
I started Atomic Object in the summer of 2001 with Bill Bereza, one of my former students at Grand Valley State University. We raised Atomic from the ashes of a dot-com startup where I had been VP of Engineering. When that company failed to get a second round of funding, it went under and left us with some office furniture, three interns, the remainder of a lease, and a missing month's pay. (We still use the office furniture, one of those three intern is now co-CEO, and I long since stopped missing the $10,000 final paycheck.)
My startup experience taught me two very valuable lessons:
- It's easy to build software but much harder to build the right software.
- Agile practices will change the software development world.
From 2000, I was an advocate for, and Atomic was a pioneer in, Extreme Programming. I founded the non-profit trade association SoftwareGR (formerly XPWestMichigan) in 2003. As Atomic grew, I gradually moved from programming on a daily basis to running the operations of our Grand Rapids office. In January 2014 I took the title of CEO and started working on things with longer time horizons, like speculative investments, governance, ownership, marketing, and growing our Detroit (since closed) and Ann Arbor (now thriving) offices.
In May of 2019, I moved to Executive Chairman, passing the CEO reins to Michael Marsiglia and Shawn Crowley. In this position, I work on a strategy for purpose-driven growth, the evolution of our governance, ownership, and structure, and memorializing our culture—work that I believe improves our odds of reaching our 100-year goal.
I'm an active angel investor and managing director for Tappan Hill Ventures. I currently serve on the boards of Legacy Trust, AdAdapted, and Grand Angels. In the past, I’ve served on the boards of Blue Medora, Local Orbit, Varsity News Network, and Mock Draft Central (acquired). In 2018 I co-founded Mader Mill, the first new sawmill in the state of Indiana in 40 years, with my brother-in-law’s expertise and our shared belief that a people-first, purpose-driven, profitable company can be a force for good in the community.
My first career was as a Professor of Computer Science at Grand Valley State University (1991-2000), where I taught courses on networking, operating systems, architecture, and object technology. I extended my professorial duties through 2009, and rediscovered my Swedish heritage, as a part-time industrial lecturer at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden where I taught a course entitled "Software Craftsmanship."
I've served on the boards of the Swedish American Heritage Society, the Land Conservancy of West Michigan, and Grand Rapids HQ.
I have a B.S. in electrical engineering from Purdue University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in computer engineering from Michigan State University.
On a personal level, I sail a Snipe at the Grand Rapids Yacht Club, enjoy interesting cars, love to snowboard, and play Swedish floorball in the winter.
Papers and Presentations
-
Integrating Design and Development to Make Great Software
- Agile and Beyond | February 2011
-
Defining Your Culture
- Atomic Object — Ann Arbor | January 2020
-
Scaling Your Impact with Shared Ownership
- Good for Michigan | July 2019
-
Think Long Term
- Positive Business Conference 2019 | May 2019
-
Amplify Your Culture of Ownership Through Employee Ownership
- Small Giants Summit 2019 | May 2019
-
Making Work Matter
- REBar GR | September 2018
-
Integrating Design and Development to Make Great Software copy
- MSU Women in Computing | October 2012
- Hope College | February 2015
- Hope College | April 2017
-
Why Developers Should Care About Design
- MHacks 9 | March 2017
-
Startup Grind Interview with Carl Erickson
- Startup Grind Lansing | October 2015
-
Craftsmanship as Competitive Advantage
- HighEdWeb Michigan | April 2015
-
The Right Kind of Startups
- Techweek Detroit | April 2015
-
Companies for Craftspeople
- 1DEVDAY Detroit | November 2014
- Software Craftsmanship North America | October 2011
- Path to Craftsmanship | April 2013
-
