Getting the band back together: Function1 welcomes Casey Goodman and Mike Shafrir
Consulting can be a tough job.
Sure, it all seems glamorous enough when you’re 20-something and don’t know any better. ”You mean I get to work on new projects all the time and travel around the world on somebody else’s dime? And get paid pretty decent to boot? Sweet! Sign me up”. But then the reality sets in:
- Your flight is cancelled because of bad weather in St. Louis and you miss Thanksgiving dinner.
- You work for 22 hours straight because something is broken and you’re the only one who can fix it.
- You get sent by yourself for a 15 week gig in Horid-town, USA and eventually just start having delivery sent to your hotel room because you can’t take eating by yourself at Denny’s for the 100th night in a row.
- You make a recommendation to your customer that you know is “the right thing to do”, only to see it shot down because of office politics.
- Your wife is excited when you’re actually in town for 3 days in a row.
- You get yelled at by customers for things that are completely out of your control
So why do it? Why be a consultant? The money? Yeah, the money is pretty good, but it’s not early retirement money, and you could make a lot more doing sales or a million other things. I think the folks who consult long-term really do it for a few reasons:
- Consulting is challenging – You’re expected to provide serious value to customers, often in a short period of time. You’re expected to be an expert in your field, and also have expert “people skills“. Challenging work can be a turn on.
- Consulting can be personally rewarding – There are times that your job will just suck. But there are also those times when you know that you just did something to help out a customer that probably only a handful of other people in the world could have done in the same amount of time. Those are the times that all the hassles seem worthwhile.
- You get to meet a lot of people – Jumping around from one engagement to the next can be tough, but you do get to meet a lot of people. Some of these people you won’t particularly care for, but I’ve been happy to get to know almost the vast majority of customers with whom I’ve worked.
So there’s my case for consulting. Plus, if you’re really lucky, you’ll have kick-ass co-workers. People who are smart, motivated, and easy to get along with. The kind of people that you look forward to having a beer with. The kind of people you trust. The kind of people that you want to bring along with you when you move on to your next job.
And that’s what we’re doing at Function1. Slowly, but surely, we’re getting the band back together. It’s in this vein that we welcome Mike Shafrir and Casey Goodman.
Both Mike and Casey come to Function1 after long tours of duty at Plumtree/BEA/Oracle. Mike, in addition to giving Allan a run for the most stylish F1er, has been around the block technically. For years, he’s worked with customers as a technical expert: Java’ing this, ,NET’ing that, and kicking portals in the pants when they needed a good kicking. People used to come from miles around just to watch him work a portal when the sun go down.*** We’re excited to have him on board, and look forward to the addition of another techno-whiz to the Function1 team.
Casey, a proud family man and papa of two, has worked with the Plumtree Corporate Portal->ALUI->WCI product stack literally longer than anyone I know. And he’s done it all. He’s been on the ground as a rockstar consultant. He’s managed projects large and small across the government and private sector, and he’s been responsible for selling many of you your Oracle professional services. And now he’s here. Casey understands the ins and outs of selling, managing, and implementing a WCI project like few other people in the industry. We’re jazzed to have him at Function1.
Please join us in welcoming Mike and Casey to the team as we keep the show rolling.
*** - OK, the internet really let me down on this one. Jump to 45 seconds in to enjoy this classic scene from Back to the Future in…Hungarian maybe? How can I not find a good, non-overdubbed, version of this after 20 minutes of searching?
Welcome!
So I’m just now getting around to reading all the blogs here. I knew that Casey and Mike joined the crew, but havent had a chance to congratulate them. Congrats guys and all the other formers that have joined F1 in the last year. Your customers will appreciate the all star team you’ve assembled. Good Luck.