Onward, to 2007!

Ah 2006.  I started the year looking at a long term stay with IPS as a software developer, but instead I jumped at the opportunity to enter into the picky, and sometimes relentlessly cruel software industry on my own.

Did it pay off?  The jury is still out on that one, but I will say that E29 has grown from a $1000 investment, into a near stable company with 14 customers, all in six months.  Our Alexa rank, while not the end-all-be-all like some websites like to think, shows us steadily climbing in traffic on a weekly basis.  When we release a press announcement, our rank jumps over 100k positions due to the influx of traffic.

Serenity was developed from nothing to a 48,000 LOC product in less than four months.  The beta testing periods went longer than they should have, and I hated to keep delaying the release, but finally, after months of hardwork, 1.0 will be released tomorrow to our customers.  Naturally, there will be a 1.0.1 following shortly after, once it’s installed on a myriad of configurations and hosts.  I’ve already begun the groundwork for 1.1, which will build on the solid core of Serenity, and bring some much needed features to the product, including the calendar importing, API’s, and possible salesforce.com integration.

Our second product, Mocha, is already in the first beta stage, and in use on our website as our support center.  And, on top of that, we have a few huge announcements to make in the coming months that will be sure to spin some buzz around the company.

On a personal level, I’ve grown a lot the past year, just like the year before that.. and that.. and that :P.  I’m engaged now, to the best woman evar, whom also put her neck out and teamed up with me to start the company back in June.  My parents are busy remodeling their farmhouse, and it’s definitely come a lonnnng way in just one year. My sister is driving now *gasp*, and with a hot little red Mustang no less.

And people used to say I was afraid of change

Happy New Year to everybody!