Million-dollar suits for a white-hot industry

IGOR FALETSKI, CO-FOUNDER, AND CEO, MOBIFY

Igor Faletski is proud to say he’s never received a dime from anyone. The 28-year old’s company, which helps businesses easily convert their existing websites into smartphone and tablet versions, has been entirely self-funded since its inception in Vancouver six years ago. “We were always profitable,” Faletski says. Mobify offers its platform free to most users, but makes its money through selling enterprise subscriptions and working with large companies like Starbucks and Lululemon. Everything’s going exactly as planned, he says: Mobify is now used in North America, Europe, Brazil and Japan, and “the company will more than double its business this year.”

DAN EISENHARDT, FOUNDER AND CEO,

RECON INSTRUMENTS

Recon develops heads-up display technology for high-end ski goggles, but that wasn’t Dan Eisenhardt’s original plan. A former competitive swimmer, he had initially envisioned his technology working underwater. But problems with the patent forced him to change direction— for the better, he adds, since skiers spend more money on gear. “All the major brands have Recon-enabled goggles now,” he says. The newest versions receive calls and texts, connect online and even show skiers where they are on a live map as they’re slaloming downhill. Nowadays, the 38-year-old wouldn’t consider hitting the slopes without a pair. “I always have a gadget on me,” he says. “I can’t live without constant information.”

JIM SECORD, CEO, KASHOO

“I haven’t ever met a smallbusiness person who likes to do accounting,” says Jim Secord. The way to simplify that process today, of course, is to make it mobile: from e-mail to calendars, so much of our lives is now organized on smartphones that it makes sense to add accounting and bookkeeping to the list. With Kashoo, small-business owners can send invoices from their phones and track expenses as easily as snapping pictures of their receipts—“as opposed to stuffing them into shoeboxes.” After all, the 45-year-old CEO believes work should be fun. “Our office is in Gastown,” he says, “so that’s a big part of our
company culture, whether it’s grabbing beers after work or going out for lunch.”

JAY GIRAUD, FOUNDER AND CEO, MOJIO

Jay Giraud wants to welcome you to the Internet of Things. It’s not just your smartphone that’s connecting online, but also your radio, your fridge and, of course, your car. This summer, the 37-year-old CEO debuted a small device that plugs in under the dashboard of your vehicle and sends its vital details to the cloud; the data can then be used by a number of Mojio apps that, say, turn off the power in your house when you leave the driveway or alert you when your daughter drives over the speed limit. “We’re all about making driving awesome,” he says.

DANNY ROBINSON, FOUNDER AND CEO, PERCH

“We’re growing apart in this super hyperconnected world, and the way we communicate is very diluted,” says 39-year-old CEO Danny Robinson. “There’s no heart.” Hence the motivation behind Perch, an app that turns regular iPads and iPhones into always-on two-way communication devices. Perch employs facial recognition technology to unmute an otherwise silent video stream between, for example, a pair of satellite offices. As a father of two, Robinson thinks Perch could also work well for busy families. “You can just walk up naturally to the screen, see Bob or Mary on the other side and say, ‘Hey, Mary! What’s up?’”