Moving on from my previous entry, once Reuters purchased things moved into a more predictable cycle within the larger organisation. After two years myself and a couple of colleagues became very bored and left to form our own company.

By this time we were very good friends and it seemed like a really good idea to setup together, use the knowledge and contacts we had gained in the previous company and start from scratch, what could go wrong. Ironically our initial work was back with Reuters themselves, but this time a different retail department who we frustrated with the slow progress of internal development. From these contacts we gained two large contracts plus some work for HSBC. So to start off with we ended up taking on two additional contractors to help out with the work.

As with any small company it was all hands on deck but again I took on the role of project manager between ourselves and Reuters, ensuring that everything was in order. These projects were well spec'd and delivered on time which in turn led to additional improvements.

Our first project was related to the introduction of the Euro, remember that a few years ago. Due to the requirements on hand the most suitable solution for what they wanted was a Java based server side solution. Today that is not uncommon and nothing grand about that but back in 1998 Reuters has zero implementations of Java on ay production systems. So we had a good challenge justifying the use of the technology to both their operational and security departments. And we did it, the first Java application that went live in Reuters was in 1998 for Euro conversions.

So the first six months were great and things were looking healthy. But there came a point where we had to;
1. look at the direction of the company over the following 12 months
2. decide if we wanted to have just one client in Reuters and put our eggs in one basket again
3. better formulate roles and who would be doing what in the company

We went into the company as friends and at the start we did not agree things in writing just informally. We didn't have a clear path of where we would like to go long term, nothing formalised about the split of funds into the company and where we should invest more. This informality is what led us to problems in the early part of 1999.

It was clear that we were coming to the end of the current projects and that Reuters were themselves starting to cut back a bit so two out of three of us wanted to expand our customer base and spread the load, utilise the good vibes we had generated with the recent work. Unfortunately that view wasn't shared by the third person. Because we had not agreed a direction, aims, focus at the outset we struggled to agree them at this point. Unfortunately over the next two months we all fell out with each and eventually went out separate ways.

Over the next three years none of us spoke to each other and a very good friendship was ruined. Fortunately today we all once again get on very well and look back on the previous time as just another experience in life.

Was the company a success, NO, even with the successful first six months. The company did not continue.

So what did I learn from the experience?
- Be very careful about going into partnership with friends. You may trust them as a friend but as a business partner that is something very different.
- Formalise things from the start, be clear about roles and responsibilities, financial splits. Who will issue invoices, how will new sales be generated.
- Again do not put all eggs in one basket
- Don't be afraid to recommend radical solutions to clients if you feel it is the right one, that's what we did with the Java project and it worked well. There is no need to be intimidated by the big client
- Keep in contact with those people you do work with, all of them involved in the project, especially as if it went well, you never know what role that person will have in the future.

We were all tech based people and lacked the formal company side of things. While I had the most experience of bridging the gap from developer to commercial reality to the customer, I still lacked the experience of the company stuff.

It was a short but very great and useful learning experience and today we are friends again, but it could so easily have gone wrong forever. Personally that experience helped build my knowledge and experience for moving forwards and ensuring that I not only look at the technical side of things but all aspects.