For reasons unknown, Charleston’s own MC of .js, Tom Wilson, recently gave up some of his time to respond to an email interview.

First, I would like to thank you for the interview, and thank you for all of the outstanding coverage you have done in the Charleston Technology community over the years. It is great to have a group with your creativity in our community, and it makes for some interesting discussion on the interwebs.

Is your new company starting with a clean slate?

Yes, Hyper63 is a new standalone company that is starting from a blank slate. You might say it is starting from a Tabula Rasa (greek for ‘Blank Slate’), also the name of the company I was previously employed. Ha Ha! Hyper63 focuses on building products and services for software development teams.

Which javascript framework is most likely to cure COVID-19?

Unfortunately, JS frameworks make developing applications easy and can’t cure COVID-19. But, if you were to ask me which JS framework is a game-changer? I would answer Svelte by focusing on improving both the User Experience and the Developer Experience. Vue, React, and others are also great, but I think Svelte is the framework to watch.

What does your new company do other than generate tweets and webinars?

Great question:

• Setting up the business
• micro-engagements (consulting and contracting)
• workshops (Svelte 101 – Sept 25 – https://event.gives/svelte
• open-source products – Hubble project – https://github.com/hyper63/hubble

Are you ready to cede your throne as Godfather of Lowcountry nerds?

Wow, what an honor, I did not know there was such a throne, but if I am on it, I am ready to pass the torch! I am focused on creating great products and services for software development teams, including workshops, products, and services.

How are you, your family, and your companies handling the pandemic? What do you miss? What do you not miss?

Everyone is doing great; the kids are glad to be back in school!

What do you miss?

In person meetups and gatherings.

What do you not miss?

Not anything I can think of at the moment, maybe I have adjusted to the new normal?

Captain or Pr0wn?

Both!

Jack Russell has been acquired and is now part of a larger company. BenefitFocus is public. PeopleMatter was acquired. BoomTown is steadily growing. Phishlabs and Avoxi seem to be doing great. It seems the Charleston tech community is maturing past the “startup” phase. Do you agree? How do you feel about it? What changes do you see coming?

I have not thought about the Charleston Technology community being in a particular stage; I think the Charleston Technology community has grown tremendously and continues to grow with tremendous talent from startups to mature companies and everything in between. I also think the remote community has grown; CHSTech has some top-notch talent that chooses to live here and work for companies worldwide.

What changes do you see coming?

I think anytime a disruption occurs, there opportunities for innovation increase, I think we will see innovations move from “Cool” to “Normal” in the next few years.

How has Shrimp and Bits fueled this transformation?

By being active and providing input, that is participation, and it is all part of moving things forward!

Follow up! Is Hyper63 the first of a new “wave” of entrepreneurial activity in the Chuck?

I doubt it is the first, but I hope it is part of the wave! Software teams are getting crushed with the ever-growing development complexity, and the current development process rarely builds quality into the product.

Taking a different approach with projects like the Hubble project, development teams will be empowered to build with less complexity and more robust quality attributes. This results in companies keeping software costs low over time to apply new feedback into features customers want quickly. As teams leverage this approach, they can create higher quality applications for lower costs and provide new and growing companies a competitive differentiation in their market.

How does Charleston Open Source figure into your plans? Would you say they are an indispensable resource or a complete embarrassment?

All organizations focused on improving the Charleston Technology community are welcome. By working together, we can accomplish so much more than divided. It is great to see these organizations working together and providing value!