Nate Taggart and Chase Douglas believe that server-less applications will become more popular than traditional apps over the next decade.
What does that mean exactly? They foresee a shift from application development that depends on external servers to tools that operate with the same level of efficiency and security, without relying on a server. The product and engineering duo hopes to lead that revolution with Stackery.io.
“We want to build software tools to help developers unleash their creativity instead of focusing on mundane server management,” said Taggart, who serves as CEO of the Portland-based startup.
Taggart and Douglas started working together in 2013 when they joined forces to build the New Relic Browser. After New Relic went public, they moved to an early-stage startup and began working together on side projects using AWS Lambda. The challenges they experienced using that technology inspired them to launch Stackery.
“We decided to use our experience building developer tools together to help companies build and deploy world-class server-less applications with the same level of automation, safety, and security as legacy applications,” Taggart said.
Stackery is currently working through the Techstars Seattle 2017 accelerator program. After graduating, the startup will seek venture funding.
We caught up with Taggart for this Startup Spotlight, a regular GeekWire feature. Continue reading for his answers to our questionnaire.
Explain what you do so our parents can understand it: “Stackery is helping companies dramatically cut server costs and increase developer productivity with server-less architectures.”
Inspiration hit us when: “We were individually excited about the idea of functions-as-a-service and originally we were just building tools for our own development cycles. When we started showing other developers, their interest and encouragement made us realize we were onto something big.”
VC, Angel or Bootstrap: “We’re standing in front of an enormous market opportunity, and will be partnering with leading VCs to extend our ability to serve our customers.”
Our ‘secret sauce’ is: “Our function wrapping makes it way easier to connect your code to databases, file storage, and other code.”
The smartest move we’ve made so far: “Accepting a spot in Techstars Seattle! Techstars has really had a huge impact on our trajectory.”
The biggest mistake we’ve made so far: “We spent a week building a solution to work around an AWS bug, that they fixed almost as soon as we were done.”
Would you rather have Gates, Zuckerberg or Bezos in your corner: “Bezos, absolutely. He thinks in terms of massive scale and tackles some of the biggest problems of our age.”
Our favorite team-building activity is: “Pizza and a pint at Life of Pie in North Portland.”
The biggest thing we look for when hiring is: “Empathy. We love working with people who care about helping others, including co-workers, customers, and their communities.”
What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to other entrepreneurs just starting out: “When you’re on the right track, you’ll know.”
Editor’s note: GeekWire is featuring each of the companies in the Techstars Seattle 2017 accelerator as they prepare for their Demo Day April 19.
