Hello Internet

For the longest time, the internet has intrigued me. The possibilities are endless. You can meet new people, play games, invent the next greatest thing, learn a new skill, or event just escape to a different reality. Anything is truly possible. This same curiosity draws me into building software. When I was learning how to code I had this dream that one day I could wield a wizard’s magic and cast incantations on a computer to do my bidding. While the reality of software engineering is much less mystical than I thought, it’s still magical in its own way and a skill I deeply enjoy. Along my journey as an engineer, I met Jack, a fellow engineer who shared the same curiosity and passion for creating software. Together we share the same endless intrigue that could only be fulfilled by building more.

We’ve worked together over the years in various companies and on many projects. We built systems to run and monitor cloud infrastructure for cyber security training, real-time systems that processed telemetry data, accounting software, and fleet management solutions for the transportation industry. During this time we learned a lot about what worked and what failed. Patterns that continuously proved their value and anti-patterns that take down whole systems.

The Idea

Throughout this phase of learning and experimentation we knew eventually we wanted to have the freedom to create software on our own terms. We had caught the bug of not only wanting to learn everything about building the internet, but we also had the itch to build a sustainable business that we had true ownership over. Not a company that had boatloads of investors we constantly had to answer to, but instead a business that tries to build value for us, our families, and our customers. We want to be transparent about what it takes to build good, people-focused software. So we’ve set out to try something new.

Our vision is to build something sustainable, that can stand the test of time. We’re not focused only on profits, but instead on building things that have intrinsic value, that have beauty. We aim to take the time to go the extra mile because we know in the long run it’s worth it. To run the marathon that may never end but take pride in what we do and how we do it. To contribute back to the world so one day we could maybe change it. We don’t want to follow the traditional tech route of massive investment and growth at all costs. Our main goal is to help society with the skills that we have and have fun along the way. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we’re willing to put in the work to get things done.

The Plan

The playbook is simple, build free open source software (and eventually hardware) that other people can benefit from. In doing so, we want to use software as an opportunity to train others, consult, and build additional products that both benefit the world and sustain the business. Our goal is to put customers and employees over company profit. We have already started this endeavor with two products already out in the marketplace. First, Home Cloud is a consumer device to replace the need for cloud subscriptions like iCloud and Google Drive. Second, Draft a distributed systems framework in Go for building real-time, event-driven systems. Finally, we are currently working with clients as a software consulting firm and are accepting new clients for anyone with a need.

If you are interested in anything we are doing please reach out and subscribe to this blog for updates. We have only just begun our journey and would love to have you along for the ride.

Steady Bytes co-founders,

Andrew Meiling & Jack Kawell