Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Dave Fravel and I’m a freelance web and database application developer. I also run an occasional marathon (slowly).

What services/products do you offer?
I write custom web and database applications. Most of the time I use Microsoft technologies (MS SQL Server, ASP.NET, classic ASP), but I’ve been known to spend time in PHP and MySQL.

Who/where is your audience?
Anyone who needs database/information management help. My client base is mostly on the Cape.

What is the website?
www.20miletech.com
www.cotuitrunner.com

Well-Funded or Bootstrapped?
Bootstrapped … just little old me, a few computers, some server space, a book or two and my imagination (and a lot of emotional support from my wife, Michelle, and 3 kids, Caitlin, Keely and Colin).

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
Hopefully, in 5 years I will have 5 more marathons under my belt. In 10 years, I’d like to have 10 marathons in the bank.

Professionally, 5 years ago I never dreamed that I’d be where I am now. I always assumed that I’d always work for someone. It wasn’t until this past summer (thanks to a push from a friend who needed an application) that I thought I could really do something on my own.

So to try and see myself in 5 years … it’s just a gray haze. I have dreams and ideas, and a plan to make those ideas a reality, but each day I wake up feeling a little bit different about which dreams and ideas are the right ones.

I suppose that no matter what, all I really want is to be able to support my family and provide them with a measure of security.

Where were you born - where do you live now?
I was born in Waterbury, CT and grew up in East Hartford. I live in Cotuit now.

PC or Mac?
PC. I used Macs through college as one of the editors of our school paper, but once I hit the business world I became a Windows guy.

With the exception of Filemaker, there wasn’t a wide range of database software packages that would run on a Mac in the 90s. I was working for a big company (GTECH Corporation) with a lot of reporting needs, and not a lot of people to write the reports. I had a boss who had worked with Paradox (a DOS-based DB package) and happened to be a patient teacher. He was the one who got me started in this business.

Since then, I’ve worked with DBASE, Paradox, Access, MySQL, SQL Server 6.5 through 2005 and countless contact management and proprietary systems … nearly all of them didn’t have a Mac offering @ the time I needed to work with them.

For the record, Microsoft Excel doesn’t qualify as a database application.

Where did you go to school?
I graduated in 1992 with a BA in Political Science from Stonehill College in Easton, MA. I was one of those young, wide-eyed liberals who was going to go to law school, get involved with the Clinton campaign and change the world.

Sadly, I bombed the LSATs, found out that an entry level position in government wouldn’t cover groceries, let alone rent on a Boston apartment, so I went home to Mom and Dad, worked for a local landscaping company and sent resumes and waited for the phone to ring with a job opportunity.

What Social Networks are you on?
LinkedIn, Twitter and Pownce. I’ve tried Facebook and didn’t see the point. I’ve also tried MySpace but quickly realized that I’m about 25 years too old.

Greatest invention ever?
Body Glide … Chafing on long runs is for amateurs.

Person you believe has contributed most to the world of technology?
Bill Gates. Every time I receive a payment for work that I’ve done, I quietly thank Bill.

Where have you traveled in your life?
Most of the big US cities, almost always for work … that was one of the “perks” of working for CDS (www.cdsreg.com) – the chance to travel to fun places (San Francisco, Orlando, NYC) and spend 15 hours each day inside cookie-cutter convention centers.

Why set up shop on Cape Cod?
I married a girl who grew up in Centerville. We moved here in 1998 - 5 miles from her Mom and Dad.

When we first moved here, I wondered how long until I grew tired of the commute to Canton (where I was working at the time). As it turns out, it took me only a week before I wanted to drive into a ditch on Route 24. I’m just not cutout for commuting or wasting time in the car.

I started calling around to friends in Hyannis and within a month landed a job with Infinium Software writing reports for the marketing department. It was a pay cut, and the work wasn’t that challenging, but I made some great friends and after a couple years there ended up working for the person who would teach me more about business and technology than anyone before or since. I owe a great deal of my professional success to Sheryl Crowley (now CIO of Cape Cod Healthcare … that’s right, I’m name-dropping). She taught me how to look at the business problems that technology could solve instead of the technology itself. .

5 Websites you go to every day?
Does Google Reader count as one or a couple hundred? I think that’s where I get nearly all of my information now – through my feed reading on Google Reader.

In addition to blogs, the sites that I’ll visit daily out of habit are:
www.capecodonline.com
www.techmeme.com
www.reddit.com
www.weei.com (Boston Sports Radio - to listen to yesterday’s interviews)
www.huffingtonpost.com (what can I say, I’m still a little bit of a wide-eyed liberal)

What’s on your iPod right now?
Everything by Dave Matthews, Nirvana and REM; lots of 90s pop/rock; High School Musical and Hannah Montana (umm … my daughters occasionally borrow my iPod)

What is on your desktop/screensaver right now?
Wallpaper from http://freelanceswitch.com/wallpapers

You are on a deserted island - do you bring a laptop or book?
Book … I love to read and wish I had more time to do it

Phone call or text message?
Text message … I have a tendency to not be able to say NO to a request. When I’m on the phone I’ll immediately answer yes to any client question and then deal with the challenges of backing up my promise later.

Feel free to tell us anything else….?
I promised myself that I wouldn’t become the stereotypical, home office worker - the type who wears the same clothes every day, showers only when it’s absolutely necessary, rapidly gains 50lbs and thinks that walking to the mailbox qualifies as both my daily exercise and the recommended daily dose of fresh air and sunlight.

For the most part, I’ve been able to keep those promises. However, I do tend to wear the same clothes too often, and while I shower every day, I’m only shaving about once a week.

Thankfully, I have three running friends who force me to get out and exercise nearly every day. If it wasn’t for them, I’d probably be filling out an application for the 2009 edition of The Biggest Loser.

Thank you for your time, Dave!