Stumbling onto something big

I started my career in 2001 at Orbis Technology, a UK based company that provides technology for bookmakers and casinos. The story of how the company got its break is legendary. In the late 1990s, the company was a mere 4 or 5 people. They built custom software for local government and various companies. One of these companies was a relatively small-time bookmaker.

As the world started to realize the true impact of the Internet, one of the biggest bookmakers in the UK realized they were years behind the others, in terms of having an offering for this new Internet channel. The bookmaker asked their internal IT department how long it would take to develop an Internet offering; the response came back that it would take 2 years.

Orbis Technology heard that this big bookmaker was looking for a Internet solution. Having already built something for a smaller bookmaker, they offered to have something built within 30 days. For the executives at the big bookmaker the choice for obvious. Within 30 days an Internet betting site was delivered... and though it looked like something that had been built in 30 days, Orbis Technology now had a flagship customer. Quite quickly, many of the other bookmakers in the UK, as well as a number across the world, were clamoring to use Orbis' solution.

Orbis Technology has since renamed itself Openbet Technology and been sold for £208 million to an investor group.