Stretch

I see now how much I’ve given up over the years by keeping my work focus so central and my circle so narrow.

—Tony Schwartz

4 BUILD A DIVERSE NETWORK

Zach Altneu has been a natural rebel his whole life. In high school, at the same time he was excelling as editor of his school newspaper and yearbook, he also managed to get expelled for writing underground articles critical of the Benedictine monks who were his teachers. His future career would be one in an industry that didn’t yet exist when he was born in 1977—writing software and building websites.

His first job was at a marketing company, where he readily admitted to working six days a week and eighteen hours a day, with a couple of all-nighters every week. His devotion and commitment came easily because he was determined to become good enough at web design that he could implement successful solutions for his clients. Zach’s other focus was on mastery of his software development skills. Networking was the last thing on his mind. It wasn’t long before he became the lead programmer at the company. Soon after, the head sales guy approached him about joining forces and starting their own company. Zach’s future as an entrepreneur was sealed: a rebel with a cause.

As a young entrepreneur Zach relied on his family for advice. Both his maternal and paternal grandparents had been entrepreneurs. In conversations with his grandparents, they urged him not to get pigeonholed into the technical side of the business (writing code and building ...