inessential by Brent Simmons

Gone Indie

I have some cool personal news: I’m restarting Ranchero Software.

Yesterday was my last day at Sepia Labs. We had a great team and I loved working on Glassboard — and I remain a Glassboard user. I rely on it, even.

And even though I’ve left, I trust the team to continue to do the right things. Everybody at Sepia Labs shares the same vision. (Privacy. No ads. Nothing creepy.)

But it was time for me to return to my natural habitat as an indie developer.

I feel like the not-quite-domesticated dog who’s been given to live on a farm. Tell the kids I’ll be happier there — tell ’em how I’ll chase rabbits and sleep in the sun and run off into the woods whenever I want.

* * *

I’m working on cool new things. It’s too early to talk about the things — but I can talk about my goals. I have two:

  1. Make great software on my own.

  2. Make great software with other people.

The first goal is a given — the second one is interesting.

I’ll turn 45 in a couple months. I realized that the next 10 years of my career will be the highlight: partly because the app world has matured so much, and partly because I’ll be at my personal best. (And maybe it’s really the next 15 or 20 years.)

I’d hate to look back and regret not getting to work with talented people. There are so many, and I’ve found that I love working with other people.

* * *

I am ridiculously, staggeringly, over-the-moon excited.

P.S. Gus Mueller — President of the Internet — proclaimed that this is National Indie Developer Day.