Starting a tech business without a corporate budget is tough, really tough. So why Tech? For the majority of my career it never felt like just a job. It is one of a few things I’ve found that allow me to flow (doesn’t feel like work). Even at it’s most challenging it never felt stressful and time would pass unnoticed until the problem was solved. I lost that feeling for a while and missed it terribly. It felt like part of me had died. Thankfully, It returned again when I needed it the most. And, It turns out it’s never far away when you love what you do.
But, the more I thought about what I needed, this problem I’d given myself was getting bigger and bolder by the second (I’ve had to stop and check that I wasn’t losing my mind on many occasions). Allowing myself to accept that I’d never done this before and therefore knew nothing allowed me to see the task like a puzzle. There were bits that I knew and where I had to put them. But, unlike an ordinary puzzle, there were pieces I needed to make and then fit them together.
Trial and error, whilst frustrating, simply opens or closes doors. An idea must be tried before it works or fails (Wrong paths are easier to spot with practise and new/better routes are revealed by failures). Over time the realisation hit that the puzzle was changing. It was no longer rigid, I could expand the edges, reuse pieces, remove pieces and create new pieces…I had control of the puzzle. I can’t put into words how this felt. But I do wish I could bottle it.
Here’s my story of how I put that puzzle together one piece at a time. It will contain scary tales of marketing, networking and other such horrors. I like to call it:
Cloud(y) days of blood, sweat, tears, failure, success & Web servers (Catchy, hey).
I’m not a quitter and that’s always a great starting point for any good adventure right? I’ve spent many a night during my career, on my own, wracking my brain for a solution or bringing a server back to life to know… “Where There’s a Will, there is a way.”
This was though my first Big project without a team for backup. Anything I didn’t know, I was going to have to learn…Fast.
Firstly, I set the ground rules (My principles and foundation).
1. Freedom. I want to be able to work like I’m sitting in my own office irrespective of where I am. I must have all the tools I need to do my work available wherever I need to work. These tools must be owned by me, and not subject to subscription, change or movement unless controlled by me. The tools must not be platform-dependent.
2. Privacy. I’ve worked in Big Tech for a long time, I saw the birth and uncontrolled rise of Big Data and it was scary, anything and everything for collection sake. Just like bank robbers robbing banks because that’s where all the money is if you’re a hacker after a big payday do you target the servers that contain lots and lots of companies and people’s data (Shared hosting) or this possible server you’ve found that may/may not have some data on it that’s worth something. Where are you putting your effort? I’m putting my money on being a tiny target rather than a part of a missive target with a neon sign that says Lots Of Data Available Here.
3. Control. I want to control exactly who can access my files. I want full control of where and when my data exists. I want to be company and vendor independent.
The foundations were laid. It was out of my head and looking back at me from the page, an outline with rules. Time to work the mind and bring in the Tech. What do I need? That was the next big question…
To be continued…
Tim