Go Beyond

A memory of my freshman year in college comes back to me now, as I muse about the future. Nothing too maudlin, just taking stock and planning for the future... from a business perspective.

Taking one of my all-too-frequent study breaks, I found myself with friends at the on-campus ice cream shop. Unbeknownst to me, Heath Bar crunch had become the rage. But a hastily scribbled sign was propped up on the glass above this evening's selections of ice cream. The sign read:

The last line of this "almost" haiku lingered in my mind upon my first reading it. Strangely, the phrase has quietly haunted me ever since. The words "Go Beyond" seemed to offer more than the obvious admonition, more than a suggestion to overcome disappointment and try something new. Its challenge was more than just a noble way of saying "suck it up". And certainly the intent could not merely have been for me to accept second choices with stoic resolution.

Instead, these words seemed to carry a more encouraging message, one of hope, a promise of good or even better things over the horizon. In case I had forgotten, these two words reminded me that I had a choice, a chance to take a risk, grow stronger, discover something others had tried, or even make my own discoveries.

Okay, I wax philosophical. But I am not exaggerating when I say that I have often pondering these words, as if they were direct instructions from Ben & Jerry themselves.

How could I "go beyond"? Is there a goal worthy of striving for. A challenge to stretch my concept of the possible?

For me, for now, my Mount Everest, my Kilimanjaro, my K2 is found in the new Age of Community.

There will be plenty of time to explain the challenges and the prospects that lie ahead, and to share how far we have already come. But for the moment, suffice it to say that we are on the cusp of something truly big. We all have a chance to "go beyond", and to do it together.

In fact, "together" is the key.

Salutations

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By way of introduction, let me first say that I have a passion for building businesses. Having started in Fortune 500 companies, and spending many years in consulting, I gravitated over time toward product-based start-ups. In these environments, we strive to create something that has a far-reaching benefit long after we are gone. The product becomes our legacy, and hopefully one of which we are proud.

At CoreSpeed, my title is Chief Technology Officer. However, this moniker does not paint a full picture, as I am sure many of you would be quick to point out. In different industries, in specific companies, and at particular stages within a corporation, the definition of CTO varies.

We are a technology product company, and so my role is not purely focused on internal infrastructure and processes. I enjoy contributing to the vision for our product line, and evangelizing in this burgeoning space. It is energizing to hear or see what the market needs, and then have a hand in meeting that need.

If you care about such things, the previous start-up is a leader in margin optimization for wholesale distributors, under the name of Advanous, a division of EnterBridge Technologies. where I was Director of Analytics Technology. Samples of my Fortune 500 work include AT&T, MCI, Genuine Parts, RMC, and Turner. Looking farther back, my Masters for Computer Science came from University of California at Berkeley, and my Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science came from Duke University. Depending on basketball rankings, I may or may not be in a good mood between Thanksgiving and March Madness.

Please let me know how we can help your company better reach its goal leveraging our products. I will gauge my success based on yours.

Jim Bell

Chief Technology Officer
CoreSpeed, LLC
678.872.9957
404.964.5586 (c)
jbell@corespeed.com 
Driving Technologies Tailored for Business™
http://www.corespeed.com/