Hello — and welcome to your Next Business.
This blog will be a forum for companies that are doing exciting, cutting-edge things to grow and thrive in a quickly changing world. We'll be sharing success stories about what works - and ways that the smart use of technology can help companies of all sizes not just survive in a lousy economy — but prosper.
It's brought to you by my company, xTuple, which makes next-generation business management software that (we modestly think) plays a key role in all this. This is not your father's ERP system, but it builds on the lessons learned in the past 30+ years; xTuple software provides a single business platform that harnesses the collective brainpower of all your employees, customers, suppliers, and other business partners.
You'll hear from xTuple customers who are doing fantastic things, and xTuple partners around the world who are helping them do it. And because xTuple is open source software, there are thousands of companies using the totally free version; you'll hear from them too! You'll even hear from people who helped give us the name for this blog — professionals who implemented xTuple software at their employer, and decided to start their next business as xTuple partners helping a range of companies succeed.
We're all about sharing success here, so if you've got a story to tell about how your business is growing in new and interesting ways, let us know, and we'll set you up with an account!
Ned Lilly
In October 2001, Ned co-founded xTuple, originally called OpenMFG, with the aim of bringing the worlds of open platform software and enterprise resource planning (ERP) together to solve the unmet needs of small- to mid-sized manufacturers. In 1999, he was a co-founder of Great Bridge, an early business built around the PostgreSQL database which is also the core technology for xTuple today. Great Bridge was incubated inside Landmark Communications, a mid-sized media company where Ned directed corporate venture investments, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and startup activity. Prior to Landmark, Ned worked for a regional technology group in Washington D.C. and had a brief first career in political media — television, radio and a non-partisan news wire. He holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.A. from George Washington University.