What Does It Take to Grow in Tech 3.0?

Written by Mark Bahorich, Founder-in-Residence. Mark grew his successful company from idea to exit in 3 years and now he is sharing some insight with us.

When I made the move to tech and software development, it seemed like an unlikely leap from my previous work in the oil and gas industry. But having been born and raised in Texas, I can honestly say that anything goes in the Lone Star state — which supports the idea behind Houston as the country’s new tech epicenter.

Like any good engineer, my top focus has always been on problem solving which, come to find out, isn’t really industry-specific. In fact, I challenge you to find a single industry that doesn’t have problems that need solutions. There’s always some issue or challenge standing in the way of efficiency and effectiveness. Today’s methods of engineered problem solving are taking a more tech-forward approach, in what we’re predicting will be known as Tech 3.0. The term ‘solution’ has become nearly synonymous with ‘software’, with most businesses turning toward technology to solve their biggest challenges and improve effectiveness and efficiency. And given the multitude of industries and businesses in the Houston metro, becoming a capital for the Tech 3.0 boom seems like kismet.

The first major wave of tech was the advancement of the internet, or as we call it, Tech 1.0. More than a decade later, we see the advancement of the smartphone and mobile capability, ushering in a new era of technology that defined Tech 2.0. These weren’t just small changes — they completely reshaped life as we knew it. And with the emergence of cloud technology, we’re seeing changes in the way that software is developed and deployed that is defining a new era — what we at Q Engineering are dubbing Tech 3.0.

In essence, Tech 3.0 is the marrying of cloud technology and streamlined software development to solve complex business problems that legacy systems don’t address. In the past, industry-specific software development was too costly for many businesses to get unique solutions and instead had to rely on off-the-shelf options. But that’s been changing in the past few years or so, and we’ve seen it firsthand because that’s exactly what we do.

There’s a huge variety of businesses here outside of oil and gas companies. Houston has been touted as the world capital of air conditioning and space exploration. We have over 11,000 restaurants and eat out more than any other large U.S. city (yes, actually researched this). It’s home to the largest medical complex in the world and has an eclectic collection of museums and attractions (National Museum of Funeral History, anyone?). What connects each of these unique industries is the technology that allows companies to scale, grow, and thrive. And given Houston’s growing business landscape, it’s no surprise that Space City is becoming known as a tech epicenter. It’s this same variety that is bringing seemingly infinite opportunity to software development — and subsequently spurring new business opportunities as a result of Houston’s tech boom.

During my time in O&G, our projects largely focused on the same outcome: predicting production of new oil wells based on the production of other wells in the same area. There were a lot of manual calculations and data entry in Excel, going back and forth, and waiting, and the whole process usually took 3–5 days. The manual aspect left a lot of room for potential problems, which could delay projects even longer. So, I used my in-depth knowledge of the O&G industry to solve a problem. In this case, it was developing software to simplify and improve what used to be a largely manual process. It was the start of a new chapter, not only for myself but also for Houston’s growing reputation as a tech hub.

This is exactly how the tech industry grows — business owners identify a problem and turn to technology to fix it. Companies across industries are bringing software to their most complex (and often infuriating) problems, particularly now that software development costs a fraction of what it used to be. And since the costs have dropped significantly, it’s more feasible for niche industries to get a tailored solution.

Because we have a lot of niche industries in Houston, it’s a prime place for tech companies like Q Engineering to grow the market while supporting the business of other companies. And as Houston continues to grow its tech-savvy reputation, it will be interesting to see how non-tech industries are thriving as a result.

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