To understand the ethos that drives our Evergreen company, MiiR, it’s helpful to know that I was forced to consider my legacy a bit earlier than I would have expected. In 2006, when I was 20, I was in a ski accident and broke my femur. I was aware at the time that a femur fracture can be a life-threatening injury—if you hit the femoral artery you can essentially bleed to death in about 10 minutes.

As I waited for help, propped against a tree in the snow, I was acutely aware of my situation. But instead of panic, I experienced a calm sense of clarity, and I came to two realizations that would chart the course of my personal and professional life. My first thought was of my girlfriend Becca, who I had been dating for about three years. I thought, “Man, if I live through this, I’ve got to marry her. She’s incredible.” Second, as I considered the fact that I could very well die, I thought about what people would say about me at my funeral. And I realized that if I were to be eulogized, nobody would have been able to say anything about what I had done to make the world a better place.