We’re All Software Companies Now – How Software Can Help Companies Innovate & Serve Markets Better
- Techweek Detroit | April 2014
-
14 Years of TDD: What We’ve Learned at Atomic Object
- Agile Groupies | January 2014
-
Atomic’s Speculative Development Story
- D-NewTech | November 2012
-
Happy Makers Make Happy Customers
- GR Dev Day | October 2011
-
Lightweight Project Tracking with Burn Charts
- SoftwareGR | May 2011
-
Between Freelance and Corporate America: Sustainable Companies for Smart and Creative People
- TEDx Traverse City | April 2011
-
Trash Your RFP: How to Select the Best Vendor
- Great Lakes Software Excellence Conference | March 2011
-
Crafting Your Mobile Strategy
- Michigan Emerging | October 2010
-
30-50% of You Are Lousy Estimators – Here’s How to Get Better
- 1DevDay Detroit | September 2010
-
Sustainability = f(idea, execution, culture)
- TEDx Grand Valley | July 2010
-
Convincing the Executive: Economic Arguments for Agile Software Development
- Great Lakes Software Excellence Conference | October 2007
-
Presenter First – Big, Complex, and Tested? Just Say "When"
- Better Software Magazine | January 2007
-
Fostering Excellence in IT Services through Quality and Innovation
- Great Lakes Software Excellence Conference | September 2006
-
Perils and Pitfalls of Agile Adoption
- Software Development Best Practices, Boston | August 2006
-
Presenter First: Organizing Complex GUI Applications for Test-Driven Development
- Agile 2006 | June 2006
-
Effective Test-Driven Development for Embedded Software
- IEEE Electro/Information Technology Conference | April 2006
-
Agile Intro + Story-Driven Development
- XP West Michigan (Now SoftwareGR) | December 2005
-
Acceptance Test Automation to Support Story-Driven Development: From Customer Stories to Greenbar
- Indianapolis Quality Assurance Assn. Conference | September 2005
-
Sane Software Development
- Smith Aerospace | February 2005
- Agile Project Management in Extreme Programming Projects
-
Make Haste, Not Waste: Automated System Testing
- XP Agile Universe | June 2003
-
Better Living Through Extreme Programming
- Assn. of Information Technology Professionals | September 2002
-
OO Testing: From Academia to the Real World
- Uppsala University | April 2002
Meet the Atoms
- Leadership & Operations
- Development
- Delivery
- Design
- Testing
- GR BhBrittanyBrittany Hunterbio →
- GR CeCarlCarl Ericksonbio →
- A2 JbJonahJonah Baileybio →
- A2 JfJohnJohn Fisherbio →
- JsJordanJordan Schaenzlebio →
- GR JwJeffJeff Williamsbio →
- GR MaMicahMicah Allesbio →
- MmMikeMike Marsigliabio →
- GR MoMaryMary O'Neillbio →
- ScShawnShawn Crowleybio →
- GR AmAdamAdam Medemabio →
- GR DmDanielleDanielle Marsigliabio →
- A2 EeElaineElaine Ezekielbio →
- GR JhJesseJesse Hillbio →
- A2 KdKellyKelly Danielsbio →
- A2 LmLinaLina Millerbio →
- GR LtLisaLisa Tjapkesbio →
- GR SgStephenStephen Guytonbio →
- GR TvTerriTerri Vrugginkbio →
- GR AmAnjaliAnjali Munasinghebio →
- GR ApAndyAndy Petersonbio →
- GR AzAlexAlex Zurekbio →
- GR BmBrianBrian Maybio →
- GR BvBrianBrian Vanderwalbio →
- A2 CfCaseyCasey Falkowskibio →
- GR CfChrisChris Farberbio →
- GR DcDrewDrew Colthorpbio →
- A2 DgDylanDylan Goingsbio →
- GR DkDanDan Kelchbio →
- DnDonDon Nakashimabio →
- A2 DsDougDoug Shippbio →
- GR GdGraceGrace Du Mezbio →
- GR GvGageGage Vander Claybio →
- GR JcJimmyJimmy Ceronebio →
- GR JcJoeJoe Chryslerbio →
- A2 JdJoanieJoanie Davisbio →
- A2 JfJingJing Fanbio →
- GR JgJoriJori Gelbaughbio →
- GR JnJordanJordan Nelsonbio →
- GR JpJasonJason Porrittbio →
- GR JrJohnJohn Rublebio →
- A2 JsJakeJake Silasbio →
- A2 JwJarekJarek Wojciechowskibio →
- A2 KdKoryKory Dondzilabio →
- GR KsKaseyKasey Stowellbio →
- GR LcLydiaLydia Cuperybio →
- GR LeLaurenLauren Ebelsbio →
- GR MaMollyMolly Algerbio →
- A2 MbMattieMattie Behrensbio →
- GR MlMeredithMeredith Lindbio →
- GR MsMikeMike Swietonbio →
- GR NhNickNick Hazekampbio →
- GR NkNickNick Keuningbio →
- GR PbPatrickPatrick Baconbio →
- A2 PpPatrickPatrick Palebio →
- GR PwPatrickPatrick Warrenbio →
- GR RmRachaelRachael McQuaterbio →
- A2 SsSivhaunSivhaun Serabio →
- A2 StSamSam Tahiribio →
- InInternsAtomic Interns→