Yeah.

690
00:36:28,975 --> 00:36:29,305
Yeah.

691
00:36:29,635 --> 00:36:36,385
You started multiple companies
and that comes with a cost, right?

692
00:36:36,615 --> 00:36:37,635
It's time consuming.

693
00:36:38,405 --> 00:36:41,165
It takes you away from your
family from time to time.

694
00:36:41,165 --> 00:36:46,885
If you get an important meeting, they
got to meet right now and you usually

695
00:36:46,885 --> 00:36:48,355
can't say no to that sort of stuff.

696
00:36:48,935 --> 00:36:52,535
You talked a little bit about this at
the beginning or earlier part of the

697
00:36:52,575 --> 00:36:58,900
episode around This idea of balance and
leaning in some areas and then making

698
00:36:58,900 --> 00:37:00,980
sure that you're present and, and others.

699
00:37:01,370 --> 00:37:05,540
But how do you think about this
sort of startup hustle culture?

700
00:37:05,990 --> 00:37:09,690
pressure and how that
fits in with family life.

701
00:37:09,780 --> 00:37:15,250
And how have you tried to sort of set
the best example for your kids or the

702
00:37:15,270 --> 00:37:19,550
example that you want them to take
away when they think about working

703
00:37:19,550 --> 00:37:22,350
dad, working mom, that sort of thing?

704
00:37:23,050 --> 00:37:30,345
I mean, I'm definitely in the camp that
like, there's no way to turn Starting a

705
00:37:31,775 --> 00:37:36,295
startup where you have big aspirations
for the impact you're going to have and

706
00:37:36,295 --> 00:37:42,545
turning that into a lifestyle thing,
it's just, I don't think that's possible.

707
00:37:42,555 --> 00:37:49,815
So as nice as it would be to, you
know, work 30 hours a week and have

708
00:37:49,825 --> 00:37:53,745
all this other time with my kids,
I don't see how that is possible.

709
00:37:53,755 --> 00:37:58,195
So I think that is
certainly something that I.

710
00:37:59,290 --> 00:38:04,130
New full on when I was starting my second
company here that I wasn't going to have

711
00:38:04,770 --> 00:38:09,170
as many hours, but one thing like the
hobbies that I have, I try to kind of

712
00:38:10,220 --> 00:38:13,870
involve the kids in the work, whether
that's when I'm working on the weekend,

713
00:38:13,870 --> 00:38:15,890
my kids will come into the office with me.

714
00:38:15,890 --> 00:38:18,640
And like, it's easier with our product.

715
00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:19,360
My kids are.

716
00:38:20,190 --> 00:38:21,680
Top beta testers.

717
00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:27,300
So that's a unique benefit that we have
that my son is designing features for the

718
00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:32,510
app and my daughter's recording voices
for videos that we're putting out there.

719
00:38:32,510 --> 00:38:36,040
So I have a little bit of an
advantage there, but yeah, I don't

720
00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:39,480
think there's any getting around
just how hard it is and that comes

721
00:38:39,510 --> 00:38:41,420
both in terms of hours and stress.

722
00:38:42,235 --> 00:38:47,725
We've taken investors money, you
know, family, friends, angels.

723
00:38:47,745 --> 00:38:52,015
And I think if people are going to take
a bet on me and my co founders, we're

724
00:38:52,015 --> 00:38:57,465
going to do everything we possibly can to
make that a good decision on their part.

725
00:38:57,485 --> 00:39:00,125
And I think that I would
want my kids to see that.

726
00:39:00,705 --> 00:39:07,225
So the idea of like true balance
is not something I guess I fully

727
00:39:07,225 --> 00:39:11,605
believe in, but I believe in doing
things that you're passionate about

728
00:39:11,605 --> 00:39:12,944
and I believe in trying to make.

729
00:39:13,275 --> 00:39:14,045
An impact.

730
00:39:14,045 --> 00:39:18,235
And I think if Kinsome is a success,
it'll do a lot of good for the world.

731
00:39:18,235 --> 00:39:21,275
And that's something that
I'm proud to show my kids.

732
00:39:21,275 --> 00:39:26,745
And, you know, seeing that it takes a
lot of hard work to achieve things like

733
00:39:26,745 --> 00:39:28,725
that, I think is a good lesson as well.

734
00:39:28,735 --> 00:39:29,085
So.

735
00:39:29,685 --> 00:39:31,935
Just trying to kind of
figure it out day by day.

