My career began after graduating from Iowa State University with a B.S. degree in Computer Science.  My first job was for a small start-up company that supported the Medical Manager physician practice management software used by clinics throughout Iowa and Nebraska. In my four years there we were acquired by a firm from Texas called Companion Technologies, then by Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina,  and ultimately by Medical Manager Corporation, giving us control over the midwest and southwest US.  Medical Manager went public in 1997 and shortly after my departure it was sold to WebMD for $5 billion.  Not bad for a bunch of cowboys from the midwest.