Here’s the short version: I’m looking for someone to team up with, hopefully for the long term. Someone who can take what I build, and make sure the right people know about it. A “business person”, if you will.

Here’s the long version:

I’m a maker of software. I’ve been doing it for something like 15 years. I’ve built web sites, but nowadays I write iOS and Mac apps. I really love doing it. I started my own business, and I make a fair living by contracting my services to companies. But while I’m doing that during the day, I’ve got a side gig at night, trying to create my own product to sell. Over the years, I’ve put together several apps for web, Mac and iOS. Things that, to one extent or another, I’ve hoped to parlay into the ultimate freedom: to become independent, to earn more than I could make hourly, to have greater control over my own life.

But every product has failed. After I spend months of evenings and weekends on it, I get it out there and nothing happens. People aren’t magically aware of it. They don’t try it. Sales have an initial bump, then flatline.

I’m getting pretty fed up with it, especially because I have a growing sense that this is going to happen for the rest of my career. I’m about to turn 42, and while I’m sure my technical skills will continue to improve, I’m also getting smart enough to realize that I can’t do this alone. I need a partner.

A partner, in my imagination, has the talents I’m missing, while sharing my view of the world. Someone who believes in the power of software to grow a business. Who has an understanding of how the tech industry works, to know what will work and what won’t. To collaborate in making a product that we can build a business upon. To bootstrap this in our spare time while building, with a plan to go full-time when it makes sense. Someone who can survive that long haul of the buildout, maintaining the same passion and drive that I would bring to the venture while laying the groundwork for the marketing and partnerships needed to give that product every chance of success.

I don’t know what that product would be right now. That’s where you come in. I have ideas, and I have experience building many types of products. I have the confidence to say I could build most anything; it’s blue sky, as far as I’m concerned. You might have areas of expertise, industries you have good ties to, that can guide that decision.

If you like the sound of this, then let’s talk. I’m a remote worker by nature, so I could technically work with anyone, anywhere. But I would ideally like to work with someone local to me, in Durham Region. If you’re in Toronto, I could work that at a stretch, if you’re willing to meet part-way.

Thanks for listening.