156 - Sean Sperte

Sean Sperte is currently the Head of Design at Pinwheel, a fintech startup focused on creating a fairer financial system. He is also an advisor to both startups and entrepreneurs.

Prior to joining Pinwheel, he was on the founding team as Passbook and was the co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Tagboard.

Twitter → twitter.com/sperte

💡 Quick note about the last shot: He wanted to show how he positions the iMac only partially on the desk mat, and uses small rubber feet on the backside of its stand so it stays level on the desk. This makes it so the iMac is a good distance from his eyes when he’s working at the desk, but is also an example of intentional grid-breaking. He has always loved breaking the rules or grid like this.

Tools:

• 24" M1 iMac
• Apple Magic Keyboard and Mouse (I actually quite like this mouse)
• Large felt desk mat (from Amazon)
• Offbrand (FEZIBO) adjustable desk legs (from Amazon)
• Reclaimed pine wood desk top (from Amazon, no longer available)
• HÅG Capisco chair (from Fully)
• Apple AirPods 3 and Apple AirPods Max
• Ember mug
• Purist Collective water bottle
• Eero Pro (previous gen) wireless mesh router

Other gear/toys not pictured:

• 14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro (for work)
• iPad Mini 6
• iPhone 13 Mini
• DJI Mavic Mini 2 drone
• Nintendo Switch Lite (grey)
• Quiet Carry iQ pocket knife
• Trove wallet
• Peak Design Everyday Backpack

Q/A ☕️

What is your favorite item in your workspace?

Hard to pick one favorite, but if I had to, I'd choose the iMac. It's the best computer I've ever owned, both functionally and aesthetically. The chair is weird and awkward but gets the job [of delivering zero back pain] done.

How do you spark creativity?

I don't know, but some of the things that have worked in the past:

- Show up
- Put something, anything on the canvas
- Study how others do it
- Leave it and return
- Don't give up, but don't force it

How do you keep the work-life balance?

One of the goofy things I do is change clothes. Since I no longer have a commute to tell my brain to switch modes, changing clothes is sort of a physical transformation that sends the same signal.