[AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?

Alan:

Thanks for the kind words.

One disclaimer, though:  I started doing this when I very young and had no 
financial obligations.  So early on I got " a little ahead of the game". 
Always had a buffer so the risks didn't seem so great to me.

And I always had that backstop:  if everything failed I could just go to 
work where someone would pay me a bunch of money to have fun on their 
computers.  Having an M.B.A didn't hurt either.  Got me a couple really good 
jobs before I went out on my own.

Finally, my father was in business for himself, so that was my "normal".  I 
didn't really think about being on my own in business as a 'risky' versus 
'safe' route.  It was what people did.

So maybe I had more 'dumb luck' than 'cajones'.

Rocky

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lawhon, Alan C Contractor/Morgan Research" <alan.lawhon at us.army.mil>
To: "Access Developers discussion and problem solving" 
<accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 8:40 AM
Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?


> Rocky:
>
> I have read your "autobiography" of how you built EZ-MRP into a going
> (and profitable) business.  You have more "cajones" than most people who
> are content to be "wage slaves" and make somebody else rich.  I greatly
> admire your drive, initiative, and determination.  It takes a lot of
> courage (and energy) to risk everything and go into business for
> yourself.  Nobody will feel sorry for you if you fail - and lots of
> people who do try fail - so it's NOT an easy gig being your own boss.
>
> I wish I was more like you.  You have my utmost respect.
>
> Alan C. Lawhon
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Rocky Smolin
> - Beach Access Software
> Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 9:38 AM
> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?
>
> Steve:
>
> I started with computers when I was 16 - back in the days when they were
>
> still steam powered (ba-da-boom).  But seriously folks...
>
> I grew up in Chicago and took a weekend course at the Illinois Institute
> of
> Technology on programming in IITran - their dialect of Fortran.  It was
> punch cards and you handed your deck through the big glass wall and came
>
> back the next day to find out where you had misplaced your comma.  The
> machines were and IBM 1620 and IBM 7090.  I was hooked.
>
> In college I hung out at the computer center and between my Junior and
> Senior years they installed an IBM 360/40.  I hung with the engineer
> during
> the installation and when September rolled around I was the only one on
> campus who knew how to run the thing so I got to be systems manager.
> And
> they paid me!  I was further hooked.
>
> Then, in my Junior year I wrote a program in assembler to create a
> variable
> cross reference index, got some free PR in magazines like Datamation and
>
> sold the program (mailed it on a deck of punched cards) to a bunch of
> companies.  $40 a pop when that was real money.  Now I was totally
> hooked.
>
> I played with the world's best toys, had as much fun as a person could
> have
> with their clothes on, and people shoved money at me for doing it!
> That's
> as good as it gets.
>
> Until the creation of commercially viable personal computers in the late
> 70s
> I had to work for other companies because of the cost of the systems.
> Once
> the PCs appeared I went into business for myself and never looked back.
>
> Now, 25 years later, it's still a bit of a high wire act but we're not
> missing any meals, I get to work at home and be with my kids, and if I'm
>
> still pumping code when all my friends are playing golf or fishing in
> the
> Keys, well so be it.
>
> Rocky
>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Steve Erbach [mailto:erbachs at gmail.com]
>>> Sent: 21 February 2005 12:44
>>> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
>>> Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: What are you lot doing now and then?
>>>
>>> Roz, Gustav, John C., Gary, Jeffrey, Jim D. Doris, Debbie, Brett,
>>> Charlotte, Ken, Mark, John B., Stuart, William, Rocky, Jim L., Jim
> H.,
>>> Andy, Randy, and Tom,
>>>
>>> Thank you all very much for your responses. Our glorious leader, Mr.
>>> Bartow, has asked me to write an article for the newsletter based on
>>> the responses you've given. So I'm asking if any of you have any
>>> objections to letting me abridge your responses for that purpose? It
>>> would also be helpful if those of you who already gave an
>> "abridged"
>>> version for the survey could flesh out your responses a bit, if you
>>> have the time. I would appreciate it. Everyone has an interesting
>>> story to tell about his or her own growth in the computer field.
>>>
>>> I'm so glad that 21 of you have responded so far. Any others?
>>>
>>> Steve Erbach
>>> Neenah, WI
>>> www.swerbach.com/security
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
> -- 
> AccessD mailing list
> AccessD at databaseadvisors.com
> http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd
> Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com
> -- 
> AccessD mailing list
> AccessD at databaseadvisors.com
> http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd
> Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com
>