The very important facts

Only the facts, numbered for your convenience.

1. My lovely wife Monica keeps me sane. She has to because we have three girls (the oldest Alli, and the new twins, Isabella and Evelyn).
2. I started a company called Stickman Ventures, Inc back in 2007 with Gareth Coen. Still going strong. And no, we're not a startup. We're a business!
3. I heart the film photography (I have a working darkroom that I built, need I say more).
4. I heart the football (the proper kind). I was a goalkeeper at Seattle University back when I was 40lbs lighter.
5. I heart the hacking. I will hack pretty much anything that interests me. Code, hardware, house, car, kids toys...I don't care.
6. I heart the acting. I don't do as many roles anymore... but the soul wants what the soul wants.

Contacting me

I'm amazingly easy to get ahold of. Hit me up on one of those big social buttons over there, or send me an email (justin@justinribeiro.com).

The great dichotomy that is me.

People are often stunned to find out that I have both a long track record of software engineering experience (16+ years...oy, I'm getting old), but that I also have not one but two degrees in business.

This leads to the following two problems:

1. Software developers sometimes give me a fair amount of shit because they presume that I don't know anything about software development.
2. Managers give me a even more shit, because I have an MBA and I build great big software things.

My response these days: get over it. If you can't hang, then hit the road because I have better things to do than put up with your often unfounded bias.

You probably don't need a college degree, but I've got two

Over tha last couple of years, I've been asked a strange question time and again:

Justin, are you and educated man?

Funny as I am, I'll play on such a choice setup on occasion (who doesn't like to be treated to horrible sterotype accents in a tux? lots of people apparently). Sometimes I'll just rant about how education is a great thing, but that schools aren't always the answer. Othertimes, I just say yes.

The long and short, I have two degrees in business.

• A bachelor of arts in business administration from Seattle University.
• A master degree in business administration (MBA) from the University of San Francisco.

For all the hard work I put in, I was still lucky to go to such fine universities. A Campion academic scholarship from SU paved the way to my move there, and a Dean's fellowship paved my way to USF. I'll always be grateful for both and the wonderful people who put up with me.

Software engineering, or the education I was gifted from my folks

Once upon a time, way back in 1987-ish, my folks bought a 286 with 1MB of RAM. The prime purpose of said machine was for my Mom to use it for doing the books for our family farming business (still in operation today for what it's worth).

That machine was a epiphany for me (oddly, I had a Commadore 64 that was not). I did things on it I wasn't supposed to. I wrote code. But I didn't just write code, my Mom helped me (yes, my Mom could write code...she probably still can if you ask real nice).

I don't have a degree in Computer Science (there is a funny story involving why I don't, but that's an over-a-few-drinks talk), but I've been building software for over 16 years without one. That little 286, along with Mom's help, Dad's constant machine upgrades (wow, that first modem was something else), set me not on a career, but on an adventure.

Historically speaking, I'm older than I used to be

If I were to list the very amount of things I've done over the years, it'd be only for my future older self. The reality is, I'm just an ordinary guy who sets out to do extraordinary things. Most of the things I do won't ever impress, but they make me happy. One should be so lucky in such a short span of time we grace this earth.