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Long, long ago (it was the early 1990s, actually), in a place far away (well, Silicon Valley), an intrepid band of adventurers (former Apple employees) formed a company called General Magic, with the vision of delivering a true, virtual personal assistant to kings, princes, CEOs, and yes, to ordinary (and busy) folks like you and me. It was a noble goal, and a great vision; only, there was one problem: the Internet technology to support the vision just wasn't there yet.

But the vision behind General Magic was taken up by one equally far-sighted entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Patrick Grady, who began to invest quietly and steadily in various companies that could provide pieces of the vision, although never quite the whole. Then, in early 1999, came XML, which Grady saw as the possible lingua franca that could link all the disparate pieces into a unified marketplace -- a truly global virtual assistant. And, Grady's company, Rearden Commerce, was born.

Rearden Commerce, which aims ambitiously to be your own personal concierge and save you beaucoup time and money, is the catalyst for an engaging and stimulating conversation between its founder and Tom Parish, covering the idea of services as commodities; the services economy and where the U.S. fits in; why Larry Ellison got it right about enterprise software, and got it wrong about Silicon Valley; the role of the government in kick starting broadband competitiveness, and a lot more. So take a little time to open your mind to new possibilities and tune into this interview with someone who really does think way outside the box, deep into the future that he and his company are trying to create today.

Resources

Presentation from SuperNova 2005

Rearden Commerce

Bio

Patrick Grady is the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Rearden Commerce. A recognized pioneer in Web Services and On-Demand technologies, Patrick Grady has guided Rearden Commerce to a commanding leadership position within the Services-On-Demand market. Five years in development, the company has a large and growing patent portfolio and enjoys first mover advantage, with a host of name-brand enterprise customers and several major technology and marketing partnerships.

Production Credits

Dana Farver, Executive Producer, Communities Editor-in-Chief
Tom Parish, Audio Producer, Show Host
Kimberly Stone, Web Development Manager
Scott Ebner, Web Developer