Whit Alexander
Cranium Games
Seattle, WA USA
"It's really about finding a passion and working for something...You want to find an avocation, not a vocation."
Career Roadmap
Whit's work combines: Design, Entrepreneurship, and Accomplishing Goals
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Development Economics and International Development
Georgetown University
Graduate Degree
Geographic Information Science and Cartography
University of Washington-Seattle Campus
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
Jokes that he's the founder of the "career-of-the-month" club-he's taught school, he'd done urban planning, he's sold seeds door to door, etc.
2.
Went to Georgetown University and studied foreign service; he thought he'd work at the U.N. someday.
3.
While studying abroad, he got interested in computer mapping and information systems; came back and did his master's degree in that.
4.
One day, he saw a tiny listing on the University of Washington's job board-Microsoft was looking for a digital cartographer, which was right up his alley.
5.
While at Microsoft, he met his co-founder Richard Tait; they knew they wanted to collaborate on a project, but they were at a loss for ideas.
6.
Out of the blue, Richard called him and said, "Let's make a board game"; Whit replied, "You can tell my father I'm leaving Microsoft for a board game."
7.
They knew nothing about the game industry, but they were passionate about this specific game, which gave every player a chance to shine.
8.
They struggled to sell the game until an epiphany in a Starbucks pointed them towards their demographic; after Starbucks got on board, Cranium took off.
