As I previously blogged, I am Done Consulting after the end of a long stint as an independent consultant. What I did not say then is that the end of the last gig could not come at a more perfect time for me and I had more than a little impact on its timing.
Back in 2010 I started a company…
In 2010 I started a new company. Application development started in 2011 and the first customer signed on that Fall. 2012 was a stellar year as we added more customers, improved our platform, honed our marketing skill/ message and increased our capacity.
Now it is 2013 and all signs point to us being in the right place at the right time with the right solution at the right price to establish ourselves, our solution and our approach as the defacto standard and benchmark within the legal industry.
It is exhilarating to be staring opportunity (and risks) right in the face and know that, if you are up to the challenge, you can really do something substantial.
Don’t get me wrong. We have a long, long way to go and some significant challenges to overcome in 2013 before I will feel like something has been accomplished of worth but the opportunity is there and it can be achieved.
About Domino….
First and foremost, choosing Domino and Notes as our platform was the single best decision I made.
Flat out, Domino and XPages are what got us to this point and I am not seeing any reason to switch to a different platform. 8.5.3 has been excellent for us and what I have seen and used in Notes and Domino Social Edition only encourages me.
Notes and Domino are world-class in all respects.
Perfect? Absolutely not. But I challenge anyone to show me something better if you’re serious about business. More on this later.
About “us”…
I keep using the word “us” and I wanted to take a moment and recognize some people.
First, my wife, Karen. I don’t know how or why she is married to me but beyond her culinary skills, luminescent smiling face and general good looks she is a killer business person and her advice and help has as much to do with where I am at with the new business as anything else. Thank you sweetheart for all of your effort and for your unwavering support!
Second, Paul Calhoun. I met Paul I think in Houston maybe back in 1997. 1998. 1999. I don’t know. That is the kind of impression he made on me when I first met him. Unforgettable. A year or two later, somehow he contacted me, maybe at Lotusphere, and then he kept popping up. I kept thinking “Who is this guy that looks like an extra in a motorcycle gang movie and why does he seem so interested in talking to me all the time?” As it turns out I totally underestimated the guy from the beginning. Paul is a sharp-as-a-tack business guy, a “point-shoot-problem solved” application developer and Java coder and the most reliable friend one could ask for. Thanks Paul for everything and for coming on board!
And Erin Maher and Jeanne Calhoun who have both helped do a lot of the hard work required to get things going and to serve customers. Thanks you two!
So…gotta’ go! Need to write some code to present at Lotusphere, uh, IBM Connect, and a business to grow!
Best of luck in 2013! See you next week,
Howard
Awesome and good luck Russ!!!!
Best of luck. I started FoCul back in 2000 and since XPages started to take off in late 2010 it has felt like we have started again – but this time I have a better idea of what I need to do :-), oh and my wife who was so supportive over those 12 years has now joined FoCul as my boss so it truly is "Foster Cull – FoCul"
Thanks Howard. See you there!
Thanks Bruce.
Thanks Sean. Exciting times! Well maybe except for that new boss thing but hey I'm flexible to reach success.
Living the dream!! now move to a free state 😉
Well..in fact, not really that tied to Illinois but I did just buy those Cubs season tickets which kind of puts me solidly in the, gulp, Chicago world.
Wishing you much success in your new venture!
Congrats! See ya down south!
Thanks Mike. Pretty exciting. See you in Orlando Fellow Connect Speaker.
You bet and thanks!
best of luck mate 🙂
Thank you, sir. See you "there!"
Congrats on the new direction Russ. Enjoyed meeting you at the DC View event (remind me I owe you half an appetizer the next time we glance over the same menu!). As someone who has been a Notes/Domino consultant for about the same length of time I am glad to hear your optimistic outlook on Domino and Xpages, and will been watching your progress keenly.
Although I won't be dropping in on Lotu..IBMConnect this year I may try to catch you on the LUG circuit.
Best of luck!
-Kev
Thanks Kevin. You know I always like me some appetizer! I am going to try and keep the community informed on our progress as it relates to the strength of Domino. I have gained so much appreciation for it especially over the last 12 months and I was a pretty big fan to begin with.
Sounds good Russ. Would also be interested to hear more about why Google's platform didn't capture your interest while you were at Moto.
First off we could not trust the data to anybody else. After that there really isn't much to discuss.
I will say though that Mobility IT was getting all aggressive at Google's direction to consolidate platforms which totally makes sense. I'd do the same thing if I were them.
The surprise came during my last week when the guy I was working with who was tasked with managing reproducing the Domino apps in either Google Docs or Google Apps told me he didn't think that some of the stuff we had in place could be replicated in Google Apps.
I have visited and revisited the Domino decision many times over the years long before QDiligence and I always came to the same conclusions about it.
Well done champ, looking forward to sharing a celebratory beverage in 10 days or so 🙂
Best of luck Russell! I'll keep an eye out for you in Orlando!
Congrats and drinks all around! I still don't know about this PageX thingys you speak of but awesome news!
Thanks! Absolutely! Oi Oi Oi
See you there and thanks.
Thank you sir!
love the endorsement. Best wishes for your growing endeavors.
🙂 Thanks Ed.