Devilish details dash software project

It's been almost 10 years now since I went to work for a large, specialized printing company. My job was to keep all the computers working and to make sure they could interface with an arcane array of high-res output devices.

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During my first few months on the job, I discovered that "Robert," the general manager, was actually the secret linchpin of the operation. After many years in the printing industry, Robert and his trusty Mac could produce a profitable quote for any printing job virtually overnight — factoring in materials, production, cutting, binding, and finishing processes. At first I thought he was using some slick software, but finally I realized that he was doing it all by the seat of his pants.

The bad news came in two parts. One, Robert was the only person in the shop who knew how to quote a price on a job. And two, for whatever reasons (careless math? too much coffee?) over the course of several months, many of Robert's quotes had come in too low to generate a profit. Robert recognized that this was a problem and offered to work with me to resolve the situation.

We agreed to develop a custom software package that would generate an accurate quote for any type of print job. Because writing code wasn't in my job description, the company agreed to pay me a small wage for writing it on my own time, and I'd retain 30 percent ownership. We expected the product to sell widely in the printing industry, so my cut would be quite valuable.

The number of variables was mind-numbing. I had to develop a suite of front-end programs to handle paper size, drying time, and dozens of other expenses. As we passed the 18-month mark, I had written nearly 40,000 lines of code. The software could generate a quote in minutes, although Robert still needed to intervene now and then. We were getting close. A few printing companies had expressed interest in the software. Things were looking up.

I should have known something would go wrong. The Monday morning phone call came from "George," our top salesman. Only now, suddenly, George was the new general manager. Management refused to talk about it, but apparently Robert had gotten into some kind of nasty dispute with the company's owners and had bailed out of his contract. There were hints of financial improprieties. The following week, Robert's attorney forwarded a letter to me stating that under no circumstances would my erstwhile partner allow the company to profit from his specialized knowledge of the industry.

I thought I might be able to work around Robert's departure, and after I explained to George what the software could do, he agreed to take a look. That meeting lasted less than four minutes; George had no interest whatsoever in using a computer to generate quotes. End of story. The project was dead.

I made some effort to contact Robert (thinking that maybe we could resume development on our own) but it seemed that he was now sailing around the Caribbean on a cabin cruiser and could be reached only through his attorney. Not a good sign. When I think of how I spent two years working for about $5 an hour, I chalk it up to a life experience that made me stronger … but poorer.

And you can print that.