BNOTIONS, which bills itself a "technology agency," set up shop in the Yonge and Bloor area just over three years ago with a team of four. Today, through a dedication to growth and innovation, says company CEO Paul Crowe, they have 30 employees and are looking to add another three or four immediately.
Crowe says that as the company has evolved from a Flash-based web design firm to developing social media and mobile content, their dedication to hiring just the right people and taking risks has fed their growth in an increasingly competitive field. "We move very quickly and take a lot of risks--often we hire people we don't have a position for and hope that soon a project will come along that suits their talents. So far it's worked out that way. If you surround yourself with great people, great things happen."
He says they also give those great people a very relaxed, youthful office culture--Crowe notes that the office opens for the day at 11am--that makes it feel like home to the broadly experienced and talented staff. "People aren't itching to go home, they hang out, work on pet projects, even sometimes on outside projects from the office, share notes and ideas."
He says that his company has something a little extra to offer in the development market, beyond simply their "refusal to be OK with just OK," when it comes to quality. "You see a lot of mobile development shops popping up all over, and with us you get something different. We're a technology agency, and with our staff of about 20 software programmers in-house, there are very few code languages we don't know. So you have a highly skilled group of people who collaborate with you on a a project from beginning to end, as opposed to the more standard vendor-client relationship you often see."
Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Paul Crowe, CEO, BNOTIONS