Platform Edition

When we started Adaptive Path 7 years ago, we all left what we were doing and started on a new adventure. In the past few months, we’ve seen a few folks leave Adaptive Path to strike out on their next ventures — Ryan joining start-up Plinky, Bryan reteaming with AP co-founder Jeffrey Veen on Small Batch Inc, and now Dan with Kicker.

With each, we’ve been sad to see them go — Ryan’s amazing powers to deliver design that ships, Bryan running our operations in a heartfelt manner, Dan with his craftsman-like attention to detail. We have always hired for that entrepreneurial spirit, because that perspective has proven necessary in Adaptive Path’s success. And when you hire entrepreneurs, eventually they want to set out on new opportunities. (And with some, such as Get Satisfaction, co-founded by Lane, or Emmet Labs, founded by Janice, we’re investors!)

Personally, I find it gratifying that when people move on from Adaptive Path, they do so to start new companies, join start-ups, or just work for themselves — all the way back to when Mike left to start what became ThingM, Scott established the Management Innovation Group, or Tim pursued his photography seriously.

So, with these people leaving, some are wondering how things are at Adaptive Path. While we cannot replace those who have left, we have been continuing to bolster our team with amazing talent. There’s Michael Meyer, our new CEO, whom we’ve talked about before. We’ve also recently hired Jared Cole, a phenomenal interaction designer out of CMU’s grad program (Dan’s alma mater), Jennifer Bolduc, our new director of HR who is helping us evolve our internal practices to best serve our team, and Roland Smart, whose already made a significant impact as our Senior Marketing Manager, upgrading our newsletter, and spreading the word about Aurora. And we can’t forget the burgeoning Austin office, with Todd and Paula.

Our creative growth continues, too — half our projects so far this year have been outside of the Web, including work on mobile design, consumer electronics, PC software, medical devices, and even retail environments.

 

We knew that 2008 was going to be a year of significant change for us. (Personally, too: 6 of us are having children!). For those who have recently joined we see a bright and exciting future as experience strategy and design become increasingly crucial for business success. And for those who recently left, we’re excited about how this extends our network, and we seek opportunities for collaboration down the road.
(Note: This will be my last blog post here for a little while. I’m one of those 6, and my child was born yesterday.)