In the vastness of Silicon Valley are heard many cries of doom and gloom. And Canada? Forget it. There ain’t no more money here – or so they say. How often have we heard this? Gloom breeds doom.
Not so for Edmonton-based Virtual Collaboration Inc. (VCI). While its journey was not a stroll down a yellow brick road, the new media firm has proven that collaboration can be a successful business model.
During the dot.com boom, just about anyone who had a half-baked idea could get cash.
“The old dot-com days, if you threw a few names around and if someone had a letter of intent from Hewlett-Packard, JDS Uniphase or Nortel, they were getting financing,” says Randy Thompson, president of Edmonton-based Khyber Pass Entertainment.
“I’ve seen many companies come and go. They have great production quality, but no strategy. They don’t know what to do with the product once they’re finished,” he says.
“Many fail – they produce, but with no back-end sales- and-distribution strategy.”
Today, the rules have changed. You need a viable product, the right mix of people and experience, the ability to raise funds and the know-how to make it work.
The Living Dinosaur Project, Survival - The Game (Virtual Collaboration’s new CD-Rom) is a perfect example of that process.
* Virtual Collaboration Story:
Virtual Collaboration came about in 1997 when the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller asked a local filmmaker to create an educational video. To modernize the project, they looked to new media and tested the concept in schools. At that point, it was at an impasse.
“The original company and the Tyrrell had gone beyond their knowledge base and they were out of money,” says Thompson. He stepped in as executive producer and took over the project.
* The Players: The folks at Khyber Pass, Thompson’s company, are self-proclaimed “hip, cool little new-media marketing guys.” This would be his third tech startup, having established himself in the business with achievements including securing all multimedia rights for music superstar Peter Gabriel.
Furthermore, he already knew the sales and distribution side as their products were already in major outlets including Virgin, Chapters, Indigo and Amazon. Now, he needed partners that could bring complementing strengths to the table.
Admittedly, he was a little scared, because unlike doing contract content, they were producing a new product on spec. So Thompson found an established and well-known production company – Minds Eye New Media of Calgary and Regina. Thompson calls them the “Grand-Daddy” of the business. They bring capital and established experience in producing feature films.
The third partner, Halifax-based Tohaventa Holdings, is made up of Geoff LeBoutellier and Jan Miller, who recently finished a documentary on country-and-western singers Hank and Jimmy Snow.
Thompson says that without all three partners, all with something at stake, the project would not have been a go.
“They have to have their own skin in the game. All three companies had trouble sleeping at night – that’s a good thing.”
As a team, they were able to secure $400,000 in financing – some from Telefilm Canada. They credit the ability to raise the funds to the capabilities and the reputation of their group.
Thompson offers advice for those seeking the holy grail for financing:
1) One partner has to be long in the tooth (like Minds Eye);
2) Every partner has to put something up – something that might cost them dearly if something goes wrong; and
3) Get a real sense of whom you’re working with before you start.
* The CD-Rom:
Just finished, their product is expected to make the front cover of the next issue of Scholastic’s catalogue. An educational game that is both PC- and Mac-compatible, it’s suitable for ages eight and up but is targeted at science learning for Grades 5-7.
The object is to get to the top of the food chain by graduating up the “evolutionary ladder.” You begin as Pond Scum (Stage 1) and evolve to the next stage by correctly answering six questions. Your goal is to achieve the status of Mighty T-Rex (Stage 6).
