I read this in an article in Toronto Life magazine about two architects who run a small architecture shop. As soon as I read it, I knew that it applied nearly perfectly to Unspace.
I didn’t think anyone in business refrained from courting continual growth and ever increasing profits, either, but Shim and Sutcliffe don’t want a big firm. They turn down clients; I asked Sutcliffe, half-jokingly, whether they’d accept a commission from Conrad Black. The answer was very abruptly negative. They told me of an overture from a local plutocrat, described meeting in his imposingly fake Victorian-style boardroom in some downtown skyscraper and how, well, it just wouldn’t work. “Different cultures,” was Sutcliffe’s tactful summary. They say they want clients who are not just consumers buying something from them, but who are as engaged in ideas as they are, who will be part of the thinking process. One of the first things he and Brigitte do when they’re approached, says Howard, is “discuss whether they’re decent clients or not… I mean, what we do is complicated and takes a lot of time, and if we’re going to spend two or three years we might as well like them. And then we see if the project is one we can do something interesting with.” The process after that is slow and organic, involving much discussion.
-“The Big House” by Gerald Hannon - p78, Toronto Life, Jan 2008
That’s very similar to our philosophy at Unspace. We really put our hearts in projects and finding the clients who will respect and work with us on our shared vision is key. Growth is our last goal. Our primary goal is to make amazing software and work with great people. We aren’t right for a lot of potential clients… and conversely they are just as wrong for us. When you get that chemistry though, there is no stopping the amazing business/software you can create together.