Interlude and Transition #2

After four years of working at Microsoft, the challenges were fewer and the excitement grew dim. I soon found myself yearning for new challenges and exciting new technologies. But where does one go after Microsoft? Is there life after Microsoft? After working for four years with some of the best minds in the software industry, what does one do for an encore?

As I engaged in this navel gazing exercise of introspection, I came to the realization that no existing technology company could meet my high standards of excellence, commitment, and perseverance. So I began to formulate an idea for starting my own company. On my own time, during weekends and evenings, I started a thought process that eventually led to the founding of my own company. I first talked it over with my wife of 22 years, and got her buy-in and support. Next I spoke with my 3 kids - two teenagers and a tweener. They encouraged me, gave me their blessings, and were just great about the whole thing. Then I started socializing my ideas for a new company with long-time friends who were uninvolved in my profession. Getting positive feedback, I wrestled with whether or not I should stay at Microsoft until my new company got off the ground, or else break off the ties that bind and start afresh. This was the most difficult decision-making process yet, because at its most elemental form, this decision involved the security and well-being of my family......

When I think of a safety net, I often conjure up images of trapeze artists in a three-ring circus, doing amazing feats of agility and gravity-defying stunts to thrill and amaze a captivated audience. Although most don't notice it, there is usually some webbing device, referred to as a safety net, underneath the area where the trapeze artists are working, so in case they fall they don't actually plummet to a horrifying death in front of unsuspecting little children munching on popcorn and candy cotton. If they fall, they are safely cocooned into the webbing device, and emerge unscathed, ready to get back up there and join their fellow trapeze artists. So the safety net serves the dual purpose of saving the trapeze artist from a gruesome mangled death, as well as not creating a traumatic event in the minds of the viewers. Very smart, that.

Not to mix my metaphors too much, but there is also this concept of free-falling when parachute jumping. In this context, free-falling refers to the brief moments in time between leaping from the aircraft and pulling the ripcord to release the parachute. It's an exhilerating sensation...... To keep your orientation, you must remember the colors blue, green, and brown. Blue for sky, green for ocean, and brown for land. By remembering these colors, even in a moment of distraction or panic, you can always orient yourself correctly to land upright on land. Which of course is much better than landing upside down in water...... Anyway, before you pull your ripcord to open the parachute, you are free-falling towards earth at an alarmingly fast speed, which causes the sensation of exhileration. Its an exquisite feeling, a thrilling adrenaline rush of euphoria and pseudo-panic. Once you pull the ripcord and the parachute opens, you feel safer as you slowly float down to dry land. Your pulse returns to normal, you feel almost calm, compared to the previous sensation of free-falling......

As I mentioned before going off on a tangent about safety nets and free-falling, the most difficult decision-making process yet was whether or not to start my company before or after quitting Microsoft, because at its most elemental form, this decision involved the security and well-being of my family...... Do I free-fall without a safety net, or do I take the safe route and start my company in my spare time? What a fateful decision to grapple with! Greater minds than mine have struggled with this dilema, no doubt, and I'm sure each person decides what's true for themselves in their own circumstances.....

In my case, I decided I could not do anything half-baked. I could not start my company in my spare time. I had to work on it full-time. For I do things full-bore. When I decide to do something, I throw my passion, commitment, and energy into it completely. Was it risky? Sure! Was I apprehensive? You bet! Did my colleagues at Microsoft encourage me to stay? Of course! But in the final analysis, I listened to my deepest inner self. I went with my gut. I gave myself over to that undefinable construct of positive energy, threw caution to the winds, and just did it.....

I believed in myself. I thought to myself, "I can do this thing!" And so, I began free-falling without a safety net. I quit Microsoft, and founded TransformTec, a product development company and technology broker dedicated to converting intellectual property into cash. After 19 years of working at AT&T Bell Labs, NEC, Sony, Microsoft, and a couple of start-ups along the way, I took a leap of faith and jumped in feet first..... and became an entrepreneur - the founder, President, and CEO of TransformTec, Inc.