Thursday, September 15, 2005

Rubyred is a real company


When I told people I was leaving yahoo to start a new company most assume I meant a one-man consultancy, which isn't really a company so much as a scheme to work less and hang out in coffee shops more. That's not the way it is. Although today, my first day at Rubyred, consisted of having coffee, looking at office space, having brunch, hanging at the apple store, and having coffee again. But that second stop is the important for the "real company" discussion: we're getting an office.

I am very very excited. The space is big and bright with tons of windows and skylights. Plus it's near South Park, the epicenter of the dotcom boom/bust and the emerging center of the new boom (like the original boom, except we're actually going making money this time). We'll be co-located with Adaptive Path, which is also pretty exciting.

Another way we're being a real company is by having actual clients, which brings me to the second point: I'm looking for a solid interaction designer with interest or experience designing for mobile devices. Drop me an emal if you'd like to chat: jonathan [at] rubyredlabs [dot] com

Friday, September 09, 2005

Goodbye Yahoo, Hello Rubyred Labs

I've returned from a great burning man (best year ever!) and I'm ready to reveal my master plan for world domination.

Yahoo! is by far the best company I've had the priviledge of working for, and I think they'll continue to do great things. But now it's time for me to take what I've learned here and do my own thing. It seems like a good time to get something started.

So...

I am pleased to introduce Rubyred Labs, Inc, an incubator and consultancy focusing on web and mobile product design. As consultants we build web/mobile products for smaller companies and help larger companies (like, say, Yahoo) generate ideas and build prototypes. As an incubator we come up with ideas we think are cool and build them for public enjoyment.

The first such idea is Urbantic, a new way to explore and share your city. So far we have sites for the Bay Area and Black Rock City. Join up and add your favorite places.

Since I haven't formally joined the company yet (I'm still a Yahoo for 3 more days) you won't see much mobile stuff in Urbantic right now. I'd like to add some simple SMS functionality then dive right in to an xHTML Mobile site with full functionality. Other suggestions are welcome.

Check out the goods:
www.rubyredlabs.com
www.urbantic.com