Building Tiny: Our Journey to DEYA Recognition
I was recently honored alongside Andrew Wilkinson as Distinguished Entrepreneurs of the Year by UVic’s Gustavson School of Business. Being recognized for our work at Tiny—which now owns over 40 businesses, including Letterboxd and AeroPress—is truly humbling. Here are a few highlights from the article, though I highly recommend reading the full story: The Recognition Pete Gustavson, chair of the DEYA committee, said: “We are pleased to recognize Andrew Wilkinson and Chris Sparling as our 2025 DEYA recipients. They have created many opportunities for businesses to grow and thrive.” Our Entrepreneurial Journey Our partnership began at MetaLab in 2009. Like many entrepreneurs, we learned through trial and error: “We started everything from productivity apps to skincare brands. Some worked, many didn’t. But each failure taught us something valuable about capital allocation and what makes businesses actually work.” Building Tiny Inspired by Warren Buffett and Charlie Mu...