On the TechWaterloo stage ×1
First seen on the TechWaterloo stage in 2016. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Calvin ↗
In their words
Everybody kind of faces the dilemma: should we stay in Kitchener, should we just move to San Francisco. We decided to stay in KW — such a great community here, full of talent, and we really think this is the best place to build a company. We decided to save the money on rent and spend it on flights.
Being in Canada, being in KW, it's a small part of the world — definitely in terms of market size you have to think about China or India or Europe. We can't get too comfortable being in Canada.
We've been shipping to customers in close to 50 countries right now. We had no idea how hard it would be before we started, so we probably would have focused a bit more.
Around the web ×2
Quick answers
Who is Calvin Chu?
The co-founder and CEO of Monogram, the Kitchener company behind Palette Gear and the Monogram Creative Console — physical controls for editing software. He studied mechatronics engineering at the University of Waterloo.
What did Calvin Chu talk about at TechWaterloo?
His August 2016 talk 'Beast of the West, Beast of the East' ran through the cities that shaped the company — Toronto, San Francisco, Shenzhen and Kitchener-Waterloo — and why they chose to keep headquarters in KW and spend the savings on flights.
What is the connection between Palette Gear and Monogram?
Same company. The first-generation hardware launched on Kickstarter in 2013 as Palette Gear; the second generation shipped in 2019 under the Monogram Creative Console name.