Podcast: Gordon Pitts On The ‘Code-fathers’ And The Billion-Dollar Sales Of Q1 Labs And Radian6
Fifteen years ago, journalist and author Gordon Pitts wrote, The Codfathers, a book about regional business tycoons like the Irvings, McCains and Sobeys. He’s back now with Unicorn in the Woods, a book about today’s regional tech titans who have the same commitment to growing local businesses with global reach.
The story revolves around the creation and eventual sale of cybersecurity firms Q1 Labs and social media monitoring company Radian6 in 2011. Gordon joins Mark Leger to talk about his page-turner, a compelling story about the founders and how they grew globally competitive companies out of Saint John and Fredericton and influenced a generation of tech entrepreneurs across the Atlantic region.
Gordon says they succeeded for many reasons, but he emphasizes their desire to reach global markets with their products and services. They did this by sending their people into the markets they wanted to penetrate, which will be a challenge we’ll have to tackle with Covid-19 keeping people home right now.
“These companies have been led by people that have been very locally rooted, and understand the local marketplace [and] the labour market, but they are also absolutely maniacal about getting their people out into the world to connect,” says Gordon.
“You still have to do that to gain venture capital, private equity, customers. That’s the lesson of Q1 Labs and Radian6. They didn’t go after their local market, exclusively or even primarily. They very early went out and went after a North American and global market, and they did it through face-to-face contact.”
Gordon and Mark also talk where these entrepreneurs are now, years after the sales of the companies, and how they’ve influenced the development of the startup community in Atlantic Canada.
Listen to the interview with Gordon in the player above or one of many podcast platforms.
The Huddle “Home Office” podcast, available on Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher and Apple podcast platforms, features conversations with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia community leaders, entrepreneurs, analysts and Huddle reporters about the issues and events that accelerate and enrich the growth of the region’s economy and culture.