Acknowledgments

This book is obviously the result of a collective effort by many individuals to whom we are very grateful.

First and foremost we would like to thank Manning Publications for their amazing support, professionalism, and dedication. That includes Marjan Bace, Troy Mott, Cynthia Kane, Linda Recktenwald, Katie Tennant, Susan Glinert Stevens, Janet Vail, Mary Piergies, and many others behind the scenes.

We are grateful to our expert reviewers for their valuable feedback and ideas, which made this a much better book: Todd Sabuncu, Darren Neimke, Amos Bannister, Michael Brennan, Jay Blanchard, Valentin Crettaz, Nikolaos Kaintantzis, Jeroen Benckhuijsen, Tyson Maxwell, Dr. Florian Resatsch, Massimo Perga, Gabor Paller, Orhan Alkan, Horaci Macias, Justin Tyler Wile, Curtis Miller, Jeff Addison, Eric Swanson, and Mala Gupta.

Special thanks to Ben Allen who did a thorough technical review of the final manuscript during production.

Finally, we would like to thank the LBS community for their ongoing support and feedback, as well as the interest they have shown that made this book possible.

Richard Ferraro

This book is largely based on my experience during two very intense years as co-founder of mobile start-up GeoMe. As we were quite a way ahead of the curve, I spent a large part of my time speaking to other start-ups in related sectors, or to technology suppliers and Venture Capital firms, and participating in conferences in Europe and Asia. I found that I had to educate the market before I could sell to it. This process gave me some great insights and a real feel for the “pulse” of LBS without which I would not have been able to write this book. I owe a special thanks to Magnus Jern, current CEO of mobile development firm Golden Gekko, who believed in me from the start and gave me such a wonderful opportunity to lead the GeoMe project. I would also like to thank Troy Mott at Manning who first approached me with the idea of a book and gave me the confidence to write it. Finally, a very special thanks to my parents, Denise and Franco, and brother, Luca, who put up with my absences for almost two years and allowed me to focus on writing through many weekends and holidays.

Murat Aktihanoglu

I am thankful and grateful to my parents, Orhan and Gunsel, and my wife Yoshiko, as well as my mentors throughout my career, Rob Myers, Daniel Woods, and Albert Wenger, and my colleagues Chris Marrin and David Frerichs.