Simon Dansereau, President of Triple Boris: “If I knew TEC existed, I would have joined on day one.”

Planting a Seed

“Looking back, it’s easy to see how things in life steer you, but it’s harder to see when you’re in it.” Simon’s parents bought him a Nintendo console when he was a kid, and he was immediately curious about how it worked. The cassettes held entire interactive worlds and he longed to know the mechanics that went on behind the scenes.

This was before the concept of being a “gamer” existed. He and his friends would play outside, and when it got dark or the weather turned, they would head inside and play video games or on hockey tables. Simon observes that the advancement of the industry has now created an entire lifestyle behind the technology. Games have become multimillion-dollar projects and are so advanced and engaging that it is a completely different world than the one he grew up in. “Being a video game developer didn’t seem possible growing up.”

Taking Root

Years later, he went to university for computer science, not intending to get into the video game industry. After a short stint in telecommunications, he saw a poster for a programmer position at Jamdat (later acquired by EA), and got the job.

He loved working at EA Mobile and started to move up the ladder. The networking and experience he got helped him imagine what it would be like to have a studio of his own. After eight years, the studio shut down. He transitioned to Ubisoft studio for a couple of months and started doing freelance video game development shortly thereafter, giving him his first taste of running his own business.

Triple Boris is Born

Simon ran into some obstacles while freelancing, particularly dealing with the stress of the workload and deadlines. He recruited friends he made while working at EA Mobile to help him with some of the projects and hired them part-time. He had the realization that there was an opportunity to expand and turn this freelance gig into a business.

In 2016 he officially launched Triple Boris. His nickname growing up was Boris, and the friend who gave it to him put him in touch with his partner. They decided they needed another word to stand out, and it needed to be the same in French and English. They thought of “Double Boris,” but the word “double” was too common, so they opted for a level above that and named the company Triple Boris. “It’s the best decision we ever made in under five minutes.”

Growing with TEC

Simon joined TEC at the onset of the pandemic because he loved networking with other entrepreneurs and picking up tips and tricks rather than clients. Four years later, TEC still plays a pivotal role in his business and leadership. Before joining TEC Canada, he was part of other business networking groups, but he says he would never go back.

“Compared to other business groups, TEC is much more complete with its peer groups, personal coaching, and speakers.”

Triple Boris now has over 50 employees and subsidiaries that develop games, while Triple Boris focuses on providing game development services for larger players. They also have an R&D department where they test new products, undergo training, and study new technologies.

Simon’s TEC Small Business Chair, Suzie Beaudoin, helped him fill the gaps where he was struggling. Being curious by nature, Simon likes to have multiple projects and activities on the go, even on his days off. Realizing this wasn’t sustainable, Suzie helped him introduce a practice that he uses religiously.

“[Suzie] helped me realize I need to take time for myself and pay attention to my calendar. I now have meetings with myself set in my calendar as “me time”, which has been very helpful for my well-being.  She also showed me how to set up my business so I can leave and know that it can run without me.”

Aside from the personal coaching, many other aspects of the TEC model have provided him with takeaways that have grown his business.

“The sum of many, many, different little things that I learned at TEC have changed my business for the better, and still do. The speakers are amazing! They are AAA. As a computer scientist, I needed to learn about marketing and sales to thrive as an entrepreneur, which speakers have taught us in depth. Another speaker brought us a leadership and communication exercise that we now use in our company.”

True to his nature, he has many extracurricular activities outside of work, including sitting on two boards, being the father of two, and teaching 10-15 hours a week. Because of his busy schedule, his time is precious. TEC thankfully helped him streamline key processes.

“Before TEC, board member meetings at Triple Boris took forever. Now we have an agenda to organize meetings and address key components of the business. We now have one 90-minute meeting per week.”