One of the best things about working in and around Silicon Valley is being a witness not just to invention but to reinvention. There are a few souls who get the importance of being contemporary, and they tend to build technology that serves as a platform for contemporary needs and uses -- not just to fulfill an obstinate personal vision.
Many examples may come to mind, but today I'm thinking of foldier, inc. I've been working with and providing a little advisory counsel to foldier for more than two years now, and it's great to see how this young effort continues to morph itself around consumer action as the founder and his development team refine the underlying technology platform to support that morphing. It's a sign of the kind of humility and presence of mind so important to doing business -- but all too often missing in this land of startups.
foldier began as an aggregator of personal content -- a way to gather and store the information of interest to any user, whether that information resides on his desktop or out in cyberspace. The underlying technology is the sweet part and what I believe is the heart of this little startup's being. So as the engineering team has strengthened the aggregator, the business team has watched what's happening with traditional media, driving foldier to a new application of its technical platform. As a result, foldier has morphed into a personal aggregator beyond the user's desktop, into a way for users to build websites that grab information of all kinds, turning the user into an independent -- and unique -- publisher of his or her own content. I can't wait to build my site and look forward to publishing it very soon.
Until then, it's terrific to have this reminder of what brought me out here and is keeping me here. For now, anyway.
