IAG speaks with Jack Curtis, Vice President of Sales & Strategy for LED signage company Simtech, about his journey from a farm on Australia’s Gold Coast to Asia’s rapidly moving gaming industry.
Ben Blaschke: Can you tell us a bit about your background? Where did you grow up and what are your main memories of childhood?
Jack Curtis: I was born and raised on the Gold Coast in Australia. I went to a couple of different schools, but I finished at TSS (The Southport School) which was a boarding school. Having three sisters, it worked out really well for me to go to an all-boys school. I loved sport so I grew up surrounded by sport, and I was predominantly a big rugby league (NRL) supporter. That was a lot of fun. In terms of where I grew up, I grew up on a farm, sort of out in the bush, and we had about 100 acres, a lot of dirt bikes, quad bikes, cattle, horses. I had a lot of fun growing up, and I think that’s where Dad pushed me to have a bit of fun but also to keep moving and keep working. Having that freedom was I guess what ultimately pushed me to get out of the city and travel too. I wasn’t ever stuck in the apartment life like some people.
BB: Did you have any ideas when you were younger about what you wanted to do career-wise?
JC: I didn’t really. I think I was very heavily influenced by my Dad (John Curtis) and Simtech. I like to say I was brainwashed for a bit of fun, but I definitely wasn’t. Dad gave me a lot of options as to what I wanted to do, and he opened the doors to all opportunities for me. But when I started traveling to Macau specifically and across Asia when I was about 15 or 16 with Simtech, I just fell in love with this industry. I think the gaming industry is so exciting. The products that Simtech sells are so versatile and so creative that it was just always on the move and always changing. So I think that’s what kept driving my creativity and my passion for the technology, but also the industry.
BB: Where did the Simtech journey start for your Dad? How and why did he set up Simtech?
JC: My Pop and my father were signwriters, originally in Sydney but then moved to the Gold Coast, and that ended up just turning into a signage business. Dad, when he was a bit younger, started Signs in Motion, a sign company, and he was the first to lead the way with digital printing, lighting and things like that through the evolution of technology within the signage business. And then in 2003 he did his first project with Aristocrat on the Gold Coast where he put a big plasma screen in his jackpot sign. It was one of the first jackpot signs in Australia and from there, with him partnering with Aristocrat and expanding further, they just took off.
He started to do a lot of work in Macau, then through the pokies reform in Australia in 2008 and 2009, then took off in the US around 2017 with the launch of Dragon Link over there. So, the product continually evolved and now we’re doing some of the world’s largest LED displays
BB: I understand you’ve also worked across multiple facets of the business in your career so far?
JC: Correct. I graduated university and Dad threw me pretty much straight onto the floor where I worked as an assembler and an installer with the product. I was doing lots of product research trips in China as well with our product team, so I got to learn the product by being hands on – building displays, putting them together, working in all sorts of areas within the manufacturing section of the company. And then when I turned about 20 or 21, Dad kind of pulled me out of there and I started doing more individual sales work. I did about two years of product work and then moved into sales. From there I had the small pub and club market then moved into doing a lot of casino work.
And Dad continually took me to Asia. Last year I did a lot of work through the US as well, and understanding all those international markets was key to my growth, but I always end up coming back to Asia. It’s the most exciting market
BB: What do you think it is about this job that excites you the most?
JC: It’s continuously evolving. The product itself is always changing and I want to keep Simtech in a place where it can easily pivot. What I mean is that I have clients coming to me and asking me what’s next, so I’ve got to make sure I’m on top of what’s the next technology coming up. I’ve got to really understand what the market wants, where are the buzzwords coming from and things like that. I’ve got to try and move my product and create designs, which obviously Simtech will do free of charge for clients and we try and push into these really unique situations where we can join multiple companies and create a tangible product which multiple companies and the end user can be proud of.
BB: What would you say is the most exciting part about working in Asia and what’s the most challenging part?