736
00:39:31,935 --> 00:39:36,435
But I really do because when I'm
not with them, they're with family.

737
00:39:36,775 --> 00:39:40,315
That's a huge part of what
eases some of the guilt I'd say.

738
00:39:40,795 --> 00:39:41,145
Yeah.

739
00:39:41,925 --> 00:39:48,225
My last question for you, you've got
three kids in a two bedroom apartment.

740
00:39:48,735 --> 00:39:55,145
You've got a startup, also your child,
and you have a partner, you have family,

741
00:39:55,575 --> 00:39:57,315
sometimes probably family pressure.

742
00:39:57,955 --> 00:39:59,265
What do you do?

743
00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:03,010
When it seems like everything's
going to crap and you need

744
00:40:03,210 --> 00:40:04,880
to recharge your batteries.

745
00:40:04,940 --> 00:40:05,960
What do you reach for?

746
00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:07,700
What do you do when that happens?

747
00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:12,160
We have this place in Vermont
which I think is an escape for me.

748
00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:15,430
There's, you know, endless
outdoor stuff to do there.

749
00:40:15,630 --> 00:40:19,190
I am not like going there to go skiing.

750
00:40:19,230 --> 00:40:24,010
For me it's I go there and I go outdoors
and I do, my brothers make fun of me.

751
00:40:24,090 --> 00:40:25,870
I like, I enjoy manual labor.

752
00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:27,700
Chopped out a tree.

753
00:40:27,730 --> 00:40:28,730
Oh, absolutely.

754
00:40:28,740 --> 00:40:33,720
Chopping, splitting wood is up there,
building a stone wall, whatever it is.

755
00:40:33,720 --> 00:40:37,290
I renovated an entire
barn by myself up there.

756
00:40:37,700 --> 00:40:42,850
That stuff is where I can kind of really
just get in the zone and lose myself.

757
00:40:42,870 --> 00:40:46,490
I learned enough for my dad to
be dangerous with various tools.

758
00:40:46,490 --> 00:40:49,820
And so I do a lot of
building and repairing and.

759
00:40:50,215 --> 00:40:53,775
I love just getting
that type of stuff done.

760
00:40:53,785 --> 00:40:57,975
It gives me, well, doing it allows me
to kind of zone out, but then kind of

761
00:40:58,565 --> 00:41:03,575
checking off these chores around the
property, give me a sense of satisfaction.

762
00:41:03,575 --> 00:41:05,325
So I love being up there and being

763
00:41:05,325 --> 00:41:05,795
outside.

764
00:41:06,505 --> 00:41:07,105
Awesome.

765
00:41:07,205 --> 00:41:10,735
Every time you mentioned Vermont, I
just was thinking like maple syrup.

766
00:41:10,755 --> 00:41:13,865
You must live on like a maple
syrup farm or something that

767
00:41:13,865 --> 00:41:15,315
that's what I know about Vermont.

768
00:41:15,365 --> 00:41:16,335
That's there's plenty

769
00:41:16,335 --> 00:41:17,175
of syrup around.

770
00:41:17,185 --> 00:41:22,235
We are not yet making it, but I've got a
long list of like dreams for the property.

771
00:41:22,245 --> 00:41:22,805
Probably.

772
00:41:23,195 --> 00:41:28,425
When the startup is no longer all
encompassing or the kids are in

773
00:41:28,425 --> 00:41:31,865
college before we get like chickens
and maple syrup and all that, but

774
00:41:31,865 --> 00:41:33,295
it's on the list for the future.

775
00:41:34,085 --> 00:41:34,865
What is it about

776
00:41:34,865 --> 00:41:35,995
everybody and chickens?

777
00:41:36,015 --> 00:41:38,135
You know, I used to own
some chickens myself.

778
00:41:38,135 --> 00:41:42,815
It feels like that's a thing that's
many people aspire to at some point.

779
00:41:42,825 --> 00:41:43,905
Maybe that means you've made it.

780
00:41:43,985 --> 00:41:45,275
We never said, I don't know.

781
00:41:45,295 --> 00:41:47,305
I don't know what it is as a city boy.

782
00:41:47,305 --> 00:41:48,425
That's just a totally.

783
00:41:48,825 --> 00:41:50,275
Foreign concept to me.

784
00:41:50,785 --> 00:41:55,215
There was once an article about startup
folks and tech workers in Silicon

785
00:41:55,215 --> 00:41:57,675
Valley who were getting chickens.

