If my first boss, Andy Johnson-Laird, hadn't rung Bill to back out of writing The Programmer's Guide to MS-DOS, I was the guy getting the code credits. Sigh.

Since making the move from hacking to hawking, I've climbed the corporate greasy pole, raised sums from loose change to a billion dollars (boy, was that a bubble!) and co-founded product, service and professional service businesses.

These days I'm a parallel entrepreneur and co-founder of the Idea Transform weekend accelerator, I help startups for cash, equity or exotic combinations as the JellyWeb guy, and if you're in Cambridge, England I offer coffee shop consulting in half hour, caffeine-fuelled gulps. Finally, I consult on propositions, pricing and launch management.

(Post-finally, I'm also an ordained minister in the Church of England, which is why I sometimes call myself an ordained entrepreneur.)