Always Sunny in SF

Not surprising that Services is the #1 revenue driver of big data, but the infrastructure is #2..the software apps are not close

Via: Wikibon Infographics

I’ve been lucky.  For the last few years I’ve taken a step back and really evaluated the big changes in software and applications as they push forward.  Rick and I built an investment thesis around modern e-commerce and the infrastructure stack that attracts, maintains, and interacts with customers. Plus some other good ideas around mobile etc.

When I set out to find my next “thing” I looked at many markets.  During the last 18 months I took a hard look at innovation and what I thought the pillars to be (need to add energy).  

The enterprise world is starting to move beyond client server, exploration and implementation of OpenStack and AWS enable this.  Applications consuming services(network, compute, storage) allow for low data friction and make them transient.  An app that can move across architectures and data services with low friction is a powerful idea.  Large enterprises need a new framework and services based architecture to bring them into the modern application world.  

Enterprises are locked into the old way, the client server architecture, virtualization only makes matters worse extending the life of these apps when they should be re-bilt.

I love what Heroku did with the 12 Factor App framework, this is how the modern application will be built.  

From the 12 Factor site:

In the modern era, software is commonly delivered as a service: called web apps, orsoftware-as-a-service. The twelve-factor app is a methodology for building software-as-a-service apps that:

• Use declarative formats for setup automation, to minimize time and cost for new developers joining the project;
• Have a clean contract with the underlying operating system, offering maximum portability between execution environments;
• Are suitable for deployment on modern cloud platforms, obviating the need for servers and systems administration;
• Minimize divergence between development and production, enabling continuous deploymentfor maximum agility;
• And can scale up without significant changes to tooling, architecture, or development practices.

The twelve-factor methodology can be applied to apps written in any programming language, and which use any combination of backing services (database, queue, memory cache, etc).

My new company is stealthy right now, we’re working on the hard problems that will solve some of these things.  So after 2 years it’s off to the races.

Originally written in 1952, by Dean Alfange as “An American’s Creed” the first part of this really speaks to me:

I do not choose to be a common man,
It is my right to be uncommon … if I can,
I seek opportunity … not security.

I came across it today when doing some research.  Originally written as a statement of freedom, it also sums up the entrepreneur’s attitude.

I do not choose to be a common man,
It is my right to be uncommon … if I can,
I seek opportunity … not security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen.
Humbled and dulled by having the
State look after me.
I want to take the calculated risk;
To dream and to build.
To fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for a dole;
I prefer the challenges of life
To the guaranteed existence;
The thrill of fulfillment
To the stale calm of Utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence
Nor my dignity for a handout
I will never cower before any master
Nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect.
Proud and unafraid;
To think and act for myself,
To enjoy the benefit of my creations
And to face the world boldly and say:
This, with God’s help, I have done
All this is what it means
To be an [American] [Entrepreneur]