Acknowledgments

How does one even begin to complete this task? In my case, this book represents a career that spans several decades, and, believe me, there were many, many people who influenced me during that time. I've decided to recognize them chronologically.

From Far Rockaway High School: Amelia Wexler Ashe^[*], who taught us all how to write.

^[*] Deceased

From The Cooper Union: Clarence Sherman^[*], Bob Steinberger, Mary Blade^[*], and Charles Richard Extermann^[*]. Each of these people was pivotal in teaching me about being a human being as well as a chemist, engineer, or physicist. Bob Steinberger, the best man at my wedding, and I have sustained a friendship that is in its 40th year.

From Stony Brook: Leonard Eisenbud and Alfred Goldhaber.

From Switzerland and France: Pierre Extermann, Olivier Guisan, Ronald Mermod, Michael Pouchon^[*], Michael Ispérian^[*], René Turlay^[*], and the LeMones. It is impossible to thank these people enough for helping me get through the Ph.D. process in one piece.

From Irvine: Steve Franklin, Alfred Bork, Bob Dodge, and Joe LaRosa. At UC Irvine and then at Fluor, I made the transition from the university world to the "real world." These folks were helpful guides in that process. Bob Dodge in particular showed me what it meant to be a good boss. Mike Kinsman taught me how to look at business numbers and make sense of them, and he has been a good friend and trusted advisor for more than 25 years.

From San Mateo: Bill Buchanan, who pointed me in the direction of the Silicon Valley.

From MacLeod Labs: Bill Irwin, who showed me the "start-up" ropes, and who instilled in me the notion that it was all a general management problem. Also Dennis Allison, who was always there when you needed him, and especially there when you didn't know you needed him. Not to mention Paul Hwoshinsky, who exposed me to the idea of non-financial assets.

At Rational, the founders, Mike Devlin and Paul Levy, whose combination of passion and intelligence was inspirational. Mike and Paul made a whole generation of people better than even they thought they could be.

At Rational, for teaching me about marketing: Brett Bachman, Yosi Amram, and Jerry Rudisin.

At Rational, for teaching me about customers: Bob Bond, Tom Rappath, John Lovitt, Kevin Haar, Mark Sadler, John Lambert, and Burton Goldfield. These guys were masters of all they surveyed. From John Lovitt, I took away the long-range view of what it means to build an organization. Bob Bond was perhaps the best mentor one could ever hope for. And Robert Gersten, behind the scenes, almost a brother.

At Rational, some of the most incredible software developers and managers I have had the pleasure of working with: Jim Archer, Jack Tilford, Dave Bernstein, Dave Stevenson, Rich Reitman, Howard Larsen, Ashish Vikram (now in Bangalore), Scott Johnson, Phil Garrison, Pete Steinfeld, and Tim Keith. Each of these gentlemen taught me something about software development that altered my perspective on the field. Jim introduced me somewhat derisively to the concept of "content-free management," and Jack was noteworthy in never, ever, giving up.

From Stockholm: Jaak Urmi, who educated me on the way large organizations react to technological sea changes. Also, Martin Lesser from the KTH, the original "Magnificent Six" from RatScan, and my dear colleagues from Celera.

From Rational and elsewhere, people who reviewed many of these chapters in their original form and made substantive suggestions that improved them: Philippe Kruchten, Pascal Leroy, Walker Royce, Grady Booch, Dave Bernstein, Max Wideman, Paul Campbell, Bob Steinberger, Jack Tilford, Jim Archer, Rich Reitman, David and Marc Marasco, and Kate Jones. It would be hard to go overboard in expressing my appreciation to this fine corps of reviewers who kept me honest.

At Rational, my editors at The Rational Edge, Mike Perrow and Marlene Ellin. Just as a gentleman has no secrets from his butler, I have no writing secrets from them. They are just a class act.

Reviewers of the manuscript by the time it got to Addison Wesley: Martin Lesser, Gary Pollice, John Walker, Steve Franklin, Boris Lublinsky, Joaquin Miller, Karl Wiegers, Don Gray, Bill Irwin, Jerry Rudisin, and Bob Bond. Not to mention Anonymous One and Anonymous Two. And, at the very end, the eagle-eyed Kate Jones, who made a final pass over everything.

At Addison-Wesley: Mary O'Brien, Chris Zahn, Chris Guzikowski, Brenda Mulligan, Michael Thurston, Amy Hassos (Specialized Composition, Inc.), and Lisa Thibault. I would like to thank Mary for having the courage to publish a somewhat unconventional book.

Marvin Hoshino, my brother-in-law and strong supporter, who edited my doctoral dissertation lo these many years ago and never was recognized or thanked for it. Tim Brennan, my faithful companion as CFO during the period at Rational when I was Senior Vice-President of Operations. Dr. Hingson Chun, who is in charge of pump maintenance. Carol Weiss, one of my oldest friends, who was so supportive of my wife and family over all these years. These are folks who helped me maintain sanity.

The following authors have inspired me through their books. Their work has affected both what I write and how I write: Ralph Palmer Agnew, Foreman S. Acton, Richard W. Hamming, Richard P. Feynman, Maurice d'Ocagne, Frederick P. Brooks, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Grady Booch, Philippe Kruchten, and Walker Royce.

Billie and Lester, for providing the music. R. P. Feynman, who was living proof that a kid from Far Rockaway could make it big.

These folks all showed that you don't get there by yourself, and you should consider yourself lucky to have worked with such an amazing array of people.

Joe Marasco
Pebble Beach
December 2004