Meet Mark Foulkrod
Born in Florida, and moved to North Carolina when I was 5—so I’m a close-to-native, without the local accent for some inexplicable reason. I went to school in Raleigh and graduated from NCSU.
I started my professional career at IBM as a programmer, and quickly picked up a passion to start my own company. My officemate and I conspired and eventually both left IBM to do just that. I realized that I have a passion for small companies and how quickly they can evolve and respond to provide solutions for their clients—and have stuck with them ever since.
When not at work, my top priority is hanging out with my family, wife + 3 kids = a nice bit of activity. I spend my days with them trying to imprint on their growing brains just how smart and strong I am, which I consider to be more of a marketing effort than any kind of representation of fact, in hopes that it will leave a lasting impression for when they inevitably surpass me in maturity, strength and mental prowess (which may have already happened, but I’m not ready to admit). For those keeping score or setting the odds, I think I’m head-to-head with the 9 year old boy—odds still on me for my 6 year old girl, and my youngest 2 year old girl has already established complete and utter ownership over her mother and me, so we’re in for trouble there.
On the rare occasion that I have waking time to myself, typically 9pm-1am, I’m a gizmo freak (or in more formal circles: “An early technology adopter”). I love playing with technology, and Bill Bonar here is giving me a run for my money. Although we diverge a bit in our philosophies, Bill having more time available approaches his obsession from a hands-on, build it when possible approach—I take the instant gratification approach and buy my stuff Prêt-à-Porter.
For Atlantic BT
Mark orchestrates all aspects of software development from planning to execution. He has over 15 years of professional programming experience, staring at IBM and evolving towards startup software ventures. He has extensive experience in a wide variety of aspects in managing a high-tech venture from product development to servicing customers to negotiating/establishing/managing strategic relationships. He also authored a number of courses on software test automation and software development practices, taught hundreds of students in a wide variety of industries and also consulted with and mentored many IT teams in Fortune 1000 companies.
