Graduating from BizSpark

This week marks a special anniversary of sorts.  Three years ago I became a Microsoft BizSpark member.  This week, I graduated from the program.  It has been a peculiar journey but I feel that I have learned a great deal.  I want to discuss my experiences with the program.

I was between consulting jobs and attending an ALM conference in Chicago when I asked if there was a program for a Microsoft professional to get Visual Studio to start building a software start-up.  I was quickly directed to the BizSpark program, and have not looked back.  I was provided with software licenses for Office and Visual Studio.  I was also given a network to share ideas and solicit help.

It has not been perfect.  Sometimes, I have felt alone in the wilderness of business.  The clients I thought I would get by putting out a shingle have been elusive.  Still, I have been able to migrate from Visual Studio 2010 to Visual Studio 2013 and keep up with all the latest technologies.  I am now comfortable with MVC thanks to BizSpark.  I embraced Microsoft Tag until Microsoft decided to abandon the technology, and thanks to NuGet, I was able to generate my very own QR codes to manage my business.

Plenty of ups and downs, and BizSpark has been there for me.  Now, I am officially an alumnus of the program, and I hope that I get an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of another member of WhatsApp.  I understand that this is pie-in-the-sky thinking, but that was why I wanted to be an entrepreneur in the first place.

Feel free to contact us and learn more about our business.  I want to take time out to thank Doug Crets and the BizSpark team for sharing my work with others and keeping me focused on the end goal, which is quitting my day job and putting other people to work.  I look forward to letting everyone know when that happens.

Until next time.