So this is more of a “How-amazing-I-feel” post rather than a technical writing.
I have a webapp that I developed for a customer a while back, it was a gift for using our company. At the time the app was very crude and unsafe, but the customer has continued to use it and the app has become quite famous in our small industry.

I work for a top software testing companies‘ employer in the same industry now, but I kept the rights to the code to the app. So I decided to improve onto this app and give it to my current employer for our customers. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen and I sat with a newer version that no one was using.

The other day one of the sales people that were involved in the original development got a new job and wanted a copy of the app. So I saw this as a chance to sell this new improved version. I showed him all I had done and he was very happy with it. After a few cosmetic changes I installed it in his website and I got paid for it!

I have been developing software now for close to 6 years, but it always has been for my employers. I know they use my software because it is an integral part of the production workflow, customer service and accounting. So I always get my fair share of praise when a project is completed, but this was different. This was like being asked out by a cute girl rather than being the one asking out. It was pretty awesome. To know that someone would pay for this piece of software that I had written in my free time was amazing. (Of course with out my years of experience I wouldn’t have something as good as the current version and it still took a lot of my free time)

Not even a week after the sale, I am now talking to two other people that are interested in the app. And to come to a full circle, my employer is now interested in developing this app as a module to our website.

If there is one thing I learned from this experience is to never underestimate code you have written, even if it failed in its initial launch. Someone will eventually find value on that code.