Category: Technology

Leaving Ning

Today was my last day at Ning. This December would mark seven years at the company, and itā€™s been an absolutely amazing experience. Iā€™m extremely grateful to Gina Bianchini and Marc Andreessen for giving me the initial opportunity, and to Jason Rosenthal for his amazing leadership over the past few years.

Moments like this tend to make people feel nostalgic, and Iā€™m no exception šŸ™‚ If youā€™ll indulge me, here are a few favorite Ning memoriesā€¦

Itā€™s a bit strange to hand in my social media badge and gun for now, but Iā€™m extremely excited for what the future holds. Stay tuned, campers!

My Animated .GIF Series (To Date)

Back in May I began reconnecting with my roots and getting back into the animated .GIF creation scene. Being a film junkie, I decided to make a series of movie-related pieces. Since theyā€™re mixed in with other posts, I figured Iā€™d aggregate them in one place. Enjoy!

Pilot

Series One

Series Two

Steve

I never met Steve Jobs in person, but I make a living using his products and have admired him as far back as I can remember. When I was in high school, I wrote to him (he was still at NeXT at the time) for career advice, figuring thereā€™s no way Iā€™d ever see a response. I got one. Iā€™ve posted this before, but after today I think itā€™s worth sharing again.

My note (excuse the high school-level writing) sent on 6/12/94:

Dear Mr. Jobs,

I am very impressed by your life. I am a 16 year old male and Iā€™m typing this letter on a Mac. I have a question for you. I am positive that I want to go into a career in the computer field. I love to draw, I can read music, I like fooling around with stuff, I like e-mail and I can program in BASIC and Iā€™m trying to learn some other languages. What kind of career involves any of those things? How does one break into the industry these days? What kinds of classes should I take? I know these are a lot of questions, but I would greatly appreciate it if you could mail me back.

Thanks,

Kyle Ford

Steveā€™s reply on 6/13/94:

Kyle,

My suggestion is to go to a great college or university, at least for a year or two. Donā€™t limit your study to just computer science, but rather explore everything that catches your heart. This will serve you well later in your life.

I have always remembered a phrase I read when I was your age: stay hungry, stay foolish.Ā 

I believe it more now than ever.

Steve Jobs

R.I.P. Steve, from an Apple-product-loving liberal arts graduate that is both hungry and foolish.