East Valley Ventures is profiling Founders of our Portfolio Companies to learn a little bit more about them. Today’s Q&A is with Mark Hemphill of ScreenScape.
Where did you grow up?
Summerside, PEI
Where did you go to school?
Three Oaks Senior High
UPEI – BBA 95
Rotman School of Business – MBA 97
Tell us about your family.
I grew up in an entrepreneurial family. My dad owned a prominent car dealership on the Island. Working at the dealership as a kid was good training for a future entrepreneur. I now live in Charlottetown with my wife, Courtenay and twin 10 year old boys, Gram and Noah.
What book are you currently reading?
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
What do you do for fun?
I enjoy playing/coaching/following sports (hockey, baseball, golf), playing music, and reading.
What jobs did you have before ScreenScape?
I’ve held posts as senior consultant, logistics with German software giant SAP AG™, as Manager of Supplier and Content Solutions with leading B2B eCommerce services provider Ariba Inc.™, and as Director of Integrated Services and Business Application Architecture with Canadian managed services provider Emergis™. I then brought my experience in software to the University of Prince Edward Island in 2003 where I taught, researched in new media, and founded the Business, Education and Applied Technology (BEAT) program. BEAT was an academic program and entrepreneurial development strategy that takes an applied, integrated approach to IT training at the post-graduate level and focuses specifically of bringing smart students together to work on applied software development projects.
When did you first get the idea to start ScreenScape?
Around 2005 when I was a Professor at the University of PEI. While Director of BEAT I was experimenting with building software systems designed to allow a community of users to collectively share and distribute rich media such as digital audio and video. This work inspired me to start ScreenScape in the Fall of 2007. In many ways ScreenScape took the applied work I was doing during my tenure at UPEI and married it with the knowledge and training I had in the area ofEnterprise Software and B2B ecommerce.
What advice would you give someone thinking of
starting their own company?
Live optimistically, but WORK pessimistically. Instead of envisioning ways for things to go right…look for ways they might go wrong. Prioritize the things that could stand in your way and then get to work killing those things that might lie between you and your next milestone. Repeat.
Who had the biggest influence on you and why?
That would be my father, Brian Hemphill. Retired now, he was an entrepreneur and community leader that led by example. He wasn’t afraid to take a risk and he worked harder than anyone else to ensure success. He treated people fairly and seemed to earn the respect and admiration of every one of his employees, his customers, and business partners.