For those of you that don’t know, the other half of the billFLO founding team is non other than Alec Kercso. Alec (I call him OB Wan) is the technology whizz behind billFLO and has been developing cool stuff for years (checkout “starflight” to get a sense of his previous accomplishments). We were having a discussion a while back and Greg blurted out “Software is cool!”. It was kind of funny at the time but its since become a rally cry that encapsulates the energy, excitement and passion of the whole team. Anyway, OB Wan was doing some early morning coding today and got inspired…enjoy!

Speaking of typing trainers and Zaxxon (and we were doing just that yesterday over lunch here at Anoowa), have you ever considered how programming is very much like playing a game? When you stop and think about it, they’re not dissimilar.  You have some objective you’re trying to reach, but you may not have all the components or knowledge necessary to get there.  And as you explore your environment, you’re constantly uncovering new surprises that can aid you in your quest, or maybe simply amusing and entertaining diversions along the way.

Take the Path class in the C# System.IO namespace, for example, that not only has a method for returning a file’s path without its extension, but gives you wonderful goodies like a means to quickly create a uniquely named zero-byte temp file, Path.GetTempFileName() — just the thing I needed this morning.  Path also provides you with juicy bits like GetInvalidPathChars() and GetInvalidFileNameChars() that return arrays of unallowable characters for file paths and names, respectively.

Of course, like games, there’s always the boss level, that problem where no matter what tools, spells or weapons you have, nothing seems to solve the problem.  And sometimes when we beat the boss, even unelegantly or by chance, we choose to proceed on in the game rather than going back and doing it the right way.  (By the way, Greg, some day we need to talk about the rectangle coordinates that enclose PDF text.)

So this is why we can stay up late developing a new algorithm or file format or what have you.  Really, it’s all just fun & games… well that and we need to pay our rent.  And this is why, among other reasons, Software Is Cool.

We recently added a marketing guru, Cristina, to our team. Cristina is helping us out with the preparations for the next big thing coming out of billFLO (yes, that’s a hint!). It’s been really fun to add another dimension to our team (check out Cristina’s blog), and Friday team lunches are all the better for having another person to debate topics like “how to find housemates in the mission district of San Francisco” or “is it a meal if there’s no meat in it”!

So, without further-a-do, here’s Cristina’s take on her first 4 weeks at billFLO:
When starting off at any job, you never really know what to expect.  As my first week at billFLO approached, I thought that I might be getting myself into a Devil Wears Prada kind of experience because the job description said that I should be a “jack-of-all trades” and that I should like to get my “hands dirty.”

What the description was really trying to say is that I should be prepared for everything and anything. For those of you who are not familiar with Lauren Weisberger’s The Devil Wears Prada, it is a novel about Andrea Sachs, a young college graduate who struggles with her new job because of her boss’ eccentric and outrageous demands and how it impacts her life.

As it turns out and luckily for me, Ian, Anoowa’s CEO, is nothing like Miranda Priestly (Ian: thanks Cristina, the check is in the mail ☺), and the one thing I have in common with Andrea is that my new job as billFLO’s PR/Marketing intern, has been challenging. But at the same time it has allowed me to jump right into the action, roll up my sleeves, and really get involved.

I’m going on my fourth week at billFLO and so far I would have to say that my experience has been pretty cool. I have come at a very exciting time for Anoowa. We are currently in the midst of planning for something new and highly anticipated; so make sure to stay tuned! In the midst of all the excitement, I have been able to help launch billFLO’s social media campaign while taking part in company decisions. Working at billFLO, means more than just a typical internship; it means making a difference. This difference may be small, but how often do you get the opportunity to be part of a company and part of something that can really only do good for the world? Here at billFLO, we are supporting a bigger cause by helping out the environment and reaching people in order to find an eco-friendly solution in these hard times. You may see it as electronic billing, but I see it as saving our world one paperless invoice at a time. ☺

Last week I watched the Corporation, a movie about the evolution of the concept of the corporation. Anoowa is  structured as a corporation and even though we’re young, the film was relevant and thought provoking. Especially the interview with Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, former Chairman of Shell where he remembers befriending a group of protesters in his front garden and how they ultimately shared many of the same concerns. What he didn’t say, but I inferred, is he didn’t have the freedom to act on those concerns due to the constraints on modern companies. 

Maybe its time for some tweaking of the corporation to give CEOs the freedom to inject some of societies values into business? Here’s one such idea I came across on  youtube, which proposes a code of ethics for CEOs. Interesting.

Your thoughts?

P.S. Back in billFLO world, we’re really knuckling down here and looking forward to showing you all something very exciting in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.