TTT Studios is closing in on its 10th successful year of operation, a milestone we definitely would’ve celebrated in a more elaborate fashion in a pandemic free world. Over the past decade, we have had the pleasure of working on many amazing projects and being a part of driving innovation in the Canadian technology landscape. We’ve celebrated many successes and weathered a few storms. All of this has led us to an interesting point in our TTT roadmap. At this critical juncture of our evolution we wanted to ensure that we were making good decisions that help steer the company in the right direction. A board of advisors will help to guide us in this respect.
Why TTT wants a board of advisors
As TTT continues to grow, we are consistently re-evaluating our current processes and asking questions to help determine the best way to grow. The idea of having a board of advisors was not an overnight decision, as we wanted to ensure that both TTT and the board would benefit from this relationship.
One of our goals, on top of staying competitive within BC, is expanding our reach to Eastern Canada and the United States. Alongside the services that we offer at TTT, we continue to strive to improve our development process for internal products. The board’s backgrounds in various high-level organizations and enterprises will be helpful in informing some of the decisions we make on developing the product and innovation branch of TTT. With our continued growth as a company, we believe the board can offer different perspectives in a variety of fields, a neutral opinion, a fresh set of eyes, and a plethora of experience with a proven track record. With all of these elements combined, we believe their insight can help guide us.
How we selected the board
Designating our board was no easy task. We wanted to choose the right people whose skill sets and expertise cover the needs of a world class software firm so we did our homework. After consulting executives from respected companies and trusted advisors who have established their own boards of advisors we agreed that it would be best to start small in terms of membership and allow the board to grow as it evolved, deciding to keep the board to 4 trusted advisors initially. These board members would come from a cross-section of industries, such as legal, technology, business and operations and have experience at the highest level. Equally important to having an experienced board we wanted to have those who have a history and relationship with our executive team. In fact we interviewed some amazing and qualified individuals who were keen to sit on the board but who lacked the previous deep relationship with TTT. The last quality we sought in the board membership was those who see the potential of TTT and who are excited to help us with our vision to Build Software that Impacts a Billion Lives. TTT Studios’ Board of Advisors needs to believe in this vision and that with their stewardship we can achieve this mission faster.
TTT Studios' Board of Advisors
Now that we’ve set the stage, it is our pleasure to introduce the four incredible individuals who officially make up TTT Studios’ initial Board of Advisors.
Bruce Tattrie
Bruce Tattrie is an information technology lawyer and partner at Fasken, one of the largest business law firms in Canada. Bruce brings to the board over 17 years of experience in corporate and commercial practice with a focus on information technology. Bruce’s extensive knowledge in contracts with SaaS related clients will be invaluable to TTT, and help inform our decision making. As an individual, Bruce provides strengths in many areas of our day-to-day operations. David and Chris met Bruce during the early days of TTT Studios. They were quickly impressed by his knowledge and willingness to help a young tech company. Just as importantly they were impressed by his love of the Vancouver Whitecaps having attended a game with him the day after meeting and witnessing his excitement for the game.
Farran Hobbs
Farran Hobbs serves as the senior Vice President of Business Operations at Ledcor Technical Services (LTS). Farran has over 20 years of experience in both the operations and finance sectors at a senior level and also has proven her knowledge in risk management, financial growth and more within the various organizations she has worked at. As an experienced leader in a diverse number of teams, we are excited for Farran to provide her expertise to our team. Farran has played a huge role in TTT Studios since the founding of the company and one could argue that she is our original Advisor long before we had even considered a board.
Justin To
Justin To is the Director of Private Markets at PSP Investments, one of Canada’s largest pension investment management firms. Justin held the position of Deputy Chief of Staff of Staff to the Office of the Minister of Finance as well as the Deputy Director of Policy of the Office of the Prime Minister (Justin Trudeau) prior to his transition to the private sector. With a Ph.D. in economics, Justin has been involved heavily in the economics industry throughout his career. From working in economic analysis to his experience in the government, Justin provides a unique perspective to the board. Justin has shared a 20 year long friendship with Chris and David where they served as executives on the UBC Ski and Snowboard Club together.
Dr. Zhenyu Guo
Dr. Zhenyu Guo is an Executive at Alibaba’s Autonomous Driving Lab. Previously he served as the Director of Artificial Intelligence at Postmates X and prior to that the Director of Research and Development at Sengled. Dr. Guo holds a PhD in Electrical & Computer Engineering. Dr. Guo provides vast knowledge in the artificial intelligence field, which continues to be a growing sector in technology. With his experience in growing companies like Postmates, Dr. Guo offers a unique mix of technical expertise and business knowledge in the areas that we continue to grow in. Zhenyu has been a close friend of Vinson Li’s during their days together at UBC. Furthermore, we were lucky to work on a project together for Sengled where we quickly developed a mutual respect for building great tech products.
Moving forward
We would like to give a tremendous thank you to our board. We are honoured that they offer their time and energy helping steer TTT Studios towards success. When we cross the line of creating software that impacts a billion lives, their mentorship and help will be a big part of our success.
