My name is Matt Henderson, and this website is where I’ve been writing since 2003. You’ll also find me posing as a Penguin on Twitter, and occasionally updating LinkedIn.
My story…
My career has been spent at the intersection of innovation, technology and design.
Originally from the United States, I studied electrical engineering at Georgia Tech. A girlfriend from Spain, and time spent at the school’s campus in France, sparked a lifelong interest in learning about the world’s cultures.
My first job was tracking satellites in Germany at the European Space Agency. Wanting to experience the business side of the industry, I started an aerospace engineering company in 1997, which I grew to about 35 people, and sold in an industry roll-up in 2012.
I fell in love with design—everything from user interfaces, to typography, to copywriting—and started an agency, Makalu, hoping to create products Apple would be proud of. That little business, which I ran for 20 years from the southern coast of Spain, created some critically acclaimed work for brands like Google, Virgin America and Live Nation.
Among our achievements included a marketing campaign for Google & Virgin America that Ogilvy execs declared to be, “A glimpse into the future of digital marketing.”, a web application for Catalog Choice that onboarded a million users, an app that Apple featured on the App Store home page, an app used to time three million sport event participants in 200 countries—and an app that went viral in Brazil, because we named it Rego, which there means, “butt crack”.
All these interests converged in the world of crypto, where I’m active as both an investor and builder, becoming a founding member and Chief Strategy Officer at Aurora Labs, where we’re trying to bring Web3 to the masses.
There, my team created Rainbow Bridge, responsible for transferring more than $2B in assets, Aurora+, one of the first web2 apps in the web3 space, and the Aurora Cloud website.
Investing from an early age was life-changing for me, and Money for Something is my attempt to publish a free, concise guide that can be read in an hour, and teaches all the fundamentals young people need to know to start down the path to financial freedom. It’s been praised by people like David Heinemeier Hansson and Derek Sivers.
Outside of work, I’m a three-time European gold medalist in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a martial art in which I received my black belt in 2011. I also enjoy hiking, cycling, rock climbing, snowshoeing, and pretty much any mountain activity outside of climbing Everest.
I value simplicity and authenticity, and love exploring the diverse experiences and cultures the world has to offer. Currently, I share time between Dubai, Andorra, Spain and the US.
