Reply #158: Crystle's Experience

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I just read his bio, sounds like he has, what we can call, REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE. When's the last time that Hoffell had a whif of the real world? I don't know what Joe's background is, but I would guess that he's been riding the chow as a US Rep and PA rep for sometime (PA Reps have a cush life), and has not a single clue as to what REAL AMERICANS are doing. Why else would Hoeffell vote for invading Iraq, other than he doesnt have a clue?

Anyway, here's Crystle's bio, and it's a hell of a lot more substantial than most of the current US Senators we have:

Charles Crystle is the founder and CEO of New York-based Mission Research, and is deeply involved in the research and development of Mission Research products. He currently leads a team in re-architecting a Food Stamp Benefits Pre-Screening Program in New York in conjunction with the United Way and seven community-based food-assistance organizations. Mission Research is dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations focus more resources on their core missions and less on non-mission operations.

Mr. Crystle earned his BA in English from the University of Delaware in 1991, graduating into the last great recession. A songwriter and performing musician, he aspired to become a successful musician, playing clubs around Philadelphia, New York, Central PA, and Washington. To pay the bills while trying to get a record deal, he found part-time work as a $7/hour proofreader in a pre-press operation in Delaware before moving back to his hometown of Lancaster, PA. In Lancaster Mr. Crystle jumped from one low-paying temp job to the next, ultimately landing a 3rd-shift temp job as a proofreader for Donnelley Financials.

In 1992 he signed a small record deal, but by 1994 left the commercial music world to start a computer company called Versicom. A self-taught programmer and computer technician, Mr. Crystle learned about running a small business through trial by fire; the first year was indeed rocky. But by 1996, he had moved the company into computing strategies and programming services for local businesses, helping them improve operations through technology and process solutions. In 1996 Mr. Crystle took substantial risks and completely transformed the company into a commercial software company, renaming it Chili!Soft. While running up debts, ruining his credit, and working 100-hour weeks, Mr. Crystle propelled the company into the national spotlight, which received the prestigious Best of PC Expo award for development software in June 1997, beating out IBM, Microsoft, Lotus, and Netscape for the honor. The company had only 3 people at this time. In Fall of 1997 Mr. Crystle closed venture financing for the company after an intensive, bi-coastal 9-month search. He moved the company to Seattle, where the company began to grow substantially. Mr. Crystle left the company in November 1999; in 2000 Cobalt Networks acquired Chili!Soft. Cobalt and Chili!Soft were subsequently acquired by Sun Microsystems, where Chili!Soft ASP has been renamed Sun ONE Active Server Pages and ships on most Sun and IBM servers.

Since the sale, Mr. Crystle has served as a board member and advisor of several startups and started his own called Mission Research. In addition, he has worked as an adviser to Witness.org, NpowerNY, and Casa Alianza in Costa Rica, and has become an active advocate for democracy and the rights of children in Central America. In 2000 he started work on a documentary about the plight of street children in Managua, Nicaragua, and Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The project is expected to be completed in the next year. Mr. Crystle lives in Lancaster, PA and commutes to the Jersey Shore when the fishing is good.