JC: There is obviously a lot of cross-cultural communication which can be difficult, and sometimes you’ve got teams and teams of people at these big IRs that you’ve got to be very patient with, so that can always be a challenge. In Australia I might only deal with one person but in Asia I deal with the gaming team, the projects team, the designers, the procurement team, the tables team, so there’s a lot of different facets. Sometimes when I go on trips, I literally have a full day of meetings just with the same venue, which is quite funny.
But in terms of excitement in Asia, there’s always something changing. There is this competition between the IRs and between the different nations. You’ve got the Philippines market, which is completely different to the Macau market, so that’s a challenge in itself – just understanding the specific parts of those markets individually. And in Macau you’ve got the IRs competing and they’re literally next door to each other. They constantly try to be better than one another, which means I’ve got to keep up with that development. But that’s the most fun part.
BB: How would you describe a day in the life of Jack Curtis, first when at home and also when on the road?
JC: That’s actually the best way of putting it – two different days. Because I’m still based in Australia, when I’m away I really try and cram a lot of my meetings into a week. It’s very much on the go. I like to get up nice and early because we’re two hours behind Australia in most of Asia, so I get up at 5:30am or 6am because it’s already 8am in Australia and I like to do three or four hours work before I actually start my day. That means cruising into the day, because I don’t want to be slammed, so I’ll start with my emails, then my first meeting is around about 9am or 10am and that can drive straight through until about 5pm. So, I usually don’t get a break. I’m usually emailing and sending quotes and artwork in a cab in Macau, which can be fun. That’s kind of my day, followed obviously by drinks or dinner, things like that. I’ve got to squeeze in as much as I can whilst I’m away.
When I’m in Australia I usually get up at 5am. I go to the gym in the morning, then I go straight into the office at 8am and I’ll usually do 8am to 3pm, just continuously work. I try and get home by 3pm or 4pm because I’ve usually got a 5pm or 6pm virtual meeting with Asia. So, it usually ends up being a 12-hour day, but I like to start my day early so I can enjoy it and not be too overwhelmed. And that’s something that has come with the experience of going through those cycles where I used to be high energy and overwhelmed, but I’ve trained my mind and my schedule to ease into all of those last-minute requests and meetings.
BB: That’s obviously very full-on. When you do get a break, what do you do to get away and relax?
JC: I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend and my mates. I try and organize camping trips whenever I get the chance. I usually go somewhere for the Friday and Saturday night. I spend a lot of time with my family, so I go home and kind of cruise by the pool. I’ve got a jet ski too, so that’s a lot of fun. I try to loosen my mind and forget about work, but sometimes I get too excited, so Saturday ends up becoming a work day as well.
BB: Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years’ time?
JC: There are lots of exciting ventures coming up for Simtech. I very much see us growing internationally, so my goal for the next couple of years is to really grow Simtech’s presence here in Asia. It’s a very passionate goal of mine – I want it to really succeed. And as I rise up the ranks in Simtech I’ve got the US to focus on, and I want to make sure that we have a great presence. A lot of my focus now is going into manufacturing – where we’re going to manufacture in the future, where our content division is coming from. I’ve just set up a content company in Singapore and Vietnam, so that’s very exciting for us.
I’m kind of leaving a lot of doors open, but I can very much see me always having a presence here in Asia. And I think Simtech will again be easily pivotal into what we want to do and the technology that we bring out to the market.
BB: It sounds like although your Dad had been a real mentor to you, he has also allowed you the freedom to take things in your own direction?
JC: Absolutely. Dad’s given me a lot of leash – enough for me to trip over a few times but never enough to hang myself with, so that’s been really good. He’s always been a great supporter of mine. Sometimes I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing but he’s only a phone call away and he always puts me on the right track. If I need help he will jump in, call the client for me and things like that but the more mature I’ve got, the less that’s happened.
Dad is definitely my mentor, my hero. He has really taught me everything I know from a personal point and a professional point, and I honestly don’t know where I would be without him.
