Chris Smith
Native San Franciscan gone immigrant to New Zealand. Author, software weirdo, martial artist, entrepreneur and all that jazz. Wants out of the rat race so he can be a full time writer/gardener/designer/chef/madman Among other things, Chris has been working software and solution architecture for PartsTrader since its inception.
How do you keep that startup mindset alive, even after your company has grown so much, after you've been around for over 23 years? This is a challenge, but not an insurmountable one, Startup mentality is full of innovation, laughter, energy, productivity and the kind of creative chaos which drives new businesses to succeed. So how the hell do you keep this kind of startup momentum alive in your company, even after it's grown so large that it spans both NZ and the US? A company that's been around for a long time? As one of the founders and the Head of architecture of PartsTrader, I'll give a talk on exactly that. What allows you to grow in scale but keep that startup energy and enthusiasm running hot (well, as hot as you can) so that you get the best of both worlds: incremental success and growth, coupled with the innovation and fun of a startup's madness.