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Whit Alexander Highlight
It's really about finding a passion and working for something...You want to find an avocation, not a vocation.
About Whit
- 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.
- Went to Georgetown University and studied foreign service; he thought he'd work at the U.N. someday.
- While studying abroad, he got interested in computer mapping and information systems; came back and did his master's degree in that.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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."
- They knew nothing about the game industry, but they were passionate about this specific game, which gave every player a chance to shine.
- 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.
