Pete Simpson:
CLASS OF 1983
Turner Elementary SchoolClass of 1983
West chicago, IL
Iowa State UniversityClass of 1991
Ames, IA
West Chicago Community High SchoolClass of 1989
West chicago, IL
West Chicago Junior High SchoolClass of 1985
West chicago, IL
Indian Knoll Elementary SchoolClass of 1977
West chicago, IL
Pete's Story
Life
All I can say is ... "whoosh!" ... Never would have figured on being in Silicon Valley when I was back in HS.
School
Left WCCHS, went to Iowa State, got fed up with rehashing stuff I already knew (classic underachiever) and started up a business.
College
Note: This info is based on going for two years. The Classmates system does not allow for "some college" and insists that a graduation year be entered.
Workplace
Started a company in Illinois doing computer consulting, tutoring, and otherwise being a thug that you could rent if you wanted to go buy a computer without being hassled by hard-sell types.
Partnered up with a guy from St. Charles to gain additional contacts and networking expertise, and then he essentially sunk the business into the ground (if I only knew then what I know now about just how illegal his actions were - augh), but I sold off my share and got the hell out of there.
Joined up with a computer sales company in Michigan and moved there. Lost that job because, well, take a look at the paragraphs above and you'll see why I was doomed.
Moved to Best Buy and enjoyed the hell out of that. The GM begged me not to leave but I'd met my future wife and there was no way to keep me in Michigan, so I ...
Moved to New Hampshire. What a beautiful hellhole full of people with egos far exceeding federal guidelin...Expand for more
es and, when you get down to it, if brains were dynamite a lot of them wouldn't have enough to blow their noses. But I digress.
Moved to California with my wife-to-be (difficult conveying a past event in future tense) after her graduation from Dartmouth. Landed a job 18 hours after I started looking (Learning Company).
The Learning Company moved its tech division out to Tennessee (favorite quote: "We're proof that you don't need to be technical to provide technical support - hyuck"), so I found another job at a small European company with an office in Cali (CeQuadrat). Spent 3 years there before Adaptec bought us. Stayed at Adaptec and we spun off as Roxio. Now Sonic (software company in same market)is looking to buy the group I'm in. Since it's a regular 9-5/M-F job, over the years I've also been an associate at NASA's Ames Research Facility at Moffett Field, spending evenings and weekends rubbing elbows with the guys and gals responsible for the Space Shuttle artificial intelligence systems.
**
Sonic acquired Roxio on Dec 17th, 2004. Working in a development tiger team with some sharp men and women. No longer working at NASA, though I've kept in touch with a number of the people and am still indirectly involved with some of the projects they're working on.
All in all it's been a fun ride and I've met some fantastic people.
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