Michael Maddox, About Me
Last Update: July 2008
I’m 33. I’ve been married for almost 13 years. I have two children: Lucas age 7, Katelyn age 9. I’ve been a professional software developer for 14 years. I've been an independent consultant (full-time) for 4 years. I've been a small software business owner for 3 years. I’ve studied at the graduate level in Software Engineering and Business Administration. I currently live in Shakopee, MN and work in various suburbs of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN (the "Twin Cities"). For fun, I play console and computer games, play with my kids, read weblogs, and watch TV/Movies.
Some of my more interesting personality traits are:
I’ve always loved problem solving. It noticeably developed in junior high algebra with word problems and later moved to computer science (when math became strictly abstract and proof-oriented) and more recently moved to business when I realized how much more challenging, not to mention profitable, the problems are.
My resume is available here.
My primary career is, and likely always will be, as a professional software developer. Right now, I'm pretty sold on Microsoft's vision with .NET and spend much of my time as an independent consultant in that arena.
Eventually, I expect to be "full-time" running an ISV developing and selling great software for the hedge fund industry.
This section is fairly immodest and self-promotional. You probably want to skip it. :)
I've leave the exercise of determining how many of these accomplishments were skill and how many were luck up to the reader. I would say there was a fair amount of both.
As I get older, I recognize that I have gifts that the average person does not. I can do things that the average person cannot do. My gifts are not super human and not unique to me. My combination of gifts is somewhat rare and opens up fabulous opportunities for me. Not everyone can do anything they set their mind too, but people can accomplish amazing things if they continue to push themselves.
I am blessed to be a successful entrepreneur and I wish everyone could do it. Being an entrepreneur is a very mentally and emotionally freeing experience, but it also requires significant and diverse skills and talents. The upside of being an entrepreneur is so tremendous that anyone capable of doing it successfully is overly limiting themselves to not pursue it with vigor.
Ever since I was a little kid I’ve been playing console and/or computer games. We had an Atari 2600 and a series of Apple II computer’s when I was growing up. It wasn’t until high school that I had access to an IBM compatible PC. It was at that same time that I was introduced to multiplayer online computer games, something that I continue to enjoy today. World of Warcraft and Super Mario Galaxy are the current flavors of the month.
My daughter learned to play poker at age four and at age six could play most of the popular variants (Hold'em, Omaha, Seven card stud high/low, Draw). It was a fun way to teach number recognition, sorting, addition, and other basic math skills. My son loves console and handheld games and taught himself quite a bit of problem solving and math basics through games. They are both high achievers academically.
When I dabble in sports, it's usually tennis or golf, but there hasn't been a lot of either recently. There are just too many other things to do. When my kids are old enough to play tennis or golf, I expect that I will spend more time enjoying those sports again.
I'm much more prone to reading weblogs on the Internet than reading just about anything else. I will still read the occasional book, magazine, or Sunday newspaper, but the Internet is where it's at.
Books I’m currently reading:
Books I recommend to everyone:
Really, weblogs are where it's at now. Here are my current favorites:
I generally avoid spending money as much as possible. When I do buy something like a computer game or book, I rely heavily on recommendations from others (think Amazon.com’s rating and user comment system). I generally have plenty of money to maintain my current lifestyle, but any significant purchases (>$1000) usually go through at least a few months (if not years) of contemplative delay. I buy my cars used and drive them into the ground. Some people pay almost as much every month in lease payments as I have paid per year for the life of my car. I have no problem saving money. My priorities in life are always focused initially on the long term and only after the long term has been addressed do I concern myself with the short term.
This list of people tends to change yearly and has become heavily influenced by weblogs:
A software ISV who is generous enough to share his lessons learned with others and hosts a wonderful The Business of Software forum at Joel Spolsky's place.
Another software ISV who is also generous enough to share his lessons learned with others. It's difficult to put into words the positive effects he's had on software developers everywhere.
So, his TV Show the Benefactor bombed (but I enjoyed it), but this guy is just a class act all around. He's a worthy role model for a lot of people for a lot of reasons. On two different occasions, I have sent him an e-mail and he responded within 4 hours. That is incredible for so many reasons.
Life balance is very important to me and it’s a daily struggle to achieve (although it seems to have gotten easier lately). I love the sense of accomplishment that I feel when I get things done, but I have to stop myself every now and then to relax so I don’t get burned out. I have a tendency to branch out and take on more and more work until I feel overwhelmed. Then I hunker down, clean up my to-do list, and start all over again branching out.
I wish I knew what the meaning of life is, but I don’t. I know it’s important to have things you care about. I know it’s important to help other people as much as possible. Meaning in life has to be created by each individual, and my creation is best described by my passion list above. It’s fairly high level and generic so it can stand up to the constant changes my life goes through every day. I choose to embrace change and live change. I choose to live life with integrity, determination, tenacity, and charity. I love life!
© Copyright Michael Maddox, 2002-2008