From Company Man to Independent

A lot has happened over the past month, and what better way to sort through it all than to start a blog? The company where I'd been working for the last two and a half years did a massive restructuring, laying off a third of the employees. Not totally unexpected, given the problems we'd been having, but upsetting nevertheless. I suddenly found myself with new choices, new opportunities - not a bad place to be, really, but full of uncertainty. I am fortunately blessed with a wonderful network of former colleagues in the information industry, and we have all weathered enough changes in our careers to know a lot about how to support each other. So there has been no shortage of ideas about what to do, and where to apply myself.

It does seem like there are a lot of companies hiring here right now, so it’s not such a bad thing to be on the market. It's also a great opportunity to learn a lot about what trends are hot in the market, what new technologies are emerging and getting VC money. It’s tricky, though – especially here in the Bay Area – since often it seems that start-up companies go on hiring frenzies just because their VC’s told them to hire up, and these are seldom good prospects for long-term employment. Business strategies tend to change quickly, especially in the area of licensing and partnerships.

While I have been looking for the right fit with the right company, I've been fortunate to get offers from a few of my friends to help with their entrepreneurial projects. This has opened whole new perspectives of the content technology market for me. As I work on these projects, I will try and share some of my observations and insights in this blog. I'll try to keep it interesting and informative.
--Bert