Open Sources | Rodrigues & Urlocker » How I Work: Steven Smith, CEO FiveRuns

May 16, 2006 | Comments: (0)

How I Work: Steven Smith, CEO FiveRuns

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What is your role?
I'm the CEO of FiveRuns, an Open Source systems management company. I'm the founder of the company, but have surrounded myself with a great team on the sales, marketing, and engineering sides. I provide overall strategic direction to the company as well as work closely with the engineering team on system architecture. Additionally, I'm actively involved in the development of our UI itself, which is built using Ruby on Rails with an appropriate amount of AJAX to enhance the overall user experience. Our company also supports the Rico project (http://www.openrico.org) which is a javascript library for Rich Internet Applications.

What is your computer setup?
15-in PowerBook (G4), 23-in Apple Cinema Display (yes, it is quite nice). The bulk of my team runs the MacBook Pro (Intel-based), but I started the company with the G4, so I'm somewhat sentimental about it. The remainder of the team runs Linux.

What desktop software applications do you use daily?
TextMate, a great editor, in particular for Ruby / Rails, etc., and XyleScope, an incredible HTML, CSS debugging tool, Various MS Office Apps (Work, Excel) and KeyNote for presentations.

What websites do you visit everyday?
Bloglines primarily, which might drive me to other websites based on articles I read there.

What mobile device or cell phone do you use?
Samsung, A650. Basic cell phone, but it does have apps for email, and weather (which comes in handy when traveling).

Do you use IM?
Never use IM directly, although as a group we use Campfire from 37 Signals for a business-oriented chat.

Do you use a VoIP phone?
Yes, our entire office utilizes VoIP phones.

Do you have a personal organization theory?
Eliminate distractions, and focus on what really matters in your business. If it's not strategic, it's a distraction.

Anything else?
We have a fundamental belief in less software (a concept pioneered by 37 Signals). The last thing our industry needs is another bloated management product. We believe in less software that does more, acts smarter, and provides an incredible user experience. We're in private beta now and welcome anyone interested to sign up (http://www.fiveruns.com)

Posted by Dave Rosenberg on May 16, 2006 04:25 AM

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