Follow the talent

Robots and Pencils
“
Focus is key—none
of the world’s
best restaurants
are buffets.
buffets. We wanted to become amazing
through focus, and I didn’t think it was
realistic to work across three or four
platforms when we started. I thought,
“Let’s get good at one thing—let’s be
amazing at mobile for iOS.” We’ve
designed for iPad since 2010, but when
we started, the iPad didn’t even exist.
I have two favourite projects. Spy vs.
Spy was a game based on the classic
Mad Magazine comic that debuted in
1961. In the summer of 2012, that app
was a global hit. I still don’t believe it.
We started this company, and within
a couple years we were No. 1 in almost
every single app store we were
in, including the United States, the
United Kingdom, Canada, Australia
and Germany—all the ones that matter.
We made it to No. 4 in Japan. It was
mind-blowing. We were thrilled.
The other one was PencilCase,
which we debuted at Macworld in
2014. It was named the most interesting
program at the event by famed
Apple journalist David Morgenstern.
PencilCase lets anyone build apps—no
coding experience required—and it’s
been really interesting watching that
happen. Financial services companies
use it to create interactive sales tools
and to help explain some of their complex
financial products. It’s been used
for travel apps and interactive comics
and books, and some designers have
been using it as a prototyping tool.
Our headquarters is in a renovated
heritage building in Calgary. I love being
in Canada, and I think the people
here are awesome. I think every city
sends a message, and Calgary says,
“Sure, you can do it—I don’t care if
you’ve never done it before.” In today’s
world, it doesn’t really matter where
you live—the world is disintermediated
and dematerialized, which means
you can have impact from anywhere.
But even in the technology business,
people will still say that interesting
things only come out of the Bay Area
Your mission:
to escape the
embassy with
a top-secret
briefcase,
locating a
missing passport,
money, key and
secret plans
before beating
your booby-traploving
opponent
to the airport.
or Silicon Valley. If you need venture
capitalists, it probably makes sense
to be where they are, but I can’t play
the game of “Get money, sell company.”
I’ve been through that cycle a
few times, and it was one of the worst
experiences. Back in 2002, I sold a
software company that I co-founded,
Servidium, to a Chicago-based outfit.
When you sell your company, I think
your meaning bubble pops and you go
into an existential crisis. At the end
Forget Silicon
Valley—Robots
and Pencils is
headquartered
in Calgary. But it
also has offices
in Winnipeg,
Colorado, Texas,
and London.
Why? Because
that’s where they
happened to find
great people.
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