By now you’ve all heard the earth-shaking news: the merger between the Proof Group and Geist Interactive. The new company, Proof+Geist (the ‘+’ is silent, by the way), brings together the best of The Proof Group and Geist Interactive. All that you know about those separate entities are now as one. Now led by Ernest Koe as CEO, Steve Ritchie as CFO, and Todd Geist as CTO, this new team of 20+ people is ready to use our technologies, products, knowledge, and skills to provide unparalleled service to our current clients, our future clients, and the Claris FileMaker community.
This merger seems inevitable.
Todd and Ernest have a long and strong friendship. Todd has been in FileMaker forever, and he describes Ernest as “Someone who has always been there.” They talk often and are two people that push the platform further. As Ernest says of his team: “In the last three years or so, Proof has expanded in consulting and custom application development.
But our background is in using FileMaker as a vertical market solution platform, and that has pushed us to develop a practice around enterprise-class, modular FileMaker development where we have tried to favor performance and configuration over customization. These are the same underlying philosophies you see in the products, tools, and approaches of Todd’s team. ” So bringing together The Proof Group and Geist Interactive, two companies with a lot more in common than they have differences, is quite a step forward.
The mission of Proof+Geist is two-fold.
We want to bring a people-centric approach to the design, and development of custom applications and solutions for business, and we want to create the best products and resources for the Claris FileMaker community. Let’s look at each one of these and see Proof+Geist’s philosophy and approach.
People-Centric Approach
It seems obvious, but at Proof+Geist we see people as the greatest resource. Those human beings include those who create custom apps, write content, pay bills, etc. and those folks who have business problems that need to be solved.
Our company has a supportive environment: we’re one team. We are all here for a common purpose (described above), which is embedded in each of us. We work together, sharing ideas, questions, struggles, and resolutions to common issues found in all businesses. I’ll tell you, in my few weeks so far of working with a team of people to create this announcement content; I’m finding myself happy that the best ideas and the best words come forth. The team makes things better.
For our clients–current and future–we use empathy to ask the right questions and get to the root of the business problems faster. We put our heads together to find the best solution for the problem, no matter the technology or the technique.
In future blog posts, we’ll describe our people-centric approach in more detail.
Innovative Resources
The merging of the Proof Group and Geist Interactive expands our product line. The FMPerception Suite, Otto, Ottomatic Hosting, LedgerLink, Generator, and much more come together in the same store for the Claris FileMaker community. More people on the team means more support and more innovation of new products and tools. We’re excited to see what comes from this combined team.
High-Quality Education
Proof+Geist is an unmatched gathering of knowledge and resources for the Claris Community. We have over 100 years of combined experience in FileMaker development. Our roster includes people who:
Have spoken at conferences and user groups.
Lead or have founded community initiatives such as WITFm, and PauseOnError.
Are MVPs in the Claris Community
Are educators by training.
Have specialized in concepts and techniques that benefit the Claris FileMaker community.
Work closely with Claris International, providing thoughts and feedback on potential new features.
Our combined team will share their knowledge and expertise even more than in the past. We’ll be active in the various FileMaker communities, share our thoughts on The Context Podcast, and write more blog posts about FileMaker concepts and techniques ( we won’t just write about JavaScript anymore).
Onward
It’s an exciting time. Proof+Geist has arrived and is ready to meet the technology challenges of today and tomorrow. The team looks forward to continuing their shared legacy of designing, building, and orchestrating systems for people who want to do great things. For more information, general inquiries, or to partner with Proof+Geist, please visit www.proofgeist.com or reach out via email to info@proofgeist.com.
And here are a few ways you can learn even more: