Software in Limbo – The story of Intrinsigo

Posted by Brendan Tompkins on October 15, 2003

Back in 2000, I was co-founder of a soon to be defunct tech startup company called Intrinsigo.  This was the twilight of the bubble.  We got just enough funding to get excited, develop a product, hire some people, buy a basement full of computers… and be seriously let down when investors realized that tech start-ups had to actually be profitable. 


Here was the Idea:  A content authoring tool for handhelds.  You know.  Like Authorware, but for handhelds.  We were targeting PalmOS and PocketPC.  We used XML.  We wrote a SAXish XML parser for the PalmOS.  We were ahead of the game. We got really close to being acquired. We met with Palm.  Lycos had drafted up a term sheet.  We were going to be rich. 


Well, Palm wasn’t interested.  Lycos funded another startup instead.  Our angel investor went chapter 11.  I moved away from the big city.  I got married.  It was the best thing that ever happened to me.  But it left a product in limbo.


So now, I have this software.  It’s aging rapidly.  I think it could be useful to someone. I actually think it could make some money, but I could care less about that.  Sometimes, I wish there was a thrift store for donating old software.   I’d like to port the VB6 authoring tool into dotnet, but I don’t have the time.  Anyhow.  If anyone has any ideas.  Let me know.


-B


Music tip: Belle and Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress./FONT>

About Brendan Tompkins

Brendan runs CodeBetter.Com and Devlicio.Us. He is a former MVP for Microsoft .NET and is president of Port Technology Services, a partner with Port Solution Integrators a provider of hardware and software integration services for the transportation and logistics industry.
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  • http://qboiulrn.com/ Xcujautf

    IW0ZJH

  • Phin

    Funny!

  • Grant

    That’s frickin’ hilarious! I have to share this with everyone I know . . .

  • D

    Have you noticed, nobody has linked back to their site in any of these comments? :)

  • Sean

    I think I dated her sister…that sounds so familiar; except when she spoke it was more like: blah blah blah!

  • Paul Gielens

    Where’s Dr. Phil when you need’m ;)

  • Kris

    That girl must be desperate if she is gooling on Brendan Tompkins :)

  • anon

    Yeah, a committed relationship to a guy in a white suit.

  • Chris

    geez man, I hope you don’t have any pet rabbits or anything. ;)

  • Mark

    hmm… sounds like someone is mad that you got married… How did she find your blog anyway? She must have been searching for you. Why was she searching for you if you were the bad guy in the comments above? Well, good luck fending her off in the future… looks like you’ve got a stalker on your hands!

  • Brendan Tompkins

    Um. Looks like my ex-girlfriend found my blog.

    :)

  • the past

    glad to hear that being an asshole made you feel as though that was the best thing that ever happened to you. there’s a whole part of the northeast that thinks otherwise.

    by the way – you left out the part where you were a prick to the chick who put up with your neuroses for 5 years. you handled the departure like an asshole. no apology. no explanation. no equal distribution of profit. wonder how you explain that to the current lady.

    good luck with that whole marriage thing. bet you feel good about yourself. keep in mind, once an asshole – always asshole. you have not done much to suggest otherwise.

    and hey, just a reality check (to get you back to earth). i’m in my own committed relationship (lest you recall that i had little interest in being married . . . to you). good luck with all that. appreciate your consideration, sincerity, and concern. i sincerely feel none of that.

  • Brendan F Tompkins

    Lars..

    There were three of us to start, and Kord was CEO for the first 3 months or so, if I can remember properly. Steve took over and focused on landing VC money, while Kord took on a business dev position.

    No, this was not *the* Steve McConnell, of Code Complete fame, if that’s what you mean. But it was *the* Steve McConnell as far as I was concerned… Great guy. ;)

  • lars

    Interesting. You’ll have to tell the whole story sometime. I have looked at a few press releases re: Intrinsigo, and they tell a confusing story. Was Steve McConnell or Kord Kutchins the CEO? And was this *the* Steve McConnell?