Zack hiking Tour du Mont Blanc
Home > About

Profile

Zack Thoutt

Zack profile picture
Z

ack Thoutt graduated summa cum laude from The University of Colorado Boulder with an engineering degree in applied math. During the day, he is the technical CPO at AutoSalesVelocity, where they build enterprise software for the auto industry. When he joined the team in 2016, the business was service-based and run mostly out of Excel spreadsheets. Now they are a growing, profitable SaaS company serving many of the largest Ford dealerships in the USA and the corporate entities of Mazda USA, Mazda Canada, and Mazda Mexico.

Zack is also the author of Wally and the Holiday Jailbreak, Tales of Twilight, and Nomad Life. He posts chapters of his books here on his website where he also runs a reader group and newsletter called The Storied Scrolls.

When Zack isn’t at his computer writing stories or software, he’s typically in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes, playing board games with friends, or traveling with his wife, Shelby; their son, Rory; and their dog, Skutull.

30-Second Resume

Currently

Building vSaaS @autosalesvelocity'16-present

Beating Vegas @gridironai'17-present

Writing fiction @here'21-present

Previously

Digital nomaded @earth'21-'22

Created the Game of Thrones AI that went viral'17

Modeled data @mocavo, acquired by DC Thompson'14-'16

Graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Colorado'11-'15

Quick Facts

My background...

Born in Denver, CO

Grew up in Broomfield, CO

Live in Boulder, CO

Married to @shelbythoutt

Father to one son, Rory.

Dog-father to @skutull

Random...

I'm often hiking, whether I'm exploring the Indian Peaks in my Boulder backyard or enjoying a multi-day hike in some far-flung corner of the world

I taught my dog, Skutull, how to bring me beers and recycle the empties

I typically meditate every day

I'm a Colorado Hobbit (all 8 of my great grandparents lived and died in Colorado)

I consider myself a skilled home chef and enjoy hosting small dinner parties

I dream of someday owning a land in the mountains where I can fly fish for trout, forage for chanterelles, hunt for elk, and escape the busyness of modern life.

My favorite stories are...

Fiction Books

"The Kingkiller Chronicles" by Patrick Rothfuss

"A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin

"Harry Potter" by J.K. Rowling

"Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls

"The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway

"The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho

"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" and "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang

Nonfiction Books

"The Essays of Warren Buffett" by Warren Buffett

"The Spirit of St. Andrews" by Alister Mackenzie

Any book by Peter Zeihan

"The Outsiders" by William N. Throndike Jr.

"A Man for All Markets" by Edward O. Thorp

"The Forgotten Highlander" by Alistair Urquhart

"Awareness" by Anthony De Mello

Movies

The Indiana Jones Trilogy

Moonlight

Her

The Shawshank Redemption

Lord of the Rings

Legends of the Fall

Inception

Dumb and Dumber

In the Realm of the Senses

TV Shows

Game of Thrones

Friends

The Office

Planet Earth

Top Gear

Who's Line is it Anyway?

South Park

My favorite board games are...

Cards Against Humanity

Twilight Struggle

Wingspan

Azul

Castles of the Mad King Ludwig

My favorite quotes are...

"Nature never hurries, yet all is accomplished."-Lao Tzu

"Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years."-Bill Gates

"If you're not busy being born, you're busy dying."-Bob Dylan

"I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened."-Mark Twain

"A genius is the man who can do the average thing when everyone else around him is losing his mind."-Napoleon Bonaparte

"No worthy problem is ever solved in the plane of its original conception."-Einstein

"The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing."-Stephen Covey

My favorite locations are...

Landscapes

Lake Dorothy in The Indian Peaks Wilderness

Mt. Fitz Roy in Patagonia

Harris Saddle in New Zealand

Salkantay Pass in Peru

Testa Bernarda in Italy

Calanais Standing Stones in The Outer Hebrides

Cities

Boulder, Colorado

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Telluride, Colorado

The Upper West Side, NYC

Marlborough, New Zealand

London, England

Restaurants

Dishoom in London, England

Pizzeria du Tunnel in Courmayeur, Italy

Alinea in Chicago, Illinois

Eleven Madison Park in NYC, New York

Rincon Argentino in Boulder, Colorado

La Choza in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Inver in Cairndow, Scotland

Hiša Franko in Kobaird, Slovenia

Mama’s Fish House in Maui, Hawaii

Friðheimar in Reykholt, Iceland

Wairau River in Rapaura, New Zealand

Raw Pasta in Ljubljana, Slovenia

The Angel on the Bridge (Sunday Roast) in Henley, England

My greatest fears are...

Needles

Dancing

Public speaking

Living a life I'll come to regret