786
00:41:57,675 --> 00:41:59,815
I think it was like a
New York times story.

787
00:42:00,155 --> 00:42:04,245
Interviewed some people that I knew,
which was awesome, but yeah, check it out.

788
00:42:04,245 --> 00:42:05,215
Maybe I'll send you that link.

789
00:42:05,245 --> 00:42:07,635
Maybe we'll include it in the show
notes for people who are curious.

790
00:42:07,635 --> 00:42:08,225
Yeah.

791
00:42:08,355 --> 00:42:09,544
Chicken life.

792
00:42:09,545 --> 00:42:10,585
I am to be clear.

793
00:42:10,585 --> 00:42:12,975
I'm not looking to have
chickens in downtown Boston.

794
00:42:12,975 --> 00:42:13,905
This is purely.

795
00:42:14,510 --> 00:42:16,780
We are on a farm up in Vermont.

796
00:42:16,860 --> 00:42:17,370
Yes.

797
00:42:17,370 --> 00:42:18,580
Chickens will be happy.

798
00:42:18,620 --> 00:42:18,970
So

799
00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:22,320
no, no, I can't imagine there's
any more room for anything in

800
00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:23,490
your two bedroom apartment.

801
00:42:23,510 --> 00:42:23,840
No.

802
00:42:24,550 --> 00:42:24,880
Okay.

803
00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:28,370
So you're living now in the
place that you grew up in.

804
00:42:29,030 --> 00:42:32,980
And so is your wife, not the place she
grew up in the place you grew up in.

805
00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:39,625
Has there been a sense of urgency around
like, Changing things so that it doesn't

806
00:42:39,795 --> 00:42:41,855
feel like the place that you grew up in.

807
00:42:41,855 --> 00:42:44,855
Like, are you out there with a
sledgehammer knocking down walls and

808
00:42:44,855 --> 00:42:49,925
repainting things slash is your wife
or what has been your approach there

809
00:42:49,925 --> 00:42:53,975
to kind of make it feel like your
own while I guess also not losing.

810
00:42:54,455 --> 00:42:56,825
Touch with the nostalgia
of the place you grew

811
00:42:56,825 --> 00:42:57,005
up.

812
00:42:57,685 --> 00:43:01,475
We are literally like a week or
two into this apartment switch.

813
00:43:01,485 --> 00:43:02,475
So it's all new.

814
00:43:02,505 --> 00:43:05,335
I should clarify that we are no
longer in the two bedroom apartment

815
00:43:05,685 --> 00:43:07,745
as of like a week or two ago.

816
00:43:08,025 --> 00:43:10,695
We are now living in the
apartment that I grew up in,

817
00:43:10,805 --> 00:43:12,775
which has an extra bedroom, so.

818
00:43:12,805 --> 00:43:13,405
Oh boy.

819
00:43:13,505 --> 00:43:14,765
Yeah, we're, we've made it.

820
00:43:14,875 --> 00:43:15,565
But, um.

821
00:43:16,765 --> 00:43:17,735
Absolutely.

822
00:43:17,745 --> 00:43:21,185
Some of the like turns and
conditions of making this switch.

823
00:43:21,185 --> 00:43:24,325
And for 10 years, we were
not planning to stay here.

824
00:43:24,325 --> 00:43:27,515
It was always like next year,
we'll go find a house somewhere.

825
00:43:27,515 --> 00:43:28,185
And that just,

826
00:43:28,775 --> 00:43:29,665
you know, global, I don't know.

827
00:43:30,015 --> 00:43:30,735
Have you seen interest rates?

828
00:43:31,095 --> 00:43:32,115
I don't know that I would.

829
00:43:32,215 --> 00:43:32,935
Exactly.

830
00:43:32,975 --> 00:43:34,405
So it just kept staying.

831
00:43:34,405 --> 00:43:38,025
And then eventually for a variety
of reasons, this plan to switch

832
00:43:38,165 --> 00:43:40,035
apartments with my parents came about.

833
00:43:40,035 --> 00:43:45,445
And, but my wife was very clear that
she was going to be able to make it.

834
00:43:46,085 --> 00:43:48,595
Pretty much any changes
she wants as part of that.

835
00:43:48,595 --> 00:43:52,375
And that was something that she
wanted to make sure my parents

836
00:43:52,625 --> 00:43:54,265
understood and my brothers.

