Program Item Details
TITLE: Claudia Sammer, President, Cool Companies Inc, Edmonton
SUBJECT: #151 Book: Cool Companes: Calgary and Edmonton 2005
SYNOPSIS: If you’re wondering where your next cool
job might come from, check out this new
book by Claudia Sammer. It features 40 cool companies
in Edmonton and Calgary that lead the way
in new technologies.
AUDIO: Download Audio (mp3 format)
TRANSCRIPT:
#151 February 8, 2005
Interview starts at 20:20
Intro: A new book in the stores is called “Cool Companies”. Set in a magazine format, it profiles 40 companies in Edmonton and Calgary that are leaders in innovation. “Cool Companies” is the brainchild of Claudia Sammer, a physics graduate turned marketer and publisher. And I asked about the market for her book.
Claudia Sammer
CS: The book is also a book about cool opportunities. The information in the book has been structured in a way to help people find opportunities for their career, for entrepreneurs, for business development, scientific research and even investment. So who we’re trying to reach are people who are looking for cool opportunities, for new careers, for ideas to start a new company, or entrepreneurs that have a company and want to find ideas from other industries that they can transplant into their industry, and people looking for investment. Because there are companies in here that are publicly traded and private companies.
CC: WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM TO DO THIS?
CS: There are really three reasons why I went about creating the book. The first is that companies that are innovation leaders are hard to find. Most people can only name me about two or three companies. So the book is really a shortcut and it saves you lots of time and effort.
The second reason is that the information in the Cool Companies book is not found anywhere else. It’s not even on the internet. I’m the one who interviewed the CEO’s and the senior management in each company and asked them what makes them cool. What kind of position do you have available for next year? What’s your revenue structure so we can understand how they make money? What kind of cool technology do they use? And even if they have a foozeball table. Of course, having all these profiles together also makes it really easy to compare companies.
And lastly the third reason I put the book together is I’ve met lots of people who are looking for a new job or a new career, an idea to start a business, or a company to invest in. And so often, it’s chance that plays a big role in helping them find what they want. They meet some on an airplane, they end up working for them, or hiring them. Or they hear a stock tip in an elevator and they research the company and find out it’s a winner. I wanted to increase people’s chances of finding that kind of high quality opportunities that they’re looking for. And the book gives them a shortcut to networking to do that.
CC: WERE YOU LOOKING FOR A JOB YOURSELF?
CS: I think I’ve had enough of working for other people. It took me a long time to find a company idea that I wanted to do. And every time that I had been looking for work, I was on the marketing side of new product development in many different companies. Every time I would look for a job, I would try to find people or companies that were doing really cool things, because those are really exciting places to work at. And later, when I was looking for an idea to start a company, I wanted to work with companies that were also forward thinking and doing really neat stuff.
CC: WHAT I THINK IS REALLY COOL ABOUT YOUR COOL COMPANIES BOOK IS, YOU’RE REFERRING TO IT AS A BOOK, BUT ITS NOT REALLY A BOOK. IT’S IN A MAGAZINE FORMAT. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THAT FORMAT AS OPPOSED TO A BOOK, OR SOMETHING THAT HAS LITTLE SWIRLY THINGS AROUND THE EDGE TO BIND IT TOGETHER?
CS: Well I guess the book is as innovative as the companies in it. We did a lot of testing with the book. I wanted to make sure it always had information that people could do something with it. And the idea for the magazine idea, the format, really worked well with our readers, because they could quickly find things they wanted. And the other thing that made it interesting being half book, half magazine is for the bookstores. You’ll can find the Cool Companies book on magazine shelves just as much as finding them on book shelves. So it’s nice to have that flexibility
CC: THE ACTUAL PUBLISHING OF IT, THIS IS YOUR FIRST VENTURE INTO THE PUBLISHING ARENA. HOW DID YOU EVEN GO ABOUT FIGURING OUT HOW TO DO EVERYTHING?
CS: Well I used the same approach I have been using for lots of new product development because it’s always served me well. First is, I start out with a product idea that offers really unique and superior customer value. And then you make a prototype. And then I basically tested it on everyone I could find. I think I’ve interviewed at least a couple hundred people in developing the book that would be target audience people and asked them what they thought of the prototype. And with every piece of feedback I improved the book. Product testing has really paid off. People really love the book. And it’s been selling really well. And I’m really glad I approached it that way.
CC: YOU’VE GOT 40 COMPANIES IN THE COOL COMPANIES BOOK. GIVE ME A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES, BECAUSE YOU’VE HAD TO GO AND INTERVIEW ALL THESE DIFFERENT PEOPLE.
CS: Micralyne is an interesting company. They’re here in Edmonton They are one of the largest MINS manufacturers in the world so they make very tiny devices. So when you walk into their company it’s very interesting to see all these people because they’re wearing these what’s called bunny suits. They’re dressed from head to toe in white, like doctors, but even their hair and their faces are covered up. Because to make these tiny devices you need an ultraclean environment.
Another company from Calgary is Voodoo PC. They make personal computers for people. And for three years in a row, they’ve won a prestigious award of the ultimate gaming machine competing head to head with companies like DELL and HP. And some things that make them interesting is when you receive this computer is has a container with jungle themed music, a drumming sound when you open to it. So I’m looking forward to ordering one and experiencing the whole Voodoo concept
CC: SOUNDS LIKE THIS WAS RATHER A BEASTLY EXPERIENCE, BETWEEN BUNNIES AND JUNGLE THEME. WHAT’S NEXT ON THE AGENDA FOR YOU?
CS: Well, the first thing is all the companies in the book are going to be receiving the Cool Companies Award because they really deserve it and I’d like to honour them.
Next is, next year there will be another Cool Companies book, so we’ll be updating the Edmonton and Calgary book for 2006 with some new companies as well. And then we’ll be expanding the Cool Companies concept to different cities.
But what I’m really interested in is hearing about the cool opportunities readers are going to be finding through the book and how it’s impacting their lives. The book has been selling really well, so there should be lots of really neat opportunities. And I can’t wait to hear them.
CC: THANK YOU VERY MUCH CLAUDIA.
CS: Thank you.
Claudia Sammer is the president of Cool Companies Inc. Her book, Cool Companies Calgary and Edmonton 2005, costs $23.95 and is available at bookstores and through the internet.
FEATURED LINK: Cool Companies website
FEATURED LINK: Win a copy of Cool Companies book