ActiveBob.....It's always Raining!

Last week we added Jeff Corbett, known to many of you as 'The X Broker', to the team here at ActiveRain. We are very excited that Jeff accepted our offer to come on board and take over the the Business Development and Operations duties here at ActiveRain.

For those of you not familiar with Jeff, you can read about him and some of his thought provoking opinions on his personal blog, thexbroker.com. Jeff has years of industry knowledge under his belt having previously run his own home building company, mortgage brokerage and real estate brokerage. Most recently Jeff developed a transparent wholesale mortgage rate and pricing engine (there's no short and quick way to explain something that brings this much transparency to an industry that needs it). The most recent project brought him face to face with most of the real estate technology leaders that are shaping the future of technology in this space.

Those of us here at ActiveRain have had the pleasure of getting to know Jeff over the last few years and Jon felt like he was a great fit for our team. In addition to liking Jeff personally, he brings a diverse skill set that compliments our current team as well as fills in some gaps.

On a personal level, all the guys (and Claire) here at ActiveRain get along really well. We hang out together outside of work and we genuinely like each other. Keeping that continuity in tact was important...........the fact him and Jon sport similar hairdos didn't hurt either.

(........I have choosen to forgive Jeff for being a Buffalo Bills fan only because he grew up in Buffalo. We have agreed that he will not mention the shellacking his Bills gave my Seahawks as everyone knows our top four receivers were out and if we got them at full strength we would destroy them)

So stop by Jeff's post and welcome him officially to the ActiveRain staff.

As Bob Stewart announced, I formally joined the team at ActiveRain last week.  To say I'm stoked would be an understatement.  The culture is great, working with a core team of talented people in this space has been an aspiration of mine for quite some time. 

I was reflecting on this personal desire when Jon Washburn serendipitously called me (very) recently, broached the subject and took my temperature regarding coming to Seattle to work with the AR crew. It didn't take long (3 days actually) to decide that this would be a great fit for me and hopefully the community as a whole. 

As i typically do when making a decision that carries any consequence, I weighed out the pros and cons of coming to work at AR...I'd like to share my top 5 pro's (Bob and his love for the Seahawks was really the only 'con' but I was able to look past that since my Buffalo Bills stomped all over his beloved football team).

5)  I've always been interested in Seattle as a city to live in, home to many companies in the 'Web 2.0' space.  Living in New York, North Carolina, Texas, and California, Seattle was the logical next stop on my horseshoe tour of thecountry.

4)  Being called a (AR) God has been a secret desire of mine for quite some time ;)  Seriously though, having the ability to make a positive impact on an industry I love via such a diverse and respected community like ActiveRain has me floating around like an elevated spirit :)

3)  The Opportunity.  While I can't discuss whats 'coming down the pipe' at AR, Localism etc (Jon has a gag order on me) to say that the collective vision of where this company is going is 'exciting', doesn't do it justice.

2)  The Community.  I joined AR as a member over two years ago and the community really taught me how to blog, find my voice and otherwise advance the relative skills to do well in this space.  I indirectly (and now directly) attribute much of the success I've had to the great people I've met via AR.  To now be part of this community, internally as well as a member, is pretty surreal.  'Pay it forward' is the appropriate colloquialism here...

1)  The Team.  From the top down, Jon the CEO to Bob the Janitor (j/k, Bob knows this), the individuals who are part of this company are brilliant, progressive thought leaders and genuinely good people.  Being part of a greater team rather than a lone wolf is the number one reason I took this wonderful opportunity. 

Anywhoo...I look forward to fostering and furthering the evolution of this company in my roles of business development and operations.  The sky really isn't the limit here, its just thebeginning.

P.S. Hopefully the mortgage contingency here on AR doesn't revolt, rebel, torch the palce and leave...I'm a pretty reasonable guy who just happens to be passionate about what he's involved with, that now continues withActiveRain ;)