Editor in Chief
rob kelly
Associate Editor
adam malik
Art Director
tammy leung
Mighty mouse built that house
Call it the mouse that roared. Geoff
Kirbyson’s cover story for this issue re-
counts how Connecticut-based Xerox
Corp. failed to capitalize on its ground-
breaking computer technology in the
1970s, which included such innovations
as a graphic user interface and a device
developed by the Stanford Research In-
stitute known as a “mouse.”
The late poster CEO for American in-
novation, Steve Jobs, had little trouble
creating products out of the Xerox initia-
tives. In today’s parlance he knew how to
“unlock the value” within the work. At
press time, Jobs’ Apple Inc. was the larg-
est company in the world by market capi-
talization, revenue and profit.
Apple is an extreme example of how
a visionary can seize on the grassroots
possibilities offered by the work of others and turn it to his advantage. That,
undoubtedly, is of little comfort to the
Xerox innovators.
It’s the kind of story that can send chills
up the spine of anyone who has created a
business and grown it. What is the real
value of a lifetime’s worth of work and
risk-taking? Will it be fully realized when
the company is finally sold?
That may be one of the central themes
playing in a business owner’s mind over
the course of a sleepless night once the
decision has been made to sell. But there
are many others. They include: Who will
succeed me? My son? My daughter? My
most trusted employee? An outsider?
Nobody really works alone in the open-
ing stretch of the 21st century. The self-
made entrepreneur may look like he or
she did it solo, but they invariably have
lawyers, accountants, consultants, sup-
port staffs — and maybe even a little luck.
Contributors
karen alexiou
Grant Cameron
Brian Christmas
matthew Grace
Geoff kirbyson
Donalee moulton
tl price
mort shapiro
Chris young
Production
pauline Braithwaite
marlene roopsingh
Advertising Sales
Jim Grice
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Circulation Controller
scott welsh
email: scott.welsh@lexisnexis.ca
Cover Photograph
pixattitude | Dreamstime.com
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Rob Kelly
Editor in Chief
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