This week marked the end of a chapter for me. I resigned from my position as CTO and have opened my own business, RiuSoft Inc. I’ve decided to go into business for myself. I’ve spent the last 10 years of my career working incredibly long hours and taking very little vacation so I could move up the corporate ladder, make more money, and find happiness. It has been a very educational experience. I’ve enjoyed learning and always being on the move, but I found ultimately that money and titles don’t equal happiness. I treasure my experience and wouldn’t take it back for anything, but I finally reached a point in my career where I no longer felt like I was growing professionally, and my personal life was just melting away. I was losing my passion and instead of being that person who was so excited for each new project, I became the defensive leader who looked at each new project as just another layer of stress and responsibility that could not be managed. I was spread so thinly that I was not performing 100% at anything I did, and that left me feeling defeated by the end of the day no matter how late I worked.
I did a ton of soul searching and finally realized something that was probably apparent to a lot of people close to me for a while; it was time for me to move on. I didn’t want to just go find another job. I know my work ethic – I’m driven and I love to work. I’d do fine no matter where I went, but I wanted to apply that work ethic to something I was driving instead. I am passionate about software development. I love learning new languages and building solutions to problems. I get energized by networking and enjoy meeting new people and sharing knowledge and experience. I really wanted to do software consulting. I know the market out here is great for it, so why not?
That’s where RiuSoft comes in. I plan on doing some app development on my own, but mostly my company will be all about building solutions to problems. I have some great mentors I’ve been leaning on to help me get started and am already under way. I start my first consulting gig on Monday and my prior employer will be my first customer!