Locally Grown with Jim Fini
In my book, Locally Grown: The Art of Sustainable Government, I talk about how our country's bottom up design of 20,000 zip codes, 50 states and 1 Federal government, brilliantly distributes power within that bottom-up infrastructure. Our Founders intended most governance to be done locally. And about the inherent dangers of too much centralized power. My book exposes the unsustainability of our government debt and the awful bargain we make when we exchange freedom for security. I introduce readers to Locally Grown principles like sustainability, accountability, the double-bottom line, harnessing excess capacity, simplification, and engaged citizenship. I make the case that returning to our federalist roots through Locally Grown principles is the path to sustainable, effective government that better serves the “Common Good.”
Locally Grown with Jim Fini
Episode 59: with 21 year old entrepreneur Tommy Potter
Today my guest is Tommy Potter a student at the University of Michigan who I met while visiting my daughter this fall. Our conversation over coffee was just so interesting, I had to have him on my podcast. I think it is critical for us oldsters to elevate this future generation of leaders who will be instrumental to the survival and prospering of our society as time passes.
The list of Tommy’s accomplishments at such a young age is extraordinary. He grew up in Moline, Illinois but got bored with school so he finished his HS degree at the U of TX online. He was a competitive youth golfer and spent a summer in the NY Hamptons as a caddy for rich entrepreneurs and financial industry guys which gave him an opportunity to start building an elite network which seemed to have lit the entrepreneurial bonfire within him. Last summer he was a summer intern at Andreesen Horowitz, one of if not the, most successful venture capital firms in the world. We’re gonna talk more about that. He also produced an award-winning documentary on the homeless as a U Mich student. His undeclared major at Michigan covers studies in philosophy, political science and business speaks to his non-linear thinking.
While studying at Michigan he has also built a successful elite headhunting company, for lack of a better term, for young tech talent, and counts many elite VC’s and early-stage companies as clients. The title he as used for his LinkedIn page just says “learning.” Well, we are gonna find out what he is learning today, so welcome to the Locally Grown podcast Tommy Potter.
United We Stand. Divided We Fall. Each One for the Other, and All for All.