837
00:43:54,265 --> 00:43:58,895
And I guess my brothers were the ones
pushing her more to make sure that she

838
00:43:58,895 --> 00:44:02,065
knew that they understood that it was
going to be her house and our house.

839
00:44:02,850 --> 00:44:05,370
She didn't need to be like
checking with them to like

840
00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:07,000
paint a bookshelf or something.

841
00:44:07,020 --> 00:44:09,310
So we are in the early days.

842
00:44:09,330 --> 00:44:12,990
There's definitely some tension
of like she's gonna destroy

843
00:44:13,030 --> 00:44:15,490
my like childhood Whatever.

844
00:44:15,870 --> 00:44:21,500
Yeah, um, but no for the most part
it's been healthy and Where, again,

845
00:44:21,510 --> 00:44:26,680
my younger brother is an architect and
runs a design build company with my best

846
00:44:26,680 --> 00:44:28,600
friend, so like It just keeps coming!

847
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:29,750
I know, I know.

848
00:44:29,780 --> 00:44:34,510
So we've got some talented people
as we're kind of, uh, reimagining

849
00:44:34,510 --> 00:44:36,430
the space for ourselves, so.

850
00:44:37,110 --> 00:44:42,970
You should just, like, charge a membership
to your building and then anyone could

851
00:44:42,970 --> 00:44:45,110
come and get architectural advice.

852
00:44:45,670 --> 00:44:47,710
Pediatrician services.

853
00:44:48,010 --> 00:44:52,770
I mean, people would pay top dollar for
the startup advice, financial advice.

854
00:44:52,880 --> 00:44:53,140
Yeah.

855
00:44:53,400 --> 00:44:54,430
All the things all in one,

856
00:44:55,060 --> 00:44:57,670
you got all the bases covered
in some doesn't work out.

857
00:44:57,720 --> 00:44:58,310
That's plan B.

858
00:44:58,950 --> 00:45:00,690
Can I buy a Pingree membership?

859
00:45:00,720 --> 00:45:01,610
That's what I want to know.

860
00:45:02,070 --> 00:45:02,540
All right.

861
00:45:03,060 --> 00:45:07,930
How can people be helpful to
you or follow along with your

862
00:45:07,930 --> 00:45:10,210
journey if they feel so inclined?

863
00:45:10,510 --> 00:45:11,150
We are just

864
00:45:11,150 --> 00:45:12,640
starting to build out our team.

865
00:45:12,640 --> 00:45:15,310
I should clarify we are
very early in this journey.

866
00:45:15,470 --> 00:45:20,690
So we are just making our first
couple kind of founding team hires.

867
00:45:20,960 --> 00:45:24,420
My co founder, Mike, is an
incredible engineering leader.

868
00:45:24,450 --> 00:45:27,954
So he's hiring the first
engineer to work with him.

869
00:45:28,275 --> 00:45:30,535
We'll probably add a product
designer pretty soon.

870
00:45:30,535 --> 00:45:34,785
So definitely making a couple of
hires if our mission moves people.

871
00:45:34,955 --> 00:45:36,255
And then kinsome.

872
00:45:36,285 --> 00:45:40,085
com is the website and LinkedIn is
probably where we're most active.

873
00:45:40,965 --> 00:45:41,565
All right.

874
00:45:41,575 --> 00:45:42,185
Sounds good.

875
00:45:42,185 --> 00:45:44,875
We will link to those
things in the show notes.

876
00:45:45,175 --> 00:45:51,175
Now with that, are you ready
for the rapid fire round?

877
00:45:51,695 --> 00:45:52,125
Let's do it.

878
00:45:52,805 --> 00:45:54,185
All right, let's get going here.

879
00:45:54,185 --> 00:45:59,005
What is the most indispensable parenting
product that you have ever purchased?

880
00:46:00,055 --> 00:46:00,605
iPad.

881
00:46:01,405 --> 00:46:04,925
Ooh, what is the most useless
parenting product that you've ever

882
00:46:04,925 --> 00:46:05,485
purchased?

883
00:46:06,740 --> 00:46:10,380
I can't remember all the names, but
we bought every sleep contraption

884
00:46:10,550 --> 00:46:13,160
you could ever, we bought them all.

885
00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:14,310
And none of them worked.

886
00:46:14,310 --> 00:46:14,960
None of them worked.

887
00:46:15,100 --> 00:46:15,790
None of them worked.

