About

“We may not even notice that we have extinguished our own curiosity, just as we may forget we had something to say until we find someone who is willing to hear it.” – Alain de Botton

Hi, I’m Vincent.

My goal is to share what has my attention – thoughts, experiences, experiments, books, work, and hobbies – for readers to connect over, discuss, learn from, disagree with, or debunk.

You can contact me at vincentvbarr at gmail dot com or on Twitter.

Work

I founded Operator, a consultancy helping B2B and B2C companies – from Fortune 5s like Google to growth-stage startups like The Farmer’s Dog – to grow through marketing, analytics, and structured experimentation. I am an Advisor to Plug and Play Tech Center, an instructor and curriculum designer for Product School, Decoded, and among Distinguished Faculty for General Assemb.ly. Along the way, I dropped out of graduate school (MBA and Master’s of Engineering Management at Kellogg).

Among my previous experience, I’ve held marketing and product roles at MongoDB (IPO, 2018), Jet.com (Acquired, 2016).

Causes

Formerly, Co-Organizer of House of Genius, an bi-monthly event uniting two entrepreneurs with a small, diverse group of panelists to think through a business challenge. No professional information is disclosed until the end of the evening.

Formerly, Co-Chair of the Mentor Leadership Council and Mentor-Coach at America Needs You, a non-profit that helps first-generation college students recognize and pursue their aspirations to closing the considerable opportunity gap.

Talk to Me About

A secondary goal of mine is to meet, befriend, and collaborate with more interesting people. Here’s a short, non-exhaustive list of topics I’m happy to discuss with you.

• Backpacking
• Psychology
• 2600
• The ubiquity of double-speak
• Meditation
• Mixed martial arts
• Quantified self
• Book recommendations
• Courses you’ve found invaluable as an adult
• What’s been on your mind
• What’s been on my mind