|
Duo’s Sitemasher wants to move web development from server room to boardroom Curt Cherewayko Two Relic Entertainment founders have left the video game industry to venture into the entirely different world of website optimization. Ron Moravek and Curtis Terry, who left Relic after it was acquired by THQ Inc. (Nasdaq:THQI) in 2005, formed Sitemasher Corp. last November. With a staff now of 26 at its Vancouver headquarters, Sitemasher is launching a commercial version of its website optimization software this fall, following a year of development and pilot projects. It hopes to make website development code obsolete in much the same way that Windows made consumer need for the MS-DOS command prompt obsolete after its release.
Although most progressive companies have at least a rudimentary website, Moravek said not every company knows the programming language that operates its site. “Businesses are moving their whole world online,” said Moravek. “Whoever can take the voodoo out of websites and enable businesses to go online more easily … could be really successful.” CTO Phil Calvin is the chief architect behind Sitemasher’s technology. He’s best known as the founder of Motivus Software, a remote-access marketplace company that Citrix Systems acquired in 2004. After leaving Motivus, Calvin developed demo software for Sitemasher and pitched Moravek the idea of starting the company a couple of years back. Moravek was immediately sold on the idea. He had joined Electronic Arts for a year, but, after years in a creative role with Relic, Moravek was uncomfortable there as an administrator. “In terms of where my personal career was going, I was looking for a further challenge,” he said. Terry, a former Relic CFO, was brought on board as the lead number cruncher. “People say to me, you spent 10 years in the game industry, why would you move over to technology?” said Moravek. In answering that, Moravek said he doesn’t want to be part of the major transition from boxed product to online experience that video games are undergoing. “They’re really struggling,” said Moravek. “I don’t think there’s a real clear picture of where [the video game industry] is going.” However, another Relic co-founder, Alex Garden, has embraced the video game industry’s transition to online. He is CEO of game developer Humanature Studios, the Vancouver arm of Korean online casual gaming giant Nexon Corp. and a company striving to be North America’s leading centre for online game development. Moravek points out, however, that “as much as it’s been really successful in Korea, it really has yet to be proven here.” Sitemasher’s sole venture partner to date is Vancouver’s Anthem Capital – led by Eric Carlson – which invested $3 million in the company in November. In June, Sitemasher received Microsoft Canada’s Blue Sky award in a national competition of more than 100 software vendors that use Microsoft’s platform. The award makes Sitemasher a member of the Microsoft Accelerator program. That gives the company access to Microsoft’s support staff, licences, software testing and architecture guidance. Gearing up for major release in fall, Sitemasher has posted its product for trial on its website and is tweaking its software as it receives feedback from pilot clients. Said Moravek: “We’re basically building it, using it, getting feedback from customers and hoping to be available for purchase by September.” •
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
