ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Building a book is like building a business: the idea may start with you, but its real-world success rests on the shoulders of the team you put together. My appreciation, gratitude, and respect go:

To my awesome co-author, John David Mann. John and I started working together on our first collaboration, The Red Circle, way back in 2009, when I was still in the midst of the Wind Zero effort, and right from the word “go” we talked about writing a book together on Spec Ops principles as applied to the world of business. John is not only a hell of a writer, he’s also a hell of an entrepreneur himself.

To our fiercely talented literary agent, Alyssa Reuben, and her ace assistant at the Paradigm Talent Agency, Katelyn Dougherty, who helped this project find the most excellent home imaginable.

To our phenomenal publishing team at Portfolio: Natalie Horbachevsky, Bria Sandford, Leah Trouwborst, Kaushik Viswanath, Will Weisser, and Adrian Zackheim; you guys are the best there is at what you do, and I’m proud to join your catalog of business authors.

To Joe Apfelbaum, Solomon Choi, Matt Meeker, Betsy Morgan, Kamal Ravikant, Amit Verma, and Ryan Zagata, for your generosity, your friendship, and your awesome stories.

To Randy Kelley, for forcing me to do my own numbers.

To the All-Star Brent Burns, No. 88 of the San Jose Sharks, for your friendship and the Stanley Cup memories; my dad and I will never forget the experience.

To my mom, Lynn; my dad, Jack; my grandmother Doris; and Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Jack for the entrepreneurial environment you all created for me, whether or not you knew you were doing so at the time!

To my amazing children, who continue to inspire me every day by pursuing your own paths.

To my incredible executive team at the Hurricane Group: Drew Dwyer, Adam Haddad, Anna Hughes, Desiree Huitt, Jason Kenitzer, Ben Madden, Angie Mobarak, Jack Murphy, Ian Scotto, Cris Tagupa, and Drew Wallace—and I’m sure there will be more of you by the time this book hits the bookstore shelves!

To our advisory board at Hurricane: Frank Farrell, George Kollitides, Sean Lake, Bill Ludwig, Sally Lyndley, Matt Meeker, Betsy Morgan, Kamal Ravikant, and Will De Rose, for your wisdom and guidance.

To the members of Entrepreneurs’ Organization, New York City chapter, for being there for me when I needed it most.

And finally, to you, the one reading these words, for having the courage and dedication to walk the path. I hope you’ll share this book with those people in your sphere of influence who will get the message and do something with it!

Spread the word: Excellence matters.