#472: SPOTLIGHT: Max Oglesbee

#472: Max Oglesbee

August 4, 2026

A Backbeat of Community

Question for Max:  

Can you think of a setback, disappointment, or detour that surprised you by becoming a source of growth, clarity, or opportunity? When did you begin to see it differently?

Max's Response: 

In 2006, I was still early in my technology career, working at a job that had given me lots of opportunity for growth and learning, but where I didn’t feel aligned with the culture. 

That summer, we lost a client to a competing firm, and it was my job to compile our documentation and hand it over to the new company. I went into that meeting feeling like I was in the wrong business… maybe the wrong industry, certainly the wrong company.

At the hand-over meeting, I was attracted to the people and approach of the incoming firm. My firm was technically competent, but this new company clearly understood people, and put their interests ahead of the technology. I began to think that maybe I was in the wrong company but the right industry. 

I quit my job, and in casting about for a new direction, I connected with Scott Anderson, one of the founders of the competing firm, and accepted a job there. I spent 12 years at the company, eventually earning a partnership and meeting many of my life-long friends.

Scott passed away unexpectedly a few weeks ago. I’ve always appreciated the interest he took in me, and voiced that to him many times. Now that I’m able to perceive the void he leaves behind, I have a different understanding of the breadth of his influence in my life.  So it's only very recently that I've seen that the original setback of losing a client didn't just give me a career, it put me in the path of a person who shaped how I live.

In addition to helping me evolve my craft, Scott showed me that I can live with real alignment between my creative self, my business, and my personal life, and that I can focus outward on others while enriching myself in the process. Thank you, Scott.

"This was taken on Star Island in New Hampshire, a place where Scott's family has deep roots. He invited me to visit last September for a gathering he organized called 'The Last Weekend'—so titled because it was during the "last weekend" before the island closed for the winter... but which now holds much deeper meaning for everyone who attended." ~ Max