Today, my boss, the CTO, announced that I’m leaving the company to join the adult movie industry. Don’t worry, I’m actually not out to challenge the supremacy of John Holmes. That just happens to be the typical way he likes to announce the departure of employees. I’m just joining the seeming legion of developers who are going independent.

I actually gave notice two weeks ago, but I had promised not to say anything until my company had a chance to figure out how to deliver the news. Hence I didn’t mention it on my blog. Not that any of my coworkers read my blog (I think). But just in case, I wanted to be true to my word.

It’s funny how keeping a secret from your blog can affect how much you write on your blog. It’s as if I was worried that I’d start writing about how Test Driven Development will save your soul and suddenly blurt out, “oh by the way, I’m leaving my company. oops!”.

The first big contract I’m working on is with my friend Micah, one of the smartest software architects you’ll meet (and you’d find that out if he kept a damn blog. hint hint!). He’s fluent in both .NET and Java (where I’m lacking). We’re hoping to also work with my friend Kyle, one of the smartest people I know across the board. We’re positioning ourselves as Solution Architects, or as my former CEO put it, we’re “portable CTOs”. I’ll write up more about what that means later, but essentially it means we’ll help our clients implement the right solution, not just sell them a solution based on a religious preference for a particular platform or custom development when a product would do.

If you’re in need of a portable CTO, software architect, grunt developer on a project, send me an email. I’m also looking to get into process improvement consulting etc… That’s something I have a lot of experience with that I’d like to capitalize on. This includes helping teams get started with TDD, NUnit, Cruise Control, etc… I’m also available for code reviews etc… Sometimes you just need an extra pair of eyes.

In any case, I’m very excited and anxious about this big transition. Now I’m head deep in studying tax law and health insurance policies. Wish me luck and advice is appreciated.