Tony Confrey

Note: The text below was written in the Fall of ‘07. Despite the current economic downturn I think the trends cited are still at play and the opportunity still exists to create significant value in a software startup. I am currently in the process of building such a startup, located at textflows.com - check it out! I have moved my blog from WordPress to Tumblr mainly because I have ended up not having a lot of time to write essays of deep thoughts and a Tumblog lends itself more readily to capturing quick observations and potential insights. See blog.tonyconfrey.net

- Tony, 5/21/09

There are today unprecedented opportunities for developing new, valuable, software applications and components. Due to the ongoing evolution of the use of the Internet (with web 2.0), the continuing convergence of all media types on IP, and the ubiquity of powerful, connected mobile devices, there are vast new markets for software applications opening up. At the same time in the era of seed funding competitions, angels, and AdSense, there are a number of new business models that are now viable means of funding. Finally, software technologies have become available that allow rapid application development and rich web-based user interfaces; and the large-scale leveraging/reuse of FOSS software and freely available web services allow valuable applications to be constructed with minimal coding.

Having watched the previous, and IMO less compelling, such opportunity cycles (booms?) pass by from the tranquility of large and medium sized companies I find myself unexpectedly in the position of having to define my participation in this one. With a family to help support I do not have the leeway to spend time in aimless exploration, however I strongly believe that there has never been a better time for someone with strong software development and management skills to jump in and take part in the ongoing process of the networking of humanity. As such I am looking in to initiating a software startup myself, joining with others to do so, joining an existing early-, middle- or late-stage startup, or taking a significant role in guiding the evolution of a larger company onto the web.

I intend to use a blog to track my overall progress in exploring the combined information space of:

• Market segments and areas of opportunity.
• Technologies and leverage-able software components.
• Business models and means of funding a software startup.
• General observations of the software industry and its players.
• At the meta-level, documenting tools and information sources as I discover and use them.

I intend to significantly invest in and enhance my personal web presence but in the spirit of ‘Getting Real’ I’ve made the minimal investment of time and effort needed to find a hosting provider and figure out how to slap a page out there. This page may evolve over time.

For biographical information see my page on linked-in: Linkedin/tconfrey

To follow along see my blog: old-blog.tonyconfrey.net.

I welcome feedback at tony(at)tonyconfrey.net.

- Tony