Happy 3rd birthday, Tabulas.

Like a child growing up, Tabulas will soon be going through the ackward adolescence of its virtual existence, where it tries to find its role and purpose on the web.

One of the most common questions I get is: "Why don't you take on VC funding?" There was a short answer ("I don't need it") and a long answer ("I need to be able to control the future of Tabulas, even if it goes against commercial interests. Vested commercial interests don't necessarily jibe with what I want to accomplish with this site in its early stages.").

In a sense, I always approached my role in Tabulas as a craftsman. I wasn't concerned with putting out the most commercially viable site; I was far more interested in appealing to my own standards. I was never too concerned with the number of patron accounts, or the total usage. If 20 people used a site that I considered to be a great quality, I would still consider that site a success. Likewise, 50,000 people using a site that I consider crappy is a failure (and I've written about that before). I wanted to create something beautiful that people would appreciate - I didn't want to immediately be swept up by the rivers of commercialism; I wanted to spend my time in the small pond, relaxing and building something cool.

Well, it's been three years. So much has happened since then (two versions), and a third is on its way. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of what I want to accomplish with Tabulas in terms of usability, featureset, and maintenance.

So what's next? Unfortunately, I do have to address the commercial aspect of Tabulas, and to that end, I've automated the billing so I don't have to deal with it.

Once Tabulas 3.0 launches, I'll probably be referring to it a lot less as a project and more as "my enterprise" (I still hate using the word 'company'). I'll be more aggressive in marketing the site, promoting it, and trying to deal with cash flow (and generally trying to get a positive cash flow). My main issue now is that I hate promoting a product I think is sub-par, even if that product is mine, so I try not to promote it too heavily. Once I get a level of product out that I feel comfortable with, I'll promote it and commercialize it.

I want Tabulas to live for a while. I've seen it add value to people's lives and in the way we interact - I think I'd be a vastly different person if I didn't have contact with the people I read and interact with on a daily basis on my Tabulas. To everybody who pays and uses Tabulas, I owe it to them to ensure that Tabulas has a strong financial outlook.

So the goal for this upcoming year of Tabulas: Release a product I'm comfortable with promoting, push people to actually pay for it, and treat Tabulas more like a business. I owe it to everybody to make sure Tabulas has a long and healthy future. In general, I see far too many sites that are being release prematurely and being promoted selflessly without a polished featureset - I do not want Tabulas to fall into that category. I want people to look at it and go, "Wow, what a steady and impressive job Roy's done by just trucking through the various iterations of Tabulas, all in the effort of creating a truly valuable product to people."

It's time for Tabulas to grow up.

Do you have any Tabulas stories you'd wish to share? I'd be interested in hearing if Tabulas has had (any) positive impact on your life :)