On this month's episode, we're speaking with mechanical engineering alumni Graeme Gordon, who ditched the oil and gas industry to transform his passion for Magic: The Gathering trading cards into a thriving business.
He is the founder of TCG Machines, which produces automatic trading card sorting machines for commercial use. In the past four years, Graeme’s business has grown into a multi-million-dollar business with 27 full-time employees and machines operating in ten countries (at the time of recording, there were 20 employees, proof that it's growing fast!).
We chat with Graeme about how he pivoted to become a business owner, the path to launching his own business, and what he's learned along the way.
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- (02:10) - How did changes to the oil and gas industry impact Graeme's career path?
- (04:15) - Where did Graeme's passion for tabletop card games like Magic The Gathering come from?
- (06:55) - How did playing Magic The Gathering lead Graeme to launch a card sorting business?
- (08:41) - How did Graeme go from sorting business idea to the reality of launching a company?
- (09:48) - The importance of validating that there’s a market for your idea
- (10:22) - All about TCG Machines - growing pains, and the reality of building a business
- (14:16) - Using Reddit as a marketing tool
- (14:50) - How UVic shaped Graeme’s career path
- (16:25) - What is next for Graeme and TCG?
- (17:25) - Graeme’s advice for students interested in launching their own business
- (19:37) - What has surprised Graeme about being involved in the gaming card industry? Psst…it may involve Post Malone!
- (20:54) - Rapid fire questions
- (21:05) - Favourite snack while on campus
- (21:10) - If you could be a student again for one day, what would you do?
- (21:43) - What was the hardest engineering project that you worked on?
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