Hi, my name is Derrick Grigg.
I have been developing web applications and sites for 15+ years (sounds like a long time when you write it down but it doesn’t feel like it). After years of working in corporate IT departments, dealing with more talkers than doers, I had enough and hung up my commuting shoes for the comforts of a home office. For the past 7 years I have been working for myself as an independent web contractor (freelancer). Working on a wide variety of projects with an assortment of clients has been an adventure and it also gave me the idea for my first foray into SAAS development.
One thing that had been a constant thorn in my side was managing feedback during website/app design and development. Invariably I would get bombarded with emails, spreadsheets, pdfs and an assortment of other means for leaving feedback. It was always a pain to keep track of everything and make sure that everyone on the project was current with what was completed and what needed to be updated/addressed/etc.
I read Jason Fried’s book Rework and it was the kick I needed to solve a problem I knew was not unique to myself. It took a few years of slow starts, finding time, gathering dust and negotiating with myself on what constituted a finished product but I finally launched PageProofer.com in mid 2013.
Running a consulting/contracting business is quite different from trying to run a product business. Everyday it feels like there’s a mountain of things I need to learn and figure out with regards to running a SAAS, which is why I joined this group. At this point the revenue from PageProofer is just an extra bonus each month, but it is increasing, so even with all my stumbles something is going right.
I’m looking forward to 2014 being the year PageProofer gets some decent traction and I can start to focus more time and energy on bootstrapped SAAS as a way to diversify my income.