Employee Spotlight – Rob

Meet Rob!

We love to showcase the awesome people who work here at 729 Solutions because they are more than just great employees – they are creative and interesting people! Today we spoke with Rob, one of our founders and the CEO/CTO at 729!

Rob was born and raised in San Francisco, CA, but recently moved to sunny Las Vegas, Nevada!

Tell us more!

We asked Rob to answer a few questions for us. Here are his thoughtful responses.

What do you like about working for 729?

As the CEO, I get to pick and choose what we do, and that’s a really powerful feeling. I consult with our amazing team, but at the end of the day it’s my decisions that steer the work we accept and the direction of the company. It’s super rewarding to work with our team and clients every day.

What are your hobbies?

A childhood dream of mine is to learn how to fly airplanes, and I’ve been working hard towards my private pilots license over the last few years. It’s great because it uses lots of technology, but it’s not “work.” I’ve also learned a lot about checklists and procedures that I’ve brought back into 729 to improve how we do our work.

I’ve also played hockey since childhood. It’s gotten harder to find the time as I’ve gotten older and ice rinks have closed, but it’s something I still love to do.

My wife and I are also HUGE Disney nuts. We go to Disney World as much as possible, and even got married there. It’s just my happy place.

What are you doing to entertain yourself during COVID-19 Stay At Home orders?

I’m a passionate football fan, so that was my go-to activity last fall when we were stuck at home. I’ve also been rewatching movies and TV series that I love. My wife and I also moved to Las Vegas during the pandemic, which took a lot of my attention even if it wasn’t super entertaining!

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

My Dad was a Marine, and he really instilled the concept that “Winners never quit.”, which has also served me well especially when there are hard days.

I also really like this quote that I heard from a friend; “You have to be bad at things before you can be good at them.”

What advice would you give a candidate who wants to join our team of super stars?

We’re a “no rockstars” kind of company. Two questions I always ask in interviews are: tell me about what you’re most proud of professionally and tell me about the biggest disaster you’ve ever been part of. I’m looking for honest people with drive and who really want to keep learning.

Cats or dogs?

Cats. I was a fish and lizards guy all of my life, and then I met my wife who came with two cats. So now I’m a cat dad.

What is your favorite word in the English language?

I’ll roll with a classic California word: “hella.”

What is your favorite word in another language?

I greatly enjoy the word “sinistra,” meaning left-handed in Latin. I just love that at different points in history left-handedness was thought to be associated with the devil. It doesn’t have any special meaning for me, but I just love that history of how that word has changed meaning over the years.

What is the most inspiring part of your job?

I really enjoy watching people evolve inside of our company. I feel really proud when we have employees that come in with experience in one area, and then learn and grow into a much bigger part of our company and then mentor other new employees.

If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?

I’d love to be like Batman. He doesn’t have any special superpowers, but he has lots of money and time to create the amazing technology and tools that he uses to fight crime.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I went through so many of the standard things. My old man is a cop, so that was always a possibility. I also wished I could be a fighter pilot Top Gun style, but then I tried climbing into a cockpit at an air show as a teenager and discovered that at 6’4” I literally didn’t fit inside.

If you were a pasta shape, what shape would you be and why?

Ravioli is my favorite pasta, and I guess I’m kind of square shaped now. I used to be more shaped like spaghetti when I was younger, but times have changed.

Is there anything else you’d like the world to know about you?

I am complicated and simple all at the same time! I love having so many diverse interests, and figuring out how all of my interests (and friends!) interplay together in both my life and the universe.

You have to be bad at things before you can be good at them