We Are The Outsiders

…with a fresh perspective

This issue marks one full year since launching the very first issue of Disruption. Back then, we had a vision of disrupting the thinking of ourselves, our industry, and the industries of our clients, and now with issue five I think we have moved the needle on that journey in the right direction.

In reflecting on the past year, I’m actually thinking about a relationship we’ve had for past 27 years—that’s our relationship with Microsoft as a Gold Partner. We have grown up with Microsoft, but now it feels like we’re re-discovering each other, learning about our shared interests, learning about things we have in common but never knew about, and it is like we are dating all over again.

Just like any person in a relationship, over the last 27 years Microsoft has grown and changed. They are now somebody different than they were when we started our relationship. With the Microsoft 365 Tool Kit, they have created something that is so powerful and game changing, that we think everyone should take notice. We both identified something we both have passion for, and it’s made us both better partners. It’s bringing us closer.

That passion is the one with both have for the gig mindset and disruption. In this issue, we are thrilled to bring you a conversation we had with Paul Estes who oversees gig strategy at Microsoft. Paul was in town to help us launch our new disruptive product, Taskify, and as he talked about the value of the global freelance market and the value of re-thinking traditional corporate structures, it occurred to me that you just never know where you’re going to find talent.

Consider, for instance, how we started to work with Paul. Cara Bedford, our Director of Strategic Marketing, met Paul at an event in San Francisco. They bonded over Harry Potter puns and quickly got to talking, and started discussing ways to work together. Meeting Paul and learning about his gig mindset got us thinking about the new ways in which we might work with Microsoft.

Who would have thought that people unbeknownst to us would all bring us to one spot today, not realizing that we all took different paths to get to the same solution of where the world of work is going. That to me is incredibly powerful. We always looked at Microsoft as a partner, and they saw us as someone who sold their products to our customers. Now, we’ve connected over the mindset that the global freelance gig economy is going to change everything. It’s serendipitous that it was someone with had a 27-year relationship with already.

We’re also incredibly lucky to have met and connected with the team at SingularityU, and we’re excited to feature many of their faculty members in this issue to give you a preview of the SingularityU Canada Summit that will be happening in our home base of Edmonton. The disruptors featured in this issue are doing some incredible work within their industries, and we can’t wait to see what else is discussed at the Summit. They are truly disruptive humans that are changing the world we live in.

Just before we launched this issue of Disruption, we hit 10,000 followers on Twitter and over 16,000 subscribers to the digital edition of the magazine. That is an incredible following and we’re thrilled that so many of you have embraced us and this way of thinking. To everyone that’s been with us since the beginning: thank you. To everyone that’s flipping through our pages for the first time: welcome. Thank you for joining us on this ever-changing journey. Make it a great day.

Ryan Vestby, CEO, CompuVision

Audio Version

Female Voice Audio