888
00:46:16,500 --> 00:46:19,740
It's such a vulnerable time to
get at a parent when they're

889
00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:21,110
in the middle of the night.

890
00:46:21,650 --> 00:46:24,714
There's no amount of money we wouldn't
have spent, but we tried them all.

891
00:46:25,005 --> 00:46:29,015
This has come up on multiple
episodes along with the snoo,

892
00:46:29,385 --> 00:46:32,725
which could be priced at a million
dollars and people would still buy

893
00:46:32,725 --> 00:46:33,312
it at 2am.

894
00:46:33,312 --> 00:46:35,265
That is a reasonable price, yeah.

895
00:46:36,395 --> 00:46:37,655
Alright, finish this sentence.

896
00:46:37,685 --> 00:46:41,735
The ideal day with my kids
involves this one activity.

897
00:46:42,025 --> 00:46:44,585
Not an activity, but just laughter.

898
00:46:44,645 --> 00:46:46,025
I love my kids all.

899
00:46:46,970 --> 00:46:49,260
Incredible, totally different laughs.

900
00:46:49,310 --> 00:46:53,080
My daughter has this cackle that
just like lights up a realm.

901
00:46:53,540 --> 00:46:56,070
They all just, I don't know,
anything that makes any of

902
00:46:56,070 --> 00:46:58,430
them laugh is a great activity.

903
00:46:58,970 --> 00:46:59,800
That's awesome.

904
00:46:59,890 --> 00:47:01,210
I love to hear that.

905
00:47:01,570 --> 00:47:05,010
What is the most frustrating thing
that has ever happened to you as

906
00:47:05,010 --> 00:47:05,604
a dad?

907
00:47:05,845 --> 00:47:09,475
I would say some of our like medical
care adventures when we've had to

908
00:47:09,475 --> 00:47:13,815
take kids into the ER and wait,
you know, we had one last night.

909
00:47:13,935 --> 00:47:16,685
I luckily drew the longer straw.

910
00:47:16,875 --> 00:47:18,265
I mean, I didn't have to go.

911
00:47:18,565 --> 00:47:20,959
My wife had to take my youngest to the ER.

912
00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:25,010
ER last night and four
hours later came home.

913
00:47:25,030 --> 00:47:28,520
So we've, we've definitely had some
pretty frustrating medical visits.

914
00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:29,300
Pingree

915
00:47:29,300 --> 00:47:31,180
pediatric services failed you

916
00:47:31,250 --> 00:47:32,270
that, uh, right.

917
00:47:32,270 --> 00:47:32,460
Yeah.

918
00:47:32,460 --> 00:47:37,420
Well, I should mention that we've saved
probably 80 percent of the visits we would

919
00:47:37,420 --> 00:47:39,950
have made by going downstairs, but ER

920
00:47:39,950 --> 00:47:41,540
visits, not fun.

921
00:47:41,630 --> 00:47:42,400
I agree.

922
00:47:42,635 --> 00:47:44,865
What is your go to dad wardrobe?

923
00:47:46,075 --> 00:47:48,095
Um, I think I'm probably wearing it.

924
00:47:48,125 --> 00:47:50,265
Just my finest sweatshirt here.

925
00:47:50,335 --> 00:47:54,565
My wife is much more stylish than
me and not a fan of my wardrobe.

926
00:47:54,945 --> 00:47:55,285
All right.

927
00:47:56,175 --> 00:47:59,615
What is the favorite age for your kids?

928
00:48:00,055 --> 00:48:03,335
I would say my oldest is
at a pretty incredible age.

929
00:48:03,345 --> 00:48:05,625
He's nine, just at this.

930
00:48:06,475 --> 00:48:11,765
phase where you know, none of the teenage
kind of jadedness is sunk in yet just

931
00:48:11,955 --> 00:48:18,335
full of optimism and enthusiasm old enough
where it is hilarious like making me

932
00:48:18,335 --> 00:48:23,030
laugh definitely kind of at this place
where it feels more like you're hanging

933
00:48:23,030 --> 00:48:25,480
out with your best friend than your kids.

934
00:48:25,490 --> 00:48:27,320
So he's at a really fun age.

935
00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:28,450
Okay.

936
00:48:28,490 --> 00:48:30,540
180 degree opposite from that.

937
00:48:30,540 --> 00:48:32,830
What is the least favorite
age for your kids?

