I’m Rick Treitman, a Full-Time Entrepreneur at Adobe, and This Is How I Work.
When you use an app from a large software company, it’s easy to forget that there are individuals behind these logos. One of those people is Rick Treitman, with the unique title of “Tenant Entrepreneur” at Adobe.
Rick created one of the first collaborative text editors on the Internet called Buzzword, which Adobe acquired in 2007. Rather than giving him a mediocre title, Rick retained his entrepreneurial spirit as an “EIR” at Adobe, where he currently works. their document-oriented initiatives. We caught up with Rick to find out a little about how he works.
Location: Boston, MA Current Gig: I’m a resident entrepreneur at Adobe, spearheading our Adobe Document Cloud Lab Thought-based one word that best describes how you work: Client-Driven Mobile Current: iPhone 6 and 9.7-inch iPad Pro Current computer: I have two of them: MacBook Pro and MacBook Air
First of all, tell me a little about your past and how you became who you are today.
I am living proof that after learning English you can make a living. I planned to become an English teacher, but two years later I dropped out of school. This is the hardest job I’ve ever done, and I couldn’t do it. There is a longer story that I won’t go into, but I moved from teaching to technical writing just as the mini-computer boom began. I moved from a technical writer to product management and marketing, going from the mini-computer boom to the first personal computer software boom — as employee number 200 at Lotus.
After Lotus, I tried to start an advertising startup and then took over a tech bookstore in the heart of Greater Boston’s hi-tech district. I thought I was going to retire there, but after 15 years Amazon ruined us. Tim O’Reilly was a friend of the bookstore and told our store about this new concept – “Web 2.0”. I started thinking about what a word processor would look like for the Internet, called some of my former Lotus buddies, and we launched Virtual Ubiquity. We created one of the first interactive collaboration word processors, Buzzword. And we built this in Flash. Adobe was impressed enough that they bought the company in 2007 that I have been working at Adobe EIR ever since.
What apps, software and tools can’t you live without? Why?
Like most people, it would be quite difficult for me to live without email. I need internet for research. I find it much better to write notes by hand when talking to clients than to type on a laptop. It may sound a little old-fashioned, but it is less intrusive and less obtrusive to me and the client.
How is your workplace arranged?
I’m sitting in a 6×6 cube with a busy walkway behind me and a lot of noise from conversations around me, so I think I should add Bose noise canceling headphones to the list of equipment that I appreciate.
What’s your favorite to-do list manager?
Everything is very simple. Sometimes I take notes on my iPhone via the iOS Reminders app.
What are some of the things you do best in everyday life? What’s your secret?
I would like to think that I can find solutions by seeing the intersections between people, problems and technologies.
What do you listen to while you work? Have a favorite playlist? Maybe we can talk on the radio? Or do you prefer silence?
WUMB is a great American radio station in Boston and American Routes is one of the best syndicated radio shows. Nick Spitzer from New Orleans takes an amazing musical journey every week.
I also love the jazz and blues playlists on Spotify.
What are you reading now? Or what would you recommend?
Yuval Harari’s Sapiens – A Brief History of Humanity. Moonlight by Michael Chabon is a fantasy novel based on the life of his grandparents. Karl Hayassen’s Razor Girl is another of his hilarious novels. I read everything I can find. The relic master [author] Christopher Buckley is also pretty funny, like the rest of his work. Anything from Dennis Lehan or Elmore Leonard
How do you replenish? What do you do when you want to forget about work?
We live in the golden age of television, so I watch Netflix, Amazon, HBO, etc. looking for good shows. Reading (can’t you tell from my answer above?) And cycling, of course, at the top.
What’s your best time-saver or life hack?
The best time saver is that I cycle around 30 miles a day on my bike – I don’t waste time in traffic jams, not worrying about finding time to train, and I have ample time to brainstorm while cycling. Over the past three years, I have traveled an average of over 7,000 miles a year.
This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.