(continued from Head on over to that bus, and get under it (2/3))
Back in September aka “The Before Times” my buddy Joe pinged me. Yes, the same Joe that designed our guild logo all those years ago. His cousin needed some emergency tech support. The story went: his then-CTO just decided to walk away one day, taking the keys to the business’ infrastructure with him. Did I have a few hours here and there to maybe help with some stuff? “Sure.” I mean, I was already being worked-to-the-bone by…well, you know, but perhaps this might take my mind off a few things on the weekend. I met his cousin Chris at a coffee shop in Denver, and we walked through the stuff.
Honestly, it was really cool shit - the coolest tech I’d seen in a while (and remember, I’ve been in healthcare for the last 12 years, so the cool-factor has been a literal desert). Chris pulled up his iPhone and with a little augmented reality (think: Pokemon Go), cast an image of a 3D car out on the street in front of the coffee shop with a custom company design plastered on the side of it.
This was his business: connecting customers with install shops to apply custom logos/designs to their vehicles. The name of the biz: Wrapmate.
Over the next few months, I’d give him a few hours here and there. Got back control of the infrastructure (AWS). Made a few DNS changes/updates. Met with their remote development vendor (in the Ukraine). Catalogued the architecture and got a feel for a few areas of risk they ought to focus their efforts on resolving. After awhile, I really looked to checking-in. After spending 8 hrs/day, 5 days a week staring into the abyss, it was a breath of fresh air to see Chris on a Zoom call and hear, “Sounds good. You’re off and running.”
Trust. What a concept!
I kept him privy to the high level situation that was unfolding at the now-former company all the way up to the moment of truth on May 13. I avoided specifics, but he knew it was a toxic environment that was escalating to the point of no return.
When that point finally arrived, Chris said, “Well, maybe this is the time we need to re-evaluate your involvement in Wrapmate…”
So, we talked…and talked…and talked a bit more…
…And then:
Yep. I’m CTO of a company that puts stickers on vehicles.
So, what does that look like?
Well, it looks like this:
And this:
And this:
And this:
If I showed you any more, I’d have to have you all sign an NDA. So, you’ll have to just take my word for it that things have significantly improved since the beginning of 2020.
Well…ok, maybe I can show one more picture:
