Once a developer, always a developer, even if you end up leading teams of developers working on way too many projects at once.

Started writing code on a ZX81 in 1981, moved on to business languages before leaving school, first using TCP in 1984 to deploy a hotel stock/accounting application remotely. Mainly because the owner didn't want it known a couple of spotty teenagers had written the business tools. After learning of HTML and HTTP through IRC and Newsgroups I started tinkering with these as the web was born, my first proper build was an online proofing tool built to help me share designs with a company in South Africa, these days it would be called a web application but in 1993 I had to first explain the Internet and then the web before tryng to explain what it did and how. Some things don't change!

Fast forward 23 years and I've been a principal consultant for Cap Gemini's Web Technology Group, been part of and started several start-ups, seen most fail but with some proud achievements along the way. I've learnt the hard way that the best lessons come from the failures and the success stories wouldn't be possible without them. Although I know lead development teams on a wide range of web based projects I still scratch my developer itch when I can, whether it's code hardening, bug fixing or personal projects.

The most important thing I've learnt is a team of inspired and motivated individuals that trust each other and share the load of project goals in an unhindered collaborative environent can achieve amazing results.