Business Development, Staff, Team Spotlight, VentusAR

Team Spotlight – Crispin Hoult


We have been blogging for a while now – technical stuff, industry news, product features.

We decided it’s maybe time to do something a little more personal, and let everyone know who we are – all of us!

We’ll all be answering various questions over the next few weeks and you’ll get to see who actually works at Linknode and what we get up to. We’re starting with the boss man! Enjoy!

Who are you?

My name is Crispin and I set-up Linknode five years ago in May 2011.

napoleon

We have a great team here so my technical abilities are less in demand now, but I still look after some key accounts and legacy solutions – as well as developing the R&D side of the business, strategic relations and the exciting realm of corporate governance.

What has been your favourite project at Linknode?

My favourite project is always the next one – trying to see over the horizon as to what is technically possible by using our current platform as a stepping stone to greater understanding and integration with our business domains.  Once they are market assessed, funded and passed to the technical team I keep a close eye but only as a surrogate parent.  The projects are nurtured and developed by George’s team.

If you could switch your job with anyone else within Linknode, whose job would you want?

Minh has a geospatial background and the ability to problem solve challenges with new technology.  Whilst I may be too old to adapt to some of the new tools that the development team use, I would like to have the capacity and skills to do what Minh does.

What is your proudest moment at Linknode?

We are now onto three Linknode babies and one engagement.  Working hard for the company is important for the team, but at the end of the day we are creating opportunities to support people in their personal lives as well.  Seeing how each member of the team moves through their own lives is something I am abstractly proud of facilitating in some small way.

Whats your favourite line from a movie or song?

Although I (heresy) prefer the Kirsty MacColl version to Billy Bragg, this is one of my favourite lyrics that manages to mix a combination of astronomy and poetry:

I saw two shooting stars last night
I wished on them but they were only satellites
It’s wrong to wish on space hardware

What books are at your bedside?

There is always a big pile of books waiting to be read, currently not helped by staying in a cottage conversion project without mains electricity for a bedside light.

I have two cycling travelogues, an adventure travel diary from Amazonia, at least three books on maps, a couple of permaculture guides, at least one autobiography and two business management books.

What did you want to be when growing up?

No surprises that I wanted to draw maps!  And I still do cartographic authoring sometimes, but now our drawing is visualisation in a way I could not have imagined in an era where our school computers ran at 2MHz with 32Kb RAM, several 1000 times less powerful than my mobile phone.

The REAL Crispin...!
The REAL Crispin…!