This document discusses the author's career in the oil and gas industry and innovation during periods of fluctuating oil prices from 1986 to 2014. It describes the author starting a company in 1986 to create an AutoCAD front-end during an early industry downturn. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the author was involved with startups focused on putting well data on CDs and creating early map interfaces for data. The author's career progressed through acquisitions and changing employers, involving work on GIS systems used widely in the oil and gas industry. Technological developments and later oil price fluctuations are also mentioned.