TOM KEMP'S CENTRIFY BLOG

My blog's README file

Monday, February 26, 2007

Hello, this is Tom Kemp, and welcome to my Centrify blog. This is my first blog and my first blog posting ever. So "hello world"! Please excuse the training wheels, and my apologies in advance if I am not following proper blogoquette.

I have had a few weeks to think about what topics I would blog on and how I would go about writing the posts, and I would like to start off by sharing those thoughts with you.

Format

Most of my blog postings will be in the form of mini-essays and/or columns on a particular topic as opposed to quick one- or two-paragraph random streams of consciousness. This stems in part from my liking to mull on a topic over a few days and organize my thoughts on bits of paper; I then sit down and put everything together in an essay in one long sitting versus jotting down quick initial reactions.

After an initial burst of writing on some pent up topics, this blog will primarily be updated every few weeks rather daily or weekly.

Topics

I will blog about only two topics: on Centrify (our company, our products, and our mission) and on being an entrepreneur in the infrastructure software industry.

Regarding Centrify: I will provide some insight for our current and prospective customers and our partners into: who we are, what motivates our team, where we see ourselves fitting within the overall market, and where we are going. I will also get some of our product managers to blog to provide more color commentary on our technology.

Regarding entrepreneurship in the infrastructure software market: This is my third startup in Silicon Valley, with over $50 million raised in VC money between the three, with exits including one IPO, one acquisition, and the current one going strong. Hopefully I can give back a few pointers I learned along the way and also describe what I am still learning in real time today. That being said, I will humbly note that my lessons learned are trivial compared to what some have experienced and accomplished here in Silicon Valley, but hopefully I can add some value to the discussion. You can read the Entrepreneurship blog here.

Feedback

Use the Send Feedback link at the end of each column to send your thoughts directly to me. Once we get a critical mass of readers, we'll open it up to online comments. For now, you can reach me directly through the email link, and I will try as my schedule allows to reply. But I will certainly include your feedback in future columns.

Now let the blogging begin ...

> Next Article: Why was Centrify formed? Part 1 of 3