Team - Christopher Alan's Story

Any biography is as much a story of the contributions of individuals as institutions to personal development, so I really can’t go further with the story without taking a moment to thank several people who put me on right track at that juncture: Raul Rathmann gave me my first technical introduction to the Internet and TCP/IP. Steve Williams had the good heart and entrepreneurial spirit to take me on as a partner and as a project, even though I wore Bally shoes instead of wingtips. I will always be indebted to Bill Revelle for convincing me of the superiority of open standards and backing my earliest attempt to create a business around them.

In 1999, some of the great people at ElectriCiti joined me to form 3 Tier Systems, an eCommerce development and services firm. 3 Tier’s projects included ZAP!, an Oracle-Apache middleware application, Token Broker, an electronic coupon technology and IMpulse, and audio distribution technology that predated podcasting and may one day succeed it. We also created an extensive web-based eCommerce system for Microtech, a B2B matchmaking system for SunAmerica, a global enterprise lead-distribution system for Kodak and founded Love.Org, an online dating service.

My experience at 3 Tier Systems demonstrated that building a great online application was only 90% of the challenge, and that marketing it successfully was the other 90%. The dot-com bust of 2001 was an ideal time to switch careers, and I started my current firm, Search Engine Samurai, with the intention of being able to help companies capitalize on the unprecedented advertising opportunity that free search engine listings represent.

In a way, all of that was just preparation for this project. It’s certain that I wouldn’t have thought about building an airplane as open source if I hadn’t seen the incredible advantage open standards and open source can give to a project from my Internet software development experience. I have to take a moment out here for some more thanks and kudos. Although I’ve never met Richard Stallman or Tim Berners-Lee in person, there’s no doubt that their work, inspiration, and transcendent magnanimity has had a profound effect on my life, and for that I am deeply grateful.

I really need several pages to properly thank the numerous people who helped me get to the point where I could recognize and participate in this project. Those I list here were pivotal and this story just wouldn’t be accurate without mentioning their contribution.

One other event in my life is worth mentioning, because it helped prepare me for this project even though it happened a very long time ago. Shortly after I dropped out of high school, I attended a technical school called Phoenix Institute of Technology, where I learned a lot of useful things about how internal combustion engines, electrical systems, and hydraulic systems work. During that time, I worked at a couple of body shops that specialized in fiberglass work, a Corvette shop and a Shelby Cobra replica fabricator. I hope through this project I can follow the fine example of many teachers and master bodymen who were very patient and generous with their time to an apprentice mechanic.

One of the most important concepts I was introduced to during that time was provided by Robert Persig’s “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” which I read while recuperating from a near-fatal automobile accident. Persig’s concept of Quality inspired and challenged me from the moment I was introduced to it, and I enthusiastically recommend it to the prospective builder of any aircraft or mechanical device.