A Note From Gavin

Hello Small Planet Friend!

I’m very happy and proud to be celebrating Small Planet’s 10th year in business, and I wanted to share a few thoughts about what the last decade has meant to me.

The advent of the internet hit me like a ton of bricks back in the 90s, and I jumped at the first opportunity to become involved. I joined one of the first “digital agencies,” before we even knew to call ourselves that. The possibilities seemed endless, and the planet was getting smaller in so many exciting ways.

When the iPhone was unveiled in 2007 the planet again got a bit smaller. The iPhone spurred me to start this company in 2009 (10 years later, I’m starting to think the internet and mobile phones just might catch on). In that time the internet and mobile have changed so much of the world, a lot of it for the better, some of it for worse. Small Planet endeavors to serve the positive energy in that battle.

There are negatives, of course, which we see around us every day. I hate how generations of young people seem inextricably tethered to their devices. Walk down the street or on a subway platform and almost everyone has their head buried in their hand. I hate how easy it is to earn an audience as a hater, and how there’s so much digital noise it’s hard to tell what’s real anymore, and how technology can amplify the voice of mean-spirited people.

But there are upsides too, and I find hope in the new ways we’ve learned to connect, to educate, to get healthy, to have fun, to organize for change. I have faith that generations young and old will learn to dismiss the garbage and embrace the good.

We are so fortunate to work with clients who see the world in this positive way. In our 10 years, we’ve made apps that help patients with eating disorders, apps that promote healthier lifestyles, apps that encourage girls and young women to get into coding, apps that help people register voters in the Latino community, apps that educate middle-schoolers, apps that bring smiles to children’s faces. I love that. So do my colleagues at Small Planet.

On a personal note, my favorite thing about the last 10 years has been getting the chance to meet and work with all you fabulous people. Employees, freelancers, interns, clients, partners, neighbors, bartenders … it’s been so much fun and such an honor. 

The only way I could have ever started and grown Small Planet is with the support of my wife and partner Jeannine Kerr. J9 is the mother of our children and the person that keeps everything together as our family of four + dogs tries to do our best. There’s not a chance in hell I could have executed on my vision for a company like Small Planet without J9. Thx honey!

And thanks to everyone for a memorable and wonderful first 10 years. I hope to be writing our 20-year anniversary note four years from now, after Rocco invents time travel.

-G.

     

Small Planet

Small Planet creates award-winning mobile and web products. We provide full UX design, development, QA, team support, and product management services. Follow us @smallplanetapps.