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This could have been posted on Friday, my birthday as well as April Fool’s Day, but it is certainly not a joke and I didn’t want people to dismiss it as that…..

Friday I gave my two week notice to my boss at Custom Credit Systems (CCS). I’m sure you’re asking, why? Considering I was only at CCS for 4 months. How could I know that CCS wasn’t the right place for me in such a short time? Well, it’s not that CCS wasn’t right. CCS was great. The people at CCS were great. They have a great product that their “Mongeeks” have done a great job developing. Had I been there for the beginning of that project I might have stayed to see it’s completion.

So why did I leave?

Well, about 3 weeks ago I was approached by somebody about going to work for them in a startup venture. I spent a lot of time talking with the man about the product. Understanding the architecture. Understanding the business model. Understanding how this product will make money. I asked a ton of questions.

Then after getting all my questions answered I had to try to sell the idea to my wife. Lets just say it wasn’t an easy sale. If you don’t know Katie she is not easy to push around. She asked a lot of the questions I asked. Then she asked me a lot of questions I didn’t ask. Even worse, she is an accountant, so she asked me a lot of financial stuff. Katie eventually was sold and with her sold I was **really** sold.

Next I spent some time bouncing the venture off various family members while I was down in Houston for Easter. I have a large family that is all over in the business world. I bounced it off of a couple of brothers that are lawyers. A brother that is in IT (and also an Aggie). A brother with a strong business mind. And of course my mom and step-dad. Everyone had good questions and and answers and sent me back up here with more questions for the man recruiting me.

This post is getting a bit long so I’ll try to wrap it up. My wife and I agreed on Thursday night that this job was right for me and my family. Yes, there is a lot of risk in going to work for a startup, but with that risk there is the chance for big financial and professional gain. I see this being a winning move for me and my family.

Taking this post full-circle… Friday I gave my two-week notice at CCS. They decided it would be better if I just made Friday my last day. That hurt, as I had told my new boss that I needed to stay at CCS for the full two weeks to help them do some polishing on a new product. So I kind of was “canned” on my birthday, or more or less just sent packing. It was a little abrupt. No real chance to explain myself to the people I worked with for the past 4 months.

I’m very excited to report that the man I’m working for has decided we will be getting started a week early, next Monday, April 11th. I could not be more excited. I am so anxious to get started! I wish I could go into all the exciting details, but my boss has asked that I not blog anything until the whole team meets and he “lays the law.” Yes, it’s a bit of censorship, but I think I can hold back for a week or so.

What I **CAN** say is that I will be working in a Java/Unix shop. We’ll be writing a cutting-edge Rich Internet Application (RIA). And if I’m lucky those of you reading this will be using the app I write, along with your family and friends.

I will have very detailed posts about this exciting project in the next week or so. Check back often and I’ll start to give you the details about what I’m gonna be doing.