Why I love working on consumer software

Over the years I've been involved in a mix of things ranging from consumer products (You Don't Know Jack, Apple, Pets.com) to enterprise software (Documentum, Relevance, Kenamea). While my years working on enterprise stuff where interesting, rewarding, and often at the cutting edge (for example, at Kenamea we built an AJAX platform almost 4 years ago), I'm never happier than when I'm working on consumer products. That was even true for one that failed horribly.

14 days ago we launched a preview release of Pandora a music discovery service that helps you create personalized "stations" that will introduce you to all kinds of music that we think you'll love. Ever since we launched we've been getting lots and lots of feedback from our early listeners. Here's a blog post that's consistent with the majority: One Sweet Nothing. What could be better than that?

We created this service because we love music and we really do want to help people out there who struggle to connect with all the great stuff that's out there. So far it seems like it's working and I can't imagine anything more gratifying than that. If you'd like an invitation to join the preview, drop me an email. I'd be happy to get you connected and listening right away.