MichaelDearing
I think it’s weird when people write their own bios in the third person. So I am trying this instead. I founded Harrison Metal in 2006 (unofficially) and in 2008 (for real in the legal sense). I started the business because I love helping people productize new technology, take those products to market, and then make those products into businesses.
While building Harrison Metal, I was fortunate to work at Stanford University. From 2006 through 2014, I was a Consulting Associate Professor at Stanford University’s School of Engineering, teaching classes in Mechanical Engineering, Management Science & Engineering, and the d.school. With some out-of-this-world colleagues, I got to design and teach some of the most popular courses in entrepreneurship and management in the University — including Launchpad, Management in Complex Organizations, Creative Product Marketing, Entrepreneurial Finance, and Creating Infectious Action. When I finished my work at Stanford, I decided to continue teaching at Harrison Metal. Today Harrison Metal is a center for teaching and investing in exceptional people.
Prior to Stanford and Harrison Metal, I spent six-and-a-half years at eBay, where I had tours of duty in category management, corporate strategy, U.S. marketing, and finally as Senior Vice President & General Merchandise Manager for eBay.com. Before eBay, I worked at Industrial Shoe Warehouse (COO then CEO), The Walt Disney Company (corporate strategy), Filene’s Basement (operations at the Downtown Boston store), and Bain & Company (Associate Consultant). I earned an AB in Economics, with a focus in economic history, from Brown University, and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.
I live in the woods with four dogs, a cat, and four chickens. I don’t follow an organized religion but if I did it would be the Creative Destruction sect of Capitalism. I am INTJ if you believe in that whole thing. I think David Sedaris is the funniest person in the world in terms of lifetime achievement. But A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole is the funniest single piece of writing I’ve read. You should read it. If you like it, tell me. If you hate it, keep that to yourself.