From Ph.D. to HTTP

Four weeks ago I spent my days worrying about microscopes, signal to noise ratios and tracking particles. Now I lose sleep over lag times, internet security and cross-browser compatibility issues. I turned my back on four years of grad school and a guaranteed job to work on a three month old internet startup-I don't regret a thing.

It is easily the riskiest decision I've ever made. In many ways it's also the first real decision I've ever made. I was ready to stop being a student years ago. Octopart swiftly brought me out of that world. I'm no longer working to get somewhere else. I'm exactly where I want to be. I'm working with friends - sure we have arguments but, no matter how heated they get, we trust each other implicitly. I've always loved the feeling of tinkering around in the garage to make something cool and Octopart captures that feeling to a T. Truth be told, working on Octopart doesn't even feel like work, the four weeks I've spent attached to my MacBook Pro have been closer to a vacation than a job.

And, at the end of the day, I love where I am because we're working around the clock to make something other people care about. From the e-mails we've received, I know we've already made a good start and struck a chord with many people. I hope we stay on track and continue to make your lives easier.