Being able to enjoy Dunedin's lifestyle while fielding calls from customers in New York or Belfast is something Ryan Baker finds "kind of cool".
Mr Baker, along with Wellington-based Andrew Schofield and Will Berger, are behind Timely Ltd, a company that has produced a cloud-based appointment management system for businesses requiring scheduling of their staff and services.
If their names sound familiar, that is because Mr Baker and Mr Schofield were previously involved in BookIt, an online software provider for tourism operators which was sold to Trade Me in 2010.
BookIt was initially developed by Mr Schofield, and Dunedin businessman Ian Taylor later bought into it. Mr Baker later joined Mr Schofield as a company director.
In 2009, BookIt was a finalist in the PricewaterhouseCoopers emerging technology company competition, and was 293rd in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 for the Asia Pacific region.
Annual growth at one point was almost 200%.
It was while working on BookIt that the men had a lot of small businesses, such as salons, massage therapists and chiropractors, asking if they could use it to take appointments.
While the simple answer was "no", because it was a tourism system, it "sowed a seed" in the minds of the two men, Mr Baker said.
After Trade Me took over BookIt, Mr Baker and Mr Schofield worked there for two years to help get it running.
During that time, they asked themselves whether they had the energy and inclination to "do it again", and about halfway through that period, they were "itching", Mr Baker recalled.
The notion of Timely was still in the back of their minds. They were joined by Mr Berger, whom they met at Trade Me.
The trio started building in March this year, launched in July and now have customers in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Timely Ltd was recently the featured Microsoft BizSpark start-up of the month. BizSpark is a programme that Microsoft offers to provide support to start-up companies built on the Microsoft tech stack.
Initially, Mr Baker thought that recognition was just New Zealand-wide, but then discovered it was global.
Just being on Microsoft's radar was "quite cool", and it was good to get recognition from a company that size. It gave the men some validation "that we're on the right track for what we're doing", Mr Baker said.
Mobile devices had changed the landscape so much, from having "a big clunky computer sitting on the front counter" to having something more portable and touch-screen based. Mr Baker cited a customer in Brisbane - a barber shop - where staff carried iPads and used the Timely appointment system.
The men had learnt a lot from BookIt - from taking an idea scribbled on a whiteboard to a business with turnover of $15 million in their last year - and this was proving valuable with their latest venture.
They were focused on making a sound, small business that returned a profit and then "going from there".
If they had the same sort of experience as with BookIt, they would be "very happy".
But the reality too, of BookIt, was that it was a lot of hard work. The men knew exactly what they were getting themselves into, Mr Baker said.
Mr Schofield and Mr Baker worked together in Dunedin on BookIt, but they were now working remotely. The nature of the work meant they could "do it from anywhere".
Mr Baker was born and bred in Dunedin. He and his family enjoyed living in Otago, he said.
