[ibimage==20447==Medium==http://www.facebook.com/CommerceKitchenInc==blank==ibimage_align-left]We've been around for about ten years, and I'm getting ready to celebrate my third anniversary with Commerce Kitchen. In the past ten years, and especially the past one year, we've grown so much, taken on so many interesting clients, hired more staff (!!), and grown into a space that can only be described as the Coolest Office Space in Denver. It's a 19th century firehouse. We totally win.

As we've grown, this group of laid back, self-sufficient nerds has had to learn how to do things like, oh, HR. We've had to figure out how to scale appropriately, and that's been an interesting and difficult lesson to learn.

Also, because trends in web/mobile/internets/online/virtuality change quickly, we've diversified our staff's skill set in such away they we can offer what's trendy, as well as what's sustainable. For example, right now the start-up community is drooling over Ruby on Rails development, which is something we've been doing since its inception. However, next year it could be PHP again, or self-learning engines, or whatever. And we're ready for it.

So my big question for the start-up community is this: does your product or service fulfill something beyond a short-lived trend? Can you adapt to the inevitable changes in tech? What plans do you have for growth?

I feel kind of like a jerk asking these questions, as though I'm above them and I've got it all figured out. I'm really not above them, and I really don't have it all figured out. I am fascinated and inspired by the start-up scene, and I want Denver to be a hub for innovation. So let's talk about what the future looks like and how we can support each other, in our own growth and in the growth of our community as a whole.