The young and fearless

Age: 38
Company: Gogii Games
Business: Information technology/gaming
2009 EOY category: Emerging entrepreneur

Work hard, play hard, and have a lot of fun doing it. It’s easy if you’re George Donovan, the 38-year-old CEO and owner of Moncton-based video game developer and publisher, Gogii Games. Getting paid to play video games? Not a bad gig. But Donovan had to pay his dues like anyone. “During the dot-com bust, I went six months without taking a penny from the company,” he says. “And I had my first child during that time.”

After graduating from the international software marketing program at New Brunswick Community College’s Miramichi campus (he had previously earned a phys ed degree at the University of New Brunswick), Donovan started his first IT company, Internet Communities, which he sold to Cadogan Publishing Ltd. He grew his next company, iNFiknowledge, from three employees to 90 before selling it to Traffix Inc. in 2001.

Founded in 2006, Gogii Games has launched eight to 10 games each year in more than 10 languages and in multiple formats, including casual online, PC/Mac retail, Nintendo Wii, NDS, iPhone, and other mobile phones. It has had nine No. 1 games in the past two years, and Gogii is now licensing its products and brands to fast-food chains around the world.

Married with three children, Donovan keeps his family life close to his work one; as a video game developer with kids, it would be pretty hard not to. In fact, the name of the company came from his son saying “Go G” to him as the two played games on Nintendo Wii.

What did you want to be when you grew up: A professional hockey player, then a phys ed teacher.
First job: Working on my dad’s farm. He was a teacher but had an apple orchard and strawberry farm, so I did everything: cut wood; planted and managed trees; picked rocks, strawberries, and apples; and drove the tractor.
Personality type: Type A with a dash of B.
What do others think is your personality type: Type A.
Best strength: Ability to track trends and motivate people.
Weakness: Impatience and lack of focus.
Biggest regret: My mistakes have shaped into who I am today, so it’s tough to say. Probably waiting too long to have children and selling my Internet company too early.
Proudest moment: On a personal level, the births of my three children. In business, when I left my last Internet company I was unsure if I could succeed on my own in this economy. But my first three games were very successful and were all my original ideas, which proved that I was on the right track.
Worst business nightmare: A previous partner in another business. He was extremely bright but also very difficult to work with—an emotional roller coaster. I was uncomfortable going to work and had no idea what to expect every day, which made my work and family life very difficult.
What’s your idea of progress: Every day I can spend more time with my kids and my business becomes more self sufficient is progress.
What has been the biggest factor contributing to the company’s growth: My relationship with my staff and the incentive program that drives all of us.
How would you like to improve yourself: I’d love to be able to turn off my work brain at home. With time-zone differences I’m always thinking or working 18 hours a day.
How would you like to improve your company: Start selling and up-selling directly to customers and manage our brands better.
How should we develop an entrepreneurial culture: This is a unique skill that is difficult to manage and grow, since it requires great risk. Atlantic Canada has not traditionally been open to risk, but I think that paradigm has shifted, hence some significant growth.
How do you achieve a work/life balance: My management structure and the incentive system allow me to be away from the office more than many other entrepreneurs.
What are you reading right now: Spreadsheets! I don’t read a lot of books because I read and design games for work.
What do you do in your spare time: In the summer, I love driving my Harley or convertible and playing golf. In the winter, I love playing hockey, coaching, and travelling down south to enjoy the beach with my wife and kids.
Words to live by: Never stop loving what I do.
Guilty pleasure: Sport cars, nice watches, and great meals.
What expression do you most overuse: “We need to analyze…” I say that way too much.
When are you the happiest: On the golf course, watching my kids and wife opening presents at Christmas, and looking at my monthly reports for sales.
What characteristic would you most like to have: Patience. I lack that in the development process and spend more time selling than I do reviewing and spending the critical time at the end of a development cycle.
If you could be anything, what would it be: Sidney Crosby’s life doesn’t sound too bad. Neither does Sergey Brin’s [the founder of Google].
What’s your next big move: We have companies that want to buy us already and companies we want to buy, so I suspect I will start looking at that over the next six to 12 months.