Most of Peter’s working life he either was an entrepreneur or planned to be one. He created many small firms, mostly in the marketing and PR space. I still have business cards from some of his endeavors, and I recall most of the others because Peter talked business—a lot!
This is the first in a series about his businesses. Some of you who read this may remember stories and anecdotes. Feel free to add them in the comments.
He began his career as a journalist, working in small-town weeklies in Ontario. He was a natural writer. It was an easy transition from journalism to marketing.
The first business I recall him starting was Businesstech Communications around 1980 (give or take a year) in rented office space. He recognized the potential for growth in Canada’s technology sector early, and knew they needed help getting their messages to the marketplace.
Peter was always an early adopter of technology. He acquired one of the first dedicated word processors available. I think it was a Xerox 860, or one of that vintage, with a dot-matrix printer. It stored data on 8-inch floppies with about 600KB of storage. I believe he leased the system—the price was about ten grand, according to what I’ve read on line. (Click this link to see an old ad for the 860: YouTube video)
I cannot remember how long this one-man business existed. Peter did continue as a marketing consultant into the early 80s. His work with Quasar Systems (later Cognos) lead to my entry into the high-tech industry in 1983.
This is the first in a series about his businesses. Some of you who read this may remember stories and anecdotes. Feel free to add them in the comments.
He began his career as a journalist, working in small-town weeklies in Ontario. He was a natural writer. It was an easy transition from journalism to marketing.
The first business I recall him starting was Businesstech Communications around 1980 (give or take a year) in rented office space. He recognized the potential for growth in Canada’s technology sector early, and knew they needed help getting their messages to the marketplace.
Peter was always an early adopter of technology. He acquired one of the first dedicated word processors available. I think it was a Xerox 860, or one of that vintage, with a dot-matrix printer. It stored data on 8-inch floppies with about 600KB of storage. I believe he leased the system—the price was about ten grand, according to what I’ve read on line. (Click this link to see an old ad for the 860: YouTube video)
I cannot remember how long this one-man business existed. Peter did continue as a marketing consultant into the early 80s. His work with Quasar Systems (later Cognos) lead to my entry into the high-tech industry in 1983.
2 comments:
Ah yes Shaun, I remember Peter's Xerox 860 well.
It was a late September evening in 1985 (I think) and I was working with Peter at ComputerWorld Canada which was owned by Pat McGovern who owned IDC. Peter, myself and about 10 others were working on a financial/business plan to submit to Mr McGovern by the next morning for further financing and support. We were running out of time (as usual) and were using an Atari or something like that which was not powerful and slowing us down and did not have many bells and whistles. We were all getting frustrated when Peter said "every body relax, I'll be back with a solution in about an hour." So off he went and returned bringing in the "sexy 860" piece by piece. I think it had 6 componants including the massive CPU he called Hal. He fired it up (the lights dimmed briefly), he sat down at the key board, and proceeded to input and format the entire report with everyone standing around providing input. Took about 90 minutes and it was done. Peter pushed the print key and we all went next door to Nancy's "Pub" to celebrate. Talking with Peter in later years I asked if he still had it, he laughed and said he did but that September night was the last time he had used it. As a footnote, we did get the funding - further cause for celebration.
Thanks Larry for the additional info.
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