I fell into the corporate world during the height of the tech boom. I am glad I had the opportunity to experience that time while being employed by a powerhouse employer. The money flowed like you could not imagine. Deals with start-ups run by teenagers were a normal occurrence. Venture capitol discussions were a part of almost every techie's daily routine. Idea men, such as myself, had budgets thrown at them from every direction. Traveling freely around the country, world, whatever. If you were clever, you were living large, and we did.
This era brought out the best in everyone. I worked with executives around the globe who were excited, motivated, and willing to sit up all night to work out an idea that made sense. We didn't let money, budgets or politics muffle our creative energy. I miss that so much. Act now as you did then and you scare the hell out of people, they will think your crazy.
Some may think the Tech Boom was a false promise land, and some of it was. Many greedy folks took advantage of the fast and profitable times. Stock values were crazy, and the stock market over zealous, then volatile to the point of destruction. When we look back though, a lot of what we threw up at the wall, stuck there, and is still sticking. So, if 1% of all the crazy businesses, loopy ideas for websites, bionic applications and new, "ahead of its time" technology turned out to be useful, profitable and sustainable, was it not all worth it? Of coarse it was.
Webifying everything under the sun was worth it in itself. Many of the project ideas that didn't make the cut are still resurfacing. Even with the incredible losses during the crash, we, as a society, came out ahead with technology that allows us to live more efficiently. Apps like Facebook must have forensic traces of the tech boom in its digital genealogy. If this is true, why do we not live by the same rules now as we did then? Why is everyone and every company so "egg in one basket" these days? I still believe an egg in every basket is a safe bet for corporate powerhouse technology programs. I mean if you think you can predict the future of technology to the point of having a single plan to conquer your market, I think you are in for a big surprise.
We have only scratched the surface of our technological breakthroughs. Many of the Tech Booms better ideas were scrapped or shelved because of their premature nature and will resurrect in the not so distant future.
Today, I think only gaming and toy companies operate in a "Tech Boom Mode". Where ideas and out of the box thinking gets you a raise and not fired. Hence my plan to stalk them and infiltrate as my unemployment has run out.
In closing I offer one idea that was shelved after having a few million bucks thrown at it. An idea I spent thousands of hours perfecting and sculpting. an idea that at one time had one hundred highly paid people working on. An idea that was lost in a merger and then buried during an acquisition. An idea I may have lost my career over.
See the idea here: http://www.shanehopkins.com/patent.pdf
But with no regrets, I wouldn't change a thing in regards to my experience as an IT executive during the Tech Boom. I still Carry that hope and passion that a small idea can break out and become viral. It is the those of us who still carry the Tech Boom attitude that will fuel the next wave of technological development. It will be a smaller crowd this time, but I will be front and center God willing.
Thanks for reading this Blog - Shane
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