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Workbrain Children

Joey deVilla, Austin Hill, and I (here & here) have written about one of the best indicators of a strong startup community is the number of repeat entrepreneurs and the number of successful follow on/spinout companies. It’s the “Fairchildren” principle that is one of the many complex factors attributed to the rise of Silicon Valley.

Workbrain agreed to be acquired back in April 2007 for $227M. This was one of the largest software acquisitions in recent history in Toronto, Platespin’s $205M acquisition by Novell being the other. It has been 2 years since the the announcement, and it appears that many of the Workbrain’s ex-founders and senior executives are starting to turn up running the next generation of Toronto startups poised for massive success.

  • dayforce 
    Dayforce is an enterprise solution that enables companes to integrate performance with planning, scheduling and management of their workforce. The company’s management team is a mix of ex-Workbrain leadership (David Ossip, Paul Sandusky, Ozzie Goldschmied, Warren Perlman) and new blood (Bob Brooks & John Orr [Note: Andrew Giblon comments John Orr was previously the VP Industry/Retails Solutions at Workbrain]). The company is building a world-class enterprise application. Dayforce launched on April 16, 2009, roughly 2 years after the Workbrain acquisition. There’s no data about the funding, but one would guess that David Ossip is able to bootstrap.
  • rypple 
    Rypple is a bottom up solution to collaborative performance management. It is a collaborative tool that enables employees and managers to request and give near real-time feedback about their performance. The team is also a mix of ex-Workbrain founders (Daniel Debow, David Stein, Tihomir Bajic, David Priemer) and new talent (George Babu, Ryan Dewsbury, Jay Goldman, and others). Rypple is funded by Peter Theil, EdgeStone Capital, Roger Martin, Seymour Schulich, and others. That’s some heavy valley hitters and some of Canada’s most respected busines individuals.

These are 2 very prominent Toronto-based startups that are poised to knock it out of the park (again). And it provides further proof, that one of the best training grounds for young entrepreneurs is to work in successful companies. By the way, both Dayforce and Rypple are hiring.

Are there other Workbrain children?

15 Comments

  1. Great to see these people stepping up to the plate again. This + Radialpoint recently announcing its second acquisition + the provincial governments’ recent commitments to financing innovation or all positive signs as we try and build depth and bench strength in the Canadian tech landscape. All good…

  2. Great to see these people stepping up to the plate again. This + Radialpoint recently announcing its second acquisition + the provincial governments' recent commitments to financing innovation or all positive signs as we try and build depth and bench strength in the Canadian tech landscape. All good…

  3. Here's another Workbrain child…Axsium Group was founded in 2004 by ex-Workbrainers Ben Zifkin and Tim Lett. Specializing in Workforce Management consulting services, Axsium worked with Fortune 1000 clients providing both management consulting and technology advisory services. After growing the organization to roughly 100 consultants, they were acquired by Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions last year. Knightsbridge, run by the ex-CEO of Pepsi Canada, is Canada's largest Human Capital consulting firm. Since the acquisition, Axsium continues to grow using the strength of Knightsbridge to acquire and, most recently, expand internationally.

  4. Here’s another Workbrain child…Axsium Group was founded in 2004 by ex-Workbrainers Ben Zifkin and Tim Lett. Specializing in Workforce Management consulting services, Axsium worked with Fortune 1000 clients providing both management consulting and technology advisory services. After growing the organization to roughly 100 consultants, they were acquired by Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions last year. Knightsbridge, run by the ex-CEO of Pepsi Canada, is Canada’s largest Human Capital consulting firm. Since the acquisition, Axsium continues to grow using the strength of Knightsbridge to acquire and, most recently, expand internationally.

  5. A couple others to add to the list – Sparkroom (Charles Barton, Steve Smith) and Versult (Ray Nunn.) All good teams!

  6. A couple others to add to the list – Sparkroom (Charles Barton, Steve Smith) and Versult (Ray Nunn.) All good teams!

  7. Good article, and all the best to the teams at Dayforce, Rypple, Sparkroom and Versult.

    Note that John Orr mentioned above is not “new blood” – he was VP Industry / Retail Solutions at Workbrain.

  8. Good article, and all the best to the teams at Dayforce, Rypple, Sparkroom and Versult.

    Note that John Orr mentioned above is not “new blood” – he was VP Industry / Retail Solutions at Workbrain.

  9. After growing the organization to roughly 100 consultants, they were acquired by Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions last year. Knightsbridge, run by the ex-CEO of Pepsi Canada, is Canada’s largest Human Capital consulting firm. Since the acquisition, Axsium continues to grow using the strength of Knightsbridge to acquire and, most recently, expand internationally.

  10. After growing the organization to roughly 100 consultants, they were acquired by Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions last year. Knightsbridge, run by the ex-CEO of Pepsi Canada, is Canada's largest Human Capital consulting firm. Since the acquisition, Axsium continues to grow using the strength of Knightsbridge to acquire and, most recently, expand internationally.

  11. After growing the organization to roughly 100 consultants, they were acquired by Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions last year. Knightsbridge, run by the ex-CEO of Pepsi Canada, is Canada's largest Human Capital consulting firm. Since the acquisition, Axsium continues to grow using the strength of Knightsbridge to acquire and, most recently, expand internationally.

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Webmentions

  • » Dayforce secures an additional $10million | StartupNorth November 14, 2009

    […] David is the entrepreneur’s entrepreneur, and I am happy to see that he is able to get the resource together to build Dayforce in Canada. His desire to contribute back to the startup community has set him apart in recent years. We have previously published a profile of Workbrain spinoff companies. […]

  • » Dayforce secures an additional $10million | StartupNorth November 14, 2009

    […] David is the entrepreneur’s entrepreneur, and I am happy to see that he is able to get the resource together to build Dayforce in Canada. His desire to contribute back to the startup community has set him apart in recent years. We have previously published a profile of Workbrain spinoff companies. […]

  • links for 2009-04-23 « National Angel Capital Organization November 14, 2009

    […] Workbrain Children | StartupNorth Joey deVilla, Austin Hill, and I (here & here) have written about one of the best indicators of a strong startup community is the number of repeat entrepreneurs and the number of successful follow on/spinout companies. It’s the “Fairchildren” principle that is one of the many complex factors attributed to the rise of Silicon Valley. […]

  • links for 2009-04-23 « National Angel Capital Organization November 14, 2009

    […] Workbrain Children | StartupNorth Joey deVilla, Austin Hill, and I (here & here) have written about one of the best indicators of a strong startup community is the number of repeat entrepreneurs and the number of successful follow on/spinout companies. It’s the “Fairchildren” principle that is one of the many complex factors attributed to the rise of Silicon Valley. […]