My Story

Caleb’s curiosity expressed itself visually at an early age. There are many photos of him at four and five years old drawing detailed computer systems on bathroom and shower walls using washable crayons. Even at that age, his drawings were structured and technical rather than abstract.

On a family trip to Duluth, Minnesota, when he was four years old, he was photographed opening the cover of a light post and examining the wiring inside. He consistently looked beyond surfaces to understand how things were built and connected.

At home, he designed imaginative “computer systems” using a child’s computer, his mom’s printer cords, and string. He ran lines throughout the house to simulate stoplights and intersection systems. This was not random pretend play — it was an early form of infrastructure modeling.

Outside, he covered the driveway with detailed bird’s-eye chalk drawings of neighborhoods, houses, offices, and computer systems. From a young age, he naturally visualized systems from a structural, top-down perspective.

Caleb developed a strong memory early in life and retained fine details about the systems and objects he encountered. He frequently thought about how things worked, why they were designed a certain way, and how they could potentially be improved.

He found it difficult to ignore infrastructure. Whether it was a device, a mechanical system, or a public utility structure, he instinctively analyzed it.

Even in social settings, this structured thinking appeared. At a church white elephant exchange, he strategically traded gifts until he acquired a large box television, which ultimately had to be removed due to its size.

Family visits to Osceola Water Tower Park in Osceola, Wisconsin became informal learning opportunities. While others enjoyed the scenery, Caleb focused on the water tower and nearby cellular communication equipment.

On the first day he spent time with his now fiancée, he brought her to that park and explained how the systems worked. He later showed her a sewage treatment plant as well. For Caleb, sharing interest often meant sharing infrastructure and process.

By middle school, Caleb had developed practical electrical skills. He spent time learning residential wiring, system diagnostics, and applied electronics through independent study and hands-on experimentation.

During the same period, he independently studied finance and business principles. Without formal coursework, he built a working understanding of strategy, investment fundamentals, and financial structure.

In late middle school and early high school, a friend approximately fifteen years older than Caleb gave him an old 3-D printer. Over the next two years, they frequently discussed software projects, programming concepts, and broader technical ideas. When the friend eventually moved away, the discussions naturally came to an end, but the experience reinforced Caleb’s interest in software-hardware integration.

Around ninth grade, Caleb was introduced to microcontrollers through a CAD program. He built a garage door controller before his parents owned a smart garage opener. Later, when a commercially available smart opener repeatedly failed to sync properly, he soldered a relay directly onto the circuit board to bypass the unreliable communication layer and restore consistent operation.

A friend Caleb had known since kindergarten regularly approached him with technical questions. One Christmas Eve during high school, the friend stepped away from dinner to ask him about Bluetooth, light behavior, and electrical concepts. Two years later, the same friend approached him with questions about ChatGPT.

High school marked a particularly productive period. Caleb designed and built a solar-powered automatic watering garden system intended to operate fully off-grid. He also designed and built a preamp and a Class A amplifier, refining the circuitry through testing and iteration until performance met his expectations.

During high school, Caleb spent time with a close friend who is a head mechanic. Together, they rebuilt a 1972 Wheelhorse C120 and modified the gearing so it could reach approximately 25 miles per hour, which Caleb drove around his cabin property. His exposure to engine mechanics came primarily through time spent with this friend.

Caleb’s parents’ garage became his workspace. He kept salvaged components from Apple computers, appliances, controllers, and other electronics. After reading Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk, Caleb developed an appreciation for the connection between technical depth and strategic thinking.

• Early fascination with infrastructure and wiring
• Visual systems thinking through drawings and modeling
• Independent experimentation with electronics and microcontrollers
• Interest in both engineering and financial systems
• Preference for understanding systems at a structural level