Rodgers saw the web as an implementation of a general abstraction which he extrapolated as ROC, but whereas the web is limited to publishing information; he set about conceiving a solution that could perform computation using similar principles. Working in close partnership with co-founder Tony Butterfield, they discovered a method for writing software that could be executed across a logical model, separated from the physical realm of code and objects. Recognising the potential for this approach, they spun out of HP Labs.