Author: Ian Lotinsky

I am a leader with experience in product management, product design, and software engineering for B2C, B2B, EdTech, and B2NGO.

Thank you, Robert Voit, creator of JASC Paint Shop Pro

Robert —

In the early to mid-90s my hobby was making video games of various sorts with my friend Jesse. Our tools were Recreational Software Designs Game-Maker 2.0 and your creation JASC Paint Shop Pro (PSP). I discovered both in a software mail order catalog and purchased them with my lawn mowing cash. We used PSP to design our title screens mostly.

I had purchased the shareware version of PSP, which came with a 30-day trial period. I discovered that if I simply uninstalled and reinstalled PSP, we would get another 30-days of free use. But, my conscience didn’t feel good about my discovery. It was stealing—plain and simple. I sent JASC a brief letter explaining how we were using PSP and asking for permission to continue using it. I figured, the worst that could happen is that you could say “no” and I would have to save up to buy the full version. The best that could happen is that you would say “yes” and we would be back in business.

To my shock and surprise, you sent me the following reply:

Robert Voit JASC Paint Shop Pro

You included a boxed version of PSP with your letter. I couldn’t have been more surprised or excited. It’s still one of my favorite childhood memories to this day.

Only a year or two later, Jesse and I stopped making our games. The limitations of Game-Maker were quite real, and something bigger had arrived: The World Wide Web.

I quickly taught myself HTML and continued to use PSP as my image editor—even later paying for upgraded versions. (Version 6 was my favorite!) I made websites on top of lawn mowing to earn cash throughout high school and college, which helped pay for school. The experience set me up to be a career website and web app builder (see PC World, September 2006, page 37). I couldn’t have done it without PSP. And I always liked it better than Adobe Photoshop, which I got to use during a few summer jobs.

Your kindness taught me three things: honesty and hard work are rewarding—both spiritually and materially—and that it’s fun to surprise and delight and help those whom you can. It was no surprise to me years later to learn that JASC was acquired by Corel. Your life’s hard work, honesty, and kindness rewarded you, and I couldn’t have been happier for you.

Thank you for teaching me some valuable lessons and your gift that summer. I’m grateful.

Although Jesse and I never officially shipped a game to market, I dug up one of them for old time’s sake and to finally follow through on my end of the deal. Here’s a video of Xylon.

Thanks again,

Ian

P.S. For folks interested in the Paint Shop Pro story, read this great Motherboard article.

You Don’t Need to Attend a Prestigious School to Network Well

I spent my first two years in higher-ed at our local community college, followed by two more at the University of Maryland (UMD), where I earned a bachelors in computer science. Both schools ranked okay nationally–especially for public schools–but I got grief from certain life advisers at the time for not attending a more prestigious school, like Carnegie Mellon or MIT.

I valued my family and friends too much at the time to move away, and I didn’t want to accumulate crippling debt. I was inclined to stay local. One thing I weighed losing out on was the ability to rub shoulders with future leaders. Being a commuter student who lived an hour off campus meant I would be spending most of my campus time in class, at the library, or in the computer lab. My classmates and I weren’t the best at networking. It simply wasn’t in the undergraduate CS culture at UMD.

I appreciate the connections I made while there, while also regretting not taking more advantage of the time I had with them or seeking out even more connections. I have learned since then that I didn’t need a prestigious school to network well. Several of my former classmates or schoolmates I met for the first time in industry years after graduation. We compared notes, figuratively, and realized we were in many of the same classes and even had vague recollections of each other. They have been great coworkers, advisers, and friends over the years. They are leaders at significant organizations. And I’ve had the fun of seeing them run circles around people who attended more recognized schools. Here’s just a smattering of examples:

  • Director of Engineering at LivingSocial, Stitch Fix, and Shopify
  • Staff Engineer at VMware, Microsoft, and Apple
  • Senior Consultant at Carbon Black and VMware
  • Senior Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton and Microsoft
  • Engineering Manager at Capital One
  • Engineer at InstaCart
  • Principal Product Designer at Main Street Hub
  • Chief Product Officer at GlobalGiving
  • A co-founder at LivingSocial
  • And another I reconnected with at a private event at Skywalker Ranch

I have a wealth of connections and friendships that I’m extremely grateful for–all who attended the same public school I attended.

I’m not belittling prestigious schools in the least. I’m simply encouraging us all to get past the stereotype that to make significant professional connections you have to attend a prestigious and expensive school. Don’t limit your opportunities like I did those two years; you’re probably just a few feet from greatness.