938
00:48:33,420 --> 00:48:35,400
I, the early days were not for me.

939
00:48:35,480 --> 00:48:40,190
Two and under was just, it took me longer
to kind of build the bond and that was

940
00:48:40,190 --> 00:48:46,460
very much just survival mode and It didn't
get particularly easier with all of them.

941
00:48:46,480 --> 00:48:51,880
So luckily when, with the second
and third, I kind of got the duty of

942
00:48:52,290 --> 00:48:57,290
keeping the older child alive while
my wife probably bore the brunt with

943
00:48:57,290 --> 00:49:01,500
the younger ones, but yeah, yeah,
three kind of once they hit three

944
00:49:01,500 --> 00:49:03,129
and up is it's been a lot more.

945
00:49:04,660 --> 00:49:06,670
It's when you're in
the clear, minus the ER

946
00:49:06,670 --> 00:49:07,170
trips.

947
00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:10,000
Right, I wouldn't say the
clear, but it's getting clearer.

948
00:49:10,510 --> 00:49:10,770
Less

949
00:49:10,950 --> 00:49:11,940
foggy, perhaps.

950
00:49:12,410 --> 00:49:15,920
Have you ever secretly thrown
away a piece of your kid's

951
00:49:15,950 --> 00:49:16,610
artwork?

952
00:49:17,030 --> 00:49:18,790
We do this every single day.

953
00:49:18,970 --> 00:49:24,580
My daughter is a prolific artist,
and there's just no way to keep

954
00:49:24,770 --> 00:49:26,180
the amount of art that comes home.

955
00:49:26,180 --> 00:49:29,830
So, we put her to bed, and
then we do some recycling.

956
00:49:30,280 --> 00:49:30,710
Yeah,

957
00:49:30,800 --> 00:49:31,350
I'll bet.

958
00:49:31,700 --> 00:49:36,180
What is the most absurd thing
that one of your kids has ever

959
00:49:36,180 --> 00:49:37,470
asked you to buy for them?

960
00:49:38,050 --> 00:49:42,710
I took my son to a Celtics game for
his, I want to say his seventh birthday,

961
00:49:42,790 --> 00:49:47,630
and through some insane connection,
one of my best friends from college

962
00:49:47,630 --> 00:49:53,070
surprised us, and we got just these
incredible seats, like courtside seats.

963
00:49:53,450 --> 00:49:59,095
Yeah, and so now Anytime we're going
to any sporting event, that is his bar.

964
00:49:59,215 --> 00:50:03,535
And so he's like, dad, can you just
upgrade to like being on the field?

965
00:50:04,145 --> 00:50:08,135
Uh, so we've had to work
on kind of reestablishing

966
00:50:08,135 --> 00:50:10,065
his, uh, expectations there.

967
00:50:10,155 --> 00:50:10,835
Yeah,

968
00:50:11,065 --> 00:50:11,715
that's good.

969
00:50:12,585 --> 00:50:16,085
Now with three kids at three different
ages, you've probably watched

970
00:50:16,085 --> 00:50:17,595
a lot of different kids movies.

971
00:50:18,325 --> 00:50:21,215
Which kid's movie is your favorite?

972
00:50:21,990 --> 00:50:26,010
We're now entering the phase with like
my oldest where he can watch movies

973
00:50:26,020 --> 00:50:31,590
that I like truly enjoy we watch
Princess Bride recently, which was

974
00:50:32,270 --> 00:50:34,140
just an incredible parenting moment.

975
00:50:34,140 --> 00:50:37,920
I actually wrote a blog post about
that recently So we're getting to

976
00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:41,150
the point where, you know, I've
got the list of movies that I'm

977
00:50:41,390 --> 00:50:42,790
very excited to watch with them.

978
00:50:42,790 --> 00:50:49,050
I think the younger kids,
Oh, Robin Hood, the old

979
00:50:50,360 --> 00:50:51,190
one, the Fox.

980
00:50:51,190 --> 00:50:52,960
Yes, that was a big classic.

981
00:50:52,980 --> 00:50:53,280
Yeah.

982
00:50:53,310 --> 00:50:53,880
Love that one.

983
00:50:53,880 --> 00:50:54,150
Yeah.

984
00:50:54,810 --> 00:50:55,180
Okay.

985
00:50:55,180 --> 00:50:57,690
You mentioned you're the type
of person that just gets the

986
00:50:57,710 --> 00:51:01,640
furniture and throws the instruction
manual out and just builds it.

