HEY! I’M SAM.
I’m a product & technology expert with 10+ years of experience.
I organize and inspire people.
Below are some of my proudest professional and personal accomplishments.
The Jazz Heist
Professional
Role
Founder
The Jazz Heist is an immersive escape room, conveniently dropped into your office, designed to spark employee connections. We designed & built this experience for Google, with the goal of transforming their office space and providing inter-team bonding without requiring a full day of scheduled activities.
I hired and led 5 distinct teams – each responsible for critical pieces that were tightly interwoven into the narrative & game experience.
đź’ľ Software: Engineered the Unity project within the phone booth, orchestrating interactive video content and controlling diverse hardware components.
⚡️ Hardware: Crafted tactile, analog experiences with microcontrollers, sensors, locks, buttons, and more to captivate users.
🎨 Branding: Infused a vibrant 1920s world with characters, thematic props, expertly crafted sets, and immersive digital elements.
🕹️ Game Design: Scripted 5 interlocking Quests, each unveiling a digit crucial to unlocking the final hidden treasure chest.
📽️ Video Production: Crafted dynamic storylines through scripts, featuring 14 actors, allowing players to shape their narrative journey and control the story’s ending.
BikePump
Professional
Role
Head of Product, Co-Founder
BikePump solved the problem of inefficient and uninspired transit-based advertising by making LED-enhanced bicycle wheels and partnering with delivery cyclists to sell geo-targeted ads on bikes across NYC.
I led 4 distinct products:
1) An iOS app for the 70,000 delivery riders to use to qualify for a BikePump wheel.
2) An iOS app for BikePump’s Paid Riders to use to control their wheel and display ads.
3) A marketing website to attract advertising clients.
4) A self-serve web portal for advertisers to create, manage, and monitor their advertising campaigns.
Handstand
Professional
Role
CEO, Co-Founder
Handstand solves the problem of boring & ineffective team-building by building and hosting mixed-reality experiences for corporate teams and for public events.
I launched 5 distinct products spanning iOS, Android, and Web applications. The Hunt is a scavenger hunt series featuring immersive actors and physical puzzles. Kartwheel is a Mario Kart inspired racing game where runners sling digital items at opponents, forcing them to stop and complete a challenge before continuing.
Ninja Warrior
Personal
Role
#grabThat
As a lifelong athlete and an unapologetic appreciator of life, the challenge of competing on ANW was right up my alley.
I placed 12th out of 250 competitors for the Venice Beach Qualifiers. I then placed 8th out of 20 competitors in the Finals, earning my place in the National Finals in Vegas. Unfortunately, a pesky rope took me out early on, leaving me to question my life decisions while floating in a pool of cold water.
World Record
Personal
Role
Chief Instigator
On July 15, 2017 we set out to break the world record for most people handstanding at one time. For over 10 years, the record has been held by a Belgian group with an impressive total of 399.
So on a sunny Saturday in Dolores Park, the group assembled. As the crowd filed into the designated area, the suspense was palpable. Would we have enough? As the last person joined us, we cast a nervous glance at our counters… "349!", they told us. We needed 50 more people! But a group of Handstanders is a powerful thing. Not to be deprived of their glory, the entire group called to their neighbors on the hill. "Break a world record! Break a world record! Break a world record!" And that is how we set a world record. By inspiring action from masses of park-goers otherwise enjoying a day of leisure. By challenging those on their blankets to take part in history rather than watch it go by. By asking every person to treat complete strangers as a team and accomplish a shared goal.