bcbusiness.ca april 2014 BCBusiness 65
Andrew Wilkinson
Founder and CEO, MetaLab Design Ltd.
Age: 28
A
ndrew Wilkinson has not taken the traditional path to success. While still
in high school, he and a pen pal co-founded his first commercial website,
chronicling the latest news about Macintosh computers and Apple Inc. Their
efforts were rewarded when at 16 he was invited to take a tour of one of the
first Apple stores and interview
CEO Steve Jobs.
After a short stint at Ryerson University's journalism school, he moved back
home to Victoria, taught himself how to build websites and talked his way into
a job. Within a few months he taught himself enough about web and interface
design to take the big leap, and in 2006 quit his full-time gig to found MetaLab.
Wilkinson has grown MetaLab from a small startup to a company with around
45 employees bankrolled by revenue from Fortune 500 clients such as Wal-Mart,
Apple, Google and Disney, often using "strategic favours," such as building blogs
for big clients for free then offering his paid services for interface design.
"My early strategy was to always say, 'Well, why not start something and see
what happens?'" he says. "Just do it. People think too much, basically."
His advice for up-and-comers? "Don't go to school. I don't think a computer sci-
ence degree teaches you anything useful in this field." —D.J.
PROBLEM
Hockey fans want to connect with
their heroes, but social media
platforms often skew toward
venting and name-calling, alienat-
ing players and genuine fans
alike. "Fans want to interact with
players, but we felt that some of
the channels were broken," says
Hagel.
SOLUTION
A pro who played with the
Phoenix Coyotes, Hagel, along
with former teammate Dustin
Sproat, created Shnarped, an
app where fans can connect with
players and players can connect
with fans and former team-
mates. Player statistics, status
updates and hockey news are all
in one place and fans can send
messages of encouragement via
emoticon fist pounds.
Shnarped was fought over on
CBC's Dragons' Den and now the
two Princeton grads are being
mentored by investor Jim Treliv-
ing. Hagel is hoping to perfect
the app then bring Shnarped into
other sports markets. –A.W.
Kyle Hagel
Co-founder, Interactive
Athletes Corp.
Age: 29
"THE BEST ADvICE I HAD WAS
FROM MY DAD. HE TOLD ME THAT
I SHOULD JUST GO AHEAD AND
HIRE PEOPLE BECAUSE IT WOULD
FORCE ME TO MAKE MONEY—AND
IF I DIDN'T MAKE MONEY, I
WOULDN'T MAKE PAY AND THE
WHOLE COMPANY WOULD FAIL"
p38-67_30Under30_april.indd 65 14-03-07 2:06 PM