987
00:51:02,150 --> 00:51:05,660
What is the worst experience
that you've ever had assembling

988
00:51:06,140 --> 00:51:08,510
a children's toy or a piece of

989
00:51:08,520 --> 00:51:09,070
furniture?

990
00:51:09,505 --> 00:51:10,435
This is what I live for.

991
00:51:10,435 --> 00:51:11,795
I love assembling things.

992
00:51:11,805 --> 00:51:15,165
So that's my that's
right in my wheelhouse.

993
00:51:15,825 --> 00:51:16,475
This is going to

994
00:51:16,475 --> 00:51:22,365
go inside the Pingree Prime
membership is assembly services.

995
00:51:22,365 --> 00:51:24,035
We've got finance.

996
00:51:24,065 --> 00:51:25,315
We've got architectural.

997
00:51:25,315 --> 00:51:26,705
We've got pediatrics.

998
00:51:26,785 --> 00:51:29,815
Now we have Assembly and construction.

999
00:51:30,075 --> 00:51:30,345
Yeah.

1000
00:51:30,365 --> 00:51:33,235
So, we've got it all, all
the bases are covered.

1001
00:51:33,365 --> 00:51:33,695
Okay.

1002
00:51:33,695 --> 00:51:34,225
I like it.

1003
00:51:34,275 --> 00:51:37,625
For only 99 a year, you
too can be a member.

1004
00:51:38,495 --> 00:51:44,265
How long can a piece of food sit
on the floor and you will still

1005
00:51:44,305 --> 00:51:44,655
eat it?

1006
00:51:45,485 --> 00:51:46,455
There's no time limit.

1007
00:51:46,455 --> 00:51:51,810
It's, it's case by case, but I just
have to look at it and I just know

1008
00:51:51,820 --> 00:51:56,700
whether it's going to kill me, but it's
a real it's a long, it's a long time.

1009
00:51:57,210 --> 00:51:59,380
It's a real time assessment
of the risk factor.

1010
00:51:59,760 --> 00:52:00,390
Exactly.

1011
00:52:00,390 --> 00:52:02,570
There's so many different
things you have to consider.

1012
00:52:02,660 --> 00:52:03,440
I love that.

1013
00:52:03,720 --> 00:52:06,580
You mentioned the Princess
Bride, also a favorite of mine.

1014
00:52:06,600 --> 00:52:09,660
My grandparents used to have that
on a VHS tape and I watched it

1015
00:52:09,660 --> 00:52:11,260
until it did not work anymore.

1016
00:52:11,780 --> 00:52:15,780
What is another nostalgic
movie that you cannot wait to

1017
00:52:15,810 --> 00:52:17,500
force your children to watch?

1018
00:52:18,160 --> 00:52:18,650
Stand by

1019
00:52:18,660 --> 00:52:19,010
me.

1020
00:52:19,580 --> 00:52:21,090
Oh, another good one.

1021
00:52:21,420 --> 00:52:21,620
Just

1022
00:52:21,960 --> 00:52:23,610
soundtrack, everything.

1023
00:52:23,680 --> 00:52:24,090
Yeah.

1024
00:52:24,130 --> 00:52:25,500
Love, love that movie.

1025
00:52:25,870 --> 00:52:29,510
Speaking of which, how often do
you tell your kids back in my day

1026
00:52:29,510 --> 00:52:30,210
stories?

1027
00:52:30,575 --> 00:52:32,965
It started to ramp up with my oldest.

1028
00:52:32,965 --> 00:52:36,755
He's kind of getting into sports
and I've got this kind of little

1029
00:52:36,755 --> 00:52:40,215
window here where I can tell those
stories before he's going to realize

1030
00:52:40,275 --> 00:52:42,015
that I wasn't a very good athlete.

1031
00:52:42,015 --> 00:52:44,545
So I'm piping it up right now.

1032
00:52:44,605 --> 00:52:46,005
You're giving the old

1033
00:52:46,225 --> 00:52:48,635
four touchdowns in a single game.

1034
00:52:48,905 --> 00:52:50,035
Glory Day story.

1035
00:52:50,055 --> 00:52:50,668
Yeah, exactly.

1036
00:52:50,668 --> 00:52:51,181
Exactly.

1037
00:52:51,181 --> 00:52:52,145
All right.

1038
00:52:52,625 --> 00:52:54,215
Two more questions for you.

1039
00:52:55,055 --> 00:53:01,065
One with three Children and
Another seven in proximity.

1040
00:53:01,355 --> 00:53:03,715
What is your take on minivans?

1041
00:53:04,400 --> 00:53:05,580
Big fan, big fan.

1042
00:53:05,580 --> 00:53:07,160
They were a part of my childhood.

1043
00:53:07,190 --> 00:53:11,160
We had VW, like the big Vanagans.

1044
00:53:11,210 --> 00:53:15,780
We had several of them and we
did a lot of driving as a family.

1045
00:53:15,790 --> 00:53:18,370
So just having your own space.

1046
00:53:18,370 --> 00:53:21,020
I remember when they went from
the bench seat to like the two

1047
00:53:21,150 --> 00:53:22,640
captain's seats in the middle.

1048
00:53:22,640 --> 00:53:26,430
And that meant one brother got
one, one got the other, and then

1049
00:53:26,590 --> 00:53:28,100
someone got the whole back row.

1050
00:53:28,160 --> 00:53:28,740
And that was.

1051
00:53:29,615 --> 00:53:31,145
It was for three or more kids.

1052
00:53:31,145 --> 00:53:33,025
It's, it makes a big difference.

1053
00:53:33,035 --> 00:53:37,555
So I'm a luxurious, we moved on to
the, an arrow star when I was older

1054
00:53:37,555 --> 00:53:42,885
and my parents somehow parked that in
downtown Boston for our whole teen years.

1055
00:53:43,355 --> 00:53:43,995
Okay.

1056
00:53:44,225 --> 00:53:44,635
All right.

1057
00:53:44,655 --> 00:53:46,335
And last question for you.

1058
00:53:46,880 --> 00:53:48,930
We're pulling this one
from the Question Archive.

1059
00:53:49,510 --> 00:53:53,320
Where is the strangest place that
you have ever found a diaper?

1060
00:53:53,910 --> 00:54:00,110
I don't know about strange, I've, like,
some gross places, like, found, just, you

1061
00:54:00,110 --> 00:54:04,490
know, tucked under the couch, had clearly
been, unlike food, like, old diapers

1062
00:54:04,540 --> 00:54:07,520
definitely have a short expiration window,

1063
00:54:07,850 --> 00:54:11,020
so, Unlike a fine wine, they
do not get better with age.

1064
00:54:11,030 --> 00:54:11,340
No,

1065
00:54:11,340 --> 00:54:12,120
not at all.

1066
00:54:12,655 --> 00:54:15,815
Yeah, so definitely found some
where they shouldn't have been.

1067
00:54:16,035 --> 00:54:19,075
But okay, I don't know about
strange, just just okay.

1068
00:54:19,375 --> 00:54:23,695
Well, on that wonderful note, finding
a diaper under the couch months later.

1069
00:54:24,065 --> 00:54:26,555
Thank you very much, Evan,
for joining me today.

1070
00:54:26,555 --> 00:54:27,915
It was a pleasure having you.

1071
00:54:28,220 --> 00:54:32,920
I wish you and Kinsome all the best
of luck and sounds like a product that

1072
00:54:32,920 --> 00:54:34,350
needs to be out there in the world.

1073
00:54:34,350 --> 00:54:36,720
So I'm excited for some people to

1074
00:54:36,720 --> 00:54:37,230
discover it.

1075
00:54:37,760 --> 00:54:38,940
Thank you so much, Adam.

1076
00:54:38,940 --> 00:54:39,820
I really appreciate it.

1077
00:54:41,450 --> 00:54:45,060
Thank you for listening to today's
conversation with Eben Pingree.

1078
00:54:45,490 --> 00:54:49,515
If you enjoyed the show, please
subscribe, share, Leave me a review.

1079
00:54:49,965 --> 00:54:52,185
It'll help other people find this podcast.

1080
00:54:52,545 --> 00:54:57,435
Startup Dad is a Fishman AF production
with editing support from Tommy Herron.

1081
00:54:57,945 --> 00:55:02,775
You can join a community of 10,000
subscribers and stay up to date on

1082
00:55:02,780 --> 00:55:07,905
all my thoughts on growth, product and
parenting by subscribing to the Fishman AF

1083
00:55:07,905 --> 00:55:14,535
newsletter at www.fishmanafnewsletter.com.

1084
00:55:14,955 --> 00:55:17,205
Thanks for listening
and see you next week.