From growing up together at school in Armstrong to launching a global tech company in their early 20s, the past four years have been a whirlwind for Austin Walper and Kieran Eglin.

The two Pleasant Valley Secondary School graduates saw a shift in the advertising world in 2017 and turned it into PLAYR.gg, a Kelowna-based startup that91裸聊视频檚 thriving while helping brands make smarter marketing decisions.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 a technology platform that enables content creators to grow their audiences and capture customer data,91裸聊视频� Walper said of the company that91裸聊视频檚 been used by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and EA Sports.

Well before PLAYR.gg secured those and other big-name clients 91裸聊视频� before Walper was travelling to international conferences raising $2.3 million in venture capital, and also before the company was sold to Toronto-based social intelligence platform Trufan last November 91裸聊视频� it was a re-connection with Eglin that kicked off the journey to tech startup stardom.

91裸聊视频淏efore I knew it I was both feet in.91裸聊视频�

Walper was working in retail full-time in 2017, and he was at a breaking point.

91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 kind of when I hit a rock-bottom moment in my life where I wasn91裸聊视频檛 very happy and really wanted to start a company,91裸聊视频� said Walper, now 25. 91裸聊视频淎nd I needed a software developer to partner up with to help me build the tech.91裸聊视频�

After quitting his job, selling his car and going 91裸聊视频榓ll-in,91裸聊视频� Walper reached out to Eglin, who was already working as a software engineer.

After months of designing, the two rural North Okanagan kids had a product that would soon capture international attention in the gaming industry and beyond.

91裸聊视频淜ieran was the brains behind the technology. He unfortunately didn91裸聊视频檛 get to come to any of the shows, but he was the one at home working long nights making sure our app didn91裸聊视频檛 crash during any events,91裸聊视频� Walper said.

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For Eglin, now 24 and the senior software developer for the acquiring company, leaving behind a more conventional engineering job felt like a major risk. But as for Walper, the decision to get on board came down to being in control of his work 91裸聊视频� even if it meant a total collapse in work-life-balance in the near term.

91裸聊视频淵ou almost get lost in it sometimes,91裸聊视频� Eglin said of the countless hours he put into the initial designs.

It didn91裸聊视频檛 take long for their efforts to pay off; immediately upon launching at a conference in San Francisco in 2018, the company saw massive growth.

91裸聊视频淚 think we had something like 75,000 users in our first weekend on the app,91裸聊视频� Walper said, describing the 91裸聊视频渉ockey stick91裸聊视频� line graph all start-ups dream of in their first quarter.

91裸聊视频淚 felt like I was in a movie, but it was my life.91裸聊视频�

While his co-founder was in the spotlight, Eglin was likewise feeling invigorated 91裸聊视频� and exhausted 91裸聊视频� at home in Armstrong working on the tech, work he continues to do with Trufan on its SocialRank platform.

91裸聊视频淚t was very stressful but very rewarding,91裸聊视频� Eglin said. 91裸聊视频淎nd being able to see just day-by-day that the product you want to build is getting built 91裸聊视频� and people are using it? It91裸聊视频檚 a good feeling.91裸聊视频�

With over a million active users on the platform they created to date, the two are onto their next chapters.

Walper has had time to reflect on the life and career path he wants to chart from here. It91裸聊视频檚 helped that he91裸聊视频檚 no longer on an airplane every month and working 100-hour weeks, having left the company on April 1.

91裸聊视频淚 realized I wanted to focus on things that make me happy, now that I91裸聊视频檝e kind of had this moment of creating something big,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淲hen you run a big company with lots of people and lots of investors and customers, it becomes very hard to have a life.91裸聊视频�

He said he wants his next venture to make a positive impact in the world, but having some free time for skiing, hiking and camping is also a welcome change of pace.

Looking back, the ups and downs of entrepreneurship have created a lasting bond between the two former schoolmates.

91裸聊视频淚n many ways Kieran kept me sane and I got to witness him become a better technology leader but also become a much more mature individual as well.

91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檒l probably have a lifelong friendship because of it.91裸聊视频�

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