Mr. Macdonald has founded a string of successful high tech startups that have created dozens of bestselling software products. At Vertex, Mr. Macdonald has overseen the development of countless Web-based software applications and mobile apps, including the Internet’s first online driving course, sold to DefensiveDriving.com.
Prior to founding Vertex, Mr. Macdonald founded Arion Software, a home productivity software company that created the MasterCook series, the world’s best-selling cooking and nutrition software, now in its 27th year and 15th edition. The MasterCook series featured numerous co-branded bestsellers, including the Betty Crocker, Cooking Light, Jenny Craig, and Graham Kerr digital cookbooks. Arion was sold in 1995 to Sierra On-Line, at the time the world’s largest maker of PC game and home software titles.
Before founding Arion, Mr. Macdonald co-founded Styleware, which pioneered GUI and integrated software for Apple II computers. Styleware was sold to Apple Computer’s software subsidiary, Claris Corporation. Styleware’s final product, AppleWorks GS, was the #1 best-selling software program in early 1989, and the Styleware team went on to create the best-selling integrated software package, ClarisWorks, for Macintosh and Windows (where it again became known as AppleWorks). Mr. Macdonald is also founder and president of project management software company, TeamSys Corporation, and co-founder of “social calendar” app and network, Synk, Inc. He is also serving as fractional CTO for Wellnicity.