I was away for a few weeks and out of the blogosphere. It is good to take a break from the constant connectivity once in a while. I actually managed a whole vacation without any contact with the office.
I have a feeling things are going to get busy… and I already have several ideas for some posts.
I was reviewing some of my posts over the last year and thought it would be a good idea to add to this story (the original is included below for ease of reference).
The Fable – Part 2
The CEO reflects on the past year….
The journey to master entrepreneur has no fixed destination. It is a quest for personal growth and development and there are many paths and many places you can end up. There is still a lot to learn and as you learn more, you realize there is even more to learn. Only you can decide when you've arrived.
Matters got […]
Note: This is a repost of previous story. Part 2 is coming out later this week.
Once upon a time three inspired information technology technicians working for a large consulting company decided to start a business. One was an architect, one was a project manager and one was a developer. One became the CEO, one became the salesman and one became the lead technician.
This was a time of plenty. Everyone was starting a technology business and overnight success was coming to companies that had nothing to show… no products, no customers and no revenue… the gold rush of the Internet. […]
As Seth Godin points out in his post today, the success of a joint venture is greatly reduced due to both:
The Venture Part: Is by definition risky.
The Joint Part: The more independant parts in something that can fail, the more likely the overall thing will fail. This applies to just about anything and gets even more challenging to predict when dealing with the complexity of people.
Open Source Software Projects
Open source software projects are often done by a team of dispersed and somewhat independent developers, etc. The common goal keeps everyone aligned.
If someone volunteering their time drops out, someone else in […]
There are three types of people from the past: the good, the bad and the un-remarkable. You quickly forget the un-remarkable and the bad you want nothing to do with ever again.
Sometimes a particular problem or event causes you to remember some of the good ones.
Even after many years, when the good people cross you path again you feel good. Whether it is the past memory or the knowledge that they are still doing well, it is a nice but fleeting experience to briefly catch-up and then… go down your separate paths again; too busy in your own lives follow through […]
The worst thing you can do when developing your staff/team members is to set them up for major failure (the second worst is not bothering to develop them at all).
For instance, you hire a recent business graduate with lots of potential and then put them in a position far beyond their experience level. The person then messes up really bad, maybe loses a key account or mismanages the team such that productivity drops or key employees quit. You will have to "fire" them from their position. This can devastate the individual and quite literally ruin their level of respect in […]
Sean Feldman spent the day at Sunwapta on Monday. The visit was highly appreciated by our team and especially me.
I think what is most important now after all the visits and training is to just do it; take action. We have a perfect (greenfield) project that is starting up from scratch and we will be using all the latest and greatest we can manage:
In this project I am representing the customer but […]
As I mentioned before, I am actively watching ProCoach Success System and Andrew in particular as he grows his company and in doing so, helps entrepreneurs succeed in manifesting their dreams.
He recently posted a video on YouTube that I found had some good advice on how to move forward in today's economy:
Stay Informed (but avoid wasting energy on negative discussions)
Evaluate Your Risks (and adjust as required)
Pursue Opportunities (there are never as many as when the economy is down)
Focus on Things Within Your Control (activities and mental attitude)
It is worth watching.
Here at Sunwapta Solutions we live and breathe software development. Whether it is consulting work for clients or building software products, we need to follow and excel at the latest technologies and trends.
Agile development is a methodology and even more if done right; a state of mind for the development team that can lead to more rapid software development cycles with value for the customer early and often.
Agile business means an existing company being able to set a new direction followed by rapid implementation… the ability to respond quickly to the marketplace. This may mean launching a new product. […]
As I mentioned in my previous post, I am now much more focused on business development. For me this means being an agile business (I’ll come to this later in a new post). As a piece of this I need a development team that is both agile and leading edge skills-wise.
It is interesting how things sometimes come together. JP moved back to Alberta and ran his Nothing But .NET course again here in Calgary and we sent one of our developers.
Sean Feldman, a Nothing But .NET and Sunwapta Solutions alumni, offered to come back and share with us what he has […]