Thank you for your interest in, well, me.  Here you can learn about my background and how I may be able to help your organization.

I have over 25 years experience as an entrepreneur in the software industry. I founded and operated two successful software tool companies (SCE, Inc. and Genitor Corporation) each of which were later acquired by public companies. I also founded a computer graphics hardware company (UPCO) and later negotiated its sale to a privately held corporation. Most recently, I am a co-founder of MyST Technology Partners, Inc., an XML Web services company focused on secure weblogging, agile content, and other enterprise knowledge management challenges.

Over the past two decades, I have designed and developed dozens of commercial software applications, tools, and services spanning a wide range of markets. Many garnered awards and accolades from industry analysts, reviewers, and press. Software I’ve created runs in corporate data centers, enterprise network environments, software development organizations, scientific organizations, embedded systems, application servers, as well as home PCs and elsewhere.

I recently resigned from Starbase Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAS, recently acquired by Borland) where I served as Chief Architect of Emerging Technologies for the two years following the Genitor acquisition. I have returned to private practice and am accepting a limited number of consulting and speaking engagements that relate to my present journey Into the MyST.

A concise answer is, “I innovate.” More specifically, I am driven by a passion to search for new ways to solve problems, build solutions to those problems, and deliver those solutions where they are most needed (and most valued). In this pursuit, I wear many hats: entrepreneur, visionary, instructor, student, but mostly, software guy.

Entrepreneur

I find innovation itself to be deeply satisfying, but to make a living, it must also generate an income. To this end, I am an entrepreneur. I have been a founder of several companies; raised venture capital; managed shareholders, employee, and contractors; established joint ventures; worked with software dealers and distributors; negotiated technology licenses with Fortune-500 companies; negotiated numerous royalty agreements, and sold three businesses.

Visionary

A new product or service begins as nothing more than an idea. For it to become reality, others must understand and believe the vision. My role as visionary is to clearly articulate the details of a specific problem, why and to whom a solution is of value, and how a solution can be achieved.

Instructor

Effective teaching is an important skill for bringing a new innovation to life. I enjoy speaking to groups, especially when conveying new ideas. I have taught college courses and seminars; spoken at conferences and at business and professional associations; written for trade journals; trained sales forces; and trained engineers.

Student

I devote a great deal of time to studying new things. I believe it is important to learn as much as possible. Occasionally, what must be studied is clear. More often, the value of learning something new cannot be known in advance. Innovation most often emerges from simultaneously knowing many things, asking many questions, and discovering new ways to combine ideas. Innovation has no roadmap, but one can prepare to innovate.

Software Guy

I never know whether to say “programmer”, “software engineer”, “software architect”, “software developer”, etc. Everybody understands “software guy” so I tend to use that term most often.

I have written millions of lines of code in C, C++, Java, JavaScript, FORTRAN, Forth, Pascal, Algol, Modula-2, Lisp, Basic, BCPL, PL/I, various assembly languages, APL and a slew of other odd languages. Driven, at first, by my own desire to create software at an ever faster pace, I began creating tools to accelerate the process of writing software. I’ve created compilers, decompilers, parsers, code generators, version control systems, editors, repositories, reengineering tools, and various other development tools. While specializing in development tools for much of the past twenty years, I’ve also created software for many other problem domains, including: home automation, embedded systems, CAD/CAM, 3-D modeling, real-time systems, communications and networking, encryption/decryption, data compression, security, Medicaid billing, e-mailing, computer graphics, printing, advertising, and others. When it comes to software, I can design it, code it, debug it, port it, reengineer it, and maintain it. In short, I get it.

Business Development

Product Development

Executive/Management

Speaking

Writing

Awards

I’ve used so many programming languages, databases, development tools, technologies, and techniques that I’ve elected to not make an exhaustive list. However, I have noted general areas in which I am a particularly well versed.

Noteworthy Skills

• Topic maps
• Web services
• SOAP, XML-RPC
• Ontology development
• Application integrations
• C, C++, Java
• XML and XSL
• SDK, API, and framework design
• Servlets, JSP, J2EE application servers
• Object-oriented architectures
• Code generation
• Code reengineering
• Documentation generation
• Version control
• Compiler/lexer/parser construction
• FrontPage, HTML, CSS
• CodeWright, Surveyor, Genitor OCS
• StarTeam, Caliber-RM
• 2-D and 3-D computer graphic

General

I am in excellent health and physical condition.

I am willing to travel both domestically and abroad as may be required for an engagement. I live 25 miles from Detroit International Airport.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the University of Michigan, the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair, the Ann Arbor Folk Festival, a rich performing arts community, and hundreds of software, robotics, electronic, biomedical, and other high-tech companies.

Family

I’ve been very happily married since 1982 to Carol A. Seidl, who I met and married while attending the University of Michigan. Our young son, Frankie, is a constant source of joy and wonder.  And, as of November 6, 2002, Carol and I became the proud—and busy—parents of beautiful twin girls, Rita and Rose.

Interests

When I’m not at a keyboard, I am probably backpacking, hiking, swimming, running, playing guitar, X-C skiing, or working on my 90-year old house.

Most years I make time for a 100-mile solo backcountry trek around Mt. Rainier; it clears my mind and helps ensure I make the most of the other sixty work weeks of the year. :-)

Recreationally, I read primarily non-fiction. My favorite authors include Richard Dawkins, Douglas Hofstadter, and Richard Feynman. Exploring the edges of human knowledge is often more intriguing—and stranger—than fiction. Though, Alan Lightman comes close.

F. Andy Seidl is a technology innovator, entrepreneur, and consultant with over 25 years experience in the software industry. He has founded, funded, and operated four startup companies—three of which have been acquired, one of which is still operating—and has created over two dozen software products for software engineering, enterprise, embedded, and consumer technology segments.  Mr. Seidl served for two years as Chief Architect of Emerging Technologies at Starbase Corporation (acquired by Borland) before co-founding MyST Technology Partners, Inc. (http://myst-technology.com/), a web services technology company that helps commercial clients apply Web 2.0 and social media technologies to their own specific business needs. MyST has deployed solutions for Internet visibility and brand building, market and competitive intelligence gathering, distributed team collaboration, enterprise blogging, RSS infrastructure, partner compliance monitoring, public relations, and others. MyST has provided services to hundreds of businesses ranging from small, privately-held businesses to large companies such as Intel, Borland, Pfizer, VeriSign, and others.

For additional background and contact information, innovation history, and to read his blog, please visit: http://faseidl.com.  You may also follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/faseidl.