Is it Veg?

When I think about it, I’m pretty amazed by the number of people from Intuit that I worked with that have gone on to do other things.  I’ve already mentioned my friend Ed who left to start his own business.  I had dinner with him the other night and he’s doing really well – the site continues to grow and he continues to improve its content and functionality.

I also have friends who have left the computer world altogether to persue other avenues.  One focuses a lot of her time volunteering and trying to enact change in her community, another is making a go of a new career helping others figure out their life’s path.

Another ex-Intuit friend of mine, Jim, is about to start his second life as an architect – he starts school in the fall – as a Sophmore – with an MBA.  I bet he’s the only one in his class with one – including the professors – some of whom just may be younger than him.

Before Jim left the computer world, he decided he wanted to know a little more about it.  So he re-architected his personal site using a completely home-grown publishing system, not all too dissimilar from the one I use to publish this site (though mine I just had to download and install..).  After he figured that out, he decided to build another site – one which I think is a good idea, but one which he is no longer maintaining.

The site is called VegiVeg and it’s a place where vegetarians could research their favorite foods and make sure that they’re not accidentally ingesting anything which they’re trying to avoid.  It’s a site that relies on user-generated content, making it a perfect “web 2.0” interactive space.  Unfortunately, it also requires some number of dedicated users to get the ball rolling and Jim lost interest before they did.

Still, I admire the idea, the follow-through, and the ability of someone to take an idea from inception through all the way to a launch, whether it be a web site, an art project, a career move, or other life-change.  So many people can come up with an idea – but it’s those that have the ability to follow through that I really admire.

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