| Phillip Crews founded Cerious
Software in 1992 as a software consulting firm. While continuing
to work at his full-time job, Phillip worked part-time doing freelance
UNIX, VMS and Windows system programming for companies in the
US. In 1993, Phillip used his first significant Windows application,
Mandelbrot for Windows, to learn the ins and outs of
Microsoft Windows programming.
In 1994, Phillip decided to develop a retail
product for Windows, called ThumbsUp!. Phillip chose
to market ThumbsUp! as shareware, because he liked
the idea of "try before you buy," and this also allowed
him to distribute and advertise with very low costs. In that
fledgling business run from his home, cost was a major consideration!
A trademark search turned up no other computer
products with that name. However, several months after the release
of ThumbsUp!, another North Carolina company called Phillip to
tell him that they had applied for a registered trademark on the
name, which they had used for a couple of years.
After an on-line contest to select the new name
(which generated quite a bit of publicity for the program!),
Phillip changed the name to ThumbsPlus. Phillip examined
hundreds of entries from users on CompuServe, AOL and the Internet.
In July 1994, Phillip quit his day job to pursue
Cerious Software and ThumbsPlus full-time. He also hoped to
start getting some sleep. In late August, Phillip moved from
his house into a real office and hired Laura Shook to help with
the business, which was growing rapidly due to the success of
ThumbsPlus.
During the next year, ThumbsPlus sales continued
to rise. In July 1995, Phillip hired Jeff Hurley, who organized
the incorporation of Cerious Software, Inc.
in September 1995. Cerious Software has continued to grow. We
now have six
employees and have made it through three
expansion moves (within the same office building) to accommodate
our growth.
Cerious Software, Inc. is dedicated to the continued
development and support of ThumbsPlus and plans to continue
expanding. As well as continuing to support and improve ThumbsPlus,
we also have plans for new products.
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