EARLY YEARS
In 1982 Scott decided to forgo the family businesses and took a position as Vice President of a small regional home construction and real estate firm. One of the first challenges facing the firm was a challenged implementation of an early small business accounting product – Open Systems.
In 1983 Scott was asked to review the implementation project and he quickly determined that a new course of action was required. Commodore 64 computers, with 80 column video cards and Paperclip word processing software would replace typewriters for creation of legal and marketing documents. An Altos 8600 16-bit computer system, using the Xenix run time operating system, would become the new main computer with VT100 terminals connected throughout the office. Open Systems would continue to be the accounting software used, and a new database – Informix – would be purchased and used to custom develop management and tracking software for land parcels and pending development.
Scott took a risk and recommended David to the company management team for use as a developer on the Informix and Open Systems Accounting Software project. At the time, David was 13 years old and there was some trepidation. An arrangement to try David was agreed upon and after a few weeks it was clear that David would remain to implement the two systems.
Over the next few years David developed a full real estate office management system, with lead and opportunity tracking, sales reporting, commission calculation, and property inventory management. In addition, David developed a construction management job scheduling system allowing the company to schedule subcontractors and generate work orders much more efficiently. David implemented the Open Systems General Ledger, Payables, Receivables, Payroll, and Job modules and customized these modules where required. By 1987 the project was complete and deemed a success.
Scott had developed a lot of business connections over the years. During the time the construction and real estate firm project was underway many other business owners and managers came to Scott and asked for assistance in implementing business systems and computer hardware in their businesses. Scott would determine what the company needed and purchase off-lease hardware from Control Data, Altos, and other sources as well as new hardware from IBM and Compaq. David would configure the software and get the equipment ready to deploy. From 1983 through 1989 the basement of the Hutchinson house was transformed in to a small hardware assembly and staging area with an office set aside for David to perform software development. Customers included an endodontic office, Mack truck repair center, HVAC equipment dealer, cities and municipalities – Scott and David could create a solution for just about anyone who wanted to automate business functions. Working in each new type of business gave Scott and David more background to work with the next. David learned and became an expert at business process analysis and accounting, as well as software development and project management. Scott, with his background in electronics, used his skills to modify hardware and develop interface circuitry to interconnect different brands of hardware before any type of standards for doing so existed.
Aside from business interests, both Scott and David really enjoyed the fun aspect of the rapidly developing personal computer industry. Certain products, such as the Atari ST (named for its amazing Motorola 68000 Sixteen-Thirty two bit processor) caught and held Scott and David’s interest more than others. In 1985, Scott and David decided to become official resellers of the Atari ST computer line and began reselling these computers and related software from the basement of their home. Always wanting to push the envelope, Scott developed a way to piggy back additional memory chips to the existing chips and a new business of hardware upgrades was launched. During the 1980’s and 1990’s there was still a healthy competition between personal computer makers and no dominant leader had emerged. Atari, Commodore, Apple, IBM, Compaq, Osborne and many others were all competing and there was room to make a profitable business with any of these brands. Reselling Atari hardware and software gave Scott and David retailing experience – working with the general public rather that just business owners and managers.