… or so I hope as the co-founder of a new startup. Although not meant to be a self-indulgent post, I cannot help but be very thrilled to have finally made my move from my corporate/1099 consulting life in New York to the new and very exciting landscape of Silicon Valley.

For me, it came as a natural progression of things. My last two years had mostly been occupied by various consulting and contracting endeavors. The move from corporate work to contractual was my intermediary step to what I’ve always wanted to do — create something from scratch, make it truly my own. Having just come off a six-month project @ Adobe (http://kuler.adobe.com), and looking for the next exciting thing, I met Jessica Mah. And here I am — the Bay Area, coding what she and I strongly believe will eventually become a global services community and marketplace.

For many, the step to becoming a startup founder is not as logical or ideal. Most of us who have grand ideas and visions are often thwarted on the road to their realization by one factor or another, or a combination of a few: be it family, debt, a cushy job, a girlfriend back home, friends, a car lease, a recent passing of a family member… any of these, others, or a combination thereof. Only from the ones I listed (and there were others), I personally had 5. That is, until now. I had decidedly told myself that none of these should stop me from giving it a real shot — from diving into the water — because it truly is warm (if you choose to make it warm).

For all of you out there, who want to start your own business — for all budding entrepreneurs with a dream — there will always be reasons why you will tell yourself you can’t take this next step now. And while it is true that the waters you will chose to eventually tread are uncharted and often unexplored, that is precisely the reason why you should explore them! It is what makes us founders — it is that precise step into the unknown that potentially makes each of us the next Jobs, the next Gates, the next Larry, the next Sergei, and oh-so-many others =)

With these words, I wish all of us lots of success and luck (”luck is the residue of design”) in the coming days, weeks, months, and years, as explorers, visionaries, and bold conquerors of the final frontier.

Alex Notov has been writing code since the age 10. He is a web application developer since the age of 17. Now 23, he is managing editor at Startupism.com, and Chief Geek (he isn’t a fan of formal titles) and co-founder of a Silicon Valley startup.