Tech, Design, Life - A bit of History

Thought I would finally get around to starting a blog that focuses on my passions (startups, technology, design, and business), and what a better domain to do it on than DanielRust.com. I don't think I have even written this out before, so here is a little professional history of my life before co-founding EVO Media Group / DevHub.

Pre-college

My dad got me hooked into computers at an early age (building systems and gaming). But it wasn't until around age 16 that I first got my hands on the web. From then on I started using the web to teach myself the basics of web programming and graphic design.

In high school I met one of my current co-founders of DevHub, Mark Michael. We worked together on a bunch of early ventures into web startups and businesses. Namely, a travel search engine portal and a client web design business.

College

While attending Central Washington University for a business degree, Mark and I continued our ventures. While there, we founded Arestia Design Studios, focusing on client web design, identity, and print design; as well as development of web-based inventory management, client management, and eCommerce systems for choice clients.

We were able to hone our skills in search engine optimization (SEO) and internet marketing to build a number of our client's businesses from one-man-shops to million dollar companies.

Synapse Corporate Solutions

After college, Mark and I moved our business to downtown Seattle, WA. There, we transitioned our success with our clients into a new business focused on web application development and rapid prototyping for startups, named Synapse Corporate Solutions.

During the time we were managing client projects, we always dedicated time to research and development of new technologies in the mobile web, B2C products, and productivity tool spaces. These R&D developments spun off a series of small ventures.

• SynapseCS CRM: Web-based customer management system
• SynapseWine: Turn key wine inventory management system
• SynapseLife (Acquired): Suite of consumer productivity tools for use on the web or though mobile devices.
• BuyersVine (Acquired): Drag/drop and touch screen wine kiosk system for wine recommendations.

down2night: Your social nightlife

Another one of these experimental projects was down2night, which initially was a mobile web tool that allowed users to subscribe to event calendars for their favorite bars, clubs, and nightlife destinations. These subscriptions were setup to notify users via SMS and email when their favorite spots had events.

Through a childhood friend, we met our third DevHub co-founder, Geoffrey Nuval. He was meeting with some startups up in Seattle via his involvement with Lehman Brothers' venture arm. In Seattle we met up and planned a company around down2night, which became a social networking and community focused on nightlife in 20 major cities.

In October of 2007, all three of us came together to found EVO Media Group / DevHub.

Check